Travel Day

Sorry, crimestoppers, but real life has kept me from posting regarding the last two games until now. If only I could find some way to get myself paid for doing this. Anyway, today is a travel day for the Tribe, as they come back from a dramatic 2-4 West Coast swing, having split the last two with the Angels.

• Tuesday night the Indians took some measure of revenge for Toriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Hunter's walk-off slam of the night before when Pronk smashed a two-run shot in the top of the 9th off the Angels of Orange County Which is Kinda Close to Los Angeles closer Justin Speier to win 4-3 behind a complete game from Jake Westbrook. This game was notable for an Andy Marte sighting. Marte came in to play the field after Ryan Garko was lifted for a pinch runner, which slid Casey Blake to first base.


• Wednesday afternoon, Paul Byrd thought the early start time meant that he was throwing batting practice instead of pitching in a game that really counted. Age and Treachery could not fool the Angels who teed off on him for 3 homers, including a Denny's signature breakfast from Mike Napoli. The Indians were down 6-nil before they suddenly came to the realization that instead of a good pitcher, they were facing Dusin Moseley, and beat him up for 4 runs in the 6th to at least make the game interesting. That didn't last very long as Jensen Lewis gave up a three-run shut to Vlad the Impaler in the 7th. After that, it was all over but the plunking, as Justin Speier, in a blatant display of poor sportsmanship, hit Pronk on his bad elbow in the 9th inning. We shall see if the Indians have the cojones to return the favor when the Angels of Orange County Which is Kinda Close to Los Angeles come to town later this year.

In other news, even as I write this the Indians are holding a press conference to announce that they have locked up Fausto Carmona to a contract extension guaranteed through 2011 with three club option years that will likely keep Carmona in Cleveland until 2014. Huge. Totally Huge.

Oh, and no more lolcats for the near future. The Motor City Kitties have finally won, to up their record to 1-7.

Mojo Watch:

Mark Shapiro: Fausto Carmona through 2014! Enough said.

Travis Hafner: The game-winning shot off Justin Speier was a huge display of Pronkitude, and perhaps getting hit by Speier in that last at-bat will reawaken the Incredible Pronk.

Age and Treachery: Right now, Paul Byrd, like Michael J. Fox, has got No Elvis.

Jake Westbrook: If the Tribe could have managed more than 1 run off John Danks last week, Westbrook would be sitting at 2-0.

David Dellucci: The left field position is now off the schneid, with Dellucci registering 2 hits to raise his average over the Mendoza line to a smokin' .231.

Jason Michaels: Michaels right now has No Elvis. In order to see his .048 batting average, you need one of these:

Franklin Gutierrez: Since his incredible opening day, Frank the Tank is 1 for 22. He was benched in Anaheim for Jason Michaels - against a right handed pitcher.

Andy Marte Watch:

Game 8:

Mop up duty. Field only, 9th inning no at bat. Started nifty double play.

Game 9:

Turnabout is Fair Play

After the Indians got shutout 1-0 on Tuesday night, wasting a great pitching performance from CC Sabathia, the Red Sox returned the favor on Wednesday night, wasting a great pitching performance from Josh Beckett and running themselvs out of innings twice on their way to allowing the Indians to shut them out 1-0.

Victor Martinez continues to show that last year's defensive struggles were an aberration, throwing out two runners at second base and blocking the plate brillilantly to keep the the Red Sox scoreless. It the Indians get to the playoffs then I think Victor Martinez is the AL MVP. He's doing it with the bat at the game's hardest position and consistently making big plays. The guy's a hoss, but all you hear is about how terrible his defense is and how the Indians should move him to first base permanently. I don't think the national media has really watched Victor play catcher this year and they are basing their opinions on his bad year last year.

This just in - Fausto Carmona is pretty good. He struck out 6 and gave up only 4 hits while holding the BoSox scoreless. Only three balls left the infield. Three of the hits were infield hits. His stuff is filthy nasty. Word to your mother. Peace out, dawg.

The Indians' lone run came on a Franklin Gutierrez home run. It is worth noting that, had Gutierrez been in either right field or left field the prior night, then it is likely the game would have gone into extra innings a scoreless tie, because he would have made the catch on either of the bloop hits that turned the game. I will be extremely disappointed if the Indians trade Gutierrez for relief help at the deadline, as I am more impressed by this kid the more I see him play.

Pronk's Mojo continues to be away on holiday. The hitless streak is now 19 ABs.

Not Quite

After spotting the White Sox an 11-2 lead, the Tribe made it close before losing 11-10.

Cliff Lee pitched poorly, but the Indians were in the game 5-2 when he left with 1 out in the sixth. Unfortunately, Fernando Cabrera came in and pitched batting practice, letting in 2 more charged to Lee and giving up 4 more runs charged to himself in 1/3 of an inning. Jensen Lewis came in and acquitted himself reasonably well in his major league debut, getting out of the 6th and pitching a tightwire 7th, where he was saved by an amazing wall-hugging leaping non-catch in deep centerfield by Grady Sizemore that was ruled a catch.

The Indians came back with 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th on a Franklin Gutierrez 3-run home run, and then put up 5 in the bottom of the 8th, with the rally capped by a 2-run single to right by Pronk.

After Rafael Perez struck out the side, the Indians managed to rally in the 9th against closer Bobby Jenks, when Gutierrez singled and stole second to put the tying run in scoring position for Josh Barfield, who popped up weakly to the catcher.

The Good: This team is never out of any game. Pronk went 2 for 4, with 2 RBI, 1 run scored and a walk.

The Bad: Cliff Lee is inconsistent, especially when he can't or won't throw the curve. His fastball is eminently hittable.

The Ugly: Fernando Cabrera is out of options and is rapidly becoming the latest incarnation of Jason Davis. Just when you think he's got things figured out, he comes out in a high leverage situation and lays an egg like this. Don't be surprised if we hear this afternoon that he has been DFA'd and that Matt Miller has been called back to the Indians from Buffalo. After this performance, we might finally be able to slip Cabrera through waivers and get him righted in Buffalo, which would be the ideal solution.