Momentary Lapse of Awesome

All that excitement from yesterday - great starting pitching, great hitting - came to a screeching halt in today's game. The starter didn't make it out of the 5th and the team only got 3 hits and one run in total. Two of the hits and the run didn't come until the 9th!

ZMac just didn't have a good outing. He gave up 5 earned runs. Ok, that happens. The offense should be able to pick you up on those days. They didn't. And the bullpen should be able to save things for you. They couldn't.

Lee came in for long relief halfway through the fifth, and did go 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Then Josh Outman appeared and strangely gave up 2 more runs! Carlos Carrasco finished out the game for an inning and 2/3 and didn't give up any runs. Cool.

John Axford is done closing for now, by the way. Whew! It'll be closing by committee which is totally fine by me. Mariano is gone and there won't be another.

Nobody was hitting. Just Ryan Raburn who got a double. A few guys got on with walks, and nobody hit them in. Unreal.
 
Michael Brantley (.287) did get a single in the 9th. And Lonnie Baseball came in to not only pinch hit for Swisher but also play first base (YES!) and he got a hit too.
 
Asdrubal's fire was temporarily snuffed out today.  Hoping it returns in full tomorrow.

That's it. No more to say about this game. We'll see you tomorrow at 1:40 for the absolutely exciting return return of Josh Tomlin! He'll face RHP 4.91.

I was totally running all over today during the game so I didn't get any Radio Chatter. I was lucky enough to hear most of the game! But I'm sorry I missed getting you some quotes because Tom Hamilton just does not ever have anything good to say about Florida and it is hilarious. Today he was telling people not to come to Tropicana Field if they like to visit ballparks, because it sucks. He says that since there's no basketball team in the area, they crank the music as loud as they can to create a basketball-like atmosphere where you can't talk to your neighbor. Also he had a long rant about the DJ Kitty hat for tonight's giveaway (which drew 29,000 fans) and yesterday he ranted about DJ Kitty himself. I think he hates Florida more than he hates Minnesota!

What's so bad about a DJ Kitty hat, man??

Life's A Happy Song

Life's a Happy Song on Disney Video
With someone to pitch strikes and someone to bash the ball over the fence and also just get the ball in play with RISP, you know?! That doesn't rhyme at all but when you match our now-dominant starting rotation with some guys whose bats are hot, it sure makes things look like sunshine and happiness on the road ahead. You know, when you have your pals to back you up and stuff. If you're not backing up the Klubot, your heart is not really in it.

Tribe's won FOUR in a row! Wahooooo!

Corey Kluber gave up 9 hits. What?? Wow....9 hits! But 9 strikeouts, NO walks and just 2 earned runs! It was big big big that Kluber didn't allow but 2 runs to cross because it took until the 6th inning for the Tribe to score. Leave it to Kluber to carry the team on his back for 6 innings. He can handle it!

Zep and Shaw came in for the remainder of the 7th and the 8th, doing what they do best. Which is not letting anyone score. One hit and 2 strikeouts between them.

John Axford, I am very done with. He gave up 2 hits and 2 walks and a run. Then he loaded the bases and the winning run came up to the plate with 2 outs. And I still feel very wobbly from this experience. I hate the idea of making light of PTSD, so I need a different term for how I feel about unreliable closers. Or rather, a term for how we feel when things are the same-ol-same-ol as they have been in the recent past for Cleveland fans.

Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus are SO over Axford. I've never heard them be so down on an Indians player as they were today with Axford. And also Carlos Santana. I think being in Florida makes people do and say things more freely. But when Hammy gives up on you...woah man, you are way doing it wrong.

Cody Allen came in to get the third out in the 9th to end the game. Because you can ALWAYS count on Cody Allen! End of story.

So Michael Bourn got a triple today. That's pretty cool. But he also went 1 for 5, striking out 3 times. It's really hard to watch that sort of thing when you know Nyjer Morgan is 30 feet away...

Swisher actually went 2 for 5 today. So yay for him. I just had an idea, though....Aviles at first when Kipnis comes back. Do you love it?!

Michael Brantley (.286) actually only went 1 for 5 today but check it out, fools: 1) He doesn't get paid $15mm a year and 2) His one hit was a HOME RUN, man! It was his 7th of the year and 31st RBI and he didn't hit that level until July in 2013. Go on with your bad self!

Carlos Santana walked twice, and came in to score once. Classic 2014 Santana....but how long do we have to put up with him at clean-up? Tom Hamilton was just murderous on him today!

David Murphy did nothing today. Nothing. What's up with that?

On the other hand...OMG ASDRUBAL!!!! You shoulda seen how the Twitter was burning up with praise for our Cabby! Tom Hamilton was blown away by his turnaround! @sportsyelling was confused at all the good! Everyone was putting up stats about how good Asdrubal has been lately! He hit his second home run in 2 games (third of the year) and got the team's first run in the 6th. He went 3 for 4 today with no strikeouts, giving him NINE hits in his last 3 games. He raised his average from .205 on the 6th to .254 today. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!!!

Now, please, MLBJesus, let this be the new trend and not just a temporary breaking of a season-long slump. Amen.

Yan Gomes, who has yet to thrill me with his post-paternity-leave explosion, at least has a 3-game hitting streak and today he went 2 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored. Oh, and he caught a guy stealing and once again didn't throw it in to the outfield! Maybe this weekend he'll show off his dad muscles. His folks were there watching the game tonight. Adorbs.

Lonnie Baseball was just 1 for 3 today but once again making things happen - he got hit by a pitch. Never a dull moment!

Holy cats - MIKE AVILES!! He is hanging tough with Asdrubal and Brantley and getting all of the excitement for this team! Jason Kipnis is actually afraid for his job! (Although I know Aviles can play first or third if needed....) Tonight he had just one hit and it was the big hit that I don't think ANYONE has been able to get so far this year. That is, the game-winning homer that brought in all of the RISP. He had struck out his first 2 times up but after Brantley homered in the inning and Gomes got his RBI single, Aviles LAUNCHED one to give us 3 more runs, making the score 6-2. BOOM!

After all that, the Tribe still left 10 guys on base. Imagine if they were hitting with men on. I guess baby steps...now at least they're hitting at all? Can't believe we won 4 in a row, though!

Tomorrow is an evening game, at 7:10. ZMac versus LHP 4.35. Their pitcher looks just no good, so it's going to be hard for the team to avoid hitting him. How about ZMac with a complete game now? Sounds like fun!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Tampa doesn't have a weather issue, they just have a lack of fans interested in coming to see the team play."
- Tom Hamilton

"Odorizzi is going to make sure that the folks selling beer here at Tropicana Field are going to have a long time to sell it. [...] He lulls everybody to sleep, including his defense."
- Tom Hamilton

"Holy cow! How do you get that hot in two games? Asdrubal Cabrera is scorching!"
- Tom Hamilton

"It's like he's made up his mind to swing the bat when the ball is halfway to the plate."
- Tom Hamilton on Carlos Santana

"It doesn't matter how you get that run in from third, as long as you get it in."
- Tom Hamilton

"The way he's swinging that bat, he's never leaving this lineup!"
- Tom Hamilton on Mike Aviles

"I told you it was a goofy night, folks! You can't have Tom Jones and 80-yr-old men dancing!"
- Tom Hamilton on the between-inning entertainment

"Wow. Wow wow wow."
- Tom Hamilton on Axford's performance in the 9th

"The Indians are going to feel like they plowed the back 40 the way this game is going."
- Tom Hamilton is tired and wants to go home

"Bottom line this game should not have come down to this in the 9th inning."
- Tom Hamilton

"They were cruising until John Axford literally had this Tropicana roof fall in on him."
- Tom Hamilton employs hyperbole

"If this whole year is going to be like this, none of us is going to have a heartbeat by October."
- Tom Hamilton

Own It, Cleveland!

The video above is a sweet compilation someone put together of the 2013 season up to about the end of August. Watch it, enjoy it, remember it! Own this season, Cleveland - all we have left now are memories of the fun!

If you were following this season closely, you will be satisfied with its outcome. The 2013 Indians were a team that were probably going to the playoffs in March. Then the Tigers became the team that were definitely going, by the end of April. The Indians, probably not...definitely not in August. But wait...maybe by September? Holy cow, they are in!

It was waaaaaay fun to watch them get in to the wildcard and pretty neat to have the top wildcard spot sewn up for a few days. The final game was kind of heart-wrenching but eh, you saw it coming right?

So very awesome to see the crowds at the Prog both on Wildcard night and the weeks leading up to it! Great to see GV Artwork's "Goon Squad" tees selling out day after day. Awesome to see some Tribe trends on Twitter! It was even cool when Chris Perez said to Terry Francona "Hey, I kind of suck right now" (paraphrase)

But speaking of that game, Giambi's [second!] walk-off homer against Chicago was probably the absolute highlight of the season - a season filled with walk-off highlights! Fitting that the last one would be so money.

My second favorite moment of the season was probably when Ryan Reynolds (remember him?) blasted a big fat homer off some dude who had, in Reynolds' previous at-bat, beaned him around the head. It was such an awesome revenge homer! And the pitcher looked to SAD!

And of course there was the Rally Chicken:

And most of April spent with Meryl and her cookies:

Drew Stubbs being hit in the head and then having a several-game hitting streak:

still not a real photo, sorry.

Anything Yan Gomes did, at all:

Asdrubal at the water park:

Tom Hamilton extremely disturbed by the "water park" in Miami:

 Michael Bourn face-plant (sung to the tune of "Rock and Roll McDonalds"):

Sad Angel who lost his glove:

Bourn on the heels of Stubbs:

Tripping Miggy:

Spider Vinnie:

And this:

That is just a SMALL representation of the fun we had this year!!!

I am really excited to see this WHOLE TEAM and staff back next year. Whoever turned around the bullpen needs to come back and turn them some more, enough to fit Vinnie and Tomlin in there somewhere. Maybe maybe a new hitting coach, perhaps someone that knows a good yogi.

Now that Reynolds (God bless) and Meyers are gone, I can't think of any more fat to trim. Well I have an idea but I'm going to end on a positive note and not talk badly about Nick Swisher er...people.

It was different doing the blog this year than previous years, because it felt more like judging what was expected instead of finding joy in the unexpected. Much harder to be all positive and stuff when guys you were told would be good weren't playing so well. Hence a handful of games I completely didn't comment on at all!

But, I'll always love baseball, win or lose, and since I love Cleveland baseball I've got no choice but to be able to roll with the punches. I hope you're the same way, boffins!

See you in 6 months!! WAHOOO!!!

Radio Chatter:
"The right side of the field is like the Ponderosa."
- Tom Hamilton on the shift

"The crowd here is deafening. The tribe scores a run, lookout."
- Tom Hamilton

"The credit goes to Alex Cobb."
- Tom Hamilton

"For as good as Peralta and Rodney are, maybe the answer for the Indians is anyone but Cobb."
- Tom Hamilton

"Molina held it there, but Jerry Davis said 'that's ok Jose I'm not changing my mind.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"Molina, one of the best defensive catchers. He'll never be part of a relay race."
- Tom Hamilton

"Rodney looking at home plate umpire Jerry Davis as if he's from Mars."
- Tom Hamilton

Don't Call It A Comeback

Because it's not. Ha!

It almost looked like the Tribe was going to be able to come back and have a spectacular inning or two and get back in to this game. Except they didn't, and then the Rays kept scoring more making the gap even wider and by the 8th inning the thrill was gone.

Plus the Tribe had a few missteps and errors in the game, and a few calls not go their way. And the Rays themselves looked razor-sharp. Just seemed like nothing was going to go well for this team today.

It started off with Zach McAllister not having his "stuff" or being "off" or "not crisp" or something. He gave up 5 runs on 7 hits and lasted just 4 1/3 innings. He didn't strike anyone out (perhaps that one can be explained away by the crazy strikezone today). He threw 90 pitches in those 4 innings. It was definitely a mercy killing to take him out that early.

But, the Rays weren't done scoring off Tribe pitching. Hagadone cam in to finish off the 5th and did fine. But then in the 6th he promptly walked a guy then gave up a homer. Boo!

Bryan Shaw came in for the 7th and had a 1-2-3 inning. Yesssss! This is it, a turning point in this game!

Except, it wasn't. The Tribe didn't score any more runs, and then Rich Hill came in and there was a Tampa Bay Hit Parade with 3 hits, a fielder's choice, a sac fly and 2 runs scored. By this time we had nothing left to lose, so they brought in the kid from Columbus, Matt Langwell, who got all his nerves out on the table by giving up a 2-run homer to Evan Longoria.

Tom Hamilton's right, though - Langwell will only ever face less-good batters for the rest of his career now.

Langwell did stick it out and ended up striking out James Loney (another power hitter) to end the inning, and then coming in for the 9th and not giving up any more runs. It'll be interesting to see what this guy is made of from here on. Well, it always is with new guys.

The Tribe actually had a somewhat-decent day at the plate, aside from the goofy strike zone. It just so happens that their 11 hits were just too far spaced to beat 11 runs. Also, there were NO walks. Huh! The Indians are 6th in the league in walks, in case you were curious.

I heard someone say on the radio the other night that they weren't impressed with Michael Bourn and he wasn't "as promised" (this was a caller, not a host). What? Other than Gomes, he leads the team in average (he's got almost double the at-bats of Gomes). He's second on the team in stolen bases despite being 14 games behind the guy who leads the team (Kipnis). He seriously runs stuff down in the field.

Anyway, I'm pleased with Bourn. He's hitting like Brantley was when he was really feeling the leadoff spot. He had a rough go of it in the first two games against the Rays but today he went 2 for 4 and is still hitting over .300 (.301). He did get caught stealing today, his 4th time, but you gotta be in it to win it!

Kipnis went 1 for 4 today, now with a 3-game hitting streak. Not that exciting but a streak has to start somewhere!

Asdrubal was benched today with that bad leg. It was planned that he'd play yesterday (sweet!) and sit today. In his place on the field was Aviles and in his place in the lineup was Brantley - who went 2 for 4! Sadly he had no runs scored and no RBI. Ugh.

Reynolds went 1 for 4 with a run.

Santana had a HUGE game, going 3 for 4 with a run. Three singles, even! He did have a bit of a brain freeze in the 4th where he wasn't legging it around the bases on a fly ball with 2 outs. Turned out the ball touched down and he could have scored easily. Oops! Remember that "Manny being Manny" baloney? I'm afraid we're going to have to come up with something similar for Carlos Santana. I'm thinking "Oh, that 'los!"

Yan Gomes has been playing a lot lately. Seven games in the last 12 days. And how can you not play him when he's got 10 hits and 10 RBI in those last 7 games? Today he got just one hit but it was an RBI double with 2 outs to start the short-lived rally in the 4th. For what it's worth, his was the aforementioned hit that dropped that Santana could have scored on. Is Santana trying to harm the record of his rival?? Gomes did have an error today, his first error of the season. He threw away a ball when trying to pick off a guy at third and it resulted in a run scored. Not perfect? Woah!

As I said earlier, Aviles was in for Asdrubal and he followed up Gomes' double with a 2-run single of his own, getting 2 of the 3 RBI for today. Love that Aviles!

That was it for hitting today. Eleven hits and only 3 runs in one inning to show for it. I guess it gets the bullpen off the hook, being that the team couldn't score enough to cover McAllister's bad outing, even.

Tomorrow we go to New York to face the Yankees. GOOD. BRING 'EM ON! Let's have some great baseball! Can't wait woohoo!

No really, it'll be fun. If you're not waking up every day looking forward to baseball, then you're probably reading the wrong blog!

It'll be All Hail Justin Masterson versus RHP 3.83, fresh off the DL. The game's at 7:05.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Indians catcher popped up and started walking to the 3rd base dugout, and is probably now saying 'I'm sorry' very discretely to Bill Welke."
- Tom Hamilton

"The longer this goes, you wonder how short the fuse will be for the Tribe manager."
- Jim Rosenhaus on a discussion on whether Fuld hit a double or a triple

"I gotta believe he's been tossed already and now he's getting his money's worth."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Francona arguing balls & strikes

"When Michael Bourn puts a ball on the ground in the hole on the left side of the infield, the only thing the fielders have to do is make sure it doesn't turn into a double."
- Tom Hamilton

"Bill Welke is going to need a group hug from the other three umpires at the end of this game. I don't think he's heard a kind word all day."
- Tom Hamilton

Is This Real Life?

Ubaldo Jiminez pitched an 8-inning shutout. Vinnie Pestano came in to close and didn't give up anything but a walk. Jason Giambi has his third home run in 3 games.

Everything's coming up Milhouse!





Ubaldo had a lot on his shoulders today after yesterday's blowout of the bullpen. He could have easily crumbled under the pressure but instead he barreled through Tampa Bay like so much Tampa Butter. He held them to only FOUR hits - none for those monster bats Longoria or Loney - and struck out 7. And only one walk, nobody got hit, nobody stole a base - talk about control!

Looking at Jiminez's stats for this year, it seems like the horrible game is the exception and not the rule. Completely backwards from his previous season with the Tribe. Yeah his first 2 games were stinkers and in Detroit last week he lost it, but today was his 10th start and only 3 or 4 of them have been bad. The others were good-to-amazing!

It would appear that Vinnie is back. Some would say that he never left but nobody here is used to him being anywhere near bad so to see him struggle for a bit was to write him off as near death. He closed well enough on Wednesday, giving up a homer on a 4-run lead. Today he held tight on a 5-run lead, giving up just a walk. He got the first 2 guys out quickly and struggled to get that final out but he was finally throwing back up to 93 today (he was just up to 91 on Wednesday). How lucky are we to have this guy around when Perez can't be there? Lucky!

The top of our order was where it was at today, excepting Bourn. It actually was sort of a boring game, being that our runs came on homers and not little hits or anything weird. But hey, a win's a win!

Kipnis went 2 for 4 today with his 11th double. Ramping up with a 2-game hitting streak! Let's hope he's not in a slump so much as a valley. Need this kid producing hits and runs for the team to be good, that's for sure.

OMG ASDRUBAL!!! It's been a loooong time since his last home run - May 6, when he hit two - and today he came through with a 2-run dinger! I guess he's limping around a bit with a bum quadricep but managing. I guess it's not affecting his power! Asdrubal has 12 hits and 5 RBI in his last 10 games! Almost quietly keeping it together while everyone else is trying to figure it out.

Swisher is figuring it out too. In that I think he's on his post-paternity-leave crash but if you can't put the ball in play then put yourself in play with a walk. Today he went 1 for 2 because he walked twice. After one of those walks he came in to score on a homer. Contributing!

So what's the deal with Giambi? Ever since I wished he wasn't terrible (ok, I've been wishing it since April 1 but let's say it was Wednesday) he's hit 3 homers and gotten 7 RBI in his last 3 games. He has struck out 3 times too - which sort of makes me think he's trying too hard to keep it going. I guess he's had some sort of neck trouble that is over now and we can expect to see more good things from him coming up now. Let's hope all of these big talkers know what they are talking about! I'm ready to be Eddie Murray'd again.

The only other guy with a hit today was good 'ol Mike Aviles who is basically playing every day now that Lonnie's out. Not to say it wasn't the plan to have him in this much as a roving replacement, but the opportunities have opened up a little more for him. It always seems to me like he is doing stuff when he's in but really he's only had 6 hits in his last 10 games. But today he went 2 for 3 with a walk AND a stolen base! He's our secret speed demon. Unfortunately he didn't get any RBIs or runs but oh well, we still won.

It'll be great if we can take the series tomorrow. It's looking good with pitching at least, Ubaldo having saved the bullpen for a day. And the fans are coming out so hopefully that gets the guys pumped a bit to get some more runs.

Tomorrow at 1:05 it'll be McAllister versus RHP 5.61 so we definitely have the opportunity for a lot more runs! Here's to a great Sunday - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Indians hope that it's the good Ubaldo that shows up today."
- Tom Hamilton

"For all of you who say you can golf like Tiger Woods, today you can."
- Tom Hamilton on Woods' 9-hole score of 44

"If you can average 13 pitches per inning, you're going to pitch a complete game."
- Tom Hamilton on Jiminez in the 3rd

"It's never a good sign when the paper boy is wishing you a good morning as you pull in the driveway."
- Tom Hamilton

Hey, Are You Still Awake?

Eh, go back to bed. Nothing happened here. Nothing but a 5-hour rain delay and then a game in which the Indians got 1 hit. They actually managed to get 2 un-earned runs out of all that but...meh.

Kind of pissed at WTAM for recycling rain delay material. They played stuff from all the way back in April, I think. I was sort of pissed that they were re-hashing the "Why aren't there black people in baseball anymore?" discussion until I realized they weren't just re-hashing it, they were re-playing it! I know because in the middle of the discussion last time some dude called up and told them (Bob Frantz et al) about blind baseball (technically the National Beep Baseball Association), and that very conversation occurred again tonight. Yay for beep baseball but boo lazy dudes at WTAM! Couldn't we have had more discussion about something current? It actually did start off as a discussion about grading the team at the 1/3 mark of the season but then I guess their dinner got delivered and it was tape time.

Anyway so after this re-played conversation they played a baseball game. Insert jokes about getting their asses kicked by the blind baseball players here. Ha, good one!

I spent the evening cataloging collectible souvenir spoons. I kid you not.

Corey Kluber was set to start, he had to wait 5 hours, he pitched 2 innings and that was it. He did well, though - no hits, 3 strikeouts, 1 walk.

Then Scott Barnes came in and got his ass handed to him, giving up 5 runs on 4 hits with 2 homers. They couldn't very well take him out at the first sign of trouble because the name of the game was save the arms.

Except they ended up having to throw Albers, Hagadone and Shaw in there to keep everyone's pitch counts down and keep it close. The three of them pitched 5 innings total with only 1 run scored, on a home run given up by Shaw in the 8th. It was Loney's second homer of the game.

Then Rich Hill came out and took a little nap on the mound while the Rays scored 3 more runs. Then the pitching coach paid him a visit to wake him up and he struck out the next 2 guys to end the top half of the 9th.

Ryan Raburn is so good...

Ryan Raburn is so good that he is the only one who _______ today.

After he did, the trainers had to visit him at second base to see how his crampy leg was doing. He must have been ok because it was the 5th and he stayed in the game. He got an RBI by the way.

Yan Gomes was catching today. He got a sac fly and got the other RBI right after Raburn.

So that was that. I think I'm more bummed about there not being a huge crowd and people not being able to see fireworks (I assume there's a noise curfew?) than I am about the loss. I get so excited when a ton of people show up at the stadium, and I love the fireworks and want people to see them! I hope they ate a ton of dogs at least. If I would have been there I totally would have stayed, although I can't really think of too many people in my life who would stay that long with me. Some friends stayed pretty late for a game with me in 2011 but it was over by 12:30, not just starting at 12:30. Everyone else, they've got kids to go home to. Meh.

I was there in spirit! I had to stay home with my spoons. Good on all the folks who stayed - you're awesome!

Tomorrow (today) is a 1:05 game. That's 9.5 hours from now! I hope everyone gets tucked in ASAP tonight. It'll be Ubaldo versus RHP 0.00. Don't be skeered - it's just some dude making his 2013 debut. He ended 2012 at 4.60, if you're curious.

Go get some sleep, and I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"It's only 12:30, this is the early show!"
- Tom Hamilton comparing the game to the even later game in KC

"Eggs, bacon and Budweiser. Sounds good here at 12:30 in the morning."
- Tom Hamilton

"How big now is the start by Scott Kazmir?"
- Tom Hamilton on Kazmir's 7 innings

"It's one of those nights...the Indians just can't seem to square the ball up tonight. That'll happen."
- Tom Hamilton

"Fans leaving for the exit - that's just terrible. It's 2:30 in the morning, how can you leave a ballgame early?"
- Tom Hamilton's tongue in his cheek

Price Paid

Awesome baseball today, boffins. Just awesome!

If you recall, just three-some hours ago I was pondering what could be the outcome of Justin Masterson (1-7 versus Tampa Bay) against David Price (2012 Cy Young Award winner, never lost against Tribe). And Price against a team that hadn't scored a run since Thursday.

The outcome was made clear fairly quickly and there was never a doubt that not only would Masterson shut down the Rays but also the Indian batters would crush David Price. Huh.

Justin Masterson pitched 7 innings, just under 100 pitches. No runs, two hits, eight strikeouts. He just cruised through the game like he was running a AAA pitching clinic. His ERA is now .69 after 13 innings. So far this is the pitcher everyone has been saying that we needed. Is this real life? Wow, I hope so!

Joe Smith came in for the 8th and kept up what Masterson had started. Vinnie Pestano finished it off and actually struggled a little bit to shut those Rays down. He walked two and gave up a hit to load the bases but he ended up on top.

Before we get in to who hit what today, I'll quickly gloss over who didn't hit - Asdrubal and Swisher. I think that's pretty weird because those are, in my mind, the two team leaders. Let's imagine a scenario where they spent last night staying up late encouraging everyone to do better today. Right?

First up was Michael Bourn, who got his first homer and first stolen base today! A little late on the stolen base, dude, but hopefully the first of dozens! Bourn has been crazy consistent for us as a leadoff guy, much like Choo was at his peak last year. He's gotten nine hits and one walk in six games, including three doubles and that homer. He's only come around to score 3 times but at least he's setting the stage! I'm super excited that he's working as planned, because growing up in an era of Kenny Lofton I really love a good leadoff guy!

Michael Brantley had the day off, since our bench is so deep, and Ryan Raburn was filling in batting third. He went 1 for 4 with a double and a walk, and came around to score twice. Love that Raburn!

Mark Reynolds was the DH today, and today we're not disappointed in Mark Reynolds. In fact, we're impressed! He went 3 for 4 with a walk. He scored 3 runs and got 3 RBI because he hit two home runs and a double! Slugging: .950.

Speaking of slugging, Carlos Santana went 5 for 5 today with 3 RBI and scored 3 runs. He had a homer and two doubles. His average is a Brantley-beating .500 and that's after playing all six games! I never really put much thought into whether or not Santana would be outstanding this year. Decent? Of course that's expected. But if Carlos Santana is going to be markedly better than Victor Martinez this season? That would be amazing. I'm ready for an all-star catcher!

Mike Aviles was in today for Kipnis and he really got himself together, going 2 for 5 with 2 runs and an RBI. Much better than Friday when he really looked like he was struggling at the plate and on the field. This is what we want from a utility man!

Lonnie Chisenhall looked smooth today, going 2 for 5 with a homer off David Price and a double off Fernando Rodney. Rodney sure isn't himself this year, wow. He only gave up 9 runs last year and has given up 3 now this year in two appearances. I'm ready for the Chiz Kid to heat up - this is a good start!

Drew Stubbs was solid again today, this time at the plate. He got our first RBI of the day on a single in the 2nd, and went on to go 2 for 5 for the day. If your #9 guy is going 2 for 5 then it's a good day (of course if #9 gets up 5 times that's a good indicator right there!)

Today the team had five home runs (more than Tampa Bay's total hits), doubles and 17 total hits to score 13 runs. HOW ABOUT THAT?!

Tomorrow is opening day! Are you totally stoked? They'll be starting with the hoopla at 1 PM and pregame at 3. It's on channel 3 so all of us can watch! Ubaldo Jiminez versus RHP 13.05. You like those odds?

So excited - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Baseball is such a goofy game, it probably means that Masterson will throw a no-hitter and David Price won't make it out of the third inning."
- Tom Hamilton before the game

"You could start a brawl if somebody gets hit today."
- Tom Hamilton

"It tells you about Tampa Bay's lineup when your number nine hitter is also the DH."
- Tom Hamilton

"This. Is. Shocking. The Indians have lit up David Price."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"Most people don't like going to the dentist. Ryan Roberts has his own tat machine so he can go poking and prodding whatever he wants all over his body."
- Tom Hamilton

It's a Shame About the Rays

I was searching for something and came across a post from this blog from May 29, 2011 in which I write "Guess the Indians can't figure out the Rays, just like we can't figure out the White Sox. Or maybe it's that those teams have us figured out?" I'll admit - I often forget that the Rays even exist. They don't seem to have forgotten the Indians - even though we're a completely different team than 2011.

Friday I hung out with my aunt & uncle who were in town from Phoenix and we watched the game. Frankly, it was a boring game! The Rays' starter pitched a good one and our guys couldn't hit the ball. Well, Michael Bourn hit the ball and even Jason Kipnis did too. But Bourn had no one to drive him in and Kipnis hit the ball to where dudes were waiting for it.

Mike Aviles started at third on Friday. He missed a lot of spring training due to the World Baseball Classic. But he is a baseball player and he was playing baseball the whole time so it's not like he went from the couch to third base. Aviles looked bad at the plate and worse in the field. I don't have anything against the dude yet, but his job that he was hired for is to be a utility man and to not play every day, so he needs to hurry up and get used to not playing every day. If we're going to have a Sometimes Guy who can't hit we might as well get Shelley Duncan back! So, keep an eye out for Aviles and let's hope he improves as he gets more games under his belt.

Mark Reynolds came to us from Arizona and my uncle couldn't tell me enough about how disappointing he is as a player. I'll be honest, I was very disappointed in him through the middle of the second game (against the Blue Jays) but he hit that game-winning homer and I was all "YAY!" Then the next night he hit a homer too and that was cool! But Reynolds' MO is that he strikes out most of the time until he hits a home run or five. And who doesn't like a home run? I don't know if I have the patience to watch all of those strikeouts inbetween, especially with all of our other guys on base. I'm sort of hoping that he is getting a lot of playing time right now so that the front office can decide sooner than later if he fits on this team. He was our first pickup at the end of the 2012 season, I think (or one of the first) so if he doesn't shape up, he may be the first to go.

I think that's why he's been in instead of Ryan Raburn, who had quite an awesome spring. Raburn was in the game on Saturday in right field and he was not only one of the few guys to get a hit, he also had an outfield assist! I had mentioned to my uncle that we didn't really have a scary arm in our outfield this year now that Choo is gone, but that night (Friday) Brantley had an outfield assist and Saturday Raburn had his. Someone more educated in the field of physics might be able to do the calculations to prove that it is or is not due to their ground speed, but that's my story.

Since Raburn was in the field, Santana was the DH on Saturday with Sweet Lou Marson behind the plate. Lou got absolutely flattened on a play at the plate, with the Rays' center fielder coming down on him in a move that would have gotten 15 yards in football. But Lou hung on to the ball and actually played out the inning before everyone decided that it might be in his best interest to visit the team masseur instead of play the rest of the game.

So Carlos Santana moved from DH to catcher which left the #9 spot open in the lineup and that was filled by the pitcher. First Bauer then Albers and then Aviles at the end. Aviles came in to replace Chisenhall at third but not before reliever Cody Allen replaced him in the lineup. Beautiful-looking box score if you care to look!

If you didn't hear, Trevor Bauer became our fifth starter for one day only after Scott Kazmir went on the DL with a rib muscle strain. Bauer is only slated for this one game as Carlos Carrasco will be back in the rotation now that he's served his suspension. Bauer (also from Arizona) had a rough start, walking the first 4 batters he faced but the kid only gave up 1 run in the first and two more in the 4th before he was done. He walked 7 and only struck out 2, so I'd say he owes a bit to the defense behind him!

Matt Albers came in to relieve Bauer and he kind of sucked. Three hits and 1 run in one inning. There was almost another outfield assist in the series when Bourn caught Escobar trying to stretch a double into a single, but umpire CB Bucknor botched the call, missing the fact that Kipnis clearly tagged Escobar on the foot. Albers gave Bucknor the what-for at the end of the inning (actually he was pretty smart - the guy knew to wait until he was on his way out to get thrown out). I haven't been blown away by his pitching yet but now I know his name, that's for sure.

Cody Allen took the 7th and 8th and gave up two runs. Our bullpen has some holes, friends.

Although we managed 5 hits in the game, they were the definition of "few and far between" so nobody really even got past second base save for a short rally in the third inning where Raburn got to third base.

Even though we came out on the wrong end of the scoreboard both Friday and Saturday, at least Saturday's game had a little excitement. Do you think Nick Swisher will be able to rally the troops to perform better in today's game? Today's game features our #1 guy (1-7 against the Rays) against their #1 guy (2012 Cy Young winner).

I'll see you there - in 5 minutes!

Radio Chatter:
 "Wow. How in the world was that a one-run inning?"
 - Tom Hamilton after the first

 "Any more than 3000 here and it elicits a parade in Saint Pete."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "It's one of those games where you look at the line score and say 'That must be a snoozer' but we've had some action here in the first three innings."
 - Jim Rosenhaus

 "Trevor Bauer trying to make like David Copperfield. Can he elude danger one more time?"
 - Tom Hamilton

 "If Earl Weaver was managing the Indians right now he'd be on his third pack of cigarettes."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "If you would have said that Bauer would make it through five [innings] back in the first...no way."
 - Jim Rosenhaus

 "He is arguing with C.B. 'I got another one wrong' Bucknor. [...] He could go out there with a blindfold, flip a coin and have a good a chance at being right as he would be wrong."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "Raburn, the ball and the wall all seemed to arrive at the same time."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "At some point in life, if you're not good at what you do, you should not have that job."
 - Tom Hamilton on umpire CB Bucknor

 "Tampa Bay must feel like they've had the Indians on the canvas all night, but the Indians keep getting up."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "Boy when did you think we'd ever say this? 'The good news is, the Yankees are coming to town.'"
 - Tom Hamilton

Full Price

Really, not much to say about today's game - which is good because it's only 4 PM and I'm still at work and shouldn't be saying much at all. But hey - the sooner I get it over with the sooner I can look towards the Tribe's homecoming and the 3-game slaughter of the Orioles!

Ubaldo was the starter today and I must say he looked damned good - until he didn't. Of course he had us all on the edge of our seats loading them up in the first and getting out of it. He ended up giving up 7 hits and 5 walks for a total of 5 earned runs. He did strike out 5 in his 5 2/3 innings and only gave up one run ... until he gave up 4 more before he was yanked like Fred Willard at the girly show.

Scott Barnes added to Ubaldo's total by promptly giving up a hit when he came in. Then he gave up a run of his own on two doubles in the 7th. Jeez...

Jeremy Accardo ALSO gave up a double but to no ill effect. He ended up striking out 2 in the 8th. He's not looking too bad...better than Barnes who Hamilton declares "not ready for the Majors."

So David Price is in line for this year's Cy Young, and our lineup has been struggling so as you can imagine, it was bad news up and down the lineup for us today.

The absolute highlight - for me at least - was that Asdrubal got a hit! Yessir, one of our two hits off David Price came from the previously struggling Asdrubal Cabrera! Struggling no more? Indeed!

The guy who got the other hit was Jose Lopez. He's also the guy who got a homer off Aroldis Chapman earlier this year. Must like to hit these crazy-good pitchers. Or they have no idea how to pitch to him.

Santana walked twice, so that's pretty cool. Oddly enough, Michael Brantley struck out twice.

That's it. That was today's game. Ubaldo crumbled and our offense was completely denied and David Price is awesome.

Next up is 4 against the O's, who we bombed pretty good in June. The series is at home and there's all sorts of crazy good deals on parking and transportation and stuff. And Beatles fireworks! Let's hope all the fan love gets us a nice set of wins - maybe a sweep?

Tomorrow, Saturday and Monday are all 7:05, and Sunday is 3:05. John Adams will be there - how about you? I'll be there Monday, maybe Saturday too. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"How in the world can you allow Jose Molina to steal a base?!"
- Tom Hamilton after Jose Molina stole a base

"He's gone 7-12 since he recorded a commercial with Darth Vader, so he's got that going for him."
- Jim Rosenhaus on Luke Scott

"When he's in a jam, Ubaldo Jiminez is at his best."
- Tom Hamilton

"No disgrace in getting shut out by Price."
- Tom Hamilton

A Real Baseball Game!

Holy Moses, boffins!! Did you make it all the way through that one?! It was FANTASTIC!! The Indians played all sorts of baseball - hitting, defending, pitching - and we WON!

What made it really sweet was that poor old Masterson was struggling against these Rays (again - what's up with that?) and the team managed to work around his woes and pull out the win anyway.

Masterson only made it 4 1/3 innings and gave up 4 runs on 7 hits - and 7 walks! Yeowch! He also gave up 3 stolen bases. I think we're best off putting this one behind us.

Who came in to save him and also get the W? Why, Esmil Rogers of course who is now all of a sudden our middle reliever, which you don't see much with dudes who throw for heat but there it is. Did you catch the TribeVibe post about him? It's really creepy. He wanted to quit baseball but his friend punched him in the face and told him to stay so that's why he's still playing. All right...

Sipp came in and everyone was like "Sipp's been good lately!" and then he gave up a single and a walk and ended up giving up an earned run when Smith came in to relieve him. So we're back to thinking Sipp's no good.

Vinnie came in and blanked 'em in the 8th, getting his 26th hold. In a strange twist of fate, Perez got warmed up but did NOT come in for the 9th. Accardo was in and he struggled a bit, giving up a run and a hit and a walk but we had 5 runs to play with so they left him in. Perez was getting a bit antsy in the pen and so was Tom Hamilton but he never did come in.

Batting was just...awesome today! All the guys who needed to hit got hits AND they all had MULTIPLE HITS! Of course Johnny Damon didn't hit because whatever, and Kotchman didn't hit but that's ok because we're not paying him to hit. He did get hit by a pitch for the 6th time this year. If that's what we're paying him to do then...well, all right.

Here's what happened. Hold on to your seats!

CHOOOOOOOOOO went 2 for 5 with a run and an RBI. You know, he's had a pretty nice July so far with 19 hits in 53 at-bats, putting him at .358 for the month. Still a winner in the choice for leadoff!

OMG ASDRBUAL!!! I am serious this time! Not only was he back to being awesome in the field again but he went 3 for 5 with a double and 2 runs. OMG OMG OMG! His batting average is still .279 but everyone (Hammy, Rosie, Kipnis, Acta) was all "Well I guess he's out of his slump now." I GUESS SO! Ok maybe not but being an Asdrubal superfan I have to play up that angle. He's out of his slump just you watch!!

Kipnis, who has been sort of yawn-y lately (although I think that's more a function of the lack of hitting around him) was back to his old self tonight going 2 for 5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs. Getting those 2-out RBI, too! Just like they did earlier this season!

Cousin Michael, solid - solid as a rock - is back to hitting again and not just walking. He got his 4th triple of the year tonight (but didn't score, ugh!) and ended up going 2 for 5 on the night. The count begins back at 1 [game hitting streak]!

The story of the night, even more storied than Cabrera, is of course Carlos Santana. In at catcher, batting 5th, Manny talking all week about how Santana and Hafner need to get their shit together and Santana's shit was together tonight, boy! Two hits. One walk. Four at-bats. Two runs. Four RBI. ONE THREE-RUN, TWO OUT HOME RUN! Brilliant! Brilliant, I say! When that guy gets a multi-hit game, we win. Simple as that. Someone better be showing that boy video on a loop of his hitting tonight, all the way through to tomorrow, in case he forgets again how he's supposed to do it.

Since I'm NOT in the Santana fan club, I am not obliged to say "he's out of his slump!" so I'll just pump my fists in the air silently for a bit. woot.

Let's not forget Hafner! He had a multi-hit game as well, going 2 for 5. No runs or RBI, though. But keep it moving, Pronk. Get on them bases!

Supermanahan was back to his old self today, with a 2-out 2-RBI double to get us started in the 5th, then came around to score to put us within 1 run. He didn't do anything else at the plate but he also was pretty tight in the field tonight, even on that crazy plastic grass and clay dirt.

Did you know that BJ Upton's real name is Melvin Emmanuel Upton, and the BJ stands for "Bossman Junior"? I think that beats out both Joba Chamberlain and Coco Crisp for family-nicknames-cum-professional-names, don't you think?

Anyway, what a great pick-me-up tonight, don't you think? Heck the game even picked ITSELF up after seeing Justin struggle and us having to face their good-as-of-late pen. Nothing like a good 'ol hitting spree to keep your faith alive!

Tomorrow is Ubaldo versus some dude named Price (yes I am being facetious) and uh...well it's a noon game, so be there or be square. I have no comment on this game other than "I HOPE!!"

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"It's  track meet here now."
- Tom Hamilton on all of the Rays' steals

"If the Indians win this game, Rosie, this might be the biggest win they've had all year."
- Tom Hamilton

"He must feel 300 pounds lighter after that home run in the 7th."
- Tom Hamilton on Carlos Santana

Bases Loaded and Nobody Out

Tonight's game was pretty much the same as last night's, except we lost it. Which we could have done easily last night as well.

I just don't know what's up with our hitting right now. You guys have seen what these guys can do, right? You all remember when Asdrubal was scorching past .300 and Lopez was fun to see and Shelley got his groove back, right?

What's the deal? It just feels so helpless sitting here watching these guys fail at the plate like this. With runners on, too. Nobody's under .200 anymore but the team average is around .250. The fuck?

Josh Tomlin was the starter and he gave up 3 quick runs, sort of attributed to his 11 days off. He gave up his first steal since 2010. Asdrubal gave a good argument to the ump that he got the tag down but he didn't win that one. Interesting stat on Tomlin there, tho! After the 3-run first he was pretty strong through the 6th, where he gave up a 4th run and was taken out before it got too bad. 

You know who came in to not let it get too bad? Tony Sipp. And it didn't get worse! No shit! He ended up finishing up the 7th and Accardo came in for the 8th and it STILL didn't get worse. Woah!

The top of the order was the bit of the order that had it going on tonight. Choo and Cabrera both went 1 for 4 (oh thank you God, let Asdrubal continue to hit!!)

Kipnis was back to being impressive going 1 for 3 with a walk and a RBI. He scored Sweet Lou in the 5th, who had gotten on with a walk.

The book is out on Brantley - they seem to like walking him now! Poor guy went 0 for 2 because he walked twice. No RBI, no runs, nothing.

Lopez at least did a thing, bringing in Asdrubal on a sac fly. So there's that. LOPEZ!

Good ol' Casey Kotchman got his hit today. I was beginning to get worried that we could not, in fact, always count on him! He had his 4th error of the year, though. It sounded kind of spectacular with falling down and stuff, but I don't see a video online.

Shelley Duncan didn't do anything today. He left 4 guys on base, is what he did. I'm mortified. But you know, this sort of shit wouldn't happen if you just let him play EVERY DAY!!

I'm thinking of putting a Chief Wahoo temporary tattoo on my right forearm, just under the inside of my elbow. The antecubital region of my arm, if you will. I had a temporary tattoo last month on my bicep and it lasted like 5 weeks. I think I can get away with this - I don't work in public, who's going to care? I just can't decide if I want to do it now or later in the season but...well, I can just get more at the Team Shop.

I think I'll wait til Monday, when I go to batting practice. The guys will be so very impressed!

Yawn. More Rays tomorrow, again at 7:10. But this time it's Masterson! Which means we'll give no run support but also he won't give any up. Right?

Oh by the way if you're bored and need something to do between 5:00 and 7:10, all of the Bad News Bears movies are on Netflix Watch Instantly now. They're only like 90 minutes each. I may or may not have watched 2 today at work.

All right, see you tomorro!

Radio Chatter:
"There is no variation in his pitches. They are either 96 MPH or 95 MPH."
- Tom Hamilton on Matt Moore

"I went to Catholic grade school and she didn't look like any of the nuns that taught me. 'Mrs. Zoberist would you slap me with that ruler again?'"
- Tom Hamilton upon learning Ben Zoberist's wife is a Christian recording artist

"For some reason the management here has decided the key to every game is for the fans to go home with a splitting headache."
- Tom Hamilton says the music is too loud at Tropicana Field

Too Hard

Jesus, that win was too hard to come by! The way ZacMac pitched and our guys getting on base 16 times it shoulda been cake. There shouldn't have been a scramble to get relievers working and a nail-biting 9th inning. Also shouldn't have been a three-and-a-half-hour game but there it was.

At least it was a win!

Zach McAllister was aces tonight. ACES! You can't go wrong with strong starting pitching, and we've seen a good bit of that lately (Ubaldo nonwithstanding). McAllister went 6 giving up only 3 hits and striking out 5. Just one earned run! He got his 4th win and is now 4-1. Awesome call-up - sorry Jeanmar!

Esmil Rogers, with eyes as wide as saucers, was brought in for the 7th and promptly gave up a homer. Oops! He walked one and then had to be saved by Sipp, who couldn't get the third out, so they both had to be saved by Vinnie. Who rocks your socks and not only finished the 7th but came in for his classic 8th-inning hold.

Perez was not about to let one go, and came in to throw 94 MPH fastballs and 84 MPH sliders. Which one would it be which one would it be? OOOOH sorry you guessed wrong! Yer out! He put his guys down 1-2-3, striking out two and gaining his 26th save. PARTY AT SENOR PURE RAGE'S TONIGHT! (Perez is from the Tampa area and I suspect his dad still lives there.)

CHOOOOOOOOOOOOO had a great night tonight, going 2 for 4 with 2 doubles. One double - the lead off hit in the first - was actually a home run or a triple but it ended up being called a ground rule double. Lame! But he stole 3rd then came down to score on a wild pitch. HA!

Man, I am not going to be so invested in one player anymore. Such soul crushing sadness when your main guy does shit like strike out 4 times in one game and leave 7 on base. Like, I think I have to re-evaluate my life now. What am I doing? How did I get here? Should I invest in new foam board and markers? Because my blue marker broke, you know. So if I'm going to make a new sign it's either got to be non-Tribe colors or I'm going to have to make an investment in another marker.

Life is hard here in Asdrubalville.

But, the JK Kid had a little resurgence tonight, going 2 for 3 with a walk and a RBI. His two hits were doubles as well!

Choo has now 10 stolen bases and 29 doubles, and Kipnis has 10 doubles and 20 stolen bases. Doesn't it seem like Choo should have more stolen bases and Kipnis more doubles? I keep thinking this and they keep having the wrong stats.

Michael Brantley is back to 0 game hitting streak. I thought he might pull it out by walking all FOUR times he was up to bat but no luck. He actually struck out once. Doesn't matter though - going 0 for 1 keeps him up over .300 with .301! Woohoo! He's also hitting cleanup now which is smartness for Acta. There's no rule that says your DH or your top home run guy needs to be 4th! Put in the guy that is hitting!

I kept waiting for ol' Lopez to do something amazing tonight, being that he was up 4 times with 6 guys on base. Nothing. Hafner at least walked twice! But otherwise, nothing from him too. And Kotchman. I thought we could always count on Kotchman? (Well, 23.5% of the time)

Carlos Santana got a hit! But he still NEEDS multi-hit games. We can't do it without that. HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL HIM?!

Johnny Damon, native Floridian, best season of his life 2011 with the Rays, 2 for 3, yadda yadda.

Hey Jack Hannahan! He came in to bat for Damon in the 9th and got a hit! Good on ya!

Not a very exciting performance overall for our boys. Much better in the pitching department than hitting. Manny is tinkering with the lineup a bit, and I trust him to come upon something miraculous to follow up the invention of Choo Leads Off. Brantley Cleanup shows promise but I also like the idea of Shelley Every Day.

Maybe we'll get a taste of Lou tomorrow so he can continue his little hitting streak. Tomorrow it's Tomlin versus a dude we dominated last time around. Both guys have similar stats but if our guys are batting with their thinking caps on they've got a chance to crack him again.

Another 7:10 start - let's hope they get their sea legs by then. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"We want to thank Bartley for being a long-time listener and thank you for sharing that information..."
- Tom Hamilton joking on Bart Swain sending him trivia about having all the teams in the AL over .500 (except Kansas)

"I guess Bobby Valentine is never going to learn to shut his mouth."
- Tom Hamilton on Youk returning to Boston this week

"He completely surprised his first baseman Pena."
- Tom Hamilton on Farnsworth's unexpected (and missed) throw to first in the 6th

"Cabrera has left a small village on base."
- Tom Hamilton

"What the Indians want is a legitimate middle-of-the-order hitter. But I am still waiting for that pony I asked for when I was five years old."
- Tom Hamilton

All Star Shame (July 8th Game)

Disregarding the play of our two all-stars that culminated in a loss going in to the break, there was a lot to like about this game, boffins.

Of course, it's not like we'd been on a losing streak or that we'd not been scoring runs and we can be happy to have scored a big 6 on Sunday. Or that no one had been hitting and we were happy to see some hits, with several guys having a multi-hit game.

But there was a lot of baseball in that game and seriously, without Asdrubal playing lackadaisical and not hitting and without Perez having his worst game since the first game, the rest of the team had a hell of a game.

Little Zach McAllister was the starter and he went 5 2/3 giving up NO earned runs! Holla! Not only that but he struck out 8! Not that I don't respect Lowe but it's nice to see one of our starters routinely throw between 5 and 10 strikeouts. Unfortunately he didn't get a win out of it but oh well.

Smith took over next and had a typically Smith game. I think we can consider him solid now. Another guy who is working his way towards solid is...Sipp! No shit! He only came in for 1 out but it was a strikeout. No runs!

Vinnie looked a little rough, having to throw 30 pitches. Perhaps it should have been a harbinger of what was to come next. Pestano did end up striking out his side without giving up any runs. But it seemed like it took forever.

Perez gave up 3 runs, blew save. Huh.

Choo started off having a bad day but ended up going 2 for 5 with a homer. CHOOOOOO!!

Kipnis was his stellar self in this game. Feast or famine with that kid - he's had 10 hits over his last 10 games but it's like 2 or 3 hits, or none. Anyway he ended up going 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs. He got his 8th double...you'd have thought he had more, right? Just like how Choo only has like 2 stolen bases.

Hafner went 0 for 4 but he got on with a FC and came around to score. He didn't strike out or anything so at least he's making contact, right?

One of the big stars of this game was good ol' Cousin Michael!! He went 3 for 4, extending his hitting streak to 7, where he's got 10 hits in those 7 games. He's got 24 doubles, putting him squarely in the top 10 for the league. Man, I can't believe he got no RBI and no runs, though. Bummer!

Santana...did a thing. He got a single going 1 for 5. He ALMOST tied the game at the end but...no go.

The biggest star of the game was ex-Rays Casey Kotchman! The Kotch is now The Klutch! He went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI and a run. And his 8th home run!! Although he was a star in the game, he ended up not being the hero in the 9th. Ah well. Here's an interview with him from TribeVibe, being sort of creepy or humble, I couldn't tell which.

Damon was in the game. No Shelley today. Probably because I didn't have time to remind Manny Acta that we should see Shelley Every Day. But Damon actually did well and got his SECOND triple of the season going 2 for 3 and scoring a run.

Shelley gave an interview and said we don't need to look for any more outfielders or any more bats. I hear you, brother! Let's build these guys up instead! Where would we be if Duncan got more attention and we didn't have to wait on Damon's sorry ass? Maybe better...maybe better.

Speaking of sorry asses...Nick Hagadone broke his damn hand punching something after his bad outing Friday. BROKE HIS HAND!! So that's all she wrote for Nick Hagadone this year, I'm sure. The Indians are still trying to work out with the player's union just who is going to pay for this mess.

This was a rough game but we'll get over it. We've got 3 more glorious months of baseball! Hafner's back! McAllister will save us all! It's going to be fun times and I can't believe I have to wait another day and a half before we can start again.

Friday at 7:05 - Masterson versus a guy who's given up 17 in his last 2 starts. See you there!! (Late, cuz I'll be on the road) (No sorry, not another baseball getaway)

Radio Chatter:
"Shields is good at going soft, softer and softest."
- Tom Hamilton

"Hafner not totally 100% after his knee surgery...and he wasn't Rickey Henderson before it, either."
- Tom Hamilton on the likelyhood of throwing Hafner out at the plate

"[Manny Acta] feels that Kipnis is their best defender right now."
- Tom Hamilton just before Asdrubal makes 2 bonehead plays in the 5th

"This should be a sit-back-and-relax game...but 4 un-earned runs in the 6th inning changed everything."
- Tom Hamilton

"When they turn it over to the bullpen it's pretty much automatic."
- Tom Hamilton before Chris Perez's transmission blew

"Choo is a guy who didn't let his first 3 at-bats set back his day."
- Tom Hamilton after Choo's 8th inning homer

"This is interesting...how does Fernando Rodney at age 35 start throwing 100 miles per hour?"
- Tom Hamilton is talking about drugs

Everyone's At The Rally Alley!

I was there at the game today, boffins! I was there with my OMG ASDRUBAL!!! sign! Even though it was over 90 degrees at gametime, it was actually quite pleasant up in the upper box where there was both shade and breeze.

We went early to check out the Rally Alley. The Rally Alley isn't as exciting as I'd imagined but it does give you something to do an hour before the game. Mostly we stood in line to get our faces painted. Only not our faces because we were all sweaty. It took forever to get through the line but the painting was free and they did a GREAT job, in my opinion:

There were other designs to choose from and stuff. Chief Wahoo, a baseball, any player's name, block "C", script Indians, etc. Well worth the wait! Some dude got the block "C" painted on his face (as in from his forehead to his chin) and he ended up being the University Hospitals fan of the game. Check him out here.

Joe Charboneau was there signing autographs. I didn't get one cuz I think I've already got one. Doesn't everyone have one by now? Also at the Rally Alley were a roving magician and juggler, a dude on stilts, three old guys playing old-timey music, a caricature artist, a cheap hot dog and beer stand, some guys from the Cleveland Blues Base Ball Club and an RTA bus at which they were giving away t-shirts and bobbleheads. The t-shirts were actually pretty cool - a RTA bus with a Wahoo feather. Sadly I did not get one as they were only size L and I instead got a XL white t-shirt with the block "C". Oh well - my friend got one. I'll ask if I can have it later when she remembers that she doesn't wear t-shirts.

I'd probably go to the Rally Alley again - just to get a RTA t-shirt and a cool arm painting. Otherwise it's sort of a bust.

Hey how about that baseball game?! Here's my seats:

Like I said, cool and breezy. Got a nice view of where the ball was crossing the plate too - except every 5 minutes when someone walked up those steps, or stood at the bottom of the steps looking confused. Frustrating! But...cool and breezy...

Ubaldo looked fantastico tonight! It was sort of scary since Justin had such a bad game yesterday, but Ubaldo didn't follow suit. He went 6 innings with only 2 earned runs (off a homer) and EIGHT strikeouts! He only walked 1 and was pitching pretty consistently in the 90s. The pitching staff ended up striking out 12, which is only the 6th time this year they've struck out more than 10 in a game.

Sipp came on in the 7th and he was back to his old self! Well he was helped out by a BIT of wind blowing in from center. I think that kept one or two balls in. But no hits, no walks, no runs and he struck out one. VinnieP52 came in for the 8th, just to work I guess, and he had his 2nd quickest sprint in of the year (they time it now!) He had 1 walk and 1 strikeout, no hits or runs.

Rogers came in  for the 9th, which was weird - no Perez! But we didn't need him. I predicted Perez would come in and give up 1 run, because he had a run to give up. Rogers gave it up instead - a homer on the first pitch. But he got the next guy to ground out and then the next 2 struck out so he looked fine. Pitching in the high 90s even!

Kipnis was out today, as were Hafner, Damon (good, I didn't have to complain about him) and Kotchman. Weird to sit guys this close to the All Star break but I suppose when it's a million degrees out and your bench is playing pretty decent, it doesn't matter. It didn't work so well yesterday (but it didn't matter, thanks to Masterson) but today it worked just fine. The guys showed a lot of patience at the plate, getting rid of their starter after 95 pitches in 4 2/3 innings.

Choo didn't have the best day, even though I got my "arm ink" in his honor. Did you notice I got extra O's and everything? He went 1 for 4, no doubles or anything. He even got caught stealing!

Even worse was Asdrubal, who was the only guy on the team who didn't get a hit. And me with my sign! Oh well, I got to put it up a few times from plays on the field. And he didn't make any errors, so there's that. Oh yeah - he did walk, so it was only 0 for 3. And he came around to score after.

Lopez was in at 2nd and didn't goof anything up out there. He went 1 for 4 on the night and had a really nice double that dropped on the left field foul line, bursting forth with chalk. He came around to score, too.

Lopez was the guy in this play, where, for the first time in my life I saw umpires overturn a call.  What was cool was that Lopez stayed on base while EVERYONE else left the field. I guess he saw the first baseman bobble the ball, or someone told him to stay put, cuz he did. Pretty neat - make sure you watch the vid!

Brantley was the man who brought them in...well, at least Asdrubal, on a ground out. Earlier he got a double then came around to score :) Six-game streak!

Might I say that Santana looked GOOD tonight? And he was in at first so there was no loss of Lou! He went 1 for 2 with a double, two walks, a run and a RBI. All of a sudden he's in the middle of things again! Not sure what that means. Tomorrow he might lay down and take a nap on home plate. Or get 3 hits.

SHELLEY DUNCAN has the power! I made sure to remind Manny Acta on Twitter (@Mac_Triber11) that we should have Shelley Every Day! He's got the new dad juice going (see: Choo, Damon, Hannahan) times two and got himself a 2-run blast to left in the 8th! He went 1 for 3 with a walk, 2 RBI and 2 runs. He was the DH today.

Sweet Lou! Laser Lou! He's unstoppable at the moment with a 7-game hitting streak. He's licking the bottom of .300, too. Tonight he went 1 for 3 with an RBI, run and walk. His hit was an RBI double which set off a string of RBIs in the 2nd.

After him was Hannahan who grounded out, but Shelley scored. And after that was Cunningham who got a really nice hustle double that scored Lou. Jack ended up going 1 for 4 with a single to left, and Cunningham walked to end up going 1 for 3. He did get caught stealing - seems as though his hustle double gave him some false courage.

Really swell game, and it puts my 3-game total at 29 runs. YOU'RE WELCOME!!

I don't have time to listen to the game to get some Radio Chatter tonight, but you're in luck - since the game wasn't on TV, all of the audio for the MLB.com video is courtesy of Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus! So while we may have all missed some jokes about New Jersey or comments on how much Rosie may have eaten tonight, at least you get to hear the awesome calls.

I'm going to miss the game tomorrow but hopefully will listen later in the evening and get you everything you need, boffins. I'm also hopefully going to take a tour of Wrigley Field! Cool!

The game is at 1:05 and it's McAllister versus RHP. I won't predict the outcome but you know what I'm thinking. I also bet Manny Acta throws everyone out there to play, since it's the last game until next Friday. I think it's going to be a fun time!

See you there!

Can't Be Masterson Every Day

Not even when you're Masterson himself! You know you're having a bad game when a dude breaks his 0-41 streak at the plate with a homer. WAT?

Batting wasn't all that much better but Masterson lost this one all on his own today. But, it happens. He's probably more pissed at himself than anyone else. Well maybe not the people who had seats in center field because those seats are both crappy (hard to see) and hot.

Masterson went 4 1/3 innings and gave up 8 earned runs. Guess how many he struck out, though...SEVEN! That's pretty crazy. He gave up 2 homers but they only amounted to 3 runs. Everything else came off of 9 hits and 4 walks.

Hagadone wasn't much better - he gave up 2 runs in just 2/3 of an inning. Whatever, Hagadone.

Hey here's a gem from the night! Not only did Accardo and Rogers pitch 3 scoreless innings, but inbetween them was a scoreless Sipp in the 8th! Hey!

Choo is still a highlight reel of his own. He went 2 for 4 tonight with the team's only RBI (on a double play lulz). He's got 9 hits over his 5-game hitting streak, and is hitting .417 over his last 10 games. He's had 3 RBI in his last 3 games. Oh yeah, he stole a base too (and got picked off but don't tell anyone!) CHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Asdrubal was on it tonight too, going 2 for 3 and imparting some wisdom from 3rd base making the wind-up pitcher balk by pretending to steal home. Plus he had a nice bare-handed play from short to first. Reminding you why you voted for him for the All Star game!!

Jose Lopez came in for Asdrubal, I'm guessing once Manny realized we weren't coming back. He dropped a double into left. BAM!

We only walked twice today and both times it was Kipnis. He ended up going 1 for 2, so he was on base 3 times. And left there 3 times. Sad trombone.

Hafner! Whoops! The guy who seemed to spark our offense Wednesday and blast one into everyone's hearts last night went 0 for 4 tonight and left 6 guys on base. He grounded in to 2 double plays.

Yesterday I had a feeling that Hafner was going to get a homer, but I didn't tell anyone...and he did! Tonight I texted to my friend "Predection: Masterson vs. RHP. Easy win!"

Sorry folks, will keep my predictions to my damn self from now on.

Hafner being disappointing made Santana look a little less disappointing tonight. He at least got a double to go 1 for 4, so that's cool.

 Brantley got a hit! :) He's not really working a streak at the moment (well, 5) but it still makes me happy enough to smiley every time he hits. In June he hit in 24 of the 27 games he was in. So far he's hit in 5 of his 6 July games. Like!

Kotchman went 1 for 3 and is now over .230. Is he on to .250? They brought Duncan in to play 1st in the 9th. He's only played 1st one other time this year - nice that they remember he can do that!

Damon and Hannahan were shut out. What's up, Supermanahan? Do you really want to be in that sentence with Johnny Damon? Straighten up and hit something already! Actually he did reach on an error, but Damon reached on a FC so sort of the same.

All right so I'm not going to make any predictions about tomorrow's game. But I am going to the game and probably bringing OMG ASDRUBAL!!! with me so maybe Asdrubal will put on a show? Also, the Tribe has scored 22 runs in the last 2 appearances I've made at Progressive Field, so....I can be inspirational?

The game's at 6:05, and I'm going to check out the Rally Alley beforehand. It's Ubaldo versus LHP with a similar ERA. I won't say.

But - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Asdrubal Caberea playing the role of the wiley veteran."
- Tom Hamilton on Cabrera inducing a balk

"Victor Martinez gets hurt and Mike Ilitch just raises the price of Little Caesar's pizza and goes out and gets Prince Fielder."
- Tom Hamilton encourages you to buy Domino's pizza

"It's as if the entire Tampa Bay Rays team woke up out of a slump at once."
- Tom Hamilton

"The horses were out of the barn and the barn was burning to the ground."
- Tom Hamilton on Tampa's 6-run inning

Pronk Smash!

I text with some of my friends during the game, and today I was going to text "I have a feeling Pronk is going to go yard tonight" in the first inning. Even though his other at-bats weren't that productive, I just felt like today he'd Pronk one out of here.

Of course, I didn't text that to anyone even though I thought it, so there is no proof of the level to which I am tuned in to this team. Ah well.

How about that Josh Tomlin?! Nailed it! Seven innings, 2 hits, one run? He's only limited the other team to 1 run in 3 of his 14 games this year. Actually one of those times was 3 starts ago - but in his last 2 starts he gave up 11 in just 9 innings. So this is a huge turnaround for him right now! Wow if we have all 5 of our guys giving up 3 or fewer every game, and we keep hitting like this...this is how we have an amazing second half!

Vinnie and Perez came on for the 8th and 9th. You know what they did! Yeah buddy!

Speaking of Vinnie, here's some shenanigans from the 4th of July:

 

What a joker!

CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! He started off the game with a solo shot, his 9th homer on the season! That's 3 in the last 10 games, where he's been hitting .389. He also stole his 2nd base today (really, that few?) and ended up going 2 for 3 with a walk. Awesome!!

PRONK! Hafner only went 1 for 4 but his 1 was a big one! A solo homer in the 8th (his 7th on the season) which, judging by how the Rays were not hitting and the fact that it was Perez's turn, pretty much ended the game RIGHT THERE.

No Lou today - Acta basically said "Sorry, we hired Santana as our catcher." Sigh. But at least we have a hot backup catcher, and Santana can play first and if nothing else one of them can bat for Hafner. 

Anyway, Santana did something today in the form of getting a hit, going 1 for 4. Good job!

COUSIN MICHAEL! Brantley's back in the swing of things with his second homer in as many games! And in case you didn't know he's got a total of THREE on the season. He's got 11 hits in his last 10 games and tonight he went 2 for 3. Not too many guys got hits tonight and he got 2!

Man - looking at this lineup, we've got 4 guys who are hot and staying there (Choo, Cabrera, Kipnis, Brantley), two guys who are hot when they can play (Marson, Duncan), one guy who is just about to blow up (Hafner) and two guys who are hopefully going to get it going any time now (Hannahan, Santana). If we get this lineup firing on all cylinders, and rotate Marson, Duncan and Lopez in when we can AND the pitching stays like this? Holy smokes!

And don't forget Casey Kotchman, thank you - he went 1 for 2 tonight with a walk. He's got 5 hits in his last 9 at-bats! I just don't know how or where to count on him as a batter. I'm fine with him staying around .230, maybe .250. Just keep doing it at first base!

Aaron Cunningham would also like to not be forgotten. He was the subject of a "15 Questions" TribeVibe blog post today. One of his favorite movies is Despicable Me, he watches it over and over. HA! I've never seen it but now I have to check it out, to get deeper in to the head of Aaron Cunningham.  Anyway, I thought he looked good in right yesterday and today he had a great play from left after he took over for Damon. The radio guy on the post-game show said "no offense to Johnny but there's no way Damon makes that play." Finally, someone agrees with me! (to be fair I don't listen to much post-game anymore. I just can't hang with Bob Frantz anymore. So maybe he dislikes Damon a lot too, I don't know. But Tom Hamilton seems indifferent. Grr!)

You're going to want to check out Tom Hamilton has the Best Home Run call in all of Baseball later on tonight to hear, I think, all 3 homers. I know he called Choo's and Hafner's and since Brantley hit his in the 2nd that should be Hamilton too. Hafner's was great - it was a classic Pronk too. The way the guy does it you get to see the video with Hamilton's audio overlayed. It's a thing of beauty! Don't forget to check it out!

Tomorrow is Masterson versus a righty so there's a pretty good chance we've got this on in the bag. Also the pendulum is swinging towards a better home record, as opposed to how it was early in the season when we weren't doing as well here. Weather? Prolly.

It's a 7:05 game - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Maybe he just needed to get ou tof the month of June."
- Tom Hamilton on Josh Tomlin pitching better

"Pena's got one thought in mind - he is looking middle-in to rip one out of here and tie the game up."
- Tom Hamilton

Oh, Hellickson...

If you missed it, there was a better post for  yesterday's game which I posted about 12 hours late. So if you missed that, check it out.

Guess the Indians can't figure out the Rays, just like we can't figure out the White Sox. Or maybe it's that those teams have us figured out?

Whatever the case, today was not like yesterday and Justin Masterson was not like Justin Masterson. The good news is that I got my lawn mowed just before a storm rolled through.

Well there's more good news, of course - because ...

...Asdrubal got a hit and it still hitting over .300.

...Choo got his hit and also a walk so he's up to .250.

...Carlos Santana is NOT hitting below .200 yet and in fact got a hit.

...Speaking of Choo, did you see his 7th outfield assist of the season? Shingihada! (Although, Asdrubal, you did not make that look as cool as it could have. Tighten up!)

...We're done with Tampa Bay now and are moving on to the Blue Jays. They play games at 7:07 PM. Is that crazy foreign hipness or what?!

...I'm going to the game  on Saturday and it's going to be awesome because it's Star Wars fireworks night!

...My house smells like popcorn. Not even burnt popcorn, just yummy popcorn.

So really, I'm pretty happy maybe just not happy with Indians baseball today. But there's always tomorrow and the next day and the next 110 games after that to love baseball a lot.

Sorry Radio Chatter is so weak but I was in and out and up and down all day. I in fact had to listen to the second half of the game via the Audio Archives. I'm pretty glad I invested in that this year, it's come in handy!

See you tomorrow at 7:07. Tres chic!

Radio Chatter:
"Tomorrow...is not Memorial Day in Canada."
- Tom Hamilton on the upcoming Blue Jays series

"At this level, if they know you're throwing mid-90s and the only pitch you can throw is a fastball, you're not lasting long."
- Tom Hamilton commenting on Frank Hermann's previous troubles

"He is a big human being. Six-eight,  295. And like so many people his size, he's got a gret nature about him. At that size if you wanted to be an angry man, look out."
- Tom Hamilton on Rays reliever Adam Russell

"For Masterson and Carmona they both have something in common so far. They both have had a team that really owned them."
- Tom Hamilton

...And We're Back!

I'm sorry boffins, I'm sorry I didn't get a post up in a timely manner. It's Memorial Day weekend and you know what that means. No, not so much honoring the brave men and women who have served in our armed forces as well as remembering those who have died, but rather being invited to places in which very little honoring is done but we all get together to eat because most of us don't have to work Monday.

It's ok though because I know you were all brave little boys and girls and took in Saturday's game without trepidation and were soundly rewarded by its outcome. I'm sure - SURE! - you felt some moments of the game where it would be appropriate to yell "That's typical!" only to stop yourself and say "no, no that sort of awful play is not typical at all." Perhaps also you spread the good news by correcting a nay-sayer who happened by your baseball on the way to the drink cooler. "Oh, haven't they lost three in a row?" "Why yes, but the World Series Tampa Bay Rays lost seven in a row during their World Series season. And, it's no big deal anyway as we are still atop the American League. Now why don't you come enjoy some baseball with me this fine Saturday afternoon?" That happened to you, too, right?

Ok maybe it didn't but however your day played out you might want to keep yourself "armed" with positivity for the long weekend as you encounter the nay-sayers. They are out there.

Yesterday's game was quite fun, especially to watch with a nay-sayer, because it started out with four straight hits and two runs.

You also got to see Asdrubal getting his THIRD triple of the season! Wowee! He's over .300 now at .303. It'd be awesome if he could keep it up through the ALL-STAR GAME.

And CHOOOOO he got his hit. .249!

LaPorta. Remember Matt LaPorta from Friday? Yeah well forget that guy and remember that he hit a solo homer Saturday as well as a single and a walk, going 2 for 3. These fellas aim to please, right?

SHELLEY DUCAN! Since Grady is serving as DH during our Turf Tour, Shelley isn't starting. However, he did come in as Mr. Amazing Pinch with the bases loaded and got a two run single then came around later to score. Can you imagine the glimmer excitement for Manny Acta when he sees the bases loaded and Shelley Duncan is on his bench? He's hitting .389 with runners in scoring position, .313 with two outs and .375 late in the game. Would you say that Duncan enjoys the pinch hitting aspect of the game? I would!

How about Carlos Carrasco, huh? You sort of forget about that guy since he's not Masterson or Tomlin or Fausto and he lost a few starts due to injury. He's pretty middle-of-the-pack for us but being the middle of this particular pack is nothing to laugh at. He got the job done Saturday with 6 innings, 2 runs and 4 strikeouts. A very even start for him and I look forward to seeing him do it again. Oh, and for his efforts he gets the W.

Our favorites Pestano and Sipp came in to combine for two total innings with zero runs and three strikeouts. #bullpenmafia!

R. Perez's part of the 9th was a little hairy. The Rays were going all Cleveland on us, finding ways to get guys on the bases. With two outs, bases loaded and the tying run on deck, Chris Perez came in to an actual save situation. It is iffy whether or not Perez is a shut-the-fuck-up sort of closer right now...he did give up a run. But right after he gave up a run - and I mean technically on the very same play - they got the third out and the game was over and Chris Perez had game 14. In case you missed it, here is how the game ended.

So we got our losses out during the week, and if you caught Saturday's game you'll know we got our basepath silliness out Saturday, so hopefully we'll be back to "normal" (do I have to qualify that with "2011 Normal"?) for the remainder of Turf Tour 2011.

Oh hey, here's two nice short articles about how Acta thinks Asdrubal is going to knock your socks off EVEN MORE coming up, and how Rays manager Joe Maddon thinks we're the shit.

Joe Maddon gets it, it seems. I wonder if he reads The Positive Tribe? From a different article:

"They have a lot of good players and they've done it in a very typical Cleveland way: quiet, and then all of a sudden they spring it on you," Maddon said. "When you really look at it, it's not really that surprising."

I know, right?!

Today's game is at 1:40 PM. You heard me. So we'll have 35 minutes extra to twiddle our thumbs and wait for baseball. Oh well, I have to make a casserole anyway.

Radio Chatter:
"With Joe Maddon, you could see anything. He's sometimes a mad scientist."
- Tom Hamilton

"We've lost Rosie. We'll get to him in the next inning. He's still convulsing over the cat."
"That's DJ Master Cat I think."
"You like that cat don't you? He'll probably be in our hotel lobby later. [...] The kitty has gone away now and this place has gone deafly silent."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus on the Ray's 7th inning entertainment

"The biggest play of this inning is the double play Ben Zobrist didn't turn."
- Tom Hamilton

"Avril Lavigne. Come on...as a man with two daughters you should know who this is."
"I'm just asking the question. Can't I invoke my fifth amendment rights? [...] As a father of daughters you might be better off not knowing."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton on Tampa's post-game entertainment

"Oh boy...my wife was listening. 'Ha ha ha, Rosie got you.' Our engineer Ralph can vouch...nothing wrong with daughters, I love the daughters! When boys have a problem with friends they punch them in the nose and that's it. With daughters, it's a whole soap opera. Ralph's daughters are glaring at me now. I'm done... [...] And for all the girls out there listening, we love our daughters just as we love our sons. And that's the end of the story."
- Tom Hamilton