That's More Like It!

Happy Kipnis day, boffins! Don't you just love it when the Kid plays the way he can? And you know he's as excited about it as we are!

The whole Tribe team was into it today, that's for sure, after two - well, three - miserable games where we didn't score and didn't win. The starter was on it, the reliever was tight and there were enough extra runs to let Nick Hagadone pitch!

Corey Kluber was your starter today. I don't know if you recall but his last start was against Detroit where he gave up 8 earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. He's better now! Today he threw the absolute minimum of a quality start - 6 innings with 3 runs. Does he get extra points that all 3 runs were hit in by the same guy, on a single and a double? He definitely gets extra points for no homers! He struck out 5 in his 6 innings, by the way.

Oh yeah AND he almost hit a huge double, but it got caught. But AND he got a walk - and came in to score a run! *ahem* sorry, didn't mean to seem excited about pitchers batting. It's pretty sad when you have to get so excited about a fly out and a walk, huh? 

Cody Allen had an awesome 7th inning. A 1-2-3 inning where he struck out the second two guys after a ground-out. Nifty!

Nick Hagadone came in for the 8th and didn't suck. He faced 4 batters giving up no hits, just a walk. Good, so...what does this mean?

Albers came in for the 9th and actually gave up a run. But hey, the party was already spilling on to the street by then so I barely noticed.

Bourn and Brantley were benched today, because we can. And of course in a NL game you're going to see all your guys bat anyway, so we didn't miss them for long. And, since Drew Stubbs was having a good game batting leadoff, Bourn and Brantley were surprisingly not missed at all!

Stubbs went 2 for 5 on the day with a double, and he came in to score both times! Nice jobs, Stubbs - he's got a little 4-game hit streak going, and is bringing his average back up to the "Wow, we got more than we asked for with this guy!" level.

Kipnis had a DAY!! The dirtbag went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, a homer and a walk. And 3 RBI. It was sort of precious how Vinnie Pestano was so excited for Kipnis after he got the home run:

I know him! I know him! @thejk_kidsaw you peek to see where it landed before rounding second haha. Solid day there goat #Thatboygood
— Vinnie Pestano (@VinnieP52) May 15, 2013

D'awww! Anyway, Kipnis has 11 hits in his last 10 games and more importantly 13 RBI. His average still has some climbing to do before it's at Stubbs-level, but he's definitely going in that direction with FEELING!

Asdrubal wasn't too far behind Kipnis today in terms of excitement. He went 2 for 4 with a walk and got a HUGE 2-out hit in the 6th. I've got a confession to make - I get very un-positive when Asdrubal comes up with 2 out and men on base. Partly because my confidence in him is shaky this year and I think the other part of it is that I'm hyper-focused on his at-bats so while other dudes are probably being disappointing left and right, I probably remember every single time Asdrubal skunks it. Then I get to thinking "Whew, that was close!" when he gets the job done, probably so I can go forth and brag. It's very complicated emotionally to have a favorite player.

Swisher was sure to join his top-of-the-order cronies in the RBI fun. He only went 1 for 5 but it was a big one! He got a 2-run homer in the 5th, which ended up including the winning run.

Check out this story about ball player Jim Gentile, who could of been the star player of 1961 had it not been for those other guys. They ask the old man who his favorite player today is. He says it's Swish. Literally!

Mark Reynolds had an interesting game. He was at bat in the 3rd and took a swing that seemed to cause him some muscle distress. They checked him out, he stepped back in to the box and hit a 2-run double! Beardy double! He ended up going 1 for 4 on the day but I don't think he hurt himself. He's just slumpy right now. They put all of the pitchers in his batting slot later in the game, and when it came time for one of them to hit, Michael Bourn stepped in. But Kluber was in the 9 spot, not Reynolds' spot, when he came to bat, and eventually Michael Brantley hit for him. Confusing.

Carlos Santana got on base today. Duh! Just a boring old single, though, and he didn't come in to score. Still hitting over .300 though at .319! Him and Brantley are the only guys still up there (.303).

Ryan Raburn didn't get a hit or anything today. Awww...

Random Mike Aviles was on the hot hitters train today, though! He was bonding with the rest of the boys in the infield. He had his third homer of the year to get the 4th inning's "only" RBI.

So the Tribe pummeled another million-dollar pitcher. Cole Hamels may not be a Cy Young Award winner but he was a candidate. And of course his bullpen didn't fare much better (Hi Chad Durbin!)

They were making a big deal about how Francona said the guys had to focus extra hard to not take their day off a few hours early today. Do you think that attitude was what did it, or was it just a matter of knowing how to hit Hamels and just being flummoxed by unknowns?

The Indians outscored the Phillies 32-12 this year. You're welcome, Braves and Nats fans! Frig those Phillies!

Tomorrow is a well-needed off day, and then the Mariners come to town with another Cy Young Award winner in tow. Yay! Friday is Dollar Dog Night and also a fireworks night so it's gonna be crazy awesome at The Prog (I hope). And by "crazy awesome" I mean for all the people who will come out to the game, and for me to listen to all the cheers from my home. Root root root!

Friday's matchup is Ubaldo versus RHP 5.97. Snerk!  See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Cole Hamels admitted that he hit the banquet circuit after they won it all in 2008."
- Tom Hamilton

"This is when you go to get a hot dog."
- Tom Hamilton on pitchers batting

"Maybe what the Indians need is to face more aces and Cy Young winners."
- Tom Hamilton

"Now you can see why the National League wants pitchers to bat. Because that was riveting."
- Tom Hamilton's tongue is in his cheek

"To hear some people in the Nation League describe it, it's right up there with Einstein's Theory of Relativity."
- Tom Hamilton on the double switch

"I think the key for the Indians this year, they have got to face a pitcher who is making 20 million a year."
- Tom Hamilton

"This used to be our nation's capital. They moved it when all of the people in government gained about 80 pounds from all of the cheesesteaks and Tastycakes."
- Tom Hamilton

"In true Philly fashion, those fans who are staying are booing."
- Tom Hamilton

Peaks and Valleys

I am in such a bad mood right now. Nothing to do with the ballgame, except that the ballgame did not help one bit.

Asdrubal got a triple, Kipnis stole his 7th base, Santana got on base again.

Tomorrow is at 1:05 so don't forget. Kluber versus LHP 4.18. See you there, 'n stuff.

I did get you some Radio Chatter, so enjoy.

Radio Chatter:
"It's amazing what $500,000 does to your desire to get a college degree."
- Tom Hamilton on Jonathan Pettibone's signing bonus

"First and foremost - do not get hurt."
- Tom Hamilton on what Francona asks of pitchers at the plate

"We're in Philadelphia for 36 hours. Just enough time to get Philly cheesesteaks and Tastycakes."
- Tom Hamilton

"That Ben Franklin was big in this town. You find electricity and everyone starts naming streets after you."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"You come here and it looks like the outfielders are on top of each other."
- Tom Hamilton on the size of the field in Philadelphia

"In a baseball season you've got a lot a peaks and valleys. The key is that your peaks are a lot longer than your valleys."
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy, I'd like to have a nickle for every item the Phillies team shop has sold."
- Tom Hamilton says everyone's got some Phillies swag

"Maybe the Indians will be better against a proven commodity like Cole Hamels instead of these unknowns."
- Tom Hamilton

Ryan Raburn Is So Good...

(Not Ryan Raburn's uncle Gene)

...Ryan Raburn is so good that Cliff Lee's mom sent him a _______.

I don't know what's more exciting here, boffins - beating our 4th Cy Young Award winner out of 5 faced this year (no one seems to be mentioning the loss to Jake Peavy, but whatevs), our 4-game winning streak that beats any streak this year and ties last year's, Asdrubal's 10-game hitting streak that includes 7 RBI, or Ryan Raburn's 5-game hitting streak that includes 4 home runs, 13 hits and 10 RBI. It's ALL just fun times and sunshine, here!

Let's start off with Trevor Bauer, to whom I give an A+ for tonight's performance. Not because he was lights-out or went long, because he did neither of those things. And it was great that he only gave up one hit and no runs. Really great! He did walk 6 but he also fanned 5, and since none of those 6 walks crossed the plate, it worked out wonderfully.

What was most impressive about Trevor Bauer is that he did not lose his shit. How many grown-ass, veteran pitchers have we see come through here in the past 2 or 3 seasons and just lose their shit? I'm not talking about Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay losing their shit - we simply out-hit those guys, ha! But I'm talking about Ubaldo Jiminez, Fausto Carmona, Brett Myers, even sometimes Justin Masterson. But mostly Ubaldo and Fausto. It's just so refreshing to see a guy pitch as well in the bigs as he does in the minors, and to be the same guy in person as on paper. Trevor Bauer may be a bit of an "excitable young man" but that kid believes in Trevor Bauer first and foremost and tonight he showed it. No one was going to intimidate Trevor Bauer tonight and Trevor Bauer was not going to look bad!

So kudos to that guy! Let's hope we see him some more, and he is just as good next time. I especially hope to see him more if it means less Brett Myers. Also, we had to give up Nick Hagadone for a bit in order for him to come up so let's not run out Hagadone's options by playing pitcher chess. I wanna see him in 5!

Speaking of pitcher chess, there was a bit of that going on with our bullpen today but that's cool with me. If Francona is going to pitch matchups and win games then a-friggin-men! Brian Shaw came in for the 6th and gave up a walk and a hit, but got out of it. He started the 7th and gave up a single right away, then a fielder's choice (robbed!) and induced a double-play before they took him out. Rich Hill came in to finish the 7th and start the 8th. He got a pop out and then, once again, Joe Smith came in to show everyone how it's done and struck out the next two batters.

Joe Smith's ERA is still 0.00. He's got the most games (10), most innings pitched (8.2) and most strikeouts (11) of any of the 8 guys rockin' the 0.00 right now. That's right - he's better than Vinnie Pestano!

Cody Allen had an uneventful 8th inning, getting three fly outs and end the game. Allen's been super tight lately, not giving up any hits or walks in his last 4 games after a sort-of shaky start. His ERA's down to a respectable 2.19.

WOULD YOU BELIEVE... that after the last two games, where the team hit a total of 10 home runs in the last 2 games that there were NO home runs tonight? Not for either team. Actually, Drew Stubbs technically hit one over the wall, just Laynce Nix's glove was there on the other side of the wall to catch it (yes he is the brother of Jayson Nix. Who'da thunk it?)

We didn't need homers today though because we got clutch hits and had scoreless pitching. This is how you win baseball!

This team doesn't get hot without Michael Brantley being hot, and he was once again hot tonight going 3 for 5 with a run scored. That's 17 hits for him over his last 10 games, and his average is up to .302. Hitting streak up to 4! Woohoo!

Jason Kipnis is still not hot but hey, he walked today and came in to score a run. Good job, Kip! You'll get them next time!

Asdrubal was the DH tonight and only went 1 for 4, but his hit was a huuuuuuuge 2-run double and then he came around to score, too! That's all he did tonight but not only did it give us 2 runs it also extended his hitting streak to 10!

Ryan Reynolds was "quieted" tonight, only going 1 for 5. But he's got a 4-game hitting streak going, too.

Carlos Santana is still hol-ee-cow WOW! right now! He went 2 for 4 tonight with a walk and came in to score twice. So he's got a 6-game hitting streak and leads the league in average, still, by 24 points (.395). I'M SERIOUS!!! I don't even know what more to say about this situation that I haven't said in the past few nights, because he just keeps being confoundingly awesome. Carlos Santana!

Speaking of confoundingly awesome, in case you forgot, my hero Ryan Raburn was at it again tonight! After going 3 for 4 last night with 3 RBI, he went 4 for 5 tonight with 2 RBI! That's 13 hits in 5 games, folks. Oh man...how do we find more excuses for this guy to play?? He's so good...

...He's so good that Nick Swisher left a three-word note in his locker that simply said _________.

Ryan Raburn also pulled a Laynce Nix and went over the wall to pull in a home run. Is there nothing this guy can't do?! 

Mike Aviles was in at short today, and since Mike Aviles is a team player he got another sacrifice fly for an RBI.

Yan Gomes took on the task of catching Bauer, which was an interesting move. And I think maybe not very subtle? I guess Gomes never caught Bauer even though they've been on the same teams here and there (Indians teams) but the genius of this move, I am guessing, is that Yan Gomes is way more of a grownup and leader than Carlos Santana probably is. So Gomes was able to guide the game where Santana may have possibly been a hindrance. This is just speculation but something stopped Bauer from losing his shit so I'm going to give some of the credit to Gomes! Oh, Gomes went 1 for 4 at the plate.

Drew Stubbs looked alive again today, after beating back a hitless streak yesterday. He was back to his old self today, going 2 for 4 with an RBI! And of course that almost-homer. That's 5 hits in the last 2 games for ol' Drew!

Tomorrow is, like, the saddest off-day ever. Because who likes to sit on their hands after a 4-game winning streak?! Who likes to go to bed with no baseball? Lucky for me I have a date with the Olive Garden, where you bet I'll be biding my time under an endless pasta bowl. Fill 'er up!

Friday's game is at home against the Twins at 7:05. I hope everyone shows up - it's the first Dollar Dog Night! It'll be Justin Masterson versus LHP 2.35.

Ooh, since Justin will be there I bet that means maybe Meryl will be there in person? She's been here for 7 night-game wins in a row! She's magic, I tells ya!

I am here for you, boffins!

Have a good day off and I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Ninety-four miles per hour. That's why the Indians want Bauer to have confidence in his fastball."
- Tom Hamilton

"Right now, everything rolling the Indians' way."
- Tom Hamilton after Raburn's infield hit

"There's another way you could look at it. He could be pitching a 6-hitter with one walk and we could be saying 'He's doing a good job of spacing out those hits.'"
- Tom Hamilton on Trevor Bauer in the 5th

"Giambi called himself 'Mr. Potatohead' last night [...] He was taking inventory of all his parts after that head-first slide last night."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"Hard to believe he made an out last night."
- Tom Hamilton on Ryan Raburn

"The Blue Jays can't lose enough. The way they were so smug when we were in Canada...they were like 'Yeah we've got to play 6 months of baseball, but everyone knows where we're going with what we did in the offseason.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"I don't think your contract's that long. You'd better be careful!"
- Jim Rosenhaus on Tom Hamilton's thoughts on the Blue Jays

"How many of you out there have ever sent your ACT stores to Armstrong Atlantic State University?"
- Tom Hamilton on Jeremy Horst's alma mater

"Looked like the Buffalo Bills' field goal kicker in the Super Bowl, didn't it? High and right."
- Tom Hamilton on a wild pitch in the 8th

Cy-Young, Schmy-Young

"Wow!" is what I texted to my friend, and "Wow!" is what reader @twimpus tweeted to me, at exactly the same time - when Ryan Raburn hit his second homer on the night and the Tribe was up 13-2. Or maybe it was after that, when the next batter, Drew Stubbs, hit the team's 7th home run. Something like that...both times I'm pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing. "Wow!"

This Tribe team that we saw roll over David Price and R.A. Dickey was back to face another Cy Young Award winner in Roy "Doc" Halladay and it was, like, no big deal. Hallady had two bad starts but rocked his last two starts so it was assumed he'd just blow through the Indians. But the Indians had other ideas!

First, our pitching. It was "ace" Justin Masterson who faced off against the other two Cy Young winners but today was "new guy" Zach McAllister who showed the big guy up! McAllister went 7 innings and only gave up 2 runs. Of course they were homers (upping the percentages again!) but hey at least they were solo homers! He only gave up 3 other hits and just one walk. Also helping was the lack of errors in the field again. Could it be our starters are evening out?!

Nick Hagadone came in and looked a little shaky, giving up two walks before getting a guy to ground in to a "whew!" double play, and then that final ground out. Matt Albers finished the job, with his third shut-out appearance in a row. I'm getting pretty comfortable with these guys!

The team got 7 home runs tonight, which is the second most they've gotten as a team (8 was the most, which they've done twice, and had 7 one other time). This is the most home runs they've hit in Cleveland since...er, some long-ago date that you'll have to find on the radio tomorrow. Tom Hamilton was saying in the first inning that the team was on pace to hit 204 homers this year. If I did my math right, that pace was upped to 243!

Oh also, we now lead the league in homers. In fact, we're tied with the Braves for leading the MLB, with 36. At the beginning of today we would have been, like, 8th in the league. WAT!

Everybody hits today!

Michael Brantley got a home run! In fact, it was his first of the year. He only went 1 for 5 tonight but he made it count, as it was one of many 2-run dingers. Back to a 3-game hitting streak!

Kipnis was gettin' it done old school today with no homers, but instead two singles, going 2 for 5 on the night with a run scored. He also stole a base, really early on. He tried again and got caught but whatever! He's gotten on base 21 times and has stolen 5 bases and leads the team. So even if the kid isn't getting on base as much as we need him to, at least he's stretching it out when he gets there!

Asdrubal extended his hitting streak to 9 games today, going 1 for 4 with 2 RBI. His one hit was a total clutch job, dropping one in to right with 2 outs and 2 men in scoring position. Both came in to score! Mike Aviles came in for him in the 7th (because he could, I hope) and he went 1 for 1.

Carlos Santana - UNGH!!! Is this guy just the guy this year or what?? He got his 5th homer tonight, his 13th RBI, and he went 1 for 2 because he walked 3 times. So this means he still leads the league in average (by 14 points) and OBP (by 19 points) and he is just the awesome! Remember how disappointed we were in him last year? All that potential is just spilling out of him now like [picture whatever you want to picture spilling out of a person]. I am totally loving it!

Jason Giambi did NOT get a home run today but here's what he did. First, he said he's cool with gay players in professional sports and says the MLB is ready.  Then tonight he walked and came around to score, then hit a double, and in the 8th inning with the team up 14-2 he slid headfirst in to first base to get himself a single. I hope someone turns that in to an animated GIF for me to see!! Apparently it got him a standing ovation from the dugout.

Update: Here's a vid!

Anyway, I think I pretty much like Jason Giambi now, even if I don't like that I like him.

Mark Reynolds, huh?! He's got a 3-game streak going with 6 hits over those 3 games. He got his 8th homer today, which was his first since April 21. I think I called it yesterday that he was relaxing again to get ramped up! His was a 2-run homer, and that gives him 9 RBI over his last 10 games. Now he's hitting over .300 too, and he's tied for second in the league in homers!

The Chiz Kid finally got into the act today too and got himself a 2-run homer! He only went 1 for 4 but hey, keep going Lonnie!

Ryan Raburn! If I wasn't stoked enough about him last night he comes back tonight and tops himself! Tonight he went 3 for 4 with not one but TWO homers for a total of 3 RBI and 3 runs scored! Dude's got 4 homers this season and all of them came in the last 2 games. Ha!

Drew Stubbs squashed an 0-for-15 slide and went 3 for 4 tonight! In the 4th he singled and then stole a base (4 total), allowing him to score from second on Asdrubal's hit to right. Then in the 5th he singled and was on base when Brantley got his homer. Then in the 7th he got his OWN homer! It was his second homer of the year and his second 3-hit night. That's the kind of #9 hitter we need so let's hope he's back in gear to keep it up!

We've scored 51 runs in the 6 night games we've won since Meryl showed up. Just sayin'.

Let's score 51 more!

In other news, did you hear that a dude named J. Cole released a song called "Kenny Lofton"? It's true. I'm sure you heard about it if you subscribe to Kenny Lofton's Twitter feed, because a million people tweeted about it and he re-tweeted each one! I love Kenny Lofton but he's a terrible Twitizen, kind of like Bernie Kosar (who seems to have calmed down). You can listen to the song here. I'm a fan of hip-hop but I'm not really a fan of this song. I think mostly because it's not so much a song about Kenny Lofton as a song about something else that name-checks Kenny Lofton and uses his name for the title. Letdown! What do you think about it?

Clips of some of tonight's homers are already up on Tom Hamilton Has The Best Home Run Call In All Of Baseball. Check them out!

So this is 3 games in a row now where the team has been batting like we all thought they would. Does that mean there's been a permanent shift? Are they primed and ready? What does it mean that we're taking on these Cy Young winners with such ease?

We're facing another Cy Young winner tomorrow in Cliff Lee. To that we say "BRING IT ON!" right? If anyone has the swagger to go out there and face Lee on the mound it's Trevor Bauer, who'll be our starter. He is either going to be "I knew it!" good or "I knew it!" comically bad. What we need is our bats to stay hot, that's for darned sure. I wonder how many people are going to show up to see Lee? Hope it's a good number, after these 3 wins and with the good weather and stuff. I won't be there but I'll be listening!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"You leave a bottle of that around and it's going to to missing, whether you're in sports or not."
- Tom Hamilton on Adderall

"85 percent of the people in this world don't care what your problems are, and the other 15 are glad that you have 'em."
- Tom Hamilton


"The Pirates must be allergic to brats. [...] Bernie the Brewer went down that slide so many times the other night, he had burn marks on his biscuits."
- Tom Hamilton on the Pirates' struggles in Milwaukee

"Fans are now shocked when the Indians don't hit a homer."
- Tom Hamilton