He Who Shall Be Put on the Disabled List and Who Shall Close

He Who Shall Not Be Named was put on the disabled list today. Nasty Mastny recalled to take the spot. Who will close? Take your pick:

• Rafael Betancourt - Indians' best relief pitcher. Has been saved for high leverage outs as a primo set-up guy. Closing experience earlier in his career not memorable.
• Jorge Julio - former major league closer. Has a history of throwing gas, but not knowing exactly where it's going.
• Masa Kobayashi - Japanese league career saves leader. Major league work so far not particularly distinguished, but it's early yet to make a call on him
• Nasty Mastny - Has closing experience, but the fact that he didn't even make this year's club out of spring training certainly weighs against him.
• Rafael Perez - Has the stuff. Lefty. Has been somewhat erratic so far this season.

It's anyone's guess right now. I'm betting that it will be Betancourt, with Julio as an outside shot.

It's Starting to Look a Lot Like 2006

Game 13: Boston 6, Cleveland 4

Pronk Needs You has been somewhat of a Joe Borowski apologist over the last year or so. Sure, his saves can induce one to churn up enough stomach acid for most people to digest an entire turkey. But, for the most part he's done the job. I've even given him the nickname "Joe Knows Closing" as a sort of tribute to his ability to get the job done despite his obvious limitations.

Last night, however, has taken me off the Joe Knows Closing bandwagon. Last night's game was the sort of soul-crushing torture that can drag an entire season down with it. Jake Westbrook was sharp, and the Indians were up 4-3 going into the 9th, and it was time for Borowski (hereafter referred to no longer as "Joe Knows Closing," but rather as "He Who Shall Not Be Named") to shut the door.

Here is a recap of the comedy of errors that ensued:

• Julio Lugo started the 9th by grounding a ball right to the third baseman. Except that Blake, the third baseman was not there, because he was guarding the line to take away the double. Dellucci, being slow and having bad wheels, was slow getting to the ball, and, besides that, he has a Coco Crisp-like arm, and so he was unable to keep Lugo from getting to second base on a double that should have been an easy out.
• Coco Crisp bunted the runner to third. One out.
• Dustin PUNKroia hit a sacrifice fly to left. Dellucci, having a Coco Crisp-like arm, had no chance to throw him out at the plate. Two outs. Tie game.
• David Ortiz hit a shallow pop down the left field line. Unfortunately, they had him played to pull the ball to right. David Dellucci, being slow and having bad wheels (sensing a pattern here?) was unable to run it down for what should have been the third out of the inning.
• Manny Ramirez then parked an 80 mph fastball in the left field bleachers, as he has done on so many occasions in the past, with a nice long pose at the plate admiring his game-winning shot.
• For good measure, Casey Blake then misplayed a Kevin Youkilis shot down the line into a double before Rafael Perez came on to strike out JD Drew to end the inning.

The Indians went relatively meekly against Jonathan Riverdance in the bottom of the 9th. Pronk hit a shot to deep center that would have gone out in August, but in April was just a warning track flyout.

There's plenty of blame to go around and Wedge must take a good portion of it. Clearly, playing Blake on the line to prevent a double was a poor decision that backfired, and, I would guess, backfires more often than not. Michaels was unavailable as a defensive sub for Dellucci because he started the game and Dellucci pinch-hit for him in the 5th inning (and struck out against Julian Tavarez with the bases loaded, I add here for effect). He could have put Blake in left field and brought in Marte or Jamey Carroll to hold down third base - either one is clearly a better fielder than Blake at this point, and Blake is clearly a better left fielder than Dellucci. Wedge badly mishandled the end of this game, and should be held accountable.

--4/16/2008 update-- It has been pointed out to me that Blake has never played left field. I retract the argument regarding putting Blake in left and someone else at 3B. It has also been pointed out to me that Dellucci apparently by the statistical metrics has decent range. It is hard to prove this based on his performance thus far with the Tribe. I have a hard time believing a 35-year-old coming off missing the better part of last year with a hamstring injury has good range, but the metrics are what they are. Who am I to argue? I still reserve the right to be disgusted with the "no doubles" defense any time I see it played and upset that we were burned by playing it. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.----

He Who Shall Not Be Named has clearly lost speed on his "fastball" (which was never very fast to begin with) and is unable to throw it at the major league level. He must either be sent to the DL with an "injury" and sent to rehab somewhere until he can recover it, or he must be DFA'd. Today. He cannot close another game for this team. After last night's loss (coupled with the Motor City Kitties' comeback win over the Twins), the Indians are 5-8, 2.0 games ahead of Detroit at 3-10, and pretty much guaranteed to lose tonight with Paul Byrd on the mound against knuckleballer Wakefield, who is going to wreck the Indian's bats for the Detroit series to follow.

The sad thing is that the complete collapse of the 9th inning overshadowed everything that happened in the previous eight. Jake Westbrook is back, giving up only two runs, one of which scored when lucky dillweed Dustin Punkroia hit one that went off Westbrook's glove. The Indians failed to put the game away in the 5th when both Garko and Dellucci both struck out with the bases loaded.

It's starting to look a lot more like 2006 than 2007 for the Indians right now. Their bullpen is a disaster. Key veterans are not producing. They keep finding new and inventive ways to lose games. They need to turn it around fast, or it will become 2006 all over again. The good thing is that there is a lot of season left. The bad thing is that if they continue to lose in inexplicable ways, then things will snowball and they may wake up to find the fans angry and the season lost.

Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory

The University of Memphis was not the only team to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory last night. After rallying off Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez to replace a 2-1 deficit with a 4-2 lead, Joe Knows Closing had one of those memorable meltdowns he is prone to having from time to time, giving up a walk-off grand slam to Toriiiiiiiiiiiiii Hunter to wrap up a 6-4 loss.

Mojo Watch:

Fausto Carmona: Worked in and out of trouble all night. Had trouble finding the plate on occasion.

Casey Blake: In his big return after a day off, his error contributed to the one unearned run charged to Carmona.

Jason Michaels/David Dellucci: The left field platoon is now 1 for the season. Seriously. Ben Francisco is batting .211 right now at Buffalo and he'd be smoking hot compared to the early-season rally-killing incompetence of this horror show.

Victor Martinez: Victor is back, baby!! Let the people rejoice.

Joe Knows Closing:
Even when Joe blows the save, he's still got more Elvis than Michael J. Fox. Or the left field freak show.

Senor Slow: Betancourt has had a tough start to the season. Last night, he gave up a solo shot to Toriiiiiiiiiiiiiii Hunter, which would have been the winning run for the Angels had K-Rod not blown the save (which led, of course, to Joe Knows Closing blowing the save in a most final manner)


Andy Marte Watch:

Now What?

I've taken a few days to get the season out of my system. I've moved past denial into acceptance, and I'm ready for Hot Stove.

Here are the issues that the Tribe needs to face during the offseason, as I see them, in no particular order:

• Pronk's Mojo - Pronk's Mojo must be found. First priority. It's out there, people - keep looking!
• Who's on Third? - Andy Marte is out of options. It's time to fish or cut bait with Andy Marte. If Andy Marte can be a right handed power bat in the bottom of this order, that would be huge for the Tribe. That also frees Casey Blake to be Super Utility Grizzly(SUG), a role for which he is ideally suited.
• Whither CC? - I suspect that negotiations on an extension for CC have already started. The only way CC is not on this roster at the end of the 2008 season is if the Indians are 20 games out at the All-Star break. I don't see that happening. I think 2007 has only made this team hungrier for 2008 and the Tribe's best shot to win it all is with CC on the mound, despite his poor post-season performances. CC appears to be one who is very capable of learning and growing from his mistakes. Chalk up the 2007 postseason for CC as a learning experience.
• How Do You Solve a Problem Like the Byrdman? - Three weeks ago, picking up Paul Byrd's option was a drop dead no-brainer. At $8 million for a veteran #4 starter, Byrd is cheap in today's baseball economy. Then came the HGH controversy. Without getting into any conspiracy theories about the allegation's timing, it is fortuitous for the Indians that this came out before the Tribe was required to notify Byrd whether they were going to pick up his option, as the team can fully assess the ramifications before saying "yes." I think they pick up his option and slot him at #4. The free agent market for pitching is pretty thin, and Byrd's clubhouse presence cannot be ignored.
• Who's the #5 Starter? - It's going to be a fun battle this spring to see who is the number 5 guy. Aaron Laffey is a left-handed ground ball specialist. Can lefty Cliff Lee get his pitching and attitude together and flash back to 2004 form? Is "Atom" Miller ready? Was Jeremy Sowers a flash in the pan with his Jamie Moyer like junkballing? Do you trade one or any of these guys for offseason help? If Adam Miller is ready, then I think you have to add his power arm to this rotation, with Aaron Laffey as a swing guy out of the pen. Is there a team out there who would be willing to take a chance on Cliff Lee in return for a prospect or two? I think Shapiro has to explore that option in the offseason. I think we've seen the last of Lee in Tribewear.
• Who Closes? - Gotta be Joe Knows Closing. His option is cheap, and unless Shapiro does something radical like bring in Mariano Rivera, we're in for more tightrope walking in the 9th next season. Senor Slow will continue to be the high leverage guy in the late innings.
• Crowded House in the Outfield - No, not the Finn boys from Kiwi land, but the logjam of bodies in the outfield. We know K-Love will be gone. Gutierrez appears to have solved the right field problem, so that pretty much leaves Jason Michaels, David Dellucci, Ben Francisco and Shin Soo Choo fighting it out for playing time in left field. Can the platoon of Michaels and Dellucci perform next year as advertised? Choo is out of options. Neither one has anything left to prove at AAA. Do we see them carry 5 outfielders, with Choo/Gutierrez platooning in right and Dellucci/Michaels platooning in left. If so, then it limits the team as to bench help in the infield. Look for Shapiro to try to move either Francisco or Choo in the offseason, perhaps packaged with a pitcher (Lee or Sowers?), either for prospects or a talented corner outfield bat.
• How Do You Solve a Problem Like Josh Barfield? - The causes for the complete nosedive of Josh Barfield in 2007 are totally mysterious. Sophomore slump? League change? Did he lose some lucky object in his move to Cleveland? Is he under some kind of voodoo curse? At any rate, it looks like he and Cabrera will go into Spring Training fighting it out for the second base job, and it looks every bit like this is Cabrera's job to lose. Barfield probably starts the year at Buffalo to see if he can find anything resembling plate discipline. After this horrendous season, his trade value is at an all-time low, so he's not going anywhere.
• Retire the Chief - It's time. In fact, it's way past time. As someone with a very small percentage of Native ancestry, I understand why it's offensive, and as a fan, it bothers me that people cannot root for my team because they find its symbol offensive. It's one thing to root against a team because you find the players (Albert Belle anyone?) or the city not to your liking. It's another when the mascot mocks and trivializes your ancestry and heritage. We could also change the name while we're at it so we don't have any more idiots showing up at the park in headdresses with their faces painted red. Man, that was embarrassing. Symbols matter. Get a fresh start, Tribe. Put Chief Wahoo in the rear view mirror.
• Trades? - This team really doesn't have to do much in the offseason trade market. A power hitting corner outfielder for left field would be nice. Additional bullpen help is always a good idea if the price is right, as building a bullpen is a crapshoot every year (see Cabrera, Fernando or the 2006 Indians). If the past is any guideline, whatever Shapiro does will probably be something we don't see coming.

Ken-ny! Ken-ny! Ken-ny!

If you grew up watching Superhost on Channel 43 in Cleveland, or Mystery Science Theatre 3000, then you probably remember the Gamera movies. Gamera was a giant turtle who primarily wanted to be left alone, but occasionally, Gamera was called out of the deeps to save Japan from a mutant monster from outer space and befriend a young boy who is always named Kenny, who helps him to save the day.

The monster threatening Cleveland was Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox paid $51.1 million just to negotiate with him and another $52 million to sign him to a 6-year deal before the season to bring his unhittable gyro ball to Beantown.

In the role of Gamera - Jake Westbrook, sinkerballer who was pummeled his last start against the Yankees. (Note - Indians entire 2007 payroll - around $70 million, up from $61 million before the season started based on the extensions given Pronk and Westbrook).

In the top of Inning 2, it looked like Gamera was in trouble. The evil monsters had loaded the bases with 1 out. But look - it's a pop up! Look! A double play ball! Threat ended!

In the bottom of Inning 2, it was Kenny to the rescue. Kenny Lofton, trusty sidekick, link to the great teams of the '90s, ageless wonder, in his third stint with the Tribe, in his first at bat of the game, with the crowd chanting "Ken-ny! Ken-ny! Ken-ny!" saved the day by socking a two-run home run to right field to put the Tribe up 2-0. The Indians added 2 more in the 5th on a single by Asdrubal Cabrera and an RBI groundout by Pronk to knock Dice-K out of the game.

Westbrook went 6.2 innings and induced three double plays. The only blemish was a two-run homer in the 7th given up to Jason Veritek. The Tribe bullpen locked the game down, with Jensen Lewis rescuing Westbrook in the 7th, Senor Slow getting Youk, Big Papi and Manny 1-2-3 in the 8th and Joe Knows Closing pitching a 1-2-3 ninth.

Maybe I've stretched the metaphor just a little bit with the Gamera thing with Dice-K as a monster threatening Cleveland. To hear the hype, you'd think he was the most important Japanese import since the Honda Accord. At any rate, the Indians beat a pitcher that the Red Sox paid 73% of the Indians 2007 payroll just to negotiate with in the offseason.

Westbrook, on the other hand, has received virtually no respect from the media or fans outside Cleveland, primarily because he's not a flashy strikeout pitcher, and because he's been battling injuries this season. His 6 wins on the season were not impressive. However, between 2004 and 2006, only Johan Santana, Kenny Rogers, and Jon Garland had more victories in the American League than Westbrook's 44.

Other notes about the game:

• The strike zone was wildly erratic, varying wildly from batter to batter. By the end of the game, it was anybody's guess what a strike was and players on both sides were swinging at balls well off the plate. This guy graded out as one of the 12 best umpires MLB could offer us in the postseason?
• Trot Nixon started. He went 0-3 with a strikeout. He was replaced by Gutierrez for defensive purposes. Chances are, this is the last we see of Trot Nixon for awhile.
• Uber-rookie Dustin Pedroia is batting .167 on the series with an OPS of .398. Asdrubal Cabrera is batting .333 with an OPS of .690.
• As much as I dislike the Fox guys, they are still better than the TBS crew.
• Westbrook got 15 of 20 outs via ground balls.
• Ryan Garko made a heck of a stretch on the double play in the second. Who knew the big guy was so flexible?

Tonight, weather permitting: Byrd vs Wakefield, or perhaps Beckett. Francona says that it's going to be Wakefield. Red Sox Nation is crying out for Beckett to start on short rest with the Sawx down 2-1. Tune in around 8:17 Eastern and find out who gets the ball.

Start Spreading the News...

They're leaving today. The Yankees (aka, the Forces of Evil and Darkness in the Baseball Universe - FEDBU) will scatter today, packing their gear and traveling to various parts of the globe where they can spend their offseason counting their cash and pondering how they managed to lose in the ALDS to an allegedly inferior team.

Because, really, everybody knows that they didn't lose to a superior team. The Yankees never lose to a superior team - they just find new ways to beat themselves. Just ask Johnny Damon:

"We got beat in the four games played," Damon said. "Overall, are they the better team? I don't know." Now that's losing with class.

Nevermind that they had their "ace" going against the Indians fourth starter, and their ace left down 2-0 with the bases loaded in the second inning. Chien-Ming Wang, 19-game winner, lost two games in the series.

Nevermind that the Indians outpitched the Yankees best pitchers and outhit the Yankees best hitters in clutch situations.

Nevermind that Captain Clutch, Derek Jeter, in 17 AB, actually hit into so many double plays that he was responsible for 17 outs. He was 3/17 for the series (.176) and hit into 3 douple plays.

Nevermind that Alex Rodriguez, who will be the AL MVP, perhaps unanimously, hit .267 for the series, with 6 strikeouts in 4 games.

Nevermind that their Greatest.Pitcher.Ever (and headhunting punk extraordinaire), never made it out of the third inning in his start. It is worth noting here that Clemens made $19.5 million this year and pitched, including the playoffs, 101.1 innings, for a total cost of $192,497 per inning, or $64,165 per out.

Nevermind that the Indians payroll of $61 million for this year is less than one-third of the Yankees payroll.

Nevermind that the Indians had two players (Lofton, Nixon) on their postseason roster with World Series experiece and three others (Sabathia, Borowski, Byrd) with postseason experience, while the Yankees have been in the postseason each of the past 13 years.

Nevermind that everyone knows that the Indians couldn't possibly win anything with Joe Knows Closing taking the hill in the 9th inning of a close game, especially after he blew a game in Yankees Stadium in early April, 6 months ago.

The Yankees and their fans will always be convinced that the better team did not win and that the Yankees beat themselves instead of losing to a superior team. That's okay. That is what makes them Yankees and Yankee fans.

The Indians, on the other hand, will also be leaving. They're going to Boston to start the American League Championship Series.

And all the Yankees have to show for their season is a boatload of money, a manager that may be fired because he could not beat a team with a payroll 1/3 of his team's -- despite taking his team into postseason for a 13th straight year, a pitching staff that is old and in disarray, the possible loss of the best hitter in baseball, and the decision on whether to exercise expensive options on overpaid players. The Bronx Zoo, indeed.

Start spreading the news. They're leaving today.

The Trot Giveth, and the Trot Taketh Away

Game 3 of the Indians-Forces of Evil and Darkness in the Baseball Universe (FEDBU) series is in the books, and the Indians now lead their ALDS series 2 games to 1 after last night's 8-4 FEDBU victory.

Roger Clemens, headhunting punk and future Hall of Famer in the event he ever stays retired, looked like a 45-year-old guy with a bad hammy. Roger was gone two batters into the third inning, with what most likely will be his last major league pitch striking out Victor Martinez. Clemens left on the hook for a 2-0 deficit, including a solo home run to surprise starter Trot Nixon, which was expanded to 3-0 when Jhonny Peralta dhoubled in Travis Hafner, who walked off Clemens to lead off the inning. That was the last really good thing to happen for the Tribe. Philip Hughes relieved Clemens, and after giving up the double to Peralta, pitched 3.2 innings of scoreless relief and kept the FEDBU in the game long enough to get to Westbrook.

Jake Westbrook looked like Jake Westbrook. He got a lot of ground balls, some of which went through and some of which ended up starting double plays. He was leading 3-1 when the roof caved in in the 5th. Peralta misplayed a grounder to the hole into an infield single by A-Rod. Westbrook, who suddenly was not being given the low strike by home plate umpire Ron Kulpa, elevated sinkers to Matsui, Cano and Cabrera, which led to a run scoring and two men on for Johnny Damon. He then elevated a sinker to Damon, who deposited it in the right field stands to give the FEDBU a 5-3 lead.

The FEDBU expanded the lead to 8-3 the following inning off Westbrook and Aaron Fultz, helped out by Trot Nixon allowing a Robinson Cano bases loaded single to skip beneath his glove, clearing the bases. Since the game was pretty much out of reach anyway, Trot was allowed to bat in the 8th inning, and got an RBI double to the gap in left to drive in the Indians last run off uber-phenom Joba "Walks on Water" Chamberlain. Chamberlain seemed human in the 8th, as the Indians managed to get 3 straight hits.

Jensen Lewis struck out the side in the 7th. Joe Knows Closing pitched a scoreless 8th to get some work in and Mariano Rivera slammed the door on the Tribe in the 9th.

So, we now go to Game 4 tonight. The FEDBU will start Wang on 3 days rest, while the Indians will go with Paul Byrd. Both pitchers will have a short leash, and the FEDBU have shot most of their better bullpen bullets by using Hughes and Chamberlain for extended appearances in Game 3 while Betancourt and Perez stayed on the Indians' bench. If Wang performs poorly, Mike Mussina will be available for long relief. Aaron Laffey, a left-handed sinkerballer, will likely be the Indians long guy out if Byrd runs into trouble.

So why did Wedgie start the Trotster? He has an outstanding batting record against Clemens, and his intuition paid off initially. However, Wedge's failure to lift Trot for defensice purposes once Clemens left the game probably cost the team. If Gutierrez is in right field, the FEDBU likely score only one run on Cano's single, and the Indians turn two on Cabrera's ensuing grounder to third. It's still 6-3, but the late innings become much more interesting, with the Tribe bringing the potential go ahead run to the plate in the 8th off Joba "I am the Walrus" Chamberlain.

The good news is that the Indians are still up 2-1, and the FEDBU have to win 2 games while the Indians have to win 1. Is a FEDBU comeback possible? Of course - nearly anything is possible. Is it probable? The odds say no.

Three Is a Magic Number

"Three is a Magic Number" - Schoolhouse Rock

Three is now the magic number for the Cleveland Indians to clinch the American League Central Division after yesterday afternoon's victory over the Motor City Kitties.

After spotting the Kitties a 2-run lead in the top of the third inning, the Indians came back off Goggle Boy Nate Robertson with a solo home run by Casey Blake in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Indians took the lead in the 5th with three runs. Key hits were back to back doubles by Gutierrez and Michaels and an RBI single by the Beaded One, Asdrubal Cabrera.

CC Sabathia went 7 strong innings, giving up 5 hits and 2 runs, striking out 7 and walking only 1, turning in another ace-like performance. CC Sabathia knows how to Beat Michigan. Senor Slow came in and pitched an uncharacteritically tense 8th inning, loading the bases before getting Marcus Thames to fly out to end the rally. Joe Knows Closing pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to send the fans out to get an early start on celebrating happy hour. Jason Michaels got served Leadership Pie.

The Tribe now has the opportunity to clinch at home this weekend without anyone's help by sweeping the Oakland Athletics.

A few words about the Tigers. It strikes me that their window is closing while the Indians' is opening. The Tigers took a risk by signing expensive free agents that priced themselves too high for anyone else (Rodriguez and Ordonez), and it paid off last year. Everything went right for the Tigers last year - their young pitching matured all at once, and all their overpriced veterans stayed healthy and produced.

The problem with depending on overpriced veteran free agents, especially older and/or injury-prone ones is that eventually they do experience a drop in production, and they may not stay healthy. This year, unlike last year, their overpriced veterans did not stay healthy (Kenny Rogers, Gary Sheffield).

Their young pitching also got hurt or was not nearly as effective (Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney both spent significant time on the DL, Jeremy Bonderman spent the last couple months in a funk before being shut down, Nate Robertson was ineffective most of the season, Mike Maroth is now a Cardinal).

Kenny Rogers is finally showing his age, leaving a void at the top of their rotation. Andrew Miller wasn't ready this year - he might be next year. How badly is Bonderman hurt? Was their pitching staff a victim of overuse last year? The Tigers will probably come to regret giving up top pitching prospects for Gary Sheffield, especially if Sheffield continues to miss games at the rate he did this year while their prospects go on to shine for the Yankees.

Pudge Rodriguez is a shell of his former self, both offensively and defensively. Craig Monroe and Marcus Thames had career years last year, and both came crashing to earth, Monroe crashing so hard that he was dealt to the Cubs.

The Tigers have a solid core in Granderson, Verlander, Ordonez and Bonderman. However, they have a lot of questions - is all the hype on Andrew Miller legitimate? Can they find a shortstop that will give them enough offense to allow them to move Carlos Guillen to first base to keep him healthy? Can Ordonez continue to avoid injuries? What do they do with Pudge now that he's lost it? How long can they keep riding Todd Jones at closer, and is Zumaya really ready to close? Can they put together a decent enough bullpen to get games to Rodney/Zumaya/Jones?

It will be a critical off-season for the Motor City Kitties that determines how well they continue to stay in contention.

Chicks Dig the Long Ball - Magic Number Now 5

Jake Westbrook walked a tightrope for 5 innings, Jensen Lewis shut the Motor City Kitties down for the 3 more to secure his first major league win, and the Indians beat the Tigers 7-4 behind 4 home runs by 4 different players off Tigers ace Justin Verlander.

The homers:

• Inning 2 - Ryan Garko (solo) - tied game at 1
• Inning 3 - Pronk (3-run) - tied game at 4
• Inning 6 - Victor Martinez (solo) - gave Indians 5-4 lead
• Inning 6 - Franklin Gutierrez (2-run) - gave Indians 7-4 lead

Three of the four home runs (Garko, Pronk, Gutierrez) were measured at over 400 feet. They were, indeed Mighty Clouts.

The Tigers stranded 10 runners and had several opportunities to put the game away in the first five innings against Westbrook, but were unable to get the big hit, and the Indians came back with a mighty clout in the bottom of every inning that the Tigers scored to keep the pressure on.

Jensen Lewis knows how to Beat Michigan, taming the Kitties by retiring 9 of the 10 batters he faced, with the only blemish an errant pitch that plunked Placidao Polanco. For his efforts, he was rewarded with Leadership Pie, and the Indians dropped their magic number to 5. Joe Knows Closing pitched a reasonably uneventful ninth for his league leading 41st save.

In another good sign, Jacobs Field was full, with over 5,400 walk-up tickets sold on Dollar Dog Night at the stadium.

The Indians have a chance to drop the magic number to 3 with a noon game. Sabathia vs. Robertson.

Mojo Watch -

Pronk:
Good timing for the Pronkmeister.

Tribe:
Still rollling with Full Elvis.

Tigers: Right now, the Motor City Kitties got no Elvis. They are Michael J Fox.

Lucky Number 7

The Indians reduced their magic number for clinching the American League Central Division by beating the Tigers 6-5 in 11 innings on a walk-off home run by Casey Blake.

The Tigers led most of the way, as Kenny Rogers' Deal With Satan continued long enough to allow him to agetreacheryguile a 5-2 lead after 7. The Indians were clubbing the ball the last three innings Rogers pitched, but right at the Tigers' fielders. Paul Byrd, after being deserted by his defense in the 4th inning, allowed 5 runs (4 earned) and agetreacheryguiled his way through 7 -1/3 innings. Aaron Fultz pitched out of a two-on, one-out jam in the 7th.

That's when the fun began. The Tigers brought in Joel Zumaya, a hard thrower who has been known to hit 100 mph on the gun, to start the 8th. He walked the Sizemore, and Cabrera followed with a single. Hafner advanced the runners to second and third on a groundout. Martinez also grounded out, scoring Sizemore, bringing Jhonny Peralta to the plate as the tying run with two outs. Jhonny proceeded to zhoom one of the park, his second home run of the game, tying it at 5.

Joe Knows Closing came on in the 9th, and, of course, that always means excitement. This time, Sean Casey, pinch-hitting for Timo Perez, lined a one-out single up the middle. Cameron "Beanstalk" Maybin, pinch-running for Casey, stole secong base, giving Cabrera an elbow to the head while popping up on his slide and forcing Cabrera to drop the ball. The next batter, Marcus Thames, grounded to short. With the play directly in front of him, Beanstalk tried to take third anyway, and was cut down by a good throw by Peralta, as justice for his assault on Cabrera. Brandon Inge flied out, ending the threat.

Indians 9th - on comes Zach Miner. Indians get winning run to second base with one out. Sizemore flies out, Cabrera walks, Hafner grounds out. Bonus baseball ensues.

Detroit 1oth - on comes Rafael Betancourt (Senor Slow). Polanco doubles with one out. Sheffield Ks on a high fastball, nearly screwing himself into the ground. Ordonez flies out.

Indians 10th - Peralta walks with one out. Josh Barfield is paroled long enough to pinch run for our most productive hitter of the game. Inning ends on a strike-em-out, throw-em-out doublte play with Gutierrez striking out and Barfield, who got a horrible jump, getting thrown out at second.

Detroit 11th. Guillen flies out. Next two batters K'd by Senor Slow.

Indians 11th - Lofton grounds out. Blake launches one into the left field bleachers. Game over. Mass hysteria. Dogs and cats sleeping together. Casey Blake gets the Leadership Pie. Magic Number at 7.

Casey Blake and Jhonny Peralta Know How to Beat Michigan

Mojo Watch:

Cleveland Indians:
This team still has the Full Elvis going strong. Different hero every night. Looking like a Team o'Destiny.

Pronk:
Mojo Shrinking. Maybe Pronk lent his free-floating mojo to the University of Michigan so they could finally win a football game.

It's Good to Be Back Home Again

When last we left our intrepid band of Wahoo Warriors, they were in the midst of a wicked 10-game road trip featuring stops in Minnesota, A Nameless Place in Southern California, and Chicago. They had just dropped the first game of a 4-game set in that Nameless Place in Southern California.

The good news is that, after dropping a tough game 2 of that series, the Indians went on to take the next two, including a Sunday night victory on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, to split the series.


After a 4:30 AM arrival in Chicago, the team managed to show some spunk, behind a 3-run 7th-inning rally to win a rain soaked 6-2 game that lasted well into Tuesday morning. After a 2-hour-plus rain delay, the Indians poured on two more runs while Chicago was phoning it in. Chicago phoned in the next game as well. With the off-day coming, Eric Wedge decided to rest key regulars to give them a two-day break. Unfortunately, the Indians were facing Javier Vazquez, who is pretty much the only consistent pitcher the Sox have left, and, with the Sox' Konerko given a gift home run that was clearly foul, as well as a poor relief performance from Cliff "Sleepy Kitten" Lee (see below), the Tribe managed to lost 7-4.







So, the grueling road trip is over, and the Indians went 7-3. This caps a stretch of 23 straight days with a game, during which the Indians went 16-7, and ended with a 5.5 game lead, and a magic number of 11. You know, this team might turn out to be pretty good after all, after all the hand-wringing we've been through this year.


After an off day for everyone, the Tribe last night managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat once again, coming from a 4-1 deficit against the Royals on a 2-run homer by Franklin Gutierrez in the 7th, a solo homer from Victor Martinez in the 8th, and a leadoff, walkoff solo shot by Casey Blake in the 9th against Tribe castoff David Riske. Joe Knows Closing got the victory for pitching a reasonably uneventful 9th. Last night's victory leaves the Tribe's magic number at 10.

Mojo Watch:

Pronk: It seemed like Pronk was about to turn it around. He hasn't, at least not to the extent we all have hoped. He still has managed to knock in 91 runs. However, his 21 homers is half of what he put up last year in 8 fewer games than he has already played this year.

Indians: The Indians continue to run on Full Elvis. They're winning the games they should win, and sometimes even winning the games they have no business winning. The magic number is 10.

The Streak Continues

The Indians made it 6 in a row with a tense 6 to 5 victory sealed with a walk-off walk to Kenny Lofton. The Indians almost blew this game. The Indians went out to a 3-0 lead, which they squandered, letting Seattle come back to take a 4-3 lead. The Indians then came back to take a 5-4 lead before watching Seattle tie it 5-5 in the top off the ninth off a clearly tired Joe Knows Closing. Seattle fans could only watch in terror as Victor Martinez singled and O' Flaherty hit Garko with a pitch. Then Rick White (remember him, Indians fans?) walked Gutierrez, got Peralta to line out and then walked Kenny Lofton on 6 straight balls (with K-Love swinging at 2 of them to add to the drama). So, instead of a save, Joe Knows Closing gets a win. Go figure.

Some observations about the game:

• Rafael Perez is human: After coming on to relieve Laffey in the seventh with 2 on, he gave up two straight hits to give Seattle a 4-3 lead.
• Rafael Perez also continues to be a freak: The next inning he struck out the side in order.
• How in the world is Rick White still employed? Why the Mariners believed that he is capable of pitching high leverage situations, let alone low leverage ones is beyond me. The amount of hatred for Rick White still lingers from his time in Cleveland. My gosh, even Tom Hamilton, who likes everyone, dislikes Rick White, and you could tell from the way he called the game last night. And if Hammy dislikes Rick White, it's nothing compared to the profane hatred of Mariners fans.
• Indians fans in the blogosphere are a generally a pessimistic lot, although generally pretty good natured. We know disappointment, and we've come to learn to expect it. Mariners fans, on the other hand, are just bitter as hell, and profane as well.
• I almost feel sorry for the Mariners. After getting thoroughly beat down by the Angels (at home!), they had to fly crosscountry to make up a game against a hot team without a day off. Then I think back to April and the Mariners yukking it up in the dugout while swiping a victory from the Indians after 4 and 2/3 innings of baseball during the infamous Snow Game Home Opener. And how, in the midst of the pennant race, we're going to have to make up one of our home games in their stadium. Then I don't feel sorry for those punks at all.
• Cliff who?
• Eric Wedge got himself tossed by arguing a non-balk call in the 4th inning. It was clearly a balk, but according to baseball rules, arguing a balk call is an automatic ejection. It was nice to see Wedgie show some spunk, but that left Jeff Datz to run the rest of the game. The thought of Jeff Datz running the rest of the game may be one reason that Wedge doesn't get himself thrown out of more games.
• Adam Jones looks like he's going to be a hoss for Seattle. He clubbed the first of what promises to be many major league home runs last night.
• There was great joy in Cleveland when Ichiro struck out in the seventh inning last night with runners on first and second. Ichiro, you may remember, said this recently: "To tell the truth, I'm not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I'm excited going to Cleveland, I'd punch myself in the face, because I'm lying." He heard it from the crowd all night.
• It's highly unlikely the Tribe will do anything today at the waiver wire deadline, but you never know. It's also highly unlikely we see anyone up from Buffalo tomorrow with the Bisons in the middle of a pennant race and the big club clearly not needing much help. Maybe it will finally be Matt Miller Time. Or maybe Lee comes up to work in the bullpen.

Mojo Watch

Cleveland Indians: The fact that they keep winning games like last night's is an indication that they've still got Full Elvis.

Next up: the White Sox, who, speaking of profanity laced tirades, recently got the what for from Ozzie Being Ozzie. We'll see if it motivates them at all. Buehrle vs. Carmona. Beuhrle has a history of being either nearly unhittable or getting totally thrashed by the Tribe. Let's hope it's that latter tonight.

Santana, Schmantana

The Cleveland Indians once again made Johan Santana their personal rented mule, this time by beating him savagely during a 4-run first inning and then hanging on for a 4-3 victory.

The Indians came out swinging. Sizemore singled, and then Asbrdrubal "Pearl" Cabrera, making his first start at shortstop in place of Jhonny Peralta, smashed one off the railing in left field to stake the Indians to a 2-0 lead. After a Hafner groundout, Victor Martinez hit one into the left field bleachers for a 3-0 lead. After Garko was retired, Gutierrez doubled, followed by a Lofton single for a 4-0 lead. That turned out to be all the offense the Tribe would need.

Sabathia clearly did not have his best stuff, but he had enough to give the team 6 full innings, and he left with a 4-2 lead. Jensen Lewis made an impressive 1-2-3 appearance in the 7th, and Betancourt gave up a run in the 8th after giving up a triple down the right field line that Gutierrez almost caught.

Joe Knows Closing came on for yet another tension-filled ninth. After giving up a leadoff single to the pestky Jason Tyner, he got the next batter to pop a bunt foul high enough that Victor Martinez could dive under it for the first out. The next batter smashed one right to Ryan Garko, who stepped on first and threw it to second, where Pearl tagged the runner to complete the unusual 3-6 double play to end the game.

Mojo Watch
Cleveland Indians:

This team right now has Full Elvis after sweeping the Twins, winning 9 of their last 11 and beating Santana for the fourth time this season. To put that last into perspective, no team had ever beaten Santana more than twice in a season until this year's Cleveland Indians. This puts the Indians 4.5 games over the Motor City Kitties, who lost again to the Royals, and 8.5 games over the Twinkies.

The Mariners come in tonight for a makeup snow date. Aaron Laffey vs. Horatio Ramirez. The Mariners have lost 5 straight, including a thorough beatdown at home from the Angels of Somewhere in Southern California in their most recent series.

Pronkitude! Tightrope Saves! Spills, Chills and Thrills Aplenty!

Pronk went yard in the first inning last night to stake the Tribe to a first inning lead for the second night in a row, and the Indians survived another bizarre save by Joe Borowski to hold on to a 6-5 victory over the now not-quite-so-hot-as-they-were Twins.


Grady Sizemore also went deep for the Tribe and Asdrubal Cabrera, Ryan Garko and Jhonny Peralta all came up with big RBIs, as the Tribe extended their AL Central lead to 3.5 games over the Tigers and 7.5 games over the Twins. Last night the Motor City Kitties lost 6-3 to the Royals.

With the Tribe leading 6-3 going into the ninth, Joe Borowski came in and promptly gave up Brian Buscher's first major league home run. After inducing Rondell White to pop up, Borowski gave up a bunt single to Jason Tyner, and then Jason Bartlett hit what looked like an inning-ending double play down the third base line, where Casey Blake, playing on the line to prevent doubles, was hunched over ready to field the ball. Because Joe Borowski was on the mound, however, the ball hit the base and took a crazy hop right through Casey Blake's legs for a double, putting the tying run on second base. After retiring Torii Hunter on a sac fly, Borowski then struck out Justin Morneau looking with a wicked slider on the outside corner and Cleveland was able to breathe again. I'll say it again - Joe Knows Closing.

The game also featured a phenomenal catch by Torii Hunter in centerfield, who robbed Blake of extra bases with a full speed leaping catch, after which he hit the wall hard and laid on the turf for a couple minutes, clearly winded. Nick Punto also made a nice barehanded stop of a bouncer up the middle to get Ryan Garko.

With this win, the Indians have now guaranteed their fourth straight series victory, and have won four in a row and eight of their last twelve. Pronk has a 5 game hit streak and has raised his average to .256.

Mojo Watch
Pronk: Pronk looks like he's coming around.

Indians Bats: The two-out clutch hitting continues.

Indians Pitching: Although neither Westbrook nor Byrd nor Borowski cruised, they are getting the job done, and the Two Raffies (Betancourt and Perez) are locking down opponents.

Indians Overall: No reason to reduce them from 4 Elvi. They're getting the job done, this series against a good team that needed to win to stay in the pennant race. It's nice to see the Indians exposing the Twinkies for the pretenders that they are.

Next up: Santana vs. Sabathia. So far the Indians have managed not to lose to Santana this year. Here's hoping the trend continues.