That Went Well! Until it Didn't...

Trevor Bauer is finally coming in to his own this season! The kid has 19 innings over 3 games, with just 2 runs given up and 26 strikeouts. He is tied for the league lead in strikeouts! He's getting better, too - even though he gave up 4 hits today, he only walked 2!

Nick Hagadone and Bryan Shaw were even tight today! I guess they just had slow starts? The two of them combined for a scoreless, hitless 8th inning with 2 strikeouts between them. Shaw's ERA is still a portly 5.4 but Hagadone is down to a near-respectable 3.0

Oh, Bauer's ERA is .90, by the way.

The lineup was shaken up today. No Bourn, Kipnis leading off followed by Aviles. Jerry Sands was in there too.

Brett Hayes is our new backup catcher, if you didn't know. Not going to post a photo because I guarantee there is nothing to remember his face by. And anyway - half the time it'll be behind a mask!

Anyway, Brett Hayes had his first start with the Tribe today (he's been back and forth between the minors and MLB (Marlins, KC, Tribe) for 6 years now). He had no errors and he hit a home run! Hey hey! According to Twitter, Brett Hayes is officially better than Willie Mays Hays.

Hey guess what guys! Ryan Raburn is good again!

He's so good that when you look at him you can't tell if he's black & blue or white & gold!

Raburn got his 4th double of the season today, and his first home run! According to Tom Hamilton it was A-WAAAAAAAY out of here! Raburn is hitting .316 on the season with 6 hits in his last 5 games!

Michael Brantley got his 2nd double of the year tonight, and it was an RBI double! He's got 3 RBI already in only 5 hits. And only 6 games! Lord, we need him every day...

Mike Aviles, who I mentioned was batting second, was playing center field today. He was getting by pretty well, batting 2 for 3 with a walk and a fiesty run scored. He even had special headgear for people from tropical climes:

mlb.com

Except in the 9th inning he missed a ball that a "real" center fielder probably would have caught, and that sucked, but hey at least Handsome Mike is out there trying hard! I mean if he was the world's best center fielder he probably would not be playing shortstop on Tuesdays.

Anyway, all these nice things happened and then Cody Allen came in and gave up 4 runs on a walk and 6 hits, and we lost the game. The end.

Tomorrow's game is an 8:10 start with pitcher ... Carlos Carrasco! We'll get to see what a tough COOKIE he is! He'll be facing an RHP 3.86. As usual, maybe the Tribe will win. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Trevor Bauer keeping America clean. Picked up the wrapper and gave it to the bat boy. And got booed! Tough town."
- Tom Hamilton on a runaway hot dog wrapper

"Nobody ever knows the third base coach's name unless somebody gets thrown out at the plate."
- Tom Hamilton on Mike Sarbaugh

"Imagine you're a college baseball player facing the Huskies on a Friday night. You finally get Tim Lincicum out of the game only to face Nick Hagadone. You might consider joining the golf team instead."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Arizona Diamondbacks might be calling up Christ Antonetti asking for a mulligan."
- Tom Hamilton on the acquisition of Trevor Bauer

"He might be the best 23rd round pick in the history of the Indians franchise."
- Tom Hamilton on Cody Allen (before he blew it)

Whew. A Win.

So, Danny Salazar has the stuff! He threw his first start today and was waaaay better than he had been showing all spring. It took a lot of work - 105 pitches in 6 innings - but he kept his head in the game and had a quality start. He went 6 innings only giving up 2 runs and struck out TEN!! He's back to being that young pitcher we're all excited about, I think...

The real excitement came from the guy who relieved Salazar - Nick Hagadone. AKA "Nick Haga-groan" or anything else you can come up with that expresses fan's fears when it's Nick's turn at the rubber. But guess what? Dude not only came in to have a 1-2-3 7th inning after Salazar gave up a homer, but he came back for a 1-2-3 8th! You cool now, bro? Let's hope.

Cody Allen came in for the 9th, and he hasn't been all that lights-out either. He got the first two outs via the strikeout, then gave up a walk and everyone was like "uh oh!" but before we knew what hit us, he struck out the next guy and it was BALLGAME!

Salazar got the win and Allen got a save. Noice!

Now, could the rest of the team bring the bats to match today's good pitching? Yep!

It was really the bottom of the order - Roberto Perez followed by Jose Ramirez - that clinched this game today. They combined for 5 of the team's 8 hits, 3 of its 4 runs crossing the plate, and 1 of its 4 RBI! Ramirez got a double and Perez got his second home run of this short season!

Jason Kipnis stopped a 0-for-16 skid at the plate and managed a hit today. Brantley totally did not get a hit though. Frownie face.

Carlos Santana went 1 for 4 and strangely enough, did not walk. Brandon Moss got a double! And came around to score.

The guys held themselves to just 4 strikeouts today! Yesterday and the game before they struck out 19 times. Maybe that's a trend that is going away?

The offense is still not impressive in the least (I mean, this was a rightie they faced today!) but they need to keep trying and eking out runs here. Pitching is giving everything they've got so if the rotation can keep it under 4 runs and the offense can get over 4 runs, well that is a winning season.

One more afternoon with Minnesota, Sunday at 2:10. It'll be House versus an RHP with an ERA near 9. That is 5x better than House's ERA. Let's hope Tiger Junior gets his shit in gear.

No Radio Chatter today - I was out doing yardwork! See you tomorrow!

Kluber Continues to Dominate!

... And his team continues to disappoint.

Errors and strikeouts, ya'll. Remember how the Tribe used to do to Justin Masterson? No run support. It's happening again.

But at least we got some free baseball? (aka "extra innings")

Kluber cruised through 8 innings, striking out 8 and giving up 2 runs on 3 hits. He actually had a perfect game going in to the 6th, when Tom Hamilton was all "PERFECT GAME!" and just like last time, the perfect game and no hitter were immediately squashed by the whoever at the plate. The 6th started with a single, then a wild pitch (!) and then a guy scored, and there was a bad throw so a guy moved to second. Then a fielder's choice, and a bunt, and another wild pitch (!!!!!) which was a strike-out but the guy on third scored and then they intentionally walked a guy and then GIDP.

Yes, Kluber was still in! He threw 2 wild pitches in one inning, and only 3 last year.

Kluber righted himself by coming back for a 1-2-3 7th inning. Then he hit a guy in the 8th which is weird. He finished the 8th with just 96 pitches! Kluber's "game score" was 75, versus the other starter's 55. I forget what the "game score" is already but Kluber is 20 better!

But, you know, 2 runs. Two measley runs. Couldn't come back from that, apparently. Not even over the sad-sack Twins.

It's not as if Michael Brantley didn't try, though!! He was back for only the 2nd time this year and he got right back on his hit horse, going 2 for 5 with 2 singles and of course no strikeouts.

Lonnie Chisenhall continues to hit lefties, going 2 for 4 tonight. He's got 5 hits in his last 3 games! His hotness was recognized with an intentional walk in the 11th inning. Respect!

Mike Aviles came in in the 9th and got a double! And Carlos Santana stole a base (after walking, of course).

The big news from the bench tonight is that Brandon Moss got a homer! Hey hey! The guy we hired to hit homers is doing it! And now I get to use my swell graphic:

Here's to many more where that came from! And perhaps a few smaller hits inbetween?

Tomorrow is another day, thank goodness. It'll be at 2:10 with Danny Salazar on the mound versus an RHP who already has 2 losses under his belt. YESSSSS! Even if Salazar suffers a shaky start and the bullpen continues to be questionable, hopefully the offense can pick up the slack and cover everything with some BIG HITTING. Can't wait - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Once it leaves your bat there's nothing you can do about it. Murphy did his job - he smoked it."
- Tom Hamilton

"If I'm Corey Kluber I'm saying 'I'm looking for a strikeout to end this inning.'"
- Tom Hamilton in the 6th

"When he's done playing, no school will make him a principal."
- Tom Hamilton on Adrian Peterson

"You gotta be able to do a better job than that."
- Tom Hamilton on Bourn bunting

"It's as if they're looking for anything but a fastball."
- Tom Hamilton on the Indians watching strike 3 go by

Domestic Bliss

Our first win at home this year! It came sort of non-descript on a Wednesday noon game, but whatever. People missed work ("I wouldn't say I've been *missing* it, Bob.") to see this game so it's pretty great that they got their money's worth!

Trevor Bauer was going all Feller today, extending his no-hit streak to 9 innings between his last game and this one. The first inning he threw 10 pitches! It wasn't until the 4th that a Sox got a hit. Bauer ended up going 6 strong innings (103 pitches) with just 4 hits, 2 earned runs and 8 strikeouts! Bauer leads the league in strikeouts right now with 19. Scott Kazmir is second!! Corey Kluber is knocking on the door in third, though.

The bullpen was golf-clap lovely today.

Atchison, Zep, Shaw and Allen finished the last 3 innings with no runs given up and only 2 hits between all of them. Ok, Shaw left a little to be desired and Allen almost let some slip but the golf clap is for NO RUNS!

This is how games should go: Quality start, no-run relief, and 5+ runs to get us both a win and 50% off Papa John's.

Our right-handed lineup is starting to tingle a little bit, overcoming the message that they might be the b-team but the rest of baseball is going to force them in to a-level hitting by throwing lefties at us all the time!

Sands is still on fire, with another 2 hits today! He's gotten 7 hits in his first 4 games as an Indian - with no games left un-hit! His average is .412. How long can he keep it up??

Chisenhall had his best game of the season so far, going 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI. I do believe he's batting 1.000 in his career against John Danks!

People are starting to hush their mouths about Ryan Raburn, who is getting back in to Goon Squad form - he's got a 3-game hit streak going with 4 hits in those games. No RBI for him today but he did come in to score!

It's weird how Carlos Santana is still batting under .300. He's got 8 hits and 7 walks in his 7 games. He's also been robbed of a few great hits, including today! But then he turned around and robbed Abreau right back. Looking good at first!

Speaking of first base, Bourn got a bunt single today. Nice to see him try that out and have it work! That could work for one hit per game for him if he needs it. Nice to see him being aggressive!

We're still missing Brantley and Gomes, and some guys who could be better bats aren't cutting it (Ramirez, Perez) but if they all keep chipping away at pitchers they can add up some runs as a team. Chicago is a good team to practice on and even better will be Minnesota!

No game tomorrow (Thurs) which sucks. We just had a day off! Friday will be a real treat in Minnesota with Kluber going against a RHP with a 7.36 ERA. Looking good for the good guys! It'll be an 8:10 game so bring your pillow. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"I'm not even gonna say what the official score is because nobody up here can believe it anyway."
- Tom Hamilton after an er- no, a base hit.

"Santana says to Abreau 'You rob me, I rob you!'"
- Tom Hamilton

"Finding a competent official scorekeeper in Cleveland must be like searching for a dinosaur."
- Tom Hamilton

I Can't Even...

Boy, waiting a whole day and a half for more baseball, and then this? So early in the season. It is not very Positive at all.

This happened in the first inning:

cleveland.com

Carlos Carrasco got hit in the fact by a line-drive that deflected off his glove and then his throwing hand/wrist and then into his face. The "good" news is no concussion and nothing is broken. The bad news is that Carlos Carrasco got hit in the face with a ball.

So, Gomes, Brantley and Carrasco all out for now. Wahoo.

Poor Carrasco got the loss today, too. He gave up 2 runs (he left the game with 2 runners on, and they eventually scored) and we lost 4-1 so that's that.

ZMac came in for long relief (they just sent him to the bullpen instead of the starting rotation) and lasted 3 2/3 innings, letting Carrasco's runners score then one of his own. Then Hagadone came in and wasn't any better. Adams and Swarzak came in to throw the 8th and 9th, and held tight, but by then it was too late.

Yeah, a 3-run deficit was too late.

The offense got 3 hits and struck out 14 times. I won't even tell you what the opposing pitchers' ERAs are.

So I dunno what to say that's positive about today's game. Just thank the Lord that Cookie's face is still in-tact. You know he'll be back as soon as possible - let's hope he's still on the same trajectory!

Tomorrow ins a 12:10 nooner for the business people downtown. And they always sell a lot of tickets, somehow. It totally mystifies me, but I love it!

It'll be Trevor Bauer versus LHP 6.35. More Jer-ry! I hope to heck I remember to turn it on. Sometimes I forget these afternoon jobbies! Maybe somebody should Tweet me?

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"If Flowers steals we'll have a real scoop. Tyler Flowers hasn't stolen a base since 2012."
- Tom Hamilton

"So much for baseball speeding up the game. Nobody got the notice to Jose Quintana."
- Tom Hamilton

"This White Sox pitching staff has made it look easy tonight."
- Tom Hamilton

Dat Shaun Marcum, Doe!

Oh my goodness TJ House you were super bad today! Wanna know what his ERA is right now? It's 40.50. Forty point five! All we can do is laugh about it because I'm sure Tiger Junior has done enough crying for us all. Poor fella went 1 1/3 innings giving up 6 runs on just 6 hits.Dude.

Austin Adams and Shaun Marcum sped to Cleveland today from the Clippers' hotel in Indiana to fill in for the over-used bullpen and it was a darn good thing because no way were any of our existing guys going to have enough juice left over to cover the 7 2/3 innings House left on the table.

It was a great call because Adams and Marcum did awesome! Especially Marcum who cruised through the final 5!

Austin Adams did give up a homer to Miguel Cabrera but who hasn't? Kluber can't do anything with Miggy either so oh well. And it was a solo lead-off homer so Adams was ok. He went 2 2/3 innings only giving up one more hit and a walk. Just that one run.

Shaun Marcum! He came to us from the Mets after having that surgery where they take out one of your ribs to stop some constant pain and numbness ("thoracic outlet syndrome.") We've heard of other pitchers having this I think. He must be completely healed tho because for 5 innings he totally quieted the hottest bats in baseball. He gave up 3 hits and 3 walks, but just one run - a solo homer to a guy who already had 2 others. He struck out 4. And you know what? He's 33 years old! BOOM! Also, he once pitched an entire inning with a dragonfly on his hat. He also has hit a grand slam. Shaun Marcum rarely pitches over 90 MPH.

I for one am quite intrigued by this Shaun Marcum, and interested as to where he fits in with our bullpen. We might need more long guys than previously assumed. Marcum is the man!

Our offense was not given much of a chance by our pitching (or our defense - another error today). But they did keep trying to come back. They scored in the first, third and eighth. Unfortunately, they never scored enough to overcome House's deficit, let alone the other two runs that got tacked on.

TIGERS!! Grr.

Bourn got his first stolen base today! It came in the first inning after getting on base with a single then moving over on a FC. He stole third and on the next hit he was able to come home. Cool! Unfortunately that's all she wrote for Bourn for today.

Kipnis continues to keep his streak alive, now at 5 games! He's hitting .308. He got a single in the 5th...unfortunately, after striking out his first two at-bats.

I think Carlos Santana almost hits a home run every game. Does it feel that way to you? Today he didn't walk at all but got on twice via two singles. One of them was an RBI single, and on the other he ended up coming around to score! He's got a VERY solid .333 average.

What was our new hero Jerry Sands up to today? Well, he wasn't playing at Sands-ian levels today but he did eke out a hit in the 5th. He was the last man up to bat for the Tribe today too, so at least he brought the excitement! But it proved to be too much and he struck out. Ballgame :(

Hey, Brandon Moss is finally unwinding himself! He managed to get his second hit today (a double) and then walked twice, resulting in not one but TWO runs scored. Teammate!

You know who was the offensive hero today? It would be none other than Ryan Raburn. People have been throwing a lot of shade at Raburn on Twitter lately, and he might not last long. Maybe not. But today he had a good game, going 2 for 4 with a double, 2 RBI and a run scored! He hasn't been the sort to have these sorts of days consistently, but he is a right-handed bat so at least he's around when we need him. And every so often he has a day like this.

Chisenhall is still in the basement. Yeep! Average of only .167, just 3 hits in 18 at-bats. No errors yet but he did get help from a scorekeeper in Houston. Lonnie got a hit and a sac fly RBI. He also got hit by a pitch. Rudi Stein award for him today!

Roberto Perez had a sac fly RBI and a throwing error today. Yan Gomes is out 6-8 weeks. I'm not sure but I think Perez is up to the task of everyday catcher - just need him to settle in to it. Soon.

Monday is an off day and I think we all need it. Already! Missing a day doesn't mean missing a pitcher, it just means we get to see Carrasco on extra rest. Yessssss! We'll be facing a LHP with an ERA of 9 on Tuesday so I am excited to see a nice lopsided game in the Tribe's favor. Right?!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"You just don't replace a guy like Yan Gomes."
- Tom Hamilton

"CB Bucknor puts the silver dollar back in his pocket. It came up heads."
- Tom Hamilton on a bad call

"The strike zone is so big today that the new Corner Bar is going to be out of beer by the 5th inning!"
- Tom Hamilton

"So all you single ladies...if you want Brian to put a ring on it..."
- Tom Hamilton trying to get a birthday date for engineer Brian Motsay

"It is truly a choice between which poison you find least debilitating."
- Tom Hamilton on walking Cabrera to get to Martinez

"The guy behind the plate today has been brutal. But I tell you what he has been consistent. He does not have a favorite."
"Perez caught that in the dirt!"
"He'll probably get a raise after that."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

The Legend of #Jerry Sands

Wow, it was a long one tonight! In fact, today's 4:16 game was three minutes shy of the longest 9-inning game ever played at Progressive Field. The Tribe didn't win but the length can be attributed to them never giving up!

Kluber was our man today, which is exciting every time it happens! Wooohoo! Kluber day! He had one heck of a rough day, though. Only gave up 2 runs but the first run was a homer by the leadoff man. Owch... The next run was also in the first inning, goshdarn Victor Martinez hit into a double play and yet STILL managed to get an RBI. Being that he's Kluber, he got himself a reboot between innings and came back to go run-free through the 7th! Klube had 10 strikeouts today, which is more than he had his first game. Excelling already! They let him come in for the 7th (with a 1-run lead!) and ultimately throw 107 pitches. He got the first guy to strike out and that was it for Kluber, leaving with still a chance to get the win.

Except, the best bullpen in baseball was doing their impression of the worst bullpen in baseball, I think. Something went horribly wrong because it took 6 of them to give up 7 runs and ruin everyone's night. Zep - who came in that first night in Houston to throw one pitch and end the inning with a double play - came in tonight and did't even get one out before leaving the game with 2 earned runs under his belt.

Shaw gave up 3 hits and a run, and then Atchison finally stopped the bleeding to finish up the 7th.

Anthony Swarzak made up for his bad outing by having a good outing, leaving things exactly as he found them (no hits, no walks, no runs).

The Tribe had it all tied up going in to the 9th (woohoo!) when Cody Allen came in and just fucked everything. That's what happened, he fucked everything. Three runs. His ERA is now 21.60. So he's got to live with that.

The Boy Pitcher Kyle Crockett, who had heretofore been squeaky clean, also came in and gave up a run because all the older boys were doing it.

Tigers won it 9-6, that was the final of the game. Remember Kluber left when it was 3-2 Tribe.

Michael Brantley was out today, which makes everyone sad. Especially Michael Brantley. But we also want him to be as healthy as possible for as many games as possible so we'll all bite the proverbial bullet for now and see what these other guys can do without him.

They did manage to score 6 runs! And they came back from losing twice! And mostly it was due to Jerry Sands!

Jerry Whonow? Jerry Sands, you guys!

Jerry Sands came to us from Tampa Bay where he was recovering from wrist surgery. He only averaged .190 with them in 2014 and then .268 with the Durham Bulls. Then we brought him here and he had a great spring with 2 homers and 7 RBI, batting .304. Everyone wanted to see him in the lineup (right handed bat!) and since we were facing a lefty today well there Jerry was.

I mean - THERE JERRY WAS!!!

Jerry Sands went 3 for 4 today in his debut with the Indians, knocking in 4 runs and bringing the Tribe ahead of the Tigers once and then tied with the Tigers his second time.

Cleveland is currently in love with Jerry Sands (he plays right field, by the way) and even Progressive Field was getting in to it by leading the chants of "JER-RY! JER-RY!" Aren't we all so lucky his name isn't "Ron"?

Other batters to contribute today were Mike Aviles - who went 1 for 4 with a hit and a walk. He came around to score both times. Jason Kipnis who totally, totally is back, went 2 for 5 today to extend his hitting streak to 5 games. Also those two guys teamed up in the 9th inning with 2 outs to score a run. Cuz they got HEART!

Carlos Santana went 1 for 3 because he walked twice. Oddly enough he doesn't lead the league in walks yet (he has 6 to Ryan Hanigan's (BOS) 7) but he has walked in every game but one so he'll be at the top in no time!

Yan Gomes. Caught another guy stealing today. Then he got hurt while doin' his job in the 9th. And I don't mean protecting the plate I just mean keeping his foot on the plate while a guy comes running in. The guy was out, for what it's worth. But now Yan is scheduled for surgery on Monday. YUCK!!

Hooray for Roberto Perez and his decent start but Yan will be SORELY missed. And we might need to get rid of #Jerry to bring up a backup catcher!!! NOOOOO!!

Tomorrow is the last time we see those Tigers until...the end of the month. Whomp whomp. Tomorrow we really got to show them what we're made of. I wonder who will come up for Gomes?

It'll be TJ House's first start versus a LHP who also has no games yet this year. Let's see how our lefty does against this crazy Tiger lineup. Don't forget that Victor got hurt during this game, so he might be out too.

It's a 1:10 start - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"That banned substance is not in something you buy at GNC."
- Tom Hamilton on how a player wonders how an illegal drug got in his system

"Most people didn't know who Jerry Sands was prior to yesterday's introductions. He could be the city's favorite son with one swing of the bat."
- Tom Hamilton

"Twitter aught to have a new name, call it 'Apology'. Every time someone says anything, the next day they issue an apology."
- Tom Hamilton

"Only in baseball can these scripts be written."
- Tom Hamilton on Jerry Sands