Tied

Some reasons to love postseason:

• If anyone had told me before the series started that CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona would both pitch like crap and that the Indians and Sawx would still go back to Cleveland tied 1-1, I would have asked for a swig of whatever they were drinking.
• Unlikely postseason hero #1 - Tom Mastny. If the Indians win this series, Tom Mastny's 1-2-3 inning against Ortiz, Ramirez and Lowell, will likely have been the turning point. On paper, this should have been disaster. Once the Sawx had to bring in Eric (L'Homme Brulant) Gagne, the game was over. The fact that the Indians torched the last guys out of the Sawx bullpen has to be giving them concern in the Back Bay.
• Unlikely postseason hero #2 - Christopher Trotman Nixon. After pinchrunning for Pronk in the 8th, Wedge needed another DH in the 11th, and in came Trot Nixon, in his old home park, with the go-ahead run on second base. And he stayed in the game after the Sawx brought in a lefthander to face him. And then, he calmly stroked a single to centerfield where Coco Crisp proceeded to throw weakly to the cutoff man, requiring the cutoff man to make a perfect throw to get Grady Sizemore at the plate. The throw was not perfect. Even though Sizemore got a bad read on the ball and a late jump, he still beat the throw. Anyone in Cleveland still missing Coco?
• Wasn't Curt Schilling supposed to be The Super Clutch Pitching God with postseason experience who was going to see the Sawx through against the raw rookie Carmona, who was going to crack under the pressure?
• Think the Sawx would like to have Kason Gabbard back?
• Come back, Rafael Perez. We need you.
• Franklin Gutierrez is no longer afraid of the Green Monster.

I don't have anything to say about Game 1 or the first part of Game 2 for the simple reason that I didn't see any of it. Longstanding personal commitments, including singing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Columbus Symphony Chorus and a house full of classmates back in town for our 20th college reunion, kept me from seeing any of that baseball.

The Indians go home having taken the home field advantage from the Sawx. I would be surprised if the series does not go back to Boston for a Game Six, but it is nice to know that a return to Boston is not necessarily foreordained if the Indians can take care of business. I still think it goes seven, but last night's game will at least put a little hitch in the giddyup of the Red Sox Express.

If you're not reading Ryan Garko's postseason blog, you're missing out.

Next up - Westbrook v Matsuzaka at the Jake. Let the sinkers sink and let the gyros gyro!

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.

Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory

Tough weekend for the Tribe, as they lose very winnable games to the Twins on both Saturday and Sunday and lose a second straight series at home.

The weekend started out as if it were going to be party time for the Tribe on Friday night. Kenny Lofton was in the house, the Jake was rocking and Boof Bonser was throwing Minnesota Golden Gopherballs. Jhonny Peralta whent dheep twhice and Paul Byrd pitched a beauty and the Tribe won 10-4 on Trucker Cap Giveaway Night. (No kidding - it doesn't get much better than 10-4 on Trucker Cap night, does it?). Kenny Lofton went 3 for 5 and got a taste of Leadership Pie (TM).

Then came Johan Santana. For six innings on Saturday, he was virtually unhittable and had the Tribe guessing and flailing about cluelessly.

I had a bad feeling about Saturday's game when Jake Westbrook gave up an early line-drive home run to Jason Tyner, who had not homered in his previous 1,221 major league at bats. But, going into the bottom of the seventh, Westbrook had held the Twins to two runs, and the Indians were in the game. Then - a bloop single by Martinez, a monster shot by Pronk, and, suddenly, it was a tie game, Santana was out of the game, and hope had returned to the Jake.

Alas, it was not to be. Joe Borowski came on in the ninth, surrendered a double to Torii Hunter. A groundout advanced Hunter to third. JoeBo plunked Rondell White. The next batter hit a slow roller to Mike Rouse at second base, who had only one option - make a perfect throw home. His throw was high, and the run scored. JoeBo struck out the next two hitters, but the damage was done. Nathan retired Martinez, Hafner and Garko meekly in the 9th. Final 3-2 Twins.

Sunday, it was a pitching duel of CC Sabathia vs. Matt Garza, with the Tribe holding a precarious 1-0 lead going into the top of the 8th. Pesky Jason Tyner was hit by a pitch with one out. CC K'd Bartlett, so there are now two outs. Mike Redmond pinch-hit for Nick Punto and drove one to deep right field. Trot (Blind Squirrel) Nixon apparently did not understand that a batter with some actual skill had been placed in the lineup, and so he was playing shallow. The ball sailed over his head. Tyner scores. Game tied. Runner on second. The next batter hits a slow roller to Barfield, who boots the ball for error #1, then throws the ball past Garko for error #2. Another run scores. 2-1 Twins. The next batter, Morneau, rips a double down the left field line. Another run scores 3-1 Twins. That was pretty much the ballgame. Lew Ford added a solo shot in the 9th for the final 4-1 score.

When you give the other team 5 outs, chances are, they will score runs. However, this sequence creates a couple questions:

1. Why was Trot Nixon still in right field in the 8th inning of a 1-0 game given his clear defensive inferiority?
2. Isn't the job of the bench coach to remind Eric Wedge that it's a 1-0 game and that Trot Nixon is still in right field and Gutierrez in on the bench ready to play?
3. Why didn't anyone on the bench notice how shallow Nixon was playing in right field and position him correctly?

I have a hard time blaming managers for losses - generally, the manager's job is to put the best players on the field in the best position to perform. This one, however, is on Eric Wedge, not CC Sabathia 0r Trot Nixon. He has to make that defensive substitution. Trot Nixon should never be out there in the field past the seventh inning in a one-run game given his clear defensive liabilities. Franklin Gutierrez catches that ball and the inning is over.

All things considered, however, the glass is very much still half full, maybe even three-quarters full for the Tribe. They are still only a half-game out of first place, since Detroit has obliged by going to LAnaheim and getting fLAttened. While the Tribe has been going 4-6 in their last 10, the Tigers have been even worse, going 3-7 in their last 10. In addition, the Tigers had to put Kenny Rogers on the DL, depleting their pitching staff even more. The Tigers play Oakland tonight while the Indians are off, so the Indians will either be tied for the lead or 1 game back when they start their next series at home on Tuesday with the Rangers. Considering how well the Indians have played lately, that's pretty good, and cause for much optimism.

In addition, the demotion of Cliff Lee and the trade for Kenny Lofton are a clear sign that management is playing for this year and no longer has the patience to let even a veteran like Lee work it out at the major league level.

The Lofton trade will not be the last one made by this team to upgrade before the deadline. This team still could use another quality bullpen arm, and could probably use an upgrade in their middle infield options. Mike Rouse was in the ballgame to make his not quite good enough throw to home on the key play of Saturday's game because Barfield was removed for a pinch-hitter. Granted, it's hard to do much complaining about the utility infielder, who only starts occasionally, but Rouse has made Neifi Perez look like a potential upgrade at the plate.

In other news, Asdrubal Cabrera, uberprospect middle-infielder who is tearing up AA has been promoted to AAA, where it is said he might play some 2b and 3b. If he lights up Buffalo, we may see him in a utility role sooner rather than later. Postseason rosters aren't set until August 31.