The Wind

"The wind, the wind brings me cards from Argentina
It brings scarves from finer ladies
And the scent of the gardenias
Won't sleep or rest or sit itself beside me
If I run out, there's no one that could hide me
And I know that I'll regret it
But I think I'm gonna let it in"

"The Wind" by Nathan, from Key Principles

The Indians have been looking for something to "take fear from bats", and it seems like they may have found it in Arlington this week. The weather was hot, the wind was blowing out, and the Indians got to feast on weak Rangers' pitching. Alas, the wind was also blowing out for the Rangers as well, as the ulitmate result was a split, with the Tribe scoring 39 runs and the Rangers scoring 39 runs. The highlights:

• Monday: Tribe 13 - Rangers 9: Casey Blake, 2 HR, 7 RBI. Laffey got pummeled. Westbrook put on DL. Nobody ready to start next game, since Sowers started earlier in the week.
• Tuesday: Tribe 7 - Rangers 12: Tribe starts Tom Mastny due to Westbrook's sudden appearance on DL. Mastny gets plowed under like last year's corn stalks. Bullpen really didn't recover for the rest of the series.
• Wednesday: Tribe 15 - Rangers 9: Everybody hits! Ben Francisco gets 5 all by himself! Garko gets 4, with 6 RBI. Cliff Lee leaves after getting hosed by the home plate umpire in the 5th inning and allowing the go ahead runs and then paces the dugout hurling curses towards home plate as the Indians break the game open with 5 in the top of the 6th to give him the victory.
• Thursday: Tribe 4 - Ranger 9: With the chance to capture the series and staked to a 4-0 lead, CC Sabathia falls prey to his "inning of crap" (thanks, Steve Buffum), surrenders the lead and then the Senor Slow implodes, putting the game out of reach. Kevin Millwood, after a bad start, pitches lights out into the 7th to get the win for the Rangers.

Other notes:

• Milton Bradley continues to be a showboating douchebag. At least CC hit him with a pitch on Thursday, though he came around to score in the "inning of crap."
• Jake Westbrook is on the DL with "right elbow soreness." He went to see Dr. Yocum and the results will be released this weekend. Uh-oh. Still think the Indians should trade some of their pitching depth?
• The Westbrook injury forced the Tribe to shuffle their bullpen. Tom Mastny and Jensen Lewis were up. Then they were down and Rick Bauer and Brian Slocum came up. Bauer closed out the 15-9 game, giving up 3 runs in the 9th.
• The draft was this week. The Indians took Lonnie Chisenhall, a middle infield type, allegedly with a plus bat, who fell from grace at U South Carolina after being involved in an incident regarding the theft of some electronic equipment.

Last night, the Indians beat the Tigers 4-2, with Paul Byrd getting his 100th career win. The Tribe is now 6.5 games behind the Whine Sox, who have won their last 4.

Andy Marte played Tuesday. So did Blake. Andy went 1 for 3 with a run scored. He was pinch-hit for late in the game by Dellucci, who flied out weakly to left. This is particularly noteworthy because Wedge got outmanaged. Texas pitcher Jamey Wright was struggling. The bases were loaded and the Rangers needed more time to get a pitcher ready. Instead of sending up Marte against a struggling pitcher, Wedge wastes time getting a pinch-hitter up (lefty Dellucci vs righty Wright) allowing the Rangers time to get lefty Eddie Guardado into the game, who proceeded to drink David Dellucci's milkshake.

When we last left Casey Blake's stats, he had an OPS+ of 52. Now that he's been on the road to feast on weak KC and Texas pitching, he has increased his OPS+ to 94, which now actually approximates the OPS+ of an actual major league player, albeit still a below average one. His batting line is now .236/.315/.407. So, don't expect the Casey Blake Experience to end any time soon.

When Andy Marte plays, the Indians are 11-6, with a two game losing streak. Blake also played in both games. When both Marte and Blake play, the Indians are 6-5.

Garkolicious!

Ryan Garko is getting used to a post-game helping of Leadership Pie .

Garko's 2-run homer in the 9th off Bobby Jenks sent the game into bonus baseball, and his bloop single to centerfield scored Jason Michaels with the winning run as the Tribe came back yet again, this time against the White Sox, 6-5.

Paul Byrd appeared to have been replaced by his beta unit, walking two batters, hitting one (Punkzynski) and giving up 4 runs in 6 innings. The Tribe got to Jon Garland in the first for 2 runs, but then let him wiggle off the hook and he ended up lasting 6 innings, and left with a 4-2 lead.

The Indians' relief staff was solid except for Tom Mastny, who gave up a run on a bases loaded hit by pitch in the 9th. The good news is that he hit Punkzynski. You gotta give the guy some credit. He dives over the plate and is always willing to take one for the team. Doesn't make him any less of a punk, though.

Pronk: 1/3 with a walk. He singled in the 8th and was replaced by pinch-runner Ben Francisco, who allowed himself to get thrown out at the plate on a very shallow pop to right field.

So, the bottom line is this - Indians win, Garko remains en fuego, and Punkzynski got hit by a pitch twice. All in all, a generally satisfying night of baseball. Day baseball today: 12:05 first pitch, assuming the weather cooperates.

Weekend With the Royals

The Tribe escaped a weekend series with the KC Royals, taking 2 out of 3 at home.

Friday: Cleveland 5, KC 4

After the Tribe tried to give this one to the Royals after JoeBo, staked to a 1-run lead going in to the 9th, gave up the tying run, the Royals gave it right back by giving up a run in the bottom of the 9th. After $57 Million Man Pronk smashed a double to right, Ryan Garko knocked pinch runner Mike Rouse in from second base with a bouncer up the middle off the mound. This was Garko's first walk-off hit in the majors, and, for his efforts, he got a taste of Leadership Pie. Pronk was 1 for 4 with a walk, with the double that ignited the winning rally as his only hit on the night. Westbrook spotted the Royals a 3-1, lead through the middle of the third, but then Westbrook settled down and the Indians regained a 4-3 lead going into the dramatic 9th inning.

Saturday: KC 6, Cleveland 5

CC Sabathia spotted the Royals a 5-0 lead after giving up a two-run double to Billy Butler in the first and, even worse, a 3-run big fly to Emil Brown in the second. CC settled down, and the Indians got to within 5-4, but then KC got a gift run in the 7th on a double followed by a fielders choice and a throwing error on Casey Blake allowing the run to score. Pronk drove in the final run with a sac fly in the bottom of the 7th. The Indians got the tying run to second in the bottom of the 9th, but could not push the run home. Pronk went 0 for 4 with an RBI on the sac fly. Ryan Garko hit a towering two-run shot to the home run porch in the 6th.

Sunday: Cleveland 5, KC 3

Pronk gave a Jorge de la Rosa pitch a one-way trip to Pronkville, going 3 for 4 on the day including a 2-run homer to the right field mezzanine in the first, and Fausto Carmona held the Royals to 2 runs through 7 innings. De la Rosa only gave up two hits, but both were homers (Garko hit a solo shot). The Tribe tacked on two more in the 6th and the Royals got one more on a home run by Jason Smith (who?) off Rafael Betancourt (huh?). The one home run per half of the season that Betancourt typically gives up is now out of the way, so we can all move on.

It looks like Pronk is snapping out of his funk. His shot to Pronkville was a line drive reported as travelling 436 feet. Later he smoked a ball off the wall that normally would go as a double, but the ball was hit so hard, and Teahen played it perfectly and threw a strike to second, nailing Pronk.

While the Indians were taking 2 of 3 from KC, the Motor City Kitties were splitting a 4-game set with the suddenly hot Mariners, so the Tribe has gained a half game on the Tigers. The Tribe us now 54 - 37, one half game behind the 54 - 36 Tigers.

The rumour du jour: the Tribe is looking to bring back Kenny Lofton. I would not necessarily oppose this at the right price, especially if packaged with Otsuka, and if the price is not too high. Lofton is having an excellent season. He gets on base and he's still running, and he could platoon with Michaels in left field (he doesn't have the arm for right field - well, actually, he never did). The Indians visit the ballpark formerly known as The Ballpark in Arlington for a four-game series on Thursday, and if anything is going to happen with a trade to Texas, this might be the week.

Next up: The Tribe has the next shot at sticking a fork in the White Sox for three. Pitching matchups: LHP John Danks (5-6, 4.62 ERA) vs. LHP Cliff Lee (5-5, 5.23), tonight at 7:05; RHP Jon Garland (7-6, 3.85) vs. RHP Paul Byrd (7-4, 4.41), Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.; LHP Mark Buehrle (6-5, 2.98) vs. RHP Jake Westbrook (1-4, 6.08), Wednesday at 12:05 p.m.