I Swear I Recognize Your Breath...

The return-slash-debut of Roberto Hernandez! Man tonight's game was like having your wedding interrupted by grandma falling and breaking her hip. Falling on the cake and breaking her hip.

Things were going smooth for Hernandez until the team went all McAllister Meltdown Flashback and stopped catching the ball behind him (just like they did on the 6th against the Twins). Is this some sort of trial by fire?

In the end, Hernandez only gave up 5 earned runs out of 8. He did end up going 6 full innings total after the 5-run 2nd. The two homers he gave up were solo shots...although I wonder what would have happened if Pujols was in tonight? Yeah they got 8 runs without him. Hernandez didn't strike out any but he didn't walk any. He did hit Torii Hunter.

Oh and Torii hunter hit the home plate umpire in the face with his spike. Ouch ouch ouch!

I think the jury's still out on Hernandez. Hopefully next time he'll be more relaxed and we can see what he's really got and oh yeah, no more errors.

Coming in for the 7th was Rogers, who had a blank line. Then Cody Allen came in and had his worst inning ever - giving up a single then two walks. But I'll be darned if that Cody Allen didn't manage to get out of it without giving up a run, giving him 11 1/3 scoreless innings in his Major League career!

So today it wasn't the top or the bottom of the order doing poorly - rather, the middle was shut down. Santana, Brantley, Kotchman, Lillibridge all with goose-eggs. And Lillibridge with the two errors, holy shit! I like his hitting and it looks like he can play second and third and hang out in the outfield, but no more practice at short. All Star shortstops or go home!

Kipnis started off the game with a single but then got thrown out. Trying too hard? He did get a walk and then came in to score a run.

Asdrubal was hot at the plate, going 2 for 4 with an RBI double. I tell you what, though - Tom Hamilton was already so dismayed by then that I had to switch over to Gameday to make sure we actually just scored and to see how. I've never heard him so flat! Asdrubal's got 12 hits in his last 10 games. He was DHing tonight to get some rest, for what it's worth. I am hoping he decides to rest no more after what went down on the field tonight.

Here's a stat for you - Choo hasn't had any home runs against the Angels in his career. I couldn't tell why that was even a stat but from the looks of it, that was the only AL team off which he's never homered. And tonight it was a 3-run blast! When was the last time we had a big-run homer like that? July? It was his only hit for the night but it was his first RBI in almost 10 days!

Trip, skip and jump down to the bottom of the order where Jack Hannahan still resides when not holding down the bench. Hey Supermanahan! He went 1 for 3 tonight and he was on base for Choo's homer. Kipnis was actually the other guy, not Carrera.

Carrera was on base in the 6th when Asdrubal got his double. Zeke was about to test the arm of Torii [blush] but everyone's a little more cautious about him now that they know he'll cut a bitch (if a bitch happens to put their face where his spikes are. And then he'll ask if a bitch is ok.) So Zeke was wisely safe at first and was able to fly home when Asdrubal sent one out to Torii too.

And that was it, man. Asdrubal's RBI double and Choo's homer and the top and bottom of the order being on base made it a SOMEWHAT respectable loss. We can blame some of the numbers on the new old guy pitcher and then some on Santana and Lillibridge's errors, and those guys didn't even HIT. Psssh.

Oh if you're wondering, we've still got 8 in the pen. Accardo is gone, Seddon is full-time relief and Tomlin is on the DL because it turns out his elbow has been hurt for a long time. Yargh. Although....although, our pen is looking pretty nice right now. I'd like to see more of Herrmann to see what he's got in him. I don't see why we can't stay with 8. Who do you think should go if we do trim back?

 Tomorrow is an OFF DAY!! WOOHOO! Gonna catch up on some TV, some sleep, some house work. Gonna be ready to face those A's on Friday at 10:05. It'll be McAllister versus LHP (3.91) whose unbiased scouting report basically says he's shitty right now. Yay!

Everyone get a little rest and do your vacuuming, and I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Angels either have the Indians' signs, or they guessed right."
- Tom Hamilton on the CS of Kipnis in the first

"At this stage, with Hernandez, the Indians aren't looking for a talk show host..."
- Tom Hamilton on the quietness of Hernandez

"Albert Pujols is getting the night off, and Roberto Hernandez should send a thank-you gift to manager Mike Socia."
- Tom Hamilton

"For you Tony we'll put a little spaghetti sauce on them."
- Tom Hamilton has weird feelings about Italian people (and what they like on hot dogs)

"The Indians have been a bad baseball team since the All Star break, and they're playing like it tonight."
- Tom Hamilton in the second

"His chances of getting Mike Trout were about the same as me sprouting wings and flying to San Francisco."
- Tom Hamilton on Santana's bad pickoff attempt in the second

"Some guys are just not middle-of-the-order RBI guys."
- Tom Hamilton on Choo

"If you gave that shopping list to Santa, he'd send you a note back from the North Pole saying 'hey kid, lower your expectations, that's a lot of toys!'"
- Tom Hamilton on Acta's wish list for 2013

"When Darth Vader is your agent, then you're going to test the market."
- Tom Hamilton on Scott Boras

"This is going to be six weeks of some torturous baseball if the Indians can't turn around their rotation."
- Tom Hamilton

Help from Torii

Hey there! I totally missed yesterday's game. I was all ready to sit down and watch/listen before my birthday party but it was delayed an hour and a half. Then my niece came over early to play. She gave me some finger paintings and a signed Bob Feller Starting Lineup figure (NIB, natch) so I think I made the right choice there. Then my friends came over and we partied until 1 AM and some of them said "Too bad the Tribe lost on your birthday!" and told me how boring the game was so I just decided to ditch it. Looking at the box score this morning with our 4 hits and 2 walks, I decided just to skip it. I think I made the right choice there, too.

Today's game was a different story! Derek Lowe pitched great and even though not all of our guys hit, everyone ended up on base (except Duncan, who got the game's only RBI on record).

Lowe was super comfortable up there today. There's no reason for him to be rattled, I suppose - the Angels aren't doing anything notable this year, other than losing. He didn't have many strikeouts but he did get 14 ground outs in his 7 2/3 innings, ending up with a 3-hitter and his 4th win!

Lowe faltered a bit in the 8th, then Pestano came in and walked the bases loaded but he did good and got himself out of it. Chris Perez came in in a non-save situation and struck out 2 to end the game!

Ervin Santana, who pitched a no-hitter against us last season, is 0-5 this season and has given up 10 homers in 23 games.Unfortunately we did not see any of those home run balls today. Or if we did, we didn't recognize them. The Tribe was leading the AL in home runs (I think with Texas) earlier this month but we haven't hit a homer since April 17. Argh!

Still, we've found ways to win. You do hear people complain about "relying on the long ball too much" when a team wins only by homers, so I guess getting in some small ball is helpful too.

My plea for multi-hit games has paid off! Brantley and Santana had 2 and 3 hits, respectively and in turn they both scored runs. And their averages are over .250!

Asdrubal didn't get a hit but he did get to 2nd base on an error from Torii Hunter who dropped a high pop fly in the outfield. While this was going on, Cunningham and Brantley scored. These runs were actually sort of made possible by Kotchman and Kipnis who represented outs 1 and 2 in the inning. Had there not been 2 outs, no one would have been running and no one would have been able to score on the error. Instead, Brantley and Cunningham were free-wheelin' it around the bases and it turned out their runs counted. How's that for serendipity?!

Later on in the 8th inning, Hafner got his single (pinch run by Donald) and Santana followed with one of his own. They had Hannahan - who is currently on a break from being magical - sacrifice bunt to get them over but we got a nice present instead. The bunt was picked up and thrown wildly to first in which case Hannahan was safe, Donald scored and Santana went to third. Then up came Duncan who could USE some magic, and he didn't get a hit he did get a sacrifice fly and an RBI!

I'll also note that Casey Kotchman got himself a hit today (he's batting .149) and had some nice plays at 1st including an unassisted double play!

Also here's a coupla Web Gems for ya - Asdrubal stops and spins and Cunningham (!) recovers from a fall and makes a catch!

So everyone really pitched in today to not let Ervin Santana make a repeat of last year. This includes help from Torii Hunter who does not play for our team but I wish he did. Today's win also means we won the series and leaves us atop the AL Central for another day. Nice job for a SUNDAY, guys!

Off day tomorrow and then off to Chicago for three 8:10 PM games against the White Sox. We've really got to win those because the Sox are chasing behind us in the standings and also after that we play Texas and Texas is really freaking good. Like 16-5 good. So we need to have some padding in case we lose. IN CASE...you know?

Tuesday is Ubaldo versus Chris Sale at 8:10 PM. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Oh he's a magician out there at short stop!"
- Jim Rosenhaus on Asdrubal Cabrera

"This sinker right now is just eating up the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. That's their official name but nobody calls them that."
- Tom Hamilton gives us extra info

"Torii Hunter was getting the Bronx Cheer, but instead of getting mad about it he just turned around and flipped the fans the baseball."
- Tom Hamilton loves Torii Hunter too

"We'll see the Angels again in July. If there still only scoring 2 runs per game by then, we've got a story."
- Tom Hamilton

Multi-Hit Mania!

Once again Torii Hunter tried to run our night! His first homerun and he also threw Asdrubal out at the plate. They even brought him in as a fifth infielder in the 9th. But, I can't be mad at Torii Hunter. In fact I think he's the only guy I'd welcome with open arms when he becomes old and washed up and the Indians go hunting for old blood to hire. Well, him and Omar because seriously how could you not like those guys?

But Torii did not spoil our night! Because we have the power of Masterson and even though they have the power of Weaver (who is, in fact, most powerful) we also have the power to beat up on your sorry-ass bullpen and that we did!

Masterson rocked the f'n house pitching 8 1/3. He totally did! He was back in to the groove of a guy who is our #1 starter. Yes he gave up 2 runs and walked 5 but he also pitched almost a complete game with those stats. Ubaldo can't even do that well in 5!

Pestano came on in relief in the 9th with one out and struck out his 2 guys! AWESOME! Not sure why Perez didn't come in, because he was warming up. Perhaps he didn't want to tarnish his record with a Win instead of a Save.

Poor Masterson didn't get the W for his effort, Vinnie did. Masterson has no wins yet. I bet Vinnie feels bad about it.

Hey, Everybody Hits today! Even Casey Kotchman who snapped a 0-23 streak!

Michael Brantley - THE SPARK - went 3 for 5 with an RBI and a run. He got a double and a steal! According to Jim Rosenhaus he "looked good," better than he's been looking. If he is "back" then we are in for a lot of wins.

Kipnis was batting second instead of Asdrubal. I think they had to shuffle a bit because of Choo's absence. Like most 2-hole hitters, he must have been inspired by Brantley's 3 hits because he himself got 2 hits giving him 12 hits in his last 10 games.

Heeeeey Asdrubal! It was a good night for him to go multi-hit. He went 3 for 5 and since he missed 6 games his batting average shot up from .294 to .321. O YEA AND HE WON THE GAME! He hit the ball where Torii Hunter wasn't tee hee. (Watch the video - Santana tries to pull Asdrubal's pants off!) Finally, after what seems like forever, someone came through in the clutch who wasn't Jack Hannahan and gave us a walk-off run. Of course the fellas on base before him (Cunningham and Kipnis) didn't hurt. But it'll be super great if walking off sparks Asdrubal into another fantastic season.

Hafner was his usual awesome self today, walking twice and going 1 for 2. Him and Asdrubal are 14th and 13th in the league in batting average at .321. Wish he was pronkin' them over the fence but fuck it. He is on base LIKE A BOSS.

LIKE A BOSS

Still not multi-hitting but also on base like a boss (leading the league in walks) is Carlos Santana. He had the patience today for 2 walks and a single. When-o-when will he get back in to hitting homers? I hope to heck that time comes when it gets warmer maybe.

Jack Hannahan didn't have to be the hero tonight, which is good because he didn't seem to have it in him. Don't get me wrong - he got his hit. So did Shelley and so did Kotchman. But the three of them had 5 strikeouts between them courtesy of Jared Weaver. But Weaver's a beast, really. He's always scary for us. We were very lucky to get him out of there after 6 innings that's for sure.

Aaron Cunningham had a BIG night tonight. He went 2 for 4 with a double and came in as the winning run. He's actually got a 4-game hitting streak. I guess everyday play is good for him? What's really cool is that he had an outfield assist. He threw out none other than Torii Hunter! *swoon*

So beating Weaver was pretty awesome and I hate to mention it but we got 15 hits and 11 LOB. They did what I've been begging for and had several dudes with multiple hits but for some reason they couldn't follow through as well. I guess really that was Weaver - all of our scoring came after he was gone. But we also had four double plays including two strikeout/throwouts. And a out at the plate. So our aggressiveness isn't paying off just yet.

Pretty excited about tomorrow's game. It's my birthday! Brantley and Asdrubal are all warmed up so I expect good things from them. Do you think there will be any homers? I hope so. I also hope there's no rain delay because I'm throwing myself a party at 5 so I'm on a tight schedule, dangit.

Hope my birthday is as good as Santana's was. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Masterson is like a hockey goalie tonight. He's had a couple of body saves."
- Tom Hamilton

"Didn't your mom always tell you that nothing good ever happens adter 11 o'clock?"
- Tom Hamilton on Delmon Young's arrest

"By golly, Torii Hunter finally doesn't kill the Indians."
- Tom Hamilton after Hafner dropped a single in front of Hunter

"Very rarely do you get opportunities to score off Jared Weaver. The Indians so far have not capitalized, but they are giving it another shot."
- Tom Hamilton in the bottom of the 6th with 2 on and Duncan up

"This is why the Angels went the extra mile to get him."
"I don't think they just went a mile, Rosie."
"The extra hundred million miles?"
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton on Albert Pujols

"This is a game you've gotta find a way to win. You can't lose when you've out-hit the Angels 13-4."
- Tom Hamilton

Exhausting Pitcher's Duel

Man, am I tired. It's just exhausting listening to a pitcher's duel, where every pitch can re-set the game. Plus, 5 games into a 6-game west coast trip...zzzzzz....

I must say, nice stuff by Angels pitcher Dan Haren. A one-hit shutout against the hottest team in baseball. Hats off to him.

Also, I sort of like Torii Hunter. Shhh. And he had a nice play tonight.

Hey guess who got a hit? CHOOO! It was our only hit, too. Leave it to him...I heard someone say Choo said in an interview that he felt great and was "seeing the ball well." I'm sure you are dude. He probably thought really hard about getting a hit today, and made it happen.

Fact: Asdrubal Cabrera has the most April home runs for any Indians short stop since 1960. Hmm...cool stat, bro, but is this all the news we can come up with right now?

Aw man, sorry, I can't be snarky about Asdrubal News!

Carmona pitched 7.2. Personally I would have just shook his hand and told him "good game!" and brought in Tony Sipp for the 8th but that's not what happened. Acta seems to want to push all of his guys to 120 pitches. Which, you know, is cool. I'm sure Bob Feller would pitch 18 innings straight. And, I guess we have the leeway to push guys right now. We must trust in Acta. HA...his answer to a post-game interview question about the pitch count was "I manage the Indians". Well played.

My head hurts. Winning streaks are so stressful. I mean it sort of doesn't matter if we lose a few here and there BUT WHAT ABOUT THE STREAK?! WILL WE STILL BE THE HOTTEST TEAM IN BASEBALL?! Calm down. It's ok. Think baseball...

More baseball tomorrow, at 7:05 ET. Thanks, city of Anaheim. We're tired out here.

Radio Chatter:
"Never thought I'd come to Anaheim and there would be Fleece Blanket Night"
- Tom Hamilton

"Fausto Carmona - he's pitched gallantly tonight. Dan Heran has simply pitched better."
- Tom Hamilton