Hey, Now, You're an All-Star!

The Tribe has now rolled out four straight victories, with an 8-6 victory Saturday night and a 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The key has been solid pitching from CC Sabathia (Saturday) and Cliff "Sleepy Kitten" Lee on Sunday. Borowski got saves each day, making it 4 straight games for JoeBo with a save.

Pronkwatch: Saturday: 1/3 with a big fly to right and two BBs. Sunday: 1/4 with a caught stealing. Pronk was sent on a hit and run by Eric Wedge not once, but twice. Really. I am not making this up. Garko fouled a pitch off the first time, in the second inning, and ended up singling. The next time, the D-Rays were ready for it and Pronk was caught stealing in the sixth.

Ben Francisco made another appearance in Sunday's game, going 1 for 3 with a run scored.

Meanwhile, the Tigers have salvaged a pitcher's duel tonight with the Twins, and the Indians' lead stays at 1.5 games.

Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez and CC Sabathia - you're on the All-Star Team. Call your agent and exercise that bonus clause! Go win home field for the World Series, and don't even think about participating in the Home Run Derby, even if they ask politely (see Abreu, Bobby).

In other news: Mike Hargrove steps down as manager of the Mariners, in the middle of a 7-game winning streak that has put his team in the pennant race, saying, essentially, that his heart isn't in it any more. I suspect that there's something else going on that we may not hear about until much later, but I certainly wish Mike Hargrove well. I have fond memories of the Human Rain Delay as a player, and he managed certainly the greatest Indians teams of the last 40 years. Good luck, Grover. And the M's won today in his final game, making it 8 straight.

And, finally, the Reds fired manager Jerry Narron because they couldn't fire the entire team.