Number 9, Number 9, Number 9

I did not see the Indians play the Royals yesterday. My wife (a Steelers fan - what can I say?) and I went to a sports bar to watch football.

However, most accounts indicate that the Indians' fifth starter lost a relatively uninspired game to the Royals, 4-3. It would have been nice to sweep the series, but the Tribe will have to settle for winning the series instead.

The Indians' magic number remains 9, with the chance to knock it down in a hurry with a three-game series beginning against the Motor City Kitties tonight, who have won their last 5 after sweeping a series from the Twins, who appear pretty much to be phoning in the rest of the season. The Kitty Cats remain 2.5 games behind the Yankees for the Wild Card and 4.5 games behind the Indians in the AL Central.

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.

Bill Belichick's New Media Guide Photo

In light of recent events, the Patriots have released a new photo of Head Coach Bill Belichick. It is now pretty clear why the coach has preferred hooded sweatshirts.

A spokesman for the NFL indicated that the new photo, while seeming to be appropriate, showed Belichick in an outfit not meeting NFL apparel guidelines, and that a fine would likely be forthcoming.

Special Browns Edition: Steelers 34 - Browns 7

I've been telling people for weeks that any optimism on behalf of Browns fan is misplaced. It's extremely disheartening to have been proven right in such a brutal fashion. Some thoughts.

• This team was beaten 2 minutes into the game after that sorry punt attempt. How does your team break down so completely that you draw four penalties on one play?
• I thought Jamal Lewis had a reputation as a guy who didn't fumble.
• Charlie Frye looked like he had a serious case of Tim Couch disease. Throw the ball away, Charlie. It is beginning to look like Charlie Frye will not ever be able to make decisions quickly enough to be a successful NFL quarterback.
• Derek Anderson, on the other hand, appears quite decisive, and seems to make the right read most of the time. He just can't reliably get the ball into a position where the receiver can catch it.
• The defense played relatively gamely considering they were on a short field all day. It could have been 50 or 60 to 7.
• Hines Ward is a cheap-shotting punk. Considered by his peers as one of the dirtiest players in the NFL, Ward threw a blindside helmet to helmet hit on Daven Holly after the whistle, giving Holly a concussion and drawing a personal foul. It would be one thing if this were Ward's fist such incident against the Browns, but in 2004, he laid Earl Little out on a downfield block from the blindside and then taunted Little while he lay on the ground, injured. What was almost as bad was CBS color commentator Rich Gannon, who should know better, commending Ward for the cheap shot hit, saying he was someone who "plays through the whistle", while Holly was lying on the ground concussed. Ward regularly taunts opponents and opponents fan. In short, he's a punk. And, amazingly, he get's a free pass from the media. It's about time that somebody in the media called out Hines Ward for his cheapshotting punk-ass behavior.
• It's going to be a long, demoralizing season. They're already making plans for the Browns first-round pick in Dallas. If they don't beat an improved Oakland team in a couple weeks, they could easily not win a game until November or December.
• Despite all this, I still think Brady Quinn should get the full Carson Palmer treatment. Playing him behind that line, even if it is allegedly improved, could be disastrous.

Indians 3, Angels 10

Executive Summary (the less said the better):

• Escobar was hittable - Indians let him off the hook.
• Byrd was hittable - Angels did not let him off the hook.
• Jensen Lewis - OK; Rest of bullpen who won't be pitching in postseason anyway - not good.
• Garret Andersen - en fuego

Sweep!

If the Indians do indeed go on to win the AL Central, their performance this year against the Twins, a team that has given them problems in recent years, will be one of the key reasons why. Yesterday's 6-2 win left the Indians 14-4 in the season series versus the Twinkies, including 5 victories against Johan Santana (who, despite the thorough beatdowns he's received from the Indians, still seems to get all the pub for AL Cy Young).

The Indians continued their recent trend of jumping out to an early lead by getting to Scott Baker for 3 runs in the first inning and peppering him for 11 hits in 5 innings. Tribe starter Fausto Carmona spent most of the game pitching with runners on base, but was also bailed out by three double plays, and only had one bad inning, giving up 2 in the fifth. The Tribe put it out of reach with 3 big insurance runs in the 9th on big RBI hits by Jhonny Peralta and Kenny Lofton, allowing Rafael Perez to stay on and get his first major league save, giving Joe Knows Closing the day off.

Pronk: 2 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 runs, and 1 RBI. Hitting streak now at 7 games. Batting average up to .260.

With this victory, the Indians have now won 16 of their last 20 games, and continue to hold a 7-game lead in the AL Central after Detroit's extra-inning 2-1 victory over the White Sox.

Mojo Watch:
Pronk: Still not clearly at Full Elvis, but clearly not regressing either.

Tribe: This team remains at Full Elvis. We'll see how much Elvis they'll have after a West Coast swing, as they start a four-game series today against the Angels of Somewhere Between LA and San Diego. Tonight - Byrd vs. Escobar.

Pronktacular

Since we left our intrepid Wahoo Warriors for the Labor Day weekend, the following has happened:

8/31 - Tribe 8 - White Sox 5
The Tribe bailed out Fausto Carmona, who had a bad outing, by scoring 6 runs in the 8th. Kenny Lofton tied it with a two-out bases loaded walk, and then Casey Blake followed by lifting an outside pitch down the right field line for a bases clearing double. Fultz with the vulture win.

9/1 - Tribe 7 - White Sox 0
Paul Byrd gets a complete game shutout, completely dominating the Pale Hose. Gutierrez and Shoppach homered, Pronk had an RBI double.

9/2 - Tribe 0 - White Sox 8
Win streak ends at 8 with this thorough beatdown by the Sox. Jose Contreras showed up, instead of phoning it in, and we got Hittable Jake Westbrook instead of Dominant Jake Westbrook. Games like this happen. The Tribe still took the series at home

9/3 - Tribe 5 - Twins 0
Johan Santana remains the Indians personal rented mule. CC Sabathia continues his quest for the Cy Young Award by shutting down the Twins on 6 hits and 1 walk with 6 Ks through 8. Santana is now 0-5 against the Indians with 1 no decision in 6 appearances against the Tribe. Sabathia has beaten him head to head in each of his last three appearances.

Last night: Tribe 7 - Twins 5
It was Pronktacular! Pronk went deep twice, including a two-out bomb in the ninth off closer Joe Nathan to push it into bonus baseball. Pronk then drove home the winning run in the 11th with a bases loaded screaming line drive to the right centerfield gap that Torii Hunter barely tracked down, but that served as a sac fly. Victor Martinez followed with a single. Joe Knows Closing pitched a 1-2-3 11th to get the save. Note: Daddy Pronk was in the stands to see his boy smash two out of the yard.

Could this 2-homer, 4-RBI night be what Pronk needs to get out of his slump and go on a rampage? Let's hope so. Pronk has now hit in his last 6 games. The Tribe has now won 10 of their last 11. Today's afternoon matchup: Fausto Carmona vs. Scott Baker. Baker shut the Tribe out 1-0 in his last appearance versus the Tribe and almost threw a no-hitter in his last outing. Baker is hot right now.

September callups for the Tribe: Cliff Lee, Luis Rivas, Edward Mujica, Juan Lara, Andy Marte, Ben Francisco and Mike Koplove. I hope that we see Marte spelling Casey Blake at 3b often for the next month. Marte was raking the ball in his last month at Buffalo, while Blake could use some more off days. Lara gives us another lefty in the bullpen to match up with, while Koplove, Lee and Mujica give us more arms for mop up duty. Francisco gives us another solid outfielder to spell some regulars, and Rivas - well, who the hell knows why he's here?

Mojo Watch:
Pronk We'll give Pronk 4 Elvi after last night's show and hope he's on his way to Full Elvis

Tribe: Don't step on this team's blue suede shoes! Full Elvis! 10 of 11. 7 game lead. Enough said.