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.

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.

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.