Beat The Sweep!

Welp, the Tribe hasn't swept anyone yet this year but so far they've avoided being swept! So they got that going for them.

Big win today! And a big game for Carlos Carrasco. It's been no secret that he is both the worst starter in the rotation and also the one that has not made any great improvements (they all seemed to start off poorly). He's also the one with Trevor Bauer breathing down his neck. It was kind of imperative for him to impress today.

Did he? Well he was off to a great start with THREE consecutive 1-2-3 innings. But he unraveled quickly in the 4th, giving up 4 hits and 3 runs. They gave him a chance to come back in the 5th but there were more hits and more runs. In the 6th, it was walks. He lasted 5 2/3. I don't know what this means for Carrasco going forward but from here this game clearly showed he is just fine for a couple innings but once he starts to unravel it happens quickly. And they can't say enough great stuff about Bauer this year. Let's make the move!

I'm sure there will be more info this week.

Outman finished the 6th with a single and a strikeout, and he got the win. Bryan Shaw looked good again and Cody Allen looked even better - keeping his 0.00 for another day, even though he didn't strike anyone out. He led with a walk but then got three balls in play for three outs.

John Axford seemed to struggle with finishing off the game, putting everyone on the edge of their seats while he loaded the dang bases!! Doesn't he realize we are all very sensitive to shaky saves? He ended up getting Edwin Encarnacion to hit into the shift. I ended up eating some Tums. And now the guy has 6 saves!

As for offense, I don't know how but the Tribe managed to get their 6 runs on just 5 hits and 6 walks.

Michael Brantley (.284) continues to just be amazing! He got a double and a homer today, with 2 RBI. He's second in the league with 16! And he had his second outfield assist today, this time to second not to home. We also learned in the post-game interview that he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth and doesn't eat much chocolate. Lolipops for him, please.

David Murphy, though, is the one to be pounding on the back today. He must have been filled to the brim with Easter Love (Murphy is very Christian) and delivered one of the biggest hits - if not THE biggest hit - of the season. A three-run bases-clearing single to right in the 7th inning, that brought the Indians into the lead 5-4. God bless us every one!!

Lonnie was in there today at 3rd, with Santana behind the plate. Lonnie only went 0 for 2 with a walk but he's still hitting over .400. Santana struck out 3 times and is batting just .145. Man-o-man-o-man. Do not want.

With all these blips of excitement I still find the lineup to be quite lacking. Maybe the re-injection of Giambi into the clubhouse will help pump things up again. It's probably pretty hard for a doofus like Swisher to pump anyone up when he's playing every day and only hitting .181. I wish I wish I wish...

DID SOMEBODY SAY WISH?

Tomorrow the team goes on a grueling 3-day stint of 7:05 games, something we have yet to see this year! And I say grueling because I haven't gotten myself accustomed to being back in my seat at 7:05 yet, as it happens so sporadically. It will be a test for me!

It'll be Zach McAllister versus RHP 4.34. Zach's down around 2.00 still and is our best starter, and Giambi should be back, so hopefully it'll be a treat of a game! See you there!

Sorry, no Radio Chatter. I was having a nice time lounging around during the game, going in and out of sleep, in a bit of a sugar coma. Thank you, Jesus!

Tigers On Ice

Wow, I am super happy that the Tribe beat the Tigers today! They are the toughest team we've played thus far and we came out ahead!

Maybe, maaaaaaybe there was some help from the weather but hey, Zach McAllister pitched in the same conditions as Sanchez and he did just fine.

Except for strikeouts (ZMac = 4, Sanchez = 8) McAllister did better in every way than Sanchez! He went 6 innings to Sanchez's 5, 1 run given up to Sanchez's 3, only 2 walks to Sanchez's 4. Good stuff, guy! That's two W's for him already and two quality starts. I think our pitching is getting better every rotation don't you think?

Bullpen is staying solid, too. They shut down the Tigers in the 7th, 8th and 9th. First Bryan Shaw, then Cody Allen (who is keeping his 0.00 still!) and then John Axford with his 5th save. Axford's 9th was a bit Perez-y with a double, then an error to put the guy on third. But Axford got out of it like 2012 Perez, with a strikeout and a groundout.

Good thing the pitching was so nifty, because the offense is still not so good! They ended up with just 5 hits, and their 3 runs came on 3 hits (and 4 walks).

Michael Bourn was back today, and Nyjer Morgan was in Columbus. Everyone was really sad about it. Michael Bourn didn't make a good case for himself, going 0 for 4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts.

WTG!

Then down the line, goose egg, goose egg, goose egg for everyone. Even Brantley (.275)! Santana didn't even get a walk. He did get an RBI by grounding in to a bases-loaded, no-outs double play in the first. See above.

Asdrubal had a night! Compared to the other guys, at least. A walk and a single.

Of course, not as much of a night as Lonnie and Yan!

I've got a theory that dudes do really well right off of paternity leave. Lonnie was in at third today and got himself a double and a single, going 2 for 4 on a night where everyone else was doing nothing! He's batting .421...only 18 at-bats but, woah.

He's still no Yan Gomes, though. A two-run triple and a single! It's really nice when a gamble pays off, isn't it? Although betting on Yan Gomes to be awesome every day wasn't really too much of a wild bet, but so far so good.

The Tribe definitely "found a way to win" today, even if it was winning by the Tigers sucking. By July we won't even remember how we came to win the first one - as long as there are many more!

Tomorrow is a 1:05 game so don't forget. Actually, the site says 1:08, no foolin. Anyway, around 1 tune in to hear Salazar throw against some RHP with a 2.57 ERA. Let's hope the batters are more inspired this time, maybe?

Sorry no Radio Chatter today. But, here's a collage of pictures of my dog. She is 12 today!

When Can We Relax?

For some reason I was very nervous for this game. Maybe really it was excitement, and watching some of my friends post online about their team's normal-time games, and then the threat of a rain delay just kept me wound up.

I was also pretty nervous to see how the team would do playing real baseball in a real situation that counted. Not like they weren't playing real games all summer. But it's always curious to see how they will do coming back to play 9.

I had a premonition that it'd be a pitcher's duel. It kind of looked like we'd easily roll over this Sonny kid and get a bunch of runs on the A's as Masterson struck them out. But that didn't happen!

The 24-year-old Oakland pitcher Sonny Gray turned out to be pretty good. Even though we got 5 hits off him and plenty of RISP, nobody crossed the plate and he ended up striking out 7 over just 6 innings - more than Masterson!

Masterson did his thing, though, and while he didn't strike out double digits he did get 4 over his 7 innings. And he did pitch 7 scoreless innings, which was rad. He kept his speed pretty consistent the whole time too, not losing any velocity even though it was his first time out and it was cold.

Mark Rzepczynski threw one out of relief, then Cody Allen came in for the rest of the 8th. He almost totally blew it but was saved by a ball that got caught by the wall instead of catching air. Tense!

Our new closer is John Axford, who is a Canadian citizen. So is his wife. But not his kids. Huh! I guess that explains why Rush's "Working Man" made it so high in fan voting for his entrance music. He's got all of Canada in his pocket.

Anyway, I guess his "thing" is that he throws a ton of pitches for a closer. While our previous closer would get an inning closed out in 11 pitches, Axford took 26 pitches to strike out 2, walk 2 and get a fly out. Being so aware of how easily a save can be blown, I don't know how much of this drawn-out closing I can take this year. I guess I'm going to have to get used to it!

Man, talk about being wound up, though - Jason Kipnis! Poor fella went 1 for 5 with 3 strikeouts! You know it's because he wants it too bad. That's what it is, man. He wants it too bad.

Kipnis was third, and ahead of him was Nyjer Morgan (the fill-in until Bourn is back) and Nick Swisher.

Morgan got on via the walk as the first play of the new season. He didn't steal, even though I was told he would. He didn't get any hits but in the 9th he connected for a big fly with the bases loaded to score the first run of the game.

Swisher followed Morgan with a walk in the first, and also followed him with an RBI in the 9th. Good.

After Kipnis is Santana, who didn't get the big hit for the guy we've kept around to get the big hits. In fact he didn't get any hits. But he did get a walk, as Santana is wont to do, so at least he still does that. Getting on base...

Michael Brantley remains to be the amazingest. He's still hitting .500 (that's what he hit this spring) and his 2 hits were doubles. Don't you just want to shout it from the rooftops?! MICHAEL BRANTLEY IS COMING FOR YOU, TED WILLIAMS! Ok maybe not Ted Williams, maybe just the number 300. This is the year.

Hey, Ryan Raburn! Tonight's DH. He did strike out twice but so did a lot of other Indians. He went 1 for 4.

Asdrubal was bumped down to 7th. Ouch? But no batting order is set in stone. Besides, Yan Gomes is 9th so your worth as a man clearly isn't designated by your spot in the order! He did end up going 1 for 3 with a walk and a hit and a run scored. Oh man I just had an awful thought of how he'll get fewer at-bats down at the bottom and fewer chances to lower his average. Oh no oh no...have I turned on Asdrubal?? I think maybe he needs to work a little to get in to my best graces this year. He's got my good graces, of course.

David Murphy. Still not buying what he's selling but perhaps he will Raburn his way into our hearts. Tonight he went 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

Gomes himself went 1 for 3 with 2 strikeouts. Hmm. Well, we can't all be Yan Gomes all the time! (??)

I'm just happy for baseball to be back, midnight games or no. Strikeouts or no. Pitchers duels or no. Hooray for America's game! Hooray for baseball!

The Indians' first opening day shutout since 2002!

Tomorrow we face Scott Kazmir. So we should have that locked up, right? He should be scouted to the hilt. Jason Kipnis should calm down and get some hits. It'll be another late one tomorrow night - and there is more rain in the forecast - so be sure to get your nap in after work, ok?

See you there!

No Radio Chatter tonight because I was too wound up to take notes.