Noooooooooo

I cannot believe it.

How many balls did that guy throw?

Compared to like 2 strikes? Well Okay.. I know not 2 strikes, but seriously.

Victor Martinez put together a very awful at-bat there. After 8 straight pitches out of the zone, Victor swings at the first two. I mean really?

Peralta walks to load them and Ryan Garko.. I mean, you can't hit a ball better than that for the most part. It was ticketed for center field, he was on the pitch, and Corcoran deflects it perfectly to the short stop for the double play.

Oh well.. Left a lot on base today.. Zach Jackson ran into the bad 5th inning with the double error. He got charged with all the runs because really the first error was his own fault and he really did not fair well after a few got on. He was doing well up until that 5th inning, just sort of lost it.

Choo had a good series that he capped off today with a solo shot in the 2nd inning. Andy Marte stretched his hit streak out to eight games with an RBI single in the 7th. Kelly Shoppach went 2-4 and hit his 22nd double today.

Tough to get swept by the awful Mariners when you are carrying in a 10 game win streak and the White Sox on deck.

We got our streak stopper going tomorrow though! Big Cliffad goes for win numero 20! Alright let's nail it down.. He takes on Clayton Richard.

[BOXSCORE]

Wakeup Wahoo: Sal Fasano: Chess Player and Middle Infielder

I'd like to blame the lack of television and college football as to why I couldn't watch the game yesterday. I probably wouldn't have watched the whole game, but I would have at least flipped over.

So I'm in the dark just as much as everyone as to what happened yesterday. But I guess Eric Wedge got heated and got kicked, thank you!

Jose Lopez grounded toward short. Jhonny Peralta prepared to commence an inning-ending double play, only to have the ball strike Beltre. Beltre was called out and Lopez awarded first with a single.

The Indians saw it differently. Manager Eric Wedge argued that a double play should have been the ruling because, from Wedge's vantage point, Beltre intentionally got in the way of the ball. By rule, an umpire can call a double play in such situations if he thinks the runner intentionally got in the way.

After a protracted argument, Wedge was tossed by third-base umpire Fieldin Culbreth.

"[Beltre] stopped and put his hand up and intentionally hit the baseball," Wedge said. "In that case, it's an automatic double play. That's what it should have been." (Plain Dealer)

Interesting.. Rable Rable Rable! I'll side with Wedge because I can.. Now we have to avoid the sweep today.

Anthony Reyes looked like he turned in another solid start though. Eric Wedge said it was the best performance from Reyes yet.

"Anthony was fantastic," Wedge said. "That's as good as we've seen him, and he's been really good for us." (Indians.com)

I went a little nuts when Chooster tied the game off Putz in the ninth.. Great for him to get back at his former team.

"This guy didn't play baseball for a long time," Wedge said of Choo. "He had to fight through surgery and rehab. What he's done this year is outstanding." (Indians.com)

Shin-Soo Choo is definitely one of those players that are answering questions for the Tribe as they wind down this season.

Zach Jackson goes today and he is really impressing me. Like I said, not looking at him as a starter, but a guy who spot-start or be in the pen for long relief. Those types of pitchers are useful to have.

Hoynes does a position by position breakdown. One quote that stood out is Wedge on Ryan Garko.

"I've always liked Ryan, and I think he's capable of playing everyday," Wedge said. "But sitting here today I'm not sure how it's going to play out because I'm uncertain what the winter's going to lead to." (Plain Dealer)

Really? You could have fooled me with that.. I always perceived Wedge to not be Garko's biggest fan.

Victor Martinez will play today after getting yesterday off, aside from the pinch hit apperance of course. They are easing Vic back into full playing time.

"He had a long day," Wedge said. "He handled himself well and moved around OK. We're going to be back and forth with him early on, easing him in." (Plain Dealer)

Here are some more reasons I love Sal Fasano via Plain Dealer..

Omar Vizquel II: Backup catcher Sal Fasano made several superb turns of double plays during batting practice.

More Sal: Fasano played chess against Zach Jackson in the pregame clubhouse. Cliff Lee, who goes for No. 20 on Monday, observed.

You gotta love this guy... Seriously.. Can we bring him back as a coach next year?

Minor Issues: Akron Heating Up As Playoffs Near

It was a very good day to be a minor league team for the Cleveland Indians.

Let's start in Buffalo with a high scoring but still close victory for the Herd. Jordan Brown goes 3-6 with three RBI and a two-run home run. Andy Cannizaro and Morgan Ensberg added solo shots. Travis Hafner knocks in a run and goes 1-3, while Michael Aubrey who came in for Hafner went 2-3. Aaron Laffey struggled for the second straight game I do believe. I briefly saw he had trouble in his last start and this one was a struggle. Five innings, 11 hits, 2 walks and 7 runs. BUBIE picks up save number 10.

I think Akron is starting to heat up at just the right time. Wes Hodges goes deep for the second straight game, he also went 3-5 with four RBI. Randy Newsome now has 29 saves, just one away from 30 (for Akron, he has 30 total this year) and he could get that today or Monday. The 100 RBI watch is on for Hodges who needs just three more in two games to get it done.

Finally, a win over those damn Pelicans! Kinston, who didn't make the playoffs are looking to end it on a high note. Carlos Santana just gets on and scores runs you know? 2-4 with a home run, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored. Nick Weglarz went 2-5 with an RBI. Carlton Smith struck out 7 in his 5.2 allowing no earned runs.

Lake County didn't win but Matt Brown is well over .300 now, he went 2-4 in the game yesterday. Lake County will be taking on the Second Half Sal Northern Division Winner West Virginia in the playoffs.

Ryan Blair and Brock Simpson collected 2 hits each in the Scrappers loss yesterday. Zach Putnam made his second start and it was at least a little longer than his first. 3 innings but this time he surrendered 3 runs.

I'll try to do a massive board update here soon.. There probably has been all sorts of movement that I can't even begin to imagine.

Wakeup Wahoo: Victor Martinez Returns!

It feeels gooood.. Even with College Football on the horizon, Indians baseball is looking fun to watch.

One guy who was unbearable to watch awhile ago was Ryan Garko. Now he's fixing himself and probably saving his future with the team.

"I'll shorten up and take the blooper," Garko said. "You don't always need a double or home run. Sometimes you just need to get it through the infield. I've been blessed with the ability to handle the bat and adjust my swing." (Indians.com)

Garko got the day off yesterday but even with Victor Martinez returning, I wouldn't expect his playing time to decrease all that much. Victor eventually will have to get behind the plate, but he won't play every day even if he is playing first or DHing. Garko will get first base starts and probably do the split at DH with Vic.

Thankfully, Sal Fasano has survived the one cut that was going to put his spot in jeopardy. Andy Gonzalez was designated for assignment, which frees up a 40 man roster spot for Hafner and once September hits, all can be called up. SAVING SAL FASANO! PARTY TIME, STACHE TIME! Josh Barfield played last night at DH and they say when Buffalo's season ends both him and Hafner will be activated, but only Barfield will be ready to play immediately.

Vic sounded great about returning and not minding the lack of catcher starts, he also got a little funny.

"You never know what's going to happen," Martinez said. "You might see the biggest comeback in history. Who knows?" (Indians.com)

Even bigger than the Rockies Vic? Actually yes, the Indians are in a bigger hole than the Rockies were and they aren't chasing a wild card, they are chasing a division.

Did you see the instant replay booth/breakerbox/room/basemant/thingie on the game last night?

Here is the nifty thing.

While there is no official "challenge" like there is in the NFL, Eric Wedge would like to use his hat as the "flag".

"I might throw my hat out there," said Wedge, who is taking a wait-and-see attitude. "I'm curious is a better word. I'm a traditioinalist. I'm in favor of it if it makes the game better. Hopefully, this will work." (Plain Dealer)

Hey Zach Jackson is pitching pretty decent. He'd be a nice spot starter/long relief guy to have around. He won't win a rotation spot in my opinion, but he he is showing some promise as a USEFUL guy to have around.

"I'm just trying to get a little more comfortable," said Jackson, who has walked two in 18 1/3 innings. "I had to get my feet wet. Now I'm just trying to simplify things as the best approach." (Plain Dealer)

Hey Jamey Carroll, how about that home run he hit earlier this week? I was sort of pumped watching the little guy muscle one out in Detroit of all places. It was just his tenth career home run and he remembers who he hit number one off of. Hey If you only hit ten, I'm sure it's a lot easier to remember who you hit all your home runs off of.

Minor Issues: LaPorta Deeeeeeeep

So I guess I have a lot to catch up on here and check out? The boys are back from China and the Aeros are prepping for the playoffs.

Start off in Buffalo with a great win. Scott Lewis picks up his second win with 6 very strong innings with just two hits and six punchouts. We will see this kid in September I do believe. Jeff Stevens back in action for the Herd, another guy we might see depending on how well he pitches here in these last few games, if he pitches at all. Both Stevens and Rundles picked up one inning holds to set it up for BUBBIE to get the save.

Todd Linden went deep for the Herd and their lone RBI. Speaking of Linden, he was apart of the awards handed out.. Apologize if you already know these but I'd like to list them for fun!

Stan Barron MVP - Todd Linden
I guess Stan Barron actually never played baseball. He was a broadcaster, but never fear, for Todd Linden, who didn't even play the entire season with the Herd, has won it.

Warren Spahn MVPitcher - John Halama
Another guy who didn't start the year with the Herd. I think we all know who Warren Spahn is.

Jimmy Griffin Hometown Hero - Bubbie Buzachero
I don't know who Jimmy Griffin is, but they made this award up this year.. Maybe they just wanted to give BUBBIE an award.

Joe DeSa Inspirational Player - Jeff Harris
Congrats Jeff for being an inspiriation to many with your DL visits and ability to start and relieve and also suck. He's won it twice now.

JUDGE Michael Dillion Comeback Player of the Year - Michael Aubrey
Gotta throw the JUDGE in there.. Michael Aubrey is the clear cut choice for this very prestigious honor.

Jason Cooper won some Community Service Award and they gave out a fan award, this is actaully getting tiring. So, I'll move on.

LaPorta, DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. Matt LaPorta goes deep for the Aeros as he starts to get his feet set. Thankfully the season won't be ending so it's not like he's just coming back for a few games. Playoffs start Wednesday against Bowie, I do believe we get discounts as University of Akron students, so I might just have to take advantage on Friday when they get home.

Anyway, Wes Hodges went deep as well as the Aeros won. Tony Sipp looks like he's got himself on track. Two innings, one hit and FIVE strikeouts, hawt dawg! Incase you didn't hear, Hodges was named EL Rookie of the Year, however that is possible, I don't know, but he did it.

Kinston lawst, oh well. Carlos Rivero hit three run jack, but it was not enough against those damn Pelicans. Kelvin De La Cruz struggled again, and his Lake County friend Kyle Landis did as well.

Speaking of Lake County, as they gear up for their playoff apperance, they are giving away a.. Wait for it.



A FREE FUNERAL!

Not a car, not a house, not even a free bobblehead of Kelvin De La Cruz.... A FREE FUNERAL!?

Okay? Can we just move on. Swiftly please. Lake County lost, and because they are giving away a free funeral, I don't think I mind that for today.

That freaking Deer is back against the Scrappers of the Valley at Mahoning. They beat the Scrappers despite a three hit performance by Isaias Velasquez (I forgot how to spell his name, better than changing it to Ocho Cinco), and THE CORD, Cord Phelps. Get The Cord, cause he's off it. Doesn't quite work does it? Get the chain, cause he's off it. I'll stop. Oh he had two hits by the by.

Also, Lonnie Chisenhall and I share the same favorite Candy. I think we found a nickname for young Lonnie. Chiz could be one, but for the insiders, we could call him Ike. I like Ike!

I'm Sorry, I didn't Mean To Break Up the Party

It was pointed out in a comment that I should probably hold off on the posting for bit more considering the awesome win streak the Indians have been on while I was out...

Was my post yesterday an end to the fun?

I hope you don't want to have at me for that.. I'm certainly not the reason the Indians hit into multiple double plays and blew numerous scoring opportunities.

Anyway, YES, I'm back in action and for good. Moving was exhausting and I didn't get the net at my home till Thursday. I'll be back at it full time tomorrow. However as the season winds down and I get into school, I'll probably cut down on some stuff. Thankfully the minor league season is coming to a close so that's one less thing.

Okay enough small-talk. I've been watching the games thankfully, so I'm not completley out the of the loop. Didn't see Sunday or Wednesday's game, but I did listen to them. Right into the game tonight though. Hey you know it's great to see Victor Martinez back and playing. He looked like the usual Vic, on his first pitch, hacking away and recording a quick out. But he did draw the walk next time up and scored alllll the way from first on that Choo double. If Ibanez comes out with that great catch its a double play. Vic also had that hit later in the game. So, looks good for Vic. He won't play everyday at first and hey let me say this..

SAL FASANO LIVES!!!

Thank GOD for the Stache!

Jamey Carroll scored a run with his groundout and moved a runner over for the other run. But, once again one of those chances squandered as the next two batters failed to get the run at third home.

Felix Hernandez was okay, but they let him off the hook.

Jeremy Sowers threw a lot of pitches early.. Getting a lot fouled off.. If it wasn't for Ibanez he would have had a much better night. But he got tagged for three runs in just five innings, it's okay, not good, or great. Serviceable, but we don't need serviceable, we need better.

Juan Rincon for two solid? What?

Anyway.. Rough way to drop the 10 game win streak, especially to a team as bad as the Mariners. But what you gonna do?

Tomorrow, no freaking tv, I blame FOX damnit! We got Anthony Reyes (how about his pitching performance in Texas?!) going up against Jarrod Washburn.

I'm sorry I didn't bring a win, but it's great to be back! Let's start a new streak!

[BOXSCORE]

Photoshop Off-Day: The Closer

I now humbly present to you... The Closer

That's Right....

Jensen Lewis is The Closer...

I'm so giddy about this kid and his potential in the role. I've been scratching for him to get a shot for awhile now and he's making use of it. I called it damnit!

Anyway, Here is Jensen Lewis in all his glory. The Closer, and what are you going to do about it?

I'm not sure when I'll be back full-time.. Either way, I got so excited when I did this image last week I couldn't wait to post it.. So I found a way.. Enjoy..

Six in a row for Lewis and Tribe

I'm tired.. I'm moving tomorrow and I'm watching Dan in Real Life..

However that was a great game..

Winner..

Don't expect much out of me for the next few days.. Like I said, moving, hectic, nuts, ,won't have the internet. Start class on Monday.. All that fun stuff.. I'll be on because I can connect on the campus, but who knows how that goes.. I'm sure I'll find a way to update cause I know I'll get the itch.

Anyway.. Six for Jensen, Los Rafaels From 2007 were in full effect tonight, some great hitting, Kelly Freaking Shoppach, Ryan Garko extends his streak. That was freaking awesome.

[BOXSCORE]

Wakeup Wahoo: Peralta could hold onto the 4 spot

With the impending returns of Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez. Hafner was 1-5 last night with an RBI by the by. The good news is he played the entire game. Josh Barfield played second and got two at bats.

Anyway with those returns imminent. Jhonny Peralta could still command the 4 spot.

"[Peralta's] blossomed in that four-hole," Wedge said. (Indians.com)

Can you disagree with that statement?

This statement doesn't really make much sense though.

"We've talked about it briefly," said manager Eric Wedge. "We can work Vic and Hafner around Jhonny. We could hit Hafner and Vic three and four and Jhonny in the fifth spot. One thing we haven't decided is that we're just flat-out going to move him out of the No. 4 spot. I'm still thinking that through. That's a heckuva credit to Jhonny." (Plain Dealer)

Dadgumit.. Wait a second here Wedge.. Why not keep him there? He will only get better having Victor Martinez hitting 3rd and Travis Hafner hitting 5th! That's some protection there.

One thing Wedge said was numbers don't always dictacte where you hit a player, and I agree with that all the way. I'm big against hitting Grady Sizemore in the three hole because I think he's dangerous enough in the leadoff spot. It seems like Wedge is handling this issue more than he handles any other question.

"The only way we'd consider that is if we had somebody capable of hitting leadoff," Wedge said. "You've got to have a leadoff hitter. You have to have somebody there. He enjoys doing it and he's good at it -- he's one of the best."(Indians.com)

Hey if he's working there, why screw it up? Its an advantage to have that type of hitter up there, a guy who gets on base and can actually hit the home run. It works for the Cubs with Soriano, why do you think they haven't moved him. Sure they got a pretty good lineup, but with Hafner and Victor coming back and Peralta's emergence, I think Grady is fine in the leadoff spot. Francisco can fit in the 2 hole now and then Garko et al will fill in behind Hafner.

According to Stats inc, in the last 25 years, Cliff Lee has the highest percentage of a teams wins, excluding Randy Johnson. Johnson had 31% of Arizona's wins in 2004, but he was also 16-14. Cliff Lee is freaking 18-2 with 30%..

The road woes aren't really a big deal to Eric Wedge, he is looking at the full picture and not just how the team plays compared to the venue.

"I don't think of it as home or road," Wedge said. "We've just been playing better baseball. We have younger guys playing significant time for us and they're starting to adjust to this level." (Indians.com)

Maybe Texas should make a run for Fausto Carmona, considering he might be the one pitcher who could have success there.

"I like pitching here because it's always hot and I like the hot weather," said Carmona. "I was getting ahead of the hitters and I was keeping the ball down. I came inside against a lot of them so they couldn't lean out over the plate. That helped me." (Plain Dealer)

Fausto likes hot weather, bugs, all sorts of stuff when he pitches. You know Carmona is at his best when the bill of his hat is dripping in sweat.

Gotta love the moxie Jensen Lewis showed facing Josh Hamilton, the tying run at the plate, and striking him out.

"He's not exactly the guy you want to face with the tying run right there," Lewis said. "That was a big out. It kind of got the momentum back in our favor. He's such a good hitter with anything in the zone. I didn't want him to get extended, so I tried not to throw anything over the plate." (Indians.com)

Finally, it looks as if there is a coup going on in the Indians clubhouse. Jamey Carroll, a huge Indianapolis Colts fan as we know, has overthrown Pronk as the Fantasy Football Commissioner. Hafner did his draft from Buffalo online, but this should give him even more motivation to go for the what I believe will be a three-peat in the Championship. I'd love to see how the teams shook out and what Sal Fasano's team name is... Maybe the Mutilating Mustachios.

Minor Issues: Mills wins Kinston MVP Award; McBride Walks Off

Buffalo is a winner over Syracuse and some good news on the rehab front, Travis Hafner played the entire game. He helped out with an RBI, but it was Jordan Brown going 2-4 with 2 RBI. Jason Cooper went 3-4 with an RBI as Bryan Bullington pitched six solid innings. All three runs he gave up were un-earned as he gave up 5 hits, 3 walks.

A one run loser for Akron despite a decent outing from Ryan Edell. 5 innings, just six hits and two runs. Hey Tony Sipp, 2 innings, 2 hit, 4 punchouts, great job. Edell is getting overlooked according to Tony Lastoria.

Kinston got edged in 12 innings last night. Hector Rondon pitched 6 solid, giving up 2 runs off five hits and a walk with 9 strikeouts. The big three in the middle, Carlos Santana, Jared Goedert, and Beau Mills went a combined 1-13 with two walks.

Kinston handed out awards yesterday.

Beau Mills is the Pat Crawford MVP
Hector Rondon is the Steve Olin Pitcher of the Year
Josh Tomlin is the Gaydek Sportsmanship Award Winner
Niuman Romero won the Overcoming Adversity Award

Congrats to them!

Matt McBride walkin off in style baby! McBride hits a pinch-hit 3-run walk off shot for the Captains. Matt Brown went 2-4 with 2 RBI, and Ryan Miller gave up four runs off a very high 10 hits in 6.2 innings.

Mahoning Valley got beatup in every way, surrendering 10 runs and getting only one run off four hits. Tim Fedroff went 1-2 with 2 walks.

Tracking Matt LaPorta

Matt LaPorta did indeed play in the Bronze Medal game for the United States and he did well.

LaPorta went 2-4 with a solo shot in the US' win over Japan. So how about that Matt, your a bronze medalist. Good news is South Korea beat Cuba in the Gold medal game to dethrone the jerky Cuban Team.

Tribe survive Arlington for win over Rangers

That is what you call a win.

See.. Like they did earlier this week on Tuesday, they did it again tonight.

Everyone but Grady had a hit. Everyone but three scored a run, all but three knocked in a run, everyone took part in the scoring.

Just clean station to station hit and hit double knock in the run baseball.

Carroll 2-4 with the two runs and Francisco with the 3-5 night knocking in one.

Jhonny Peralta had a good night, his first out was a productive one and he also knocked in a run. Ryan Garko did it again in the first inning with his double. Cabrera and Gutierrez found ways to knock runs in. Andy Marte tripled in Sal Fasano on a good looking hit.

Great quote by Sal Fasano on his track meet on the Andy Marte triple. Matt Underwood asked him about it and all he could say was.

"Aw please don't talk about that, I was very tired after that."

I could imagine big Sal.

Sal was out there hacking too, he is still hitting .300!

Fausto looked reaaaal good out there tonight. Especially in the Texas stadium. He got it done for six innigs just six hits and three walks. The one run was not earned and he struck out five. Great job by Fausto tonight, he looks like he is getting it together.

Rafael Perez looked domininant as all get out in the 8th inning and then all of a sudden two walks and a stupid home run. You know I hate Texas.

So one run game, but the Tribe battle to put some very important runs on the board in the 9th.

Which brings in Jensen Lewis with a three run lead and The Closer gets it done. He gives up a cheapy to Brandon Boggs that I thought would be a fly ball. But no bubbles, no troubles. A huge strikeout of Josh Hamilton with Michael Young on base. Frank Catalanononononotspellingthatnameo would follow with a strikeout as well and J-Lew would then get Blaclock to line out to shortstop.

Winnnnnner. Five in a row and look 60 wins.. 7 away from .500 record.. Looking good.

Brandon McCarthy makes his season debut, yes season debut against Jeremy Sowers. Get out your mits it's gonna be a bombardment.

[BOXSCORE]

LOLTribe: Royals, Trey Hillman Loves Dollar Dog Night

I'm not really sure why there seems to always be an Asdrubal Cabrera picture in ever one of these. I think the photographers like taking his picture because they can get him in awkward positions in the air that look pretty cool.

They do, but they also are prime candidates for me to skew into something you'd never think of. I know, get my mind out of the gutter. Even though it isn't in the gutter, I'll use the expression. I'll also lead off with a Cabrera one.

This is actually a rather cool picture, but once again, it looks like he's playing leapfrog with the guy.



I chose this over the obligatory, "Lewk, Soria jus got beat by a sucky guy."



Why? Because I wanted to display Franklin's awesome singing talents.



This is a bit of a stretch but I didn't want to make fun of a guy with multiple facial fractures did I?



That's all there is to this one.



Man most of these don't even have an Indian in them.



That's right Jensen, if you give up another hit, You will be benched damnit!

LOLTribe: Angels, Asdrubal's Hokey Pokey Lesson

I've decided that I love this way too much and I'll be breaking it up into series. Here are the Angels series pictures in LOLTribe fashion.

Andy Gonzalez is returning the favor from last week.



Shin-Soo Choo is teaching Derek Shelton how to hit now? Damn we really do suck.



This was really the immediate thought that came to mind when I saw this picture.. No lie



At first thought I was going to have a bunch of gibberish there as if K-Rod was talking to the sky, but I already used that lame joke.



I wanted to punch Garko in the nose a few weeks ago as well.



Well.. What are you going to do about it? Nothing, that's right!

Wakeup Wahoo: J-Rod Emerges

Cliff Lee is so in the zone, even he knows it and he isn't afraid to admit it.

"If you score 10 runs on the day I pitch," Lee said, "I should be able to give the team a chance to win." (Indians.com)

He's only the fifth pitcher in the history of baseball to start a season with a 18-2 record. He's already focused on number 19.

"I'm focused on my next start," he said. "It's against Detroit [next Tuesday]. That's where my focus is." (ESPN.com)

One of Eric Wedge's favorite words is Mulligan.

"Last year was a mulligan for Cliff," said Wedge. "He never put it together. Physically, fundamentally and mentally, he's been consistent with those domains. He recognizes what teams are trying to do and makes the proper adjustments." (Plain Dealer)

I don't know why.

Meanwhile the guy that supported him for most of the day was Grady Sizemore.

"I felt great and saw the ball well," said Sizemore, who had a home run, triple and two singles in five at bats. "Each day is a grind and some times things don't go your way. When you struggle, you just keep at it." (Plain Dealer)

How quickly does Grady bust out of a slump and he does it with a bang. His RBI production seems to come in bunches, which is fine because he still gets on base at a consistent clip, which is why he is so valuable at the lead-off spot.

You think his dad being in the stands had anything to do with it?

Grady Sizemore Jr. was in Cleveland for this homestand and his son gave him a nice little performance to cap it off.

"I don't think it's been bothering him because he takes things in stride," said his dad, who was visiting from Tempe, Ariz. "I told him he was trying to pull everything they threw. Last week they threw one down the middle and he jumped on it and grounded out to second. He was rushing it and shifting his weight. He just has to relax, stay back and go the other way. When he gets one inside, he can turn on it."(Plain Dealer)

Thanks for the advice Dad. He is a baseball Dad and tries to give Grady as much as advice as possible, but he also understands the coaches are there as well.

Royals outfielder Mitch Maier was placed on the DL after suffering the facial fractures on the bunt attempt the other day. Zach Jackson called him to apologize.

Oh boy...

Jensen Lewis might have a nickname.

I'm not sure it makes much sense.. But, it's coming from the Italian, so what do you expect?

"Save some ink for J-Rod!" Dellucci yelled across the clubhouse. (Indians.com)

Oh Dear Lord, J-Rod?

This is the type of stuff I've actually been waiting to hear about Dellucci, who is calling him J-Rod, a work off "K-Rod" of course, to keep Lewis sharp.

"This game's amazing in that it has a way of humbling you," Dellucci said. "This is the Major Leagues. People have scouting reports on you, and it catches up with you pretty quick. That's a fact of life." (Indians.com)

It's about time David.

It's about time for someone else aswell. Andy Marte really needs to get it going. He doesn't have much time left.

I think Marte is confirming everyone's beliefs on him.. I thought he had more in him and I'm not ready to wave the white flag, but it looks as if his best chance to earn a spot on this team is gone.

"I've been swinging at a lot of bad pitches," Marte said. "When I get deep in the count, that's when I'm doing good. When I'm in trouble is when I'm swinging at a lot of first pitches and balls." (Indians.com)

Look he'll probaby either be traded away in the off-season or just kept around for Spring Training, given a chance to win a roster spot outright, nothing handed to him.. If he doesn't impress he'll be out the door much like Brandon Phillips was right before the season started.

As noted earlier, Victor Martinez did well last night with Buffalo, playing the entire game behind the plate. Josh Barfield got four at-bats as the DH, going 1-4. The 9 innings is a good sign, the next test would probably to play back to back games, which I guess he will do after a day off today. Travis Hafner will DH tonight for the third time.

Minor Issues: Hodges Looking to Finish Strong on Good Season

Those Pigs made of Iron avoided a sweep from Buffalo. John Halama got absolutely pulverized..

6 innings.. THIRTEEN HITS, 7 runs, just one walk and two strikeouts.

13 hits?! Damn son. All three Herd runs were via Michael Aubrey with a 2-5 night. Victor Martinez played tonight going 1-3, with an RBI, a run, a double and 2 walks.. YES he played the full game...

Josh Barfield also DHed, going 1-4 with a double.

Wes Hodges knocked in his 88th and 89th run on the season for Akron with his 14th home run in their win over Connecticut. He's gotta be the rock of that Akron team and if they have success down the stretch, he has to be the guy. Bronson Sardinha knocked in the other two runs and Frank Herrmann putting together a good start going 7.1 with just one run, 2 hits and a walk. He also struck out 7.

Kinston collected just two hits, one being a Jared Goedert RBI Double in their loss. Jeanmar Gomez pitched five innings with just one run but was saddled with the loss.

The Lake County Captains also scored just one run in their loss to Lakewood. A solo shot off the bat of Chris Nash, while Matt Brown went 2-4.

Back from break, the Scrappers out-hit Batavia 10-7, but lost 4-2. Tim Fedroff and Lonnie Chisenhall picked up doubles, Chisenhall knocked one in as did Cord Phelps. Jeremie Tice, Zach Booker, and Ramon Hernandez collected two hits. Russell Young surrendered 3 runs, but only one earned in his six innings.

Beau Mills is Tony Lastoria's player of the week, he could be player of the year though.

Tracking Matt LaPorta

Matt LaPorta did not play as expected in the United States Semi-Final game against Cuba. I have a feeling the Indians have a very strong hand in why he didn't play and considering the United States lost, I don't expect LaPorta to even sniff the field against Japan in the Bronze Medal game.

Oh and Jeff Stevens got absolutely shelled. He had a good appearance last time out but he got taken for three runs while just recording one out.

Sizemore Sizzles in Summer Sun for Sweep

Say that twenty-four times fast.

How about..

Sizemore Sizzles in Summer Sun for Seven Super

I give up..

No More.. I'm not a rhyming man.

Can you get any better than what the Grizzle did today?

4-5, scored just one run but knocked in SEVEN and stole a base. A triple a HR and double away from the cycle.

He powered this one and it looks as if he's starting to lock in.

Shin-Soo Choo went deep again knocking in a pair and Jhonny Peralta hit a solo shot for number 21. Peralta now has 70 RBI on the year and trails Grady by 9 now.

Oh the guy on the mound was pretty good.. He didnt even have it all today as well. I mean even the days he doesn't have his best stuff he is out there owning it up and getting wins and keeping his team in the game.

7 innings, 6 hits, 2 walks, 3 runs but one was unearned, and the 7 strikeouts. That's 18-2 now and he just has one of the best records for a starting pitcher this late in the season ever. Most of the pitchers who have this type of record this late in the year win the Cy Young..

He's just that damn good right now.

Now he did have the no-hitter into the 5th where he lost it with an error and just a few hits compiled. That was his lone blemish for the most part.. He got FOUR double-plays so that was huge.

Rafael Betancourt almost let it get away in the 8th.. But as Matt Underwood said, when things go right, they go right. David DeJesus' liner was snagged at first by Garko and made for an easy double play. He continues to shut down the opposition, luck or no luck these past few outings. Then Eric Wedge was rewarded with not having to use his two best relievers in Perez and Lewis by the add on in the 8th by Grady.

Tomorrow it is off to Texas.. I'm no fan of the Rangers ballpark as we know. Hopefully it won't be the disaster that it was the last time.. Fausto Carmona is going against a youngster in Matt Harrison. Boy Texas sure is trotting out anything they can to try and get outs.

[BOXSCORE]

Wakeup Wahoo: Gutierrez thinking defense; Playing time is evaporating

Uh oh.

I feel the ground rumbling again and I think a Pronk is imminent.

I don't know how imminent. But, another double tonight for Travis Hafner, two runs batted in and two walks.

That is the Pronk we know and love.

Josh Barfield finally got a hit going 1-3.

Mitch Maier the Royals player that was hit with the pitch suffered multiple facial fractures, but won't need surgery. Good to hear. As for the pitch that Zach Jackson threw, it was a cutter and as I thought originally, it slipped out of his hand.

"It was a cutter that slipped out of my hand," he said. "What are you going to do? Nobody's perfect. I was trying to go down and away with a cutter, but it just got away from me. It backed up." (Indians.com)

It was Franklin Gutierrez's night for sure and now look.

"Before [Gordon] hit the ball," Gutierrez said, "I was thinking about that. It immediately happened. Positive thinking. That's what it's all about." (Indians.com)

He was thinking about making a diving catch? I mean, who does that? I really am laughing.. Franklin Gutierrez once again does not care about the home run.. He prides himself in making that diving catch and that is just as good as the home run.. The home run is great, don't get me wrong, but he's made several game saving catches during his career here.

You can't always count on Jhonny Peralta to be humorous.. But..

"I like track and field. I liked watching Usain Bolt win the 100 and 200 meters. That's how I think I look in my mind when I'm stealing a base." (Plain Dealer)

Nice on Jhonny... You can see what the rest of the players think of the Olympics so far, here.

Kelly Shoppach understands the concept of a team and the fact that he isn't the starting catcher.

"I've always felt that it's my job to fill in for Victor and I still feel that way," said Shoppach. "When Victor comes back, it should be his job." (Plain Dealer)

I don't think you have to worry about that Kelly.. I think he knows he will continue to get time.. He's earned it..

It is a rather odd-combo to be going in a Hall of Fame at the same time, but it has happening.

Eric Wedge is being inducted into the Arizona Fall League Hall of Fame.. Along with current Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins.. ooookay?

"Anytime you're elected to somebody's Hall of Fame, it's an honor," Wedge said. "A lot of fantastic ballplayers have played in that league." (Indians.com)

Congrats Wedge, and say hello to Jimmy for me.

Expect another fast paced pitching game from Cliff Lee and his defense. They just love to play behind him because he works fast and you never know when to be ready so you need to be ready all the time.

"We have a lot of confidence in Cliff on the mound because we know what he's going to do," outfielder David Dellucci said. "He works quick, he throws strikes and your mind doesn't wander mentally because you know the ball is going to be put in play." (Indians.com)

Wouldn't it be neat to see two pitchers who started the year as Cleveland Indians both win the Cy Young Award?

I said it was very urgent for the Indians to be giving playing time to the likes of Marte and Garko NOW rather than later.. They have.. Why?

Because now Travis Hafner, Josh Barfield and Victor Martinez are all coming back soon.

Andy Marte might lose time if the Indians decide they want to give Josh Barfield some time.. Now Cabrera CAN play third, he did last year, but the Indians probably want to keep him in the middle of the diamond. With that they might experiment with Jhonny at third, but so far all indications on that are rather silent.

Now Garko might lose time because Victor Martinez will need to play first base more than often and with Hafner playing, the DH spot is filled. I think though, Hafner and Vic are gonna be brought along slowly and Garko will still get a good chunk of time, and you have to, the way he's been hitting the ball. However Kelly Shoppach could play some first base as well to keep his bat in the lineup.

The bigger question is what do they do with roster spots.. Maybe just maybe David Dellucci's time is running up, I can only hope.

Minor Issues: Buffalo Knows How to Bash

For the second straight night, the Herd has scored 10 runs to defeat the IRON PIGS! That's three wins for them over the IRON PIGS and makes tomorrow's game against the IRON PIGS a chance for a sweep over the IRON PIGS.

Okay enough of that. Travis Hafner pitched in as he DHed for the second time. He went 1-2 with 2 RBI, 2 walks and a run. Kakow.. Todd Linden went deep, Jordan Brown knocked in a pair and who I will now call the Mayor, Andy Cannizaro knocked in two as well.

Aaron Laffey picked up the win and gave up four runs in just five innings.

Stephen Head doesn't give a damn what you think about him.

He hit three home runs last night, so you must just bow down at his feet. Akron won and no one else really put up a performance to rival what Head did. I mean, JD Martin pitched 5 solid, giving up no runs, four hits and two walks. But, who cares. Stephen Head now has 13 HR and he just is on a rip in the second half.

Kinston got shut out and that damn Potomac team scored six more runs.

Carlos Santana is okay, he got removed from the game the other night for taking a foul tip. He was back in the lineup last night

LakeWOOD beat Lake COUNTY by three runs last night. Juan Valdes hit a three run home run and Matty McBride down at Lake County now had two hits.

Matt LaPorta is okay and should be in the lineup when the US faces Cuba in the Semi-Final game on Friday.

Frankie Gutierrez wins it with bat and glove

Seeing Franklin Gutierrez's face light up when Matt Underwood brings up his diving catch at the end of the game. It's just awesome. He genuinely loves the defensive side of the game and he is okay yeah I hit a home run to win the game basically, but let's talk about my defensive web gem instead.

Gil Meche gave up the two home runs in the first two innings, then he basically shut it down.

It wasn't till Ramon Ramirez entered in the 8th that the Indians got it going. Shoppach homers for the second time in the night to bring it within one and then it just got easy.

Ramirez got an out but walked Choo. The Royals bring in The Mexecutioner, Joakim Soria and Soria got MEXECUTED.

Bewsh.

He pitches around Grady and walks him. Then comes Gutierrez who pulls the fastball into the bleachers.

Thank you SIR.

Good to see Gutierrez turning it around in August.

Peralta hit 20 on the year to give him 69 on the year.

Ryan FREAKING Garko up to 63, all of a sudden he is hot on the heels of both Grizz and Peralta. His RBI streaking continues.

Pitching wise, Zach Jackson was shaky. He put himself in trouble in the first but minimized the damage, which was good. But then in the 5th he stuck his hand in the fish tank and got bit. How about this Mike Aviles kid? His double cleared the bases and he'd increase the lead by stealing and scoring on an error.

He did give up just four earned in seven innings.. Walked just one and struck out four. I'd like to see him again at least and see how he responds but I just don't think his future, if it's with the Indians, is in the starting rotation.

Scary moment when Mitch Maier of the Royals went to bunt and Zach Jackson hit him in the earflap and the ball bounced up and hit his nose. Blood was pouring out. Hope Maier is okay.

Juan Rincon pitched a perfect inning?

Okay.. Jenny LEW saves number four. Nail it down guy, nail it down!

Quick turn around for tomorrows game. 12:05 and with the two aces on the mound, I'm expecting a pitchers duel. Greinke and Cliffaaaad going for 18.

[BOXSCORE]

Wakeup Wahoo: Reyes' Night Ended Early; Garko Garko Garko

So Eric Wedge, despite Reyes probably not pitching as much as he usually has total.. Decided to end Anthony Reyes' night early.

"It's getting late in the season and I'm trying to protect these guys," said Wedge. "When you throw 84 pitches in five innings, you're working a little bit." (Plain Dealer)

97.2 Innings this year for Anthony Reyes between his four teams, Memphis, Buffalo, St. Louis, and Cleveland. Threw 145 last year between St. Louis and Memphis.

So what's the problem here Wedgester? Why are you ending this kids night at 84 pitches sir?

Now look, admittedly I didnt' see the game so maybe he looked done. But, sorry I don't believe that, based on how bad this bullpen has been and how Eric Wedge likes to push the envelope with a starter.

By the by. Rafael Betancourt despite his good string of appearances is still miffed.

Said Betancourt, "I told you, I don't feel like talking right now." (Plain Dealer)

Well sorrrrrrrrrrrry....

Ryan Garko continues to knock in runs since his benching and he went deep again last night.

"He's really stepped it up," Wedge said. "His approach has been more consistent and his discipline has been a little better. He's really grinding it out." (Indians.com)

He is attributing it to the benching and the time to think.

"My focus may have gotten a little better," said Garko. "Just because I had a couple of days to sit there and think about the kind of player I want to be." (Plain Dealer)

Nah.. It is a lot better if you ask me. No more silly strikeouts and pulling the ball. Your focus is a lot better Ryan. I'm a big Garko fan so I'm glad he's coming around and making himself apart of the team again.

Victa Victa Victa.. Victor Martinez went 1-2 in Buffalo's game last night and caught for six innings. He knocked in dos runs and should be back in action on Thursday. Tonight, Travis Hafner part two and Josh Barfield starts as well, I don't know when they are going to be pushed to a full game but the Tribe is taking it slow. There is rumors that Hafner could be with the Bisons into next week and even go on the road trip.

That of course brings up a log jam if they are ready within the next ohhhhh 11 days, because rosters won't expand till September, meaning the Indians will have to send some folks down.

Either way, Travis Hafner needs his 40 man roster spot back, so some chopping will have to go down. Also, What happens to the man that is Sal Fasano? I'm not sure, I think the Indians will continue to muddle around and make sure at least one waits till September before they are broughten up, probably Hafner.

From the department of President Palmer AKA Dennis Haysbert AKA Pedro Cerano.. The Spring Training Site is in Good Hands.. What? Isn't that All State, not Goodyear?

Either way Goodyear has taken over the opperation which pretty much makes it a given that the project will be completed. Hey if you can't hire good help, do it yourself damnit!

Also from the not really about the Indians department, MLB Instant Replay has been getting wired at Progressive Field.. Now heres some more news on it, have fun with that.

Grady Sizemore broke out of his HR slump with his first August jack when he was simply looking over the plate for something.

"I was looking for something out over the plate," said Sizemore, who is tied for third in the American League home run race. "The way they were pitching me, I didn't want to let them get ahead [in the count], so I wanted something that was over it." (Plain Dealer)

Um, someone's talking about Dellucci again, Fahgetaboutit.

Minor Issues: Beau Mills Just Rocks A Lot

Trevor Crowe had a good night at the plate going 3-5, nice to see him get himself going with that. Tony Graffanino also went 3-5 but he knocked in three runs. Buffalo pretty much destroyed the Iron Pigs, with Michael Aubrey hitting a two run jack as well. Victor Martinez pitched in with a 1-2 night with two RBI. More on him in the Wakeup portion of the Morning Update. Scott Lewis got his second start with the Bisons and it was much better than his first. He went 6 innings giving up just the one run off just three hits and a walk. He struck out four as well.

Akron got shutout and beatup by Connecticut. Just five hits compared to the eight runs scored by the other team. Kevin Dixon got shelled for 7 runs, 6 earned in four innings of work.

Wow.. 17-14 Kinston loses to that damn Potomac. What is going on with that? Let's dive into the boxscore.

Three errors for Kinston so for now Carlton Smith's ERA is saved.. 10 runs but just 4 earned. Matt Meyer however gave up six runs.

Here is the boxscore offensively for Kinston.. Beauty..

Kinston
Player	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Montero, L RF	6	3	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	.261
Santana, C C	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	.377
Juhl a- PH-C	3	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	.237
Mills 1B	5	1	2	0	0	1	4	0	0	.296
Goedert 3B	3	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.262
Rivero SS	3	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.278
Arnal 2B	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.193
Romero 2B-SS	5	2	4	0	1	0	3	0	0	.313
Drennen LF	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.229
Castillo, A DH	5	1	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	.227
Pena CF	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	.143

Um.. Wow.. Beau Mills hits his 21st and adds FOUR RBI.. He leads the Carolina league in both categories and is just itching for a call-up. Wonder why Carlos Santana got pinch hit for. His replacement Brian Juhl and the other Catcher Alex Castillo had two RBI each. Niuman Romero gets four hits. Just amazing.

Lake County and Mahoning Valley off but a great story at the NY Penn League All Star Game.

Tri-City's home player David Flores hit a walk-off double/boucne of the glove hit to give the National League a win.

But, you don't care about that, do you?

The Scrappers you care about, yes.

Robbie Alcombrack, 0-1
Isaias Velasquez, 0-1, BB
Brock Simpson, 0-2

As noted, Lonnie Chisenhall was on the injured/promoted list.. Sooooo Still wondering what's up with that.

Mike Pontius will have to use this season as a learning tool, as it hasn't turned out he or anyone wanted. He's had a very up and down year.

Tribe Trump Royals; Now that is a win, BABY!

I was entrenched in a fantasy football draft tonight, the most important one of the year.. It's heated, there is money involved and if I don't win, I get very irritable.

So I missed what looked to be the greatest offensive performance of the year.

Sure, they've scored more runs before.. But, not 1-9 contributions.

All 9 players had a hit, all but three scored runs, all but three knocked in runs, 13 hits, 5 walks, just 1-9 they got it done.

Grady knocked in three and had a jack. Choo and Garko hit solo shots. Four guys had multiple hits. What's awesome is that Jhonny Peralta and David Dellucci didn't account for a single run scored and run knocked in. I know, what's so awesome about that? It means everyone else picked up the slack.

I'm pleased with that looking at the numbers.

Anthony Reyes looked to put up yet another decent start. 5 Innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 3 knockouts. So, decent. Donnelly gave up a run in his inning.

But check it out.. Rafael Betancourt, yet another perfect inning!

Just great all around in my eyes. Shucks I missed the game but that is what I like to see from the offense. Just 1-9, follow the motto and get it done.

Gil Meche and Zach Jackson tomorrow. Get IT DONE SIRS!

[BOXSCORE]

Wakeup Wahoo: Hafner goes 2-3 in Buffalo Rehab

Pronk, Buffalo Style got it done last night. Travis Hafner went 2-3 with a double in his three at-bats for the Bisons. I feel good about it.

This is what Pronk needed. He had to get some time off and fix himself and get healthy. I think he was struggling with the fact that he has had a rough year, he has an injury, he has all this stuff going on with his health.

In a lost season, it was great for him to go through this.

I think he's better.

Two hits including a double. I'll take it to start it off.

There is always a lot to say about the job the Indians do in their Hall of Fame ceremony and celebration weekend. This one was by far the best one they did just looking at all the stuff. There's the ceremony on Saturday and Sunday the meet and great and Monday the golf outing. It's a great thing they do.. Here's a few recaps from Andrew Gribble and Terry Pluto. Pluto also discussed random things like Asdrubal Cabrera.

New Mailbag and Castrovince highlights Cliff Lee's chances at the Cy Young, Hafner's injury, LaPorta's season after the Olympics are over, and Scottish Bagpipes.

Scottish Bagpipes?

Then something on Dellucci.. Meh whatever have fun with that.

Minor Issues: LaPorta Beaned in USA Win

With the help of some added fire power of the return of Travis Hafner, Buffalo took a win away from the Iron Pigs. Hafner went 2-3 with a double before being lifted in the 7th inning, while Josh Barfield went 0-2 but knocked in a run. Andy Cannizaro has been pretty solid since coming over from Durham, he knocked in two runs. The real story was David Huff yet again. Huff went 5.1 with just five hits, one run and EIGHT strikeouts.

Jordan Brown has had a good second half to the Buffalo season. With Matt LaPorta and Beau Mills behind him and Garko and Martinez ahead of him, plus the battle with Michael Aubrey, Jordan is a lost piece in the Indians puzzle. Jordan also became a daddy.

"It's hard because my wife and Damon are all the way in Tucson on the other coast, so it's hard to come here and separate that," Brown said. (MILB.com)

Another Bison, rather a New-Bison. Jon Meloan is fitting in real well. Considering he and Brown played together at Arizona and also share a home in the off-season. But, how exactly did Meloan find out about the trade? Text-Message when he woke up, of course!

"It said, 'You're an Indian now,'" Meloan said. "I was like, 'What are you even talking about?'" (Indians.com)

I'm excited about Santana of course, but this is the guy in the trade I really like.

Speaking of him, Carlos Santana went 2-4 with 2 RBI and a run scored, Beau Mills went 2-5 with a run knocked in but Kinston lost to that damn Potomac again. They've been one of the best in the High A level and they beat on the Kinston pitching once again. Kelvin De La Cruz pitched just 2.2 innings giving up 8 hits and 7 runs and he also walked 5.

Dustin Realini playing in left field went 3-5 with 3 knocked in and Chris Nash had a pair as the Captains lost to the Braves last night.

Mahoning Valley is off on the All-Star Break but plenty-o-Scrappers are in action in tonights game.

You can catch full coverage of the NY-Penn League All-Star game at the NYPENN website here.

You can see the full rosters here.

Interesting enough, Lonnie Chisenhall is listed in the not participating list due to injury or promotion.. Has Lonnie gotten the call up to Lake County? Has he been injured? Not sure.

GCL lost and won a game in the double header with the Yankees with scores of 2-0 in both games. Juan Aponte knocked in two runs with a double in the winner.

Tracking Matt LaPorta

Some funny business going on with Matt LaPorta in the game yesterday morning.

LaPorta was hit in the shoulder and the ball bounced up and hit him in the head yesterday in the United State's blowout win over China. The Chinese were rather upset about a slide at home plate and the fact that they got absolutely destroyed by the United States.

LaPorta went down in a heap and laid on the ground and it looked bad. Everything is okay though, maybe some minor concussions. LaPorta did not play in the win against the Chinese Taipei.

Photoshop Off-Day: The Last of the Mujicas

I'm not sure if you are a fan of Edwin Mujica.. I'm not his biggest fan, he has some stuff, but really I don't see a future in him.

His recent meltdown after letting him close and the following appearance leave a lot to be desired after he started to emerge as a capable option. I think there is more talent and potential in guys at other levels and while he is still a little young, the constant up and down up and down the Indians did to him last year makes me think they don't have THAT much faith in him.

With that.. It will be the last Mujica we probably ever see and this could be the last year we see him.. With that, here is the Last of the Mujicas.

The point? Not sure if there is any.. It just sort of meshes with the name.. The Mohicans. The Mujicas.. Whatever.. I stretched it but it works in my mind.. It also makes a lot more sense than putting Squirrel teeth on him, something no one will get unless I point out the fact that. He used to have squirrel cheeks.

Wakeup Wahoo: Hafner to DH Tonight in Buffalo; Lewis gets the job done

Sunday we witnessed something that hasn't happened awhile but has happened. We saw Jensen Lewis close out a game for Jeremy Sowers.

The tandem was at it again on Sunday after doing it in Vanderbilt years and years ago.

"I told him during the anthem, 'This is your day and I'm going to come in and stop it for you,' " Lewis said. (Plain Dealer)

Not only that, but we continue to see these quotes from Jensen to demonstrate that this kid has the GUTS to close out a game.

Lewis said he "kind of went out there and said 'Over my dead body are we going to give this one up' " -- a welcome demeanor for a club whose bullpen has blown 15 saves in just 36 chances. (Plain Dealer)

He also understands the role and what it takes and what goes into it.

"This is awesome. When you're in the bullpen, this is the opportunity you want," Lewis said. "It's a lot of fun right now and I'm just enjoying each opportunity they give me." (Indians.com)

As for Jeremy Sowers, Eric Wedge is pleased with what his young starter has done these past few games.

"Jeremy has been pitching so much better," said Indians manager Eric Wedge. "He's been very consistent over his last five or six starts. He's given us a chance to win most of those games." (Plain Dealer)

Far be it from me to know what is wrong with Franklin Gutierrez. I really don't understand or know why a kid with so much promise has fallen off like he has this year. It's beyond me.

"I know I can hit against righties and lefties," Gutierrez said. "I think [against right-handers] it has something to do with mechanics and recognizing the pitch. It takes focus and concentration. I have to keep learning. I'm starting to get more playing time. That will help." (Plain Dealer)

He is hitting .349 in the last 9 games, so maybe he is turning it around. I hope. He has so much promise with that defense and arm and his speed. If he puts the bat in there he could be a dangerous player.

I got all excited about the Travis Hafner return on Tuesday, but I've been given a gift. HE RETURNS TONIGHT! With Josh Barfield at his side to play six innings at 2nd tonight, Hafner will DH and get two ABs tonight with Buffalo. Victor Martinez will be with the team tomorrow to catch six innings. He homered last night for Akron.

For all indiciations, they will be there throughout the week and be evaluated towards the end.

Asdrubal Cabrera has been using the bunt more and more since his return and it is a product of working with Derek Shelton and going out before games and practice it endlessly. Not just for sacrafices but in attempt to get on base of course.

"I went down and really worked on my hitting," Cabrera said through first-base coach and interpreter Luis Rivera. "That gave me some confidence. I was swinging the bat well there. I came back with confidence that I could do the job." (Indians.com)

It's another reason Eric Wedge wants him in good shape. So he can run and get down the line quicker and beat the bunt out.

Minor Issues: Mills hits 20th HR, Martinez Goes Deep in Rehab Game

Bryan Bullington got beat up pretty well in the Bisons loss to Pawtucket. Brad Snyder went 1-3 with a RBI and two runs scored.

Akron got beat up but that was hardly the story for the Aeros. Victor Martinez DHed and hit all four times. He went 2-4 with his FIRST HOME RUN OF THE YEAR! Yes his first, how nuts is that.

Meanwhile, the Aeros continue to just falter in the standings. Still hopes to the Wild Card but ya gotta pick it up Akron!

Beau Mills.. 2-4, number 20 on the year with 84 RBI, what a man. Kinston lost but they scored and Beau Mills is just awesome. Hector Rondon did go 6 plus but gave up five runs.

So-so start for Eric Berger in Lake County. He pitched 2.1 innings giving up just one run. That was the lone run against Lake County as they scored five to top Rome. Dustin Realini with 2 RBI and a 2-4 night for Matt Brown.

As if we didn't know it already, Adam Miller's season is over. I really think the bullpen is in his future.

Also the Indians didn't spend as much as the Pirates or Red Sox did in draft pick signings.. Then again they picked 29th and don't exactly spend a lot of money. But they still spent around $7 million.

Tribe Steal Series from MLB-Best Angels

I find myself sprinting through the house to the computer to talk about a win like this.

I mean first things first.

The no-doubles defense is the worst thing in the world. That would have had much less drama had Eric Wedge not opted to put that silly defense out there. If I ever managed a team, I would never use such a stupid idea like the no-doubles defense The outfielders are placed where they are placed for a reason, that's how they get to the most fly balls.

With that... You can also see the difference between Mike Scioscia and Eric Wedge. I know what you are going to say, but Tuna, Scioscia's team has a infinity lead in the division, he can afford to let Kendry Morales hit with the game on the line.

I tell you, Eric Wedge has no chance in hell, yet he he's bringing in his best option to get a hit, instead of trying to build confidence in a young guy like Marte.

That is what separates Mike Scioscia, one of the best managers in the game, with Eric Wedge, a middle of the road manager.

Now onto the actual game.

Jensen Lewis continues to prove he can close out game for this team and continues to prove me right. J-Lew has no converted all three chances and this was by far his toughest test, against the best team in baseball, with no margin for error and guys on first and second and just one out.

Jeremy Sowers continues to have those early jitters, but he ends up settling down and gets rewarded with his 2nd win of the year. He pitched real good today and just continues to settle in with Fasano guiding him. I tell ya this guy is screaming teacher and leader. The way he guided Jensen through the ninth to pitch to Figgins in that crucial at-bat was phenominal. He knew what he had to do and Jensen got it done.

Something Sal Fasano just said in the post-game interview that really made sense as he drips with sweat like the true Italian he is. Team baseball.. That's how the offense won this game. It's what the Angels do so well, that we did in this game.

Sal Fasano lead-off double.. I was getting ready to bust out the mustaches had he gone deep. Asdrubal doing what we've seen him do a lot more of and something this team has done a lot lately, sac bunting. Then Grady gets the fly ball to get Fasano in and tht was all she wrote.

Ryan Garko knocks in yet another run, not in a conventional way, with the infield single, but it got the job done. Gutierrez had the big hit in the first to finallllly bust it open for the Indians. They've been searching for that two out RISP hit all series and Frankie finally got one. He and Garko combined on the day 5-5, 2 BB, 3 RBI. Really good job on both of their parts today.

Carroll made the most of his on-base chances, scoring twice and Benny Fresh pulled a few into left field today.

All around a good game.. Solid all around effort and the type of game you LOVE to watch and win. They made Saunders work, they pitched well, they executed in the late game situations and just really really positive for this team welcoming in Kansas City in the battle to stay out of the basement on Tuesday.

Anthony Reyes goes on Tuesday against Luke Hochevar. I noticed Jeremy wearing the stirrups today with the Sunday-Unis.. Reyes wore both the stirrups and stripes when he was with the Cardinals. Hopefully we get him in the Sunday Uni soon.

[BOXSCORE]

Sunday Pre-Game Chatter: Sowers/Fasano Combo A Good One

Yay!! Yay!! Yay!! Yay!! YAY!!!!!!!!

Guess Who's Back!? Pronk Is Back! Guess Who's Back, Guess Who's Back, Pronk Is Back!

What an odd picture.. It looks like he's posing for it.

Travis Hafner is moving along and after Victor Martinez plays today in Akron, he'll be with Hafner onto Buffalo on Tuesday! Pronk is back!!!!!

Josh Barfield went 0-2 last night in Akron.

You will probably see Sal Fasano in there today catching Jeremy Sowers and it's working out pretty good for Eric Wedge to start Fasano when Sowers pitches. They work well together and Fasano is really having an impact on Jeremy. Here is a not so-surprising quote from Sowers.

"I'm actually one of those guys that is not so much the guy that talks about baseball," Sowers said. "I'm always trying to find something else to talk about in the dugout." (Indians.com)

I could have told you that. He looks like he just isn't all that interested in the game and that he'd rather be somewhere else. He also gets ticked when people pie him in the face.. He really looked steamed last year when that happened to him. Lightin up Jeremy!

Looks like the MLB is cracking down on the international signings thanks to recent discoveries of Miguel Tejada lying about his age. The Indians fell victim to one of the suspended players as Edward Pinales was suspended for a year by MLB. The Indians informed his family that things have changed and if they had anything to say to say it now. The family stayed quiet and it appears they lied about his age.

Eric Wedge was there when Roger Clemens was pitching for Boston. He gets the same sort of vibe from Cliff Lee's starts that he did for Clemens'.

"There was always a different vibe," said Wedge. "The opposition felt it. Our team felt it. The fans felt it. That's the way it worked." (Plain Dealer)

You can feel it.. You really can. There's days you feel good about a game and days you feel bad. I feel the same way.

Andy Marte is playing a good third-base despite the error yesterday. I've heard a lot of things about Marte's glove and how the Indians wanted him to improve. So far I see an above average glove there and he really makes some good plays. They still want his bat to improve of course. I just want him to get over .200

"We still have to get more offensively from him," said Wedge. "He's really played well at third base. He's still not doing what we need him to do with the bat. We'll continue to look at him and see if we can figure it out." (Plain Dealer)

Because of the game being on FOX, we didn't get to see the HOF Ceremony on STO like last year. But, from what I can tell it was really well done as usual.

Mike Hargrove and his wife invited the widow of the late Steve Olin, who died during Spring Training on a boating accident, along with Tim Crews when Grover was managing the team.

Anthony Castrovince gave a full recap of Hargrove's induction.

The signing of two high school pitchers Trey Haley and TJ House have prompted Paul Hoynes to remember CC Sabathia and how the Indians did it the right way.

Great win for Buffalo last night, as they shutout Pawtucket. John Halama, Tom Mastny, Richie Rundles and Bubbie Buzachero combined on a 3 hitter.

Lucas Montero went 3-5 and Jared Goedert went deep in Kinston's loss.

Captains doubled up on Rome last night.

I spose the Tribe don't deserve to win that one

Yeah I mean when you make four errors in a game (for the second time this year) you probably don't deserve to win the game, but they very well should have.

They are the best fielding team in the league according to the stats, but that is two times now that this team has just had some complete meltdowns defensively. I don't know what it is especially after they did so good with Cliff Lee on the mound. They might have been a little unsettled waiting behind Carmona, a complete opposite of Cliff Lee who threw strikes and went fast. The infielders should be used to Carmona by now though. They know what he's about throwing the sinker and getting the ground ball. Only two were un-earned but it could have very well been four.

Carmona looked okay for the most part, finally starting to look like he's feeling good and comfortable out there. The errors really hurt himi and made it worse than it should have been. I'll take the 7 strong from him though.

Another good outing for Rafael Betancourt going two innings without a hit or walk. I'm starting to think he might be a candidate to bounce back next year, I won't hold my breath on that one though.

Okay offensively let's talk.

Kelly Kelly Kelly.. 0-4 with 6 men left on base and three strikeouts. Man... Oh MAN.. Just.. Including a bases loaded noooooooobody out strikeout. He put together a good at-bat after getting down 0-2 but erased everything he did by swinging.. nay.. half swinging at a garbage fastball above the zone.

Whatever...

Just..

Then Garko looks to have not only tied it but put the Indians ahead, and Aybar makes a spectacular catch.

It just flows with the season... It just flows with the season.. Same way the ball he hit agaisnt K-Rod in the ninth went just foul. By the by, love the way K-Rod gets all the close calls, no wonder he has 47 saves.

Garko had the two run shot and Dellucci had a solo.. Just wasted opportunities. 25 runners stranded total.. Just awful.

They deserve to lose the way they didn't hit and played defense, but they damn well should of. Can't let a team like the Angels off the hook like this.

Tomorrow, Jeremy Sowers and Joe Saunders. Don't hold your breath for a series win unless the Salvatore Man can guide Young Sowers to a win. BTW how about Sal doing the lineups.. The guy cracks me up.

[BOXSCORE]

Wakeup Wahoo: Cliff Leeeee; Pinning down the Picks

I'm not sure where to start.. Maybe all the Cliff Lee stuff? Cause we need Cliff Lee and we love Cliff Lee and without Cliff Lee, we would be... Bad.

"They have a pretty good offense, especially with the addition of [Mark] Teixeira," Lee said. "That might be the best lineup I've ever faced, to be honest with you." (Indians.com)

And he held them to two runs!

I forgot to mention the awesome defense last night.. It is sort of becoming redundant like it is about Lee, to talk about Cab's defense. I mean seriously is he kidding with some of this stuff? Bare handed grab up the middle to throw out Torii Hunter? Omar never played 2nd base but I'm not even sure he could do that. Okay, he probably could.

Cliff also made a great play on the bunt by Figgins.

"Definitely, I'll take triple plays, too," said Lee, who was quick to point out his defensive help. "I'd obviously not like to put men on base. But I'll take two outs on one pitch." (Plain Dealer)

Take 'em how you get 'em Cliff.

Fausto Carmona will look to follow that performance with one of his own. Take into consideration how good Carmona is during the day with a 2.81 ERA and a 12-4 record. Fausto just has to keep building off the previous start, good or bad, to get his form back.

"There are some signs there of what he does and does well," Willis said. "He needs to get more consistent with that." (Indians.com)

One guy who isn't in form is Eddie Squirrels.

"I've had a couple bad outings," Mujica said. "I feel like my focus is a little bit down right now. But I'll just try to keep it up and help my team." (Indians.com)

Wedge is going to keep throwin him out there though. He feels Mujics still can be a good pitcher and if he was confident like he was a few weeks ago, he can be there. I don't see it but more power to him if he does.

Let's tie up these draft picks real quick.. 30 of them are signed and sealed and soon to be delievered. You can check that out on the Player Index..

Now let's straighten out the names because it seems like we have a lot of odd nicknames.

Curtis Haley is actually TREY Haley.. Why? I don't know

Glenn House is actually TJ House.. Why? Well I don't know where he gets the TJ but I can see why he doesn't like the name Glenn. Not a ball-players name!

Robert Phelps is actually CORD Phelps.. Why? Who cares, Cord is a cool name.

Stephen Putnam is actually ZACH Putnam.. Why? I have absolutely no clue how you get Zach from Stephen.

Now that that is out of the way.. The Indians gave Trey Haley $1.2 million to sign! Damn sir that's more than just about our entire team gets per year with the exclusion of guys like Grady, Peralta, Hafner, Vic and Cliff.

You may be asking why Trey Haley gets 1.2 million and TJ House gets $800,000 (1 mill total, 200,000 of that goes to a college education), yet Putnam a 5th rounder gets only 500,000.

Simple.. Haley and House are pitchers in High School. They are much more valuable.. They both fell because of that.

There is no doubt the Indians went signficantly over the budget. But if they got a possible first rounder in Haley, a super talented guy in House who dropped because of signability issues (who knows what round draft pick he'd be after three years in collge), then it is worth it.

Don't ever EVER EVERRRR say this team doesn't dole out the cash. They wanted their prospects signed and they got them..

Masa Kobayashi says the reason for his struggles is not fatigue or the switch.

"The pace is faster than in Japan," said Kobayashi, speaking through interpreter Ryo Shinkawa, a Baldwin-Wallace College senior and member of the Tribe's media relations staff. "That would be a lie if I said it wasn't so. But it's the same for every ballplayer this time of year. That's not what's affecting my pitching." (Plain Dealer)

So Josh Barfield went 0-2 in his Akron rehab apperance on Thursday... How'd Victor Martinez do?

0-2 with a walk.. But hey, he played. That is all that counts.

Bafield and Martinez are both going to make one more start with Akron today and tomorrow and then go from there. Akron goes on the road so they need to go somewhere else to play. Lake County doesn't get back till Wednesday and Mahoning Valley has break before heading off on the road on the 21st.. Might just have to get in some good old backyard baseball or a simulated game. Travis Hafner is expected to go on rehab sometime next week so he'll probably go to the Lake. He has another batting practice session today.

Speaking of Pronk.. Pronk won a race... Not Travis Pronk, but a Horse named Pronk.

"They must have seen the way I run the bases and named a horse after me." (Plain Dealer)

God, I hope not..

So it's Hall of Fame weekend, that means GROVER is back!

Here is a great piece on him by Bill Livingston.

But what I REALLY want to talk about is this.

He wants to manage again!?

Color me unsuprised. You just had a feeling that wasn't it when he was managing some independent team or whatever it was he was doing. He loves to manage, he just got burned out by the Mariners. He want's to win and he want's to be on a club that is going to win.

I hope someone gives him a shot for one last hurrah. Trust in him and let him do his magic. Take a look at the Mariners this year without him. Disaster! He can make a bad team good and a good team great.

BTW he still isn't over it.

"I get asked all the time when was it I got over that loss," Hargrove said. "I always give the same answer: As soon as it happens, I'll let you know." (ESPN.com)

Same here guy.

Minor Issues: Buffalo, Kinston Have Big Nights

Buffalo laid an absolute beat-down on Rochester last night. It started by knocking around former Indian and Buffalo Danny Graves. Oh my god.

Offensively there is just too much to go over. Michael Aubrey went 4-5 with two runs knocked in. Crowe, Linden, Velandia, and Cannizaro all knocked in two. Brad Snyder went 2-5 with three batted in.

Lost in all of it was Aaron Laffey who gave up just two un-earned runs in his six innings. He gave up just three hits but he did manage to walk four.

Akron got three hit and beat-up. Frank Herrmann gave up three runs in six innings, but took the loss.

Um Yikes.. What was with all the offense for the Indians farm teams last night? Kinston puts up 14 runs on the board and allows just two hits. Carlos Santana and Carlos Rivero with three-run home runs by each. Beau Mills added his 19th in addition to his 3-5 night. Lucas Montero knocks in three. Shawn Nottingham was shining for 7 innings, allowing just two hits, and striking out nine hitters. Josh Judy added on with 2 perfect innings and 4 strikeouts. Yikes! That's 8 in a row for the Kinston club to pull within 2.5 games of Myrtle Beach.

When in Rome, the Captains lost to the Braves. Matt Brown and Mark Thompson with a pair of hits each, but it isn't enough to support Ryan Morris' five innings of one run ball.

The Scrappers had a comfortable 7-2 lead after 7 innings.. Then Jamestown hung a 9 spot on Mahoning Valley. The Scrappers added three in the 8th in response but couldn't muster up anything else and they lost by one. Tough luck. David Roberts and Mark Rodrigues with the tag-team implosion.

Lonnie Chisenhall went 4-6 with a pair of doubles and three runs batted in. Cord Phelps went 4-5 with three runs scored while Michael Valdez went 3-5.

Tracking the Olympics

Matt LaPorta turned in a much better game than he did the previous night against Cuba. He got hit by a pitch and garnered a four pitch walk from Akron teammate TJ Burton, but he still is pulling everything. His defense also cost the United States at multiple times.

Jeff Stevens was foregone in the 9th of a 1 run game because Brian Duensing was pitching that well. Burton pitched the one inning for Canada and he loaded up the bases, only to get out of it.

Nicky Weglarz got a hit in the game and yes he is very tall.

LaPorta 0-2 with a BB
Weglarz 1-4 with a R

I'm running out of things to say about Cliff Lee

Really I'm just done with him.. I can't continue to do it because now it's just.. Routine I guess?

I'm going through the motions..

Cliff Lee does it again!

Cliff Lee is the man!

Clifford the BIG RED RAZORBACK shuts down another explosive offense.

He hovered around that 70% strike mark again this time 80-117 is about 68%.

I mean jebus sir.

8 hits and 2 walks is 10 baserunners.. But it doesn't matter! 6 sit-downs and the important number is 2 runs.

9 innings, 2 runs.. and the big old 17!

17 wins for Cliff Lee. How often do you see 17-2?

Huh? Do ya see it often? No you don't.. First guy to go 16-2 since Pedro Martinez, and I can't wait to see the stats that are gonna unfold from everyone about 17-2.

Big Tex was the lone bug in Cliff's hair, going 3-4. But he got that big double play ball in the 8th inning to retire the side. So say what you want about the 3 hits, he got Teixeira when it counted.

He held the 4, 5, and 6 hitters, Vlad, Hunter and Anderson to 1-11. That's fantastic. All three of those guys left 2 guys on base.. That's how their offense works. Chone Figgins gets on and they are in business.

Cliff Lee said no sir.. You can get on base but you aren't scoring.

Loved the offense tonight.. The Angels not only have good starters they got a good bullpen and the Tribe got to that combo just enough.

Back to back doubles by Francisco and Jhonny Peralta got the first run in. Then two innings later Mr Garko knocked in yet another RBI.. I do believe he has an RBI in all but one game since last Saturday against Toronto.. He was 1-4 tonight and he is hitting .348 since he returned from his benching with 6 RBI. He did strike out three times tonight but I tell ya what, he is battling deeper into the count lately.

Drubs got the bases loaded walk to push ahead the go-ahead run and it was allllll Cliff Lee from there on out. Choo had another double and went 2-3.. He's a machine when it comes to those.. Already 21 on the year. Francisco has been here a little longer and just has 25.

Damn.. One hell of a win tonight.. Just one hell of a win..

Tomorrow is the Fausto Man against big bad John Lackey early on FOX. If you are going to the game, enjoy the hall of fame celebration and get there early!

[BOXSCORE]

LOLTribe: Who Broke Paul Byrd's Toaster?!

I've sort of thought about this and it is easily my most enjoyable feature so far. If only I were actually funny..

Here is Asdrubal Cabrera throwing a ball without the aid of ground under him.



Andy Gonzalez probably doesn't have a Dough boy belly, but this was the first thing I thought of when I saw the picture.



Looks like they are bullying around Shin-Soo Choo after his country's team beat the United States.



Someone broke Paul Byrd's toaster :(



I found the culprit!!!!!



The Ghost of Joba Chamberlain!



For all you arcade ski-ball fans..




Thank you and good night Jhonny.

Wakeup Wahoo: Hafner Takes BP; Lewis Welcomes Closer Role

Uh oh..

You hear that noise?

It's a sof...whoa the ground just shook.

I think he's lurking.

"I'm good," Hafner said. "I'm ready to be activated." (Indians.com)

I'm getting goosebumps. I saw some video of him swinging and it looked good.. If he feels good, then I'm good.

He even sent one into Pronkville.

After another strength test on Friday and another hitting session on Saturday, Pronkster could be ready for a rehab assignment next week. Travis also spoke for the first time about the passing of his father, Terry.

"Dealing with my dad was probably the toughest thing I've had to go through," said Hafner. "It makes baseball seem pretty small in the grand scheme of things.

"It was really tough to go through. I still miss him. You do the best you can. I don't know if moving on is the right term, but you just try to get things back to normal." (Plain Dealer)

I guess Brendan Donnelly and Carl Willis had an awkard conversation after Donnelly gave up that single to Nick Markakis the other night.

"I trust Brendan. He's a veteran guy. I didn't expect it to play out that way. He's still working his way back. He had two strikes on the hitter. You take a chance on getting him out and you don't have to throw him a strike. If he doesn't have two strikes, then you walk him." (Plain Dealer)

I don't, should have walked him.

All looks good on the stadium front for Goodyear, Arizona.

Zach Jackson has earned himself another start, but Eric Wedge was more focused on talking about the struggles of Edwin Pukejica and Perez not having it.

"I thought he did a pretty good job," said Wedge, who added Jackson earned another start. (Plain Dealer)

Yeah thanks for that.

Jhonny Peralta got hit in the hand by the wild Daniel Cabrera. Grizzle also got hit on the knee-cap but he stayed in the game. Peralta had another at-bat after he got hit but gave way later to Jamey Carroll. Right now he is day to day and had X-Rays as a precaution.

Here is why I believe Jensen Lewis is a closer.

"Do I want to be the closer? Absolutely," Lewis said. "As a reliever, that's the job to have, to get that 27th out with the game on the line."

"I was more excited than anything out there," he said. "It was a rush of emotions all at once. The feeling was a little different."

"It does a lot for the confidence when Eric puts you in and says, 'We think you can do this,'" Lewis said. "I like the challenge."

Case rested, I do believe kind sir.

Speaking of rested, what is up with Eric Wedge "resting" Koby by pitching him in the 9th inning of a blowout game?

"I think it's fair to say that he's probably wearing down a little bit," Wedge said. (Indians.com)

I mean really sir, are you serious?

Minor Issues: Lewis Called up; Tribe Signs Draft Picks

Buffalo made a few additions to their roster with the call-up of Zach Jackson. The first was bringing up Scott Lewis to take Jackson's start in last night's game.

He was greeted in a rude way, giving up 5 runs, 4 earned, off 8 hits and 4 walks. He completed just five innings and rung up three hitters. The Herd lost despite matching the 11 hit total put up by Rochester

Buffalo also lost Armando Camacaro to Akron because of the Toregas injury, so they got Kinston's Jerad Head. Head homered in his first game. The Herd also brought back Jeff Harris (paper move) to replace Brian Slocum who was also put on the disabled list. Morgan Ensberg was put on the inactive list.

JD Martin was filling Lewis' spot in the Akron rotation and his return was a success. Martin pitched 5.2 innings giving up just three hits and no runs with four strikeouts. Chuck Lofgren claned up in the 6th and went two more of his own, while Randy Newsome picked up the save despite giving up a run. Nate Panther went deep and Josh Barfield went 0-2 in his first rehab game.

Beau Mills was up to his usual tricks, going 2-2 with a run and 2 walks in the Kinston win. Cumberbatch and Rivero had two hits as well as Roman Pena knocked in a run. Carlton Smith pitched 6 shutout innings, giving up just four hits and striking out two. Vinnie Pestano picked up his 7th save and struck out two.

Solid hitting display put on by Lake County, pounding out 13 hits for 6 runs in their win. Ron Rivas had three of the hits and knocked in a run. Matt Brown continues to hit with a 2-5 night. John Gaub picked up his first save. Dustin Realini was the lone Captain without a hit, but he walked twice.

Mahoning Valley laid the smack down on Oneonta? Okay... The top four hitters combined for 11 of the 14 hits. Lonnie Chisenhall and Jeremie Tice went 3-5 with two runs scored and two and three runs knocked in respectively. Donnie Webb scored two as well, going 3-4 with two knocked in and Cord Phelps went 2-5 with a pair of triples. Anillis Martinez pitched three no-hit innings in relief.

GCL was partying after a two run-eleventh gave them a one run victory over the Blue Jays. Jason Smit with the walk off HBP.

Draft pick signing galore...

Zach Putnam signed on the dotted line for the Indians. Putnam was the 5th round pick out of Michigan and had a year of eligibility remaining. He'll be going to the Scrappers.

They also locked up Catcher Roberto Perez, Edwin Burns, and Tim Palincsar.

Rivals is reporting that TJ (Glenn) House has signed for a one million bonus. He was a big get for the Tribe farm system.

and finally it looks as if Trey (Curtis) Haley will be signing today before the deadline. That pretty much means the Indians signed every single pick within the top 20 rounds minus one and locked up guys like Stowell and House. That Byrd money was put to awesome use.

Tracking Nick Weglarz

Matt LaPorta is looking awful.. I'm typing this up at 2 AM in the morning to be posted later in the morning when I wake up, and just watching him at the plate is awful. He also made a bad error in left field.

Howevaaa. Nick Weglarz put on a mammoth performance against the same Cuba team that LaPorta went 0-4 against.

Weglarz went 4-4 with three runs scored and knocked in, including two home runs. One being a mamoth bomb. Holy Shishkabobs. Now that is some major partying going on there by Weglarz.

Against South Korea, Weglarz.. Weglarz went 1-4 with two strikeouts.

Yet another Minor League Happenings, focusing on the likes of Santana and some Kinston folk.

Ouch

We got beat so bad I don't feel like talking about it.. That one hurt..

That one hurt...

Zach Jackson pitched as well as you could expect with that defense behind him screwing up.

Just.. Ouch

Baltimore is gone tomorrow and we get Cliffffffaad going for 17 against LA. Hopefully we get a better outcome than what just occurred.

[BOXSCORE]

Wakeup Wahoo: Jackson Called Up; Rehab for the Injured

You know, they really shouldn't be called up Zach Jackson tomorrow to start.

It is a weird weird thing that Jeremy Guthrie is pitching in this series, not just against who he pitched against. But.. The fact that the Indians now are calling up Zach Jackson..

What?

"We did the best we could with it in regard to opportunity," said manager Eric Wedge, before Wednesday's game. "With our timetable, with what we were trying to do up here, how we were trying to compete, we weren't able to make it work." (Plain Dealer)

As Paul Hoynes so eloquently points out.. You were trying to do the best you could with.......... Jason Johnson.

Riiiiiiiiiiiight, I'll believe that one in... Fifty years..

You've made Andy Marte work on a team that was supposed to contend for a World Series, I think you could have made Jeremy Guthrie work on a team that finished.. Oh I don't really want to relive that year.

In a way, I'm glad Guthrie came back last night and shut us down. It gives Eric Wedge a little bit of a punch in the mouth. While I'm not in the Wedge Haters Group, I'm all for giving him a dose of "Screw You" every once in awhile. Jody Gerut's home run was nice too, btw have you seen him lately? Comeback player of the year anyone?

"In talking to him a little last year, he got a chance to go out every fifth day and pitch. He had a safety net. He wasn't walking a tightrope every game. He knew he wasn't pitching for his job every night. That's important to any player." (Plain Dealer)

Thank you Garko.. Boy those Stanford kids know what they are talking about don't they?

With that.. yes the Indians will be calling up Zach Jackson to make the start on Thursday. We get our first real look at the lefty we got in the CC Sabathia trade. Just one of the pieces of course.

Great quote by him though.

"I'm just excited and really thankful for the opportunity," Jackson said. "It's go time." (Indians.com)

It's Go Time!

GO GO GO GO GO TIME

It's a no-go time for Masa Kobayashi who we suspected would be KILLING his career innings pitch mark if he were to continue at the pace he was on. Well Eric Wedge is gonna back off The Masa San for a while.

"He's in a new country, new league and in a different role," said Wedge. "He was more of a one-inning guy in Japan. I think it's fair to say that he's probably wearing down. That's the situation we've had in our bullpen. We've had to use every guy." (Plain Dealer)

I'd actually DL him with fatigued arm when September rolls around and see what else ya got. The Indians better work on either A) Conditioning him to throw 50 innings (his numbers decreased as the year went on) or B) plan to use him as a one inning guy for a set number of innings next year.

Much like I was this morning, Shin-Soo Choo was looking for the South Korea Vs USA game.. It is not on TV.. The question is, Why was Choo up at 4:30 AM Wednesday morning?

I really hate the Olympics coverage of the baseball stuff.. I don't have time to sit here and watch it online, and I have ABSOLUTELY no clue when it's on TV because they schedule it in blocks.. 12 to 12.... Like really come on now?

Brendan Donnelly moved into the vacated veterans locker via default. They ran out of lockers, what can you do?

The juicy stuff of this whole thing.. Victor Martinez and Josh Barfield are on their wayyyy back baby.

Both are off to Akron and will be playing in their first rehab assignements. Barfield will play Thursday while Victor will DH on Friday, go back to Cleveland for a workout, then return for another game on Sunday.

Travis Hafner meanwhile ran the bases AND will take Batting Practice TODAY! Winner Winner..

Minor Issues: Dixon and Aeros sent to 2nd Place on Late HR

Buffalo is out of action for the second night in a row and Kinston got rained out, so yet another quiet day for the minor league system which will soon becoming to an end.

The Aeros actually hope to play a little longer into September though. Last night's loss didn't help as Akron was defeated on an 8th inning home run. They are now one game back of Bowie for the division lead. Kevin Dixon pitched 8 solid innings, giving up just the two runs until he got to the 8th and surrendered the solo shot. Nate Panther with a solo home run of his own.

Matt Brown's home run was a part of the 4 run 6th inning put up by Lake County in support of Chris Archer and his 5 solid innings in a Captains win. He gave up just one run off 6 hits. Adam Davis with a par if ribbies as well.

The Scrappers got four hit, Phelps, Chiz, Tice and Simpson with hits, Phelps had the lone extra-base hit. Ouchsir.

Rafael Vera was partying for the GCL team, going 3-3 with 2 RBI in the Indians victory of the Tigers.

DSL lost a rain-shortened game against the Diamondbacks SLASH Reds.. Two teams? That's not very fair! I don't want to deal with Brandon Phillips AND Conor Jackson.. oh wait what.. Quite the line for Wady Pinales. 2 innings, 2 hits, 3 runs, 1 ER, 2 walks, 1 k. Gotta love DSL baseball.

Lot's of catching up to do in terms of stuff over at Minor League Insider..

Tony Lastoria's quote from Ross Atkins suggests Scott Lewis could get the September call up in order to reach the innings the Indians want him to get to. I don't think they were considering him for Byrd's spot tomorrow, but he's on the 40 man roster, so if September rolls around and they want him to get some more work in, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities. It can't hurt, can it?

With that, David Huff will reach his innings limit around the end of the season. So he won't be called-up any time soon. That pretty much puts the starting pitching at Laffey and Lewis. I really doubt we see Matt Ginter pitch another game and Jeff Weaver even make a single apperance for the Tribe. The 40 man roster spots are precious and will be needed, so why screw around with Weaver?

New Minor Leagues Happenings that focuses on the GCL squad. It's nice to see some info on these guys, because most of them are even greenier than the kids in Mahoning Valley. I've made sure to update on Abner Abreu because he looks like he could be a special player. The quote from manager Rouglas Odor makes me think that is true.

Tracking Matt LaPorta

After hitting three solo shots in the exhibition series with Canada, and going goose-egg on us yesterday, Matt LaPorta made this last one count.

LaPorta had a 3-run jack that helped power the United States to a 7-0 victory over the Netherlands.

In other news, the game is in progress but Nick Weglarz went deep for Team Canada.

Tribe Streak Ends as Guthrie Bites Back

Is Brendan Donnelly serious with this?

3-2 pitch, he pretty much pitches around Nicky Markakakakakakis the entire at-bat and then on the 3-2 pitch with a base open, he shakes off Shoppach so he can......

Throw a fastball right down the middle?

Markakis is one of the better hitters in the entire league and you do that?

Come on Tuna.

Lack O Offense for the most part though, so I 'spose it doesn't matter. Anthony Reyes took the tough luck loss. I thought he pitched well, and his fastball looked a bit more livelier. Remember this is a good offense and he held them in check for the most part for six innings. He did throw 62 strikes out of his 96 pitches, that's 64% which is pretty good.

Aside from the Gutierrez double and then the two doubles by Marte and Sizemore in the fifth, Guthrie shut his former team down. Great to see him pitching well, but would have liked to get to Rocky Cherry there in the 8th. I sorta felt like they were gonna get to the bullpen if they had a shot and Cherry for the most part wasn't throwing a lot of real strikes.

Tomorrow, it will be Zach Jackson, not Aaron Laffey, who gets the call-up to face Daniel Cabrera, expect a wild one if I do say so myself.

[BOXSCORE]

What Could Have Been: Jeremy Guthrie

Jeremy Guthrie
Baltimore Orioles
Starting Pitcher
6'1" 200
4/8/1979
B/T: L/R
Acquired: 2002 Draft, 1st Round, 22 Overall
How he got away: Claimed by Baltimore off Waivers in January, 2007


Just another Stanford player that the Indians let get away. Jeremy Guthrie is showing he belongs in the Major Leagues, it's just not with the team he was drafted by. Guthrie had all the talent in the world but never the chance with the Indians. The team decided to continue trying guys like Jason Davis rather than give Jeremy Guthrie a reasonable shot. The Indians used Guthrie out of the pen for three years. Combined in 04 and 05 he pitched in less than 20 innings of relief.

He got just one shot in 2006 to start for the Indians. He gave up four runs in just 4.2 innings of work, but that would be his last shot with the Tribe.

Jeremy, like so many other Indians farm hands as of late, has flourished in his new home of Baltimore. Last year he was 9th in all of the American League in ERA and this year he pretty much anchors a young and in-experienced staff with a 3.26 ERA.

So why is Jeremy Guthrie no longer on this team?

I wish I had an answer. Actually, I wish I didn't have to ask the rhetorical question. Guthrie has talent and he is showing he can get the job done, but Cleveland ran out of time with their first round pick of 2002 and simply had to cut the cord. They are now paying for it, as Jeremy Guthrie could easily be apart of this rotation. He'd give you three top pitchers that have done gotten it done in the big leagues.

Then again, he is just another one of those "Change of Scenery" players. We've learned a bit about Anthony Reyes and his problem with St. Louis. People suggest a change for him will be what he needs. Guthrie is a living example that sometimes a change in teams is what someone needs. His confidence probably was a boost when Baltimore said, Yeah sure, we'll bring you aboard, show us what you got.

Time and time his confidence here had to waver, being thrown in the pen, starting at Buffalo, starting just one game for the Indians. Just a bunch of stuff a young player can't handle. Where would he fit in right now? Right in that three hole behind Fausto and Cliff. Point blank.. Could we use him? Hell yes, you can always use pitching. But, it wasn't to be and for that we wish Jeremy Guthrie luck in Baltimore. Just not today of course...

Super Update: Byrd happy to be on a Contender

Here is a super-update of sorts.

Akron lost to Connecticut. Stephen Head picked up two more hits and Steven Wright gave up 3 in 4.1 innings.

Kinston posted a shutout and a 7 run victory. Kelvin De La Cruz, was solid, five innings just three hits. Jerad Head had a 3-run jack in support.

Another Lake County suspension...

Five Mahoning Valley Scrappers are going tot he NY-Penn League All-Star Game. While my voting for Isaias Velasquez paid off, Jeremie Tice didn't make the team.

Velasquez, Lonnie Chisenhall, Robbie Alcombrack, Brock Simpson, and Eric Berger all made the American squad and will representing Mahoning Valley on August 19th.

Mahoning Valley did lost, but Tim Fedroff with 2-3 with a run knocked in.

Speaking of Fedroff, he signed for a $725,000 bonus, which is more than both the 3rd and 4th round picks combined. That goes to show you how much they like this kid and how he could be a much higher pick in years to come. Don't ever say the Indians don't spend money, this is a rarity.

They got a few days to get something done with Haley and Putnam, and they better or else they won't have a shot at him for a few years. Haley is a high-schooler and you wanna get those guys when you can, especially high up.

Tracking Matt LaPorta

The US opened up play this morning against Korea in the Summer Olympics.. Matt LaPorta went 0-4 with a strikeout. Not cool... I'm pretty shocked, the United States lost. Jeff Stevens gave up 2 runs in the 7th inning.

While we are on the subject, don't expect to see Matt LaPorta in the majors this year. I agree with this decision though. Keep him around Akron if they make the playoffs and just let him ride out the year. He's had a hectic few months and I don't think bringing him up to the big leagues is the answer. He has plenty of time to be added to the 40 man, let's wait till next year.

Here is some good news for everyone to read though, straight from the horses mouth.

"It's clear we've got to address our bullpen," said Shapiro, whose club has the fewest saves (19) in the American League. "It's safe to say it's one of our highest priorities." (Plain Dealer)

Mark Shapiro will be making it his highest priority. I just wonder who he is going to put on his list. I'm partial to guys like Will Ohman as middle relief help and someone like Brian Fuentes to close, but there really isn't much to get excited about on the market.

Shapiro was pretty clear on why he traded Paul Byrd. It wasn't about the return package. It was about the opportunity for others. Not to mention giving Byrd a goot shot to win something.

"This trade is about creating an opportunity for some of our players," said Shapiro, "and giving Paul a chance to get to the postseason. It also gives us $2 million that ownership says we can allocate to next year's team." (Plain Dealer)

The reason there is no return on this trade is because Boston is paying the rest of his salary, so there is no reason to give up anything worthwhile. In the end I think the Indians will just say, okay thank you for that, let's be on our way. You didn't need to get a prospect for Paul Byrd, getting rid of him is more than enough because it gives us a chance to see Zach Jackson or get Aaron Laffey back up here.

Byrd was shocked, cancel those book signings he had scheduled.

"I was kind of ambushed," Byrd said. "It kind of was a surprise to me and an emotional moment." (Indians.com)

Kelly Shoppach is probably the one guy that will take the trade hard considering he was Paul's catcher last year and they became friends. Poor Shoppach is losing all his friends with Casey being traded.

"It's sad to see a friend go, but it's an opportunity for him to make the playoffs," said Shoppach, "We worked together a lot. But it's part of the game and it will be a part of it as long as the game is played. (Plain Dealer)

The good news is Paul Byrd doesn't really have to prepare for his first game on Friday. He's gonna slide right in and start the opener against Toronto, the team he just threw a complete game again.

Paul is a gamer and he truly loves the organization and city that drafted him. So you can imagine putting on that Boston jersey will be tough for him. He's played under Tito Francona before though, so I'm sure Byrd will adjust and fit in just fine.

Well there was a game last night if you didn't know.

Asdrubal Cabrera was a big part of it.

"He's had some good at-bats from both sides of the plate," said Wedge, who used Jhonny Peralta at designated hitter. "He worked hard at Buffalo [after being sent down] and up here." (Plain Dealer)

He certainly has. He has the average up and he's looking good at the plate. He's doing stuff he didn't even do last year by showing bunt and threatening to add that as a part of his game.

One guy who didn't have it for the first inning was Jeremy Sowers. But the team picked him up and while he didn't get a win, he showed a little fight. I'm not sold on Jeremy, and don't think I will be. He probably isn't an answer but the Indians need to find out and find out now.

One last quote from the Byrdman, Thanks for everything Paul!

"Cleveland has been great to me. The fans have always cheered for me. When I walked off the field in my last start at home [Aug. 2], the fans gave me a standing ovation. It was very special for me."

Whoa Nelly, How About a Tribe Win?

I don't know if I'm on the record for this, so might as well.

If there is one guy in this system that is going to close games for the Cleveland Indians.. It will be Jensen Lewis. He has the mentality to get the job done and the live arm in the pressure situations to keep a hitter unbalanced.

With that said..

Five in a row and it feels so good.

Usual Tuesday duties so I did not get to see the first few innings, but how about Choo getting on, Marte bunting him over and Cabrera going up the middle.

That is a manufactured run my friends.

That opened up the Sizemore single and Francisco hit to bring Cabrera home. Just timely hitting when you need it most.

Ryan Garko knocked in yet another run, as did Peralta. Very quietly Asdrubal Cabrera has raised his average up to .221, which is far respectable than the .180 some one he was carrying earlier in the year.

No one had more than one RBI, which means to tell me that 1-9 thing is working well. Everyone but starting minus Shoppach had a hit, and it was just a well played offensive game.

I don't know what Jeremy Sowers looked like but the important thing is he went into the 7th, rebounded from the two early runs. This was Jensen Lewis' night though. Keep giving the kid some chances and he's gonna be locking it down.. Mark IT DOWN!

Tomorrow A-Ray as he will be called goes against former Indian Jeremy Guthrie. Expect a What Could Have Been on him.. I'm gonna be getting into the Byrd stuff tomorrow as well, I think Laffey will be called up to take Byrd's spot on Thursday. What a matchup though.. Guthrie and Reyes. Guthrie did what Reyes is trying to do with the Indians.. Change of scenary..

[BOXSCORE]

Paul Byrd Is Traded!

Woooo..

I love Paul Byrd.. He's a great guy.. But this is the move that needed to be made.. Much like Dellucci, but we won't cry about that right now.

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Indians have dealt Paul Byrd to Boston in exchange for a Player to Be Named Later or Cash.

Not sure who is paying the salary. If the Red Sox want to give up a better prospect in exchange for the Indians paying the rest of his salary, then I'm not sure Mark Shapiro or the Dolan's will care. If not I wouldn't expect the player to be anything special. Either way, they needed to clear a spot up and let the young guys go at. Aaron Laffey is ready.

Will Dellucci go next? I hope so, we'll see in a few weeks when Vic, Hafner and Barfield are all due back.

Wakeup Wahoo: Tribe's New Spring Digs in Jeopardy

"You see Fausto locked in at times," Wedge said. "Then he'll slip in and out of it. He has trouble at times being consistent with his delivery." (Indians.com)

Exactly. Eric Wedge was spot on when he called this a weird game.. It was.. How often does Fausto Carmona not hold down a 5-0 lead comfortably?

Obviously, much has been made about the fact these two teams haven't played each other in well over a year's worth of days. 461 to be exact. Remember the last time Baltimore was in town?

It was a weird evening, when the Umpires somehow managed to give the O's a run a few innings after they made a ruling. You remember the double play that had a run score.. Talk about weird.

Some more non-player stuff to get to.. Turns out there is a dispute that is threatening the Tribe from moving into their new spring training digs.

I'll let Castrovince explain it.

"According to a report in the Arizona Republic, city manager John Fischbach and Goodyear sent a cancellation notice to MPK Enterprises, Civica Development LLC and other parties involved in the development of the stadium site. There is a concern over who should receive city payments for road and sewer construction around the 10,000-seat ballpark. " (Indians.com)

Well, the necessary people say it will be done by first pitch, I hope so. Or well you never know, those Winter Haven fans might be happy about this.

Yesterday, we talked about how Grady Sizemore helped out Shin-Soo Choo. Wedge spoke on Grady's increased role in the clubhouse.

"What he does, from a leadership perspective, is not seen that much, because he is a young player, and he's quiet by nature," Wedge said. "But now that he's established himself as one of the best players in the league, and he is one of our veteran guys now, he has a lot inside of him, in regard to being more vocal or just how he acts." (Indians.com)

He is going to take on more as a veteran. He has knowledge to share and he'd better share it. He won't joke around like Victor did with Cabrera last night, but Grady is probably going to be one of those Casey Blake types. Lead by example. The Indians need some of those guys, so it's great that our Superstar is doing it and not someone like Blake who isn't even with the team now.

I'm getting serious issues with the Plain Dealer site.. So i'm cutting it short today, Depth Chart is updated..

Minor Issues: Drennen has big night, Scott Lewis Earns Award

Buffalo couldn't get the series win against the Iron Pigs and will settle for the split. Bryan Bullington pitched 6 innings giving up four runs. Jordan Brown went 3-4 in a losing effort.

Akron was off yesterday but Scott Lewis took home Eastern League Pitcher of the Week honors. He's the sixth Aero to do so this season.

Kinston laid a beat-down on Lynchburg, with Johnnie Drennen having the big night. Drennen went 2-3 with 5 RBI, including a three run shot. Carlos Santana hit a solo homer and both Carlos Rivero and Niuman Romero collected an RBI and 2 hits. Hector Rondon went 6 and 2/3 for the win, giving up a run and striking out five off three hits.

Mark Thompson knocked in three runs off one hit in Lake County's offensive slugfest with Columbus. Chris Nash and Matt Brown knocked in just one run off their combined 6 hits, go figure. Thompson's triple cleared the bases and helped the Captains to the 5 run 10th inning that was much needed after the Catfish responded with two in the bottom of the 10th. Juan Valdes and Adam White knocked in two apiece, while Ryan Miller pitched 5 innings of one run ball.

Backed by a five run inning of their own, Mahoning Valley beat Tri City with another good game from Cord Phelps. Phelps has just one hit but he knocked in two runs. Two more hits for Isaias Velasquez and an RBI for Jeremie Tice.

Abner Abreau homered for the 9th time with the GCL team.

That was like pulling teeth; Tribe Win 4 Straight

Seriously now, Tuna.. That was like going to the dentist.

In the end though, everything was fine.

Edwin Mujica pulled one of those, I'm going to blow the game for you, so I can get the win kind of deals. Not only that, he only gave up one earned run. He'll, I wouldn't give him the win, he stunk. Just go winless on this one or give it to Donnelly. I mean seriously now, that was just..

Why bring him in with the bases loaded and one out? Are you really that evil Wedge?

Guy thew eight pitches and basically gave up four runs.

I thought Eddie had something, and then we started putting him in more pressure situations and he's failed. So, I think it might be safe to say Mujica won't be a major part of this pen.

Brendan Donnelly has the makings of that though. His first game back and he's thrown right into the fire of a two run game in the 8th inning, like he's used to. He got the job done. He was clocking in near 90 MPH on the gun so he's got his arm there.

Real excited about him. This isn't Juan Rincon or anything, this could be for real.

You can't say enough about the offense tonight, despite leaving a lot of runs on the table (cough Marte 5 cough). Grady left 7 on base but Marte was just... Frustrating.

Ryan Garko probably had the most runners on base in his at bats and he didn't leave any, getting a sac fly in the first and a bases loaded single later in the game. Ryan is coming around for sure.

How about Sal Fasano knocking in two runs? Man what a backup.. We are three deep at the Catcher position with him hitting .323. No reason we shouldn't hold onto the big man for the remainder of the year.

Andy Gonzalez pinch ran for Garko and later hit the big two run jack for extra insurance. Great work there Sir.

Droobs had that nice solo home run and you can see Vic razzing on him in the dugout. I think he's made him his mentor somewhat. Two Venezuelans, great to see.

Benny Fresh has a solo shot as well, knocks in a run. Looking good. The offense really got it done, despite leaving tons of opportunities on the board. This could have been a no doubter but the bullpen and Eric Wedge's stubbornness to leave Fausto in the game made it tougher.

Fausto was okay.. He's still getting into it. He had some innings where he looked downright dominant like his old self, so that's encouraging. He's still trying to feel his way around though, you can tell.

Well, that's one down and 9 to go on the homestand. You got the exact opposites going tomorrow. Wild man Daniel Cabrera and Control Pitcher Jeremy Sowers. That will be interesting.

[BOXSCORE]

Wakeup Wahoo: Shoppach Breaks Bat, Cliff Lee Still Rocks

Cliff Lee isn't worried about 20 wins or Cy Young awards or anything. I think I am though, along with the rest of you are. He isn't though.

"I just worry about my next start," Lee said, "and what I have to do to give myself the best chance to win." (Indians.com)

That is the difference between Cliff Lee of 2008 and Cliff Lee of the past and I think is the reason you won't see him fall on his face next year. Cliff is a changed pitcher and he has a different mindset as Eric Wedge put it.

He did however find the Kelly Shoppach bat break funny, but Kelly's wife doesn't like when he does that.

"After the fact, you feel like a jackass, Some people think it's cool, but my wife hates it," Shoppach said. "She thinks I look like a baby." (Indians.com)

It is cool Kelly.. Keep doing it you rebel.

Grizzle isn't going to be trying that any time in the near future.

"It was awesome. I've seen Kelly do it a couple of times. If I tried to do that, I'd probably end up in a hospital." (Plain Dealer)

Grady played QB.. Kelly played FB... I think that's why Kelly can snap a bat over his thigh and Grady can't.

Speaking of Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo came up to him for some help, and Grady is not shying away from that leadership role at all.

"Grady Sizemore has been helping me a lot, especially against left-handers," said Choo. "He's been telling me what they throw and how he tries to hit against them." (Plain Dealer)

One guy who Wedge is hoping brings a little veteran leadership to the bullpen is Brendan Donnelly.

"And he has a little salt to him, too," Wedge said. "All that should help these guys." (Indians.com)

A little salt to him? Wow combined with that outrageous tan he got in Winter Haven, I might just want to eat him on a sandwich than watch him in my bullpen. Are we trying to cook him or pitch him? Seriously now.

For now, Wedge isn't assigning Donnelly a role, quite like how he isn't assigning anyone a role.

Jensen Lewis will get another shot to close out a game and who knows what could go on from there.

Eric Wedge is a little giddy about Travis Hafner coming back. So much he thinks Hafner could be RIGHT BEHIND both Martinez and Barfield in terms of a rehab assignment. Now there is no telling how many of the 10 days rehab games allowed Hafner will take up, but we could see him sooner than expected. He is trying to take BP this week which is the last step a player needs to cocmplete before rehab.

Victor Martinez will be on one this weekend and Josh Barfield will be right around there as well. Good times, good news, we are getting our players back.

Ben Francisco's stay in the three hole is probably over with Martinez coming back soon. Kelly Shoppach is hitting there for experience says Eric Wedge, that and he's really hot, so why not?

"It's an opportunity for him to hit in a primary spot in the order," Wedge said. "He's done a good job, his approach has been consistent, he's driving the ball. I don't see him ending up there, but, with where we're at, it's a good opportunity for him." (Indians.com)

Neat.. I updated the boards yesterday, but they are gonna need another one here with Fedroff and the Lake County call-ups.

Minor Issues: Snyder Making Sept Bid; Fedroff Debuts

You think Brad Snyder is eager to get to the big leagues in September? Considering his clock is running out, he might want to show the team something here in these last few months. He's been doing that and last night he went 2-4 with an RBI. Michael Aubrey knocked in the game winner in the top of the tenth inning as the Herd won again. David Huff went 5 solid, giving up one run off 3 hits. He walked one and struck out six.

Akron got held to two runs off just three hits as they lost in Indians-like fashion to Trenton. Akron is now just one game ahead of Bowie for the division lead. Frank Herrmann pitched 7.1 innings of shutout baseball, giving up just 4 hits and striking out 8. The lead couldn't hold up as Reid Santos gave up a three run shot in the bottom of the ninth.

Beau Mills knocked in number 81 and Carlos Santana went 2-4, but the big blast was provided by Roman Pena playing his second game for Kinston. Pena hit a three run jack in support of Jeanmarr Gomez's 7 innings of shutout ball. Kyle Landis, fresh up from Lake County as well pitched a perfect 8th. Kinston picked up a four game sweep.

Lake County did not play once again while Mahoning Valley fell. Despite pounding out 8 hits ccompared to Tri City's 7, the Scrappers scored just one run. Tim Fedroff went 2-4 with a double in his Scrappers debut.

What are you trying to say about Sal Fasano's Weight?

Here is some very clever product placement from the game the other night. I forgot to post this, but I find it odd that they are placing the KFC ad right when Sal Fasano is making his way to the plate.

Is it because he's so fat that it takes him longer to get there, so therefore you have more time?

Or is it because you are trying to say Sal Fasano eats a lot of KFC?

Either way... I question this.. I think it is downright wrong to be taking advantage of Fat Sal's weight.. Not only that and he wouldn't be caught dead at a KFC.. He's a Popeyes guy if want's chicken. But chicken would only bring out the idea that Fasano is a chicken.. With that, he goes to Burger King. Because Fasano likes the double Whoppers.

I don't know.. Here is the advertisement.

Matt Underwood reads ad for KFC, During Fasano At-Bat.

I call discrimination against fat Italians. In return, the Italian mustache will fire watermelon seeds at you.

It's a conspiracy!

Cliff Lee might as well own Canada

SWEEEEEEEEP

Don't it feel good to be talkin' bout a sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Cliff Lee is a pretty good.. When 83 of your 104 pitches are strikes, and you don't give up any runs, you are doing something right. He did give up the 8 hits, but on this turf, that tends to happen. No one got passed 2nd base though and he only managed to strike out one hitter.

8 Innings, That's 17 scoreless against the Blue Jays, 8 hits, no runs, nothing else, just a strikeout. And WIN NUMBA 16.

Its still Early August!

In the 7 games against the Blue Jays, the Indians have given up.. 8 Runs. 8 Runs sir.. Two by Byrd, One by Sabathia. I do believe sirs and madams that is all by the starters.. That is some dominance of Canada if I've ever seen one.

Oh yeah, the eight hits off Lee were by four players. Yes.. Four hitters had two hits. Scutaro, Rios, Overbay and Johnathan Mac.

Then Rafael Perez strikes out the side in the ninth with his awesome back-foot slider. SUCKA..

With that, the offense blew numerous opportunities, but four runs is plenty for Lee today. They had runners on first and second to start the inning FOUR times.

Ryan Garko had two hits, he's the meng again, another RBI. Shin-Soo Choo.. How about it.. Three fastballs up and in and he pulls them all into right field for three doubles. Jhonny Peralta quietly went 1-4 with another RBI. Sir Grizzle got himself a Rib-eye with a 2-5 game.

Bottom of the lineup did some work. Two hits apiece for Droobs and Marty.

Tomorrow? Who cares, we got a sweep! Live for the moment baby. Fausto Man against Dennis Sarfate of the Oeess'.. Back home against Baltimore, I'm sick of the domes!

[BOXSCORE]

Wakeup Wahoo: Garko Dusts Himself Off; Byrd Dusting the Competition

How often do you see the headline... "Byrd Goes Distance, Outduels Halladay."

Seriously.. That was the headline today on Indians.com. Paul Byrd really pitched well and the Tribe managed to get enough off Halladay for him to succeed. Amazing when you think about it. His value is at an all time high with the way he's pitched the past 30 some days. He's cleared waivers, yet no team is interested? The Indians are gonna have to pay his salary if they don't trade him, so they should really just eat anything for a deal.

"I knew I had to do something different," Byrd said. "I had to change. I feel good with where I'm at right now. I'm very confident. Better late than never." (Indians.com)

Some of his success can be attributed to the rework of his curveball with the help of Twins broadcaster and should-be hall of famer Bert Blyleven.

Good news if Brendan Donnelly regains form and becomes a reliable bullpen arm for the Tribe down the stretch.

"So far, everything is leading to a relationship in the future." (Plain Dealer)

So far, no action for the tan-man(check out his bio picture at Indians.com), but I hope he pans out. It'd be nice if he helps out the team that gave him a chance to regain himself.

Interesting thing from Hey Hoynsie.

Hey, Hoynsie: It was reported on XM-MLB radio that the Indians targeted Matt LaPorta in the CC Sabathia trade because Travis Hafner's injury is far worse than thought and he may end up needing surgery that may put him out for 18 months and maybe end his career. -- Casey Morgan, Olmsted Falls

Hey, Casey: I don't know what's going on in Hafner's shoulder. He's back swinging the bat, the Indians keep saying he'll play before the end of the season and that he won't need surgery. This season has taught me not to take their word where the health of their players is concerned.

But I doubt they traded for LaPorta to make him a DH. He'll get a shot at left field. If that fails, he'll be tested at first. You don't trade a Cy Young winner for a 23-year-old DH. If you do, there have to be consequences.

Are you kiddin me Tuna?

I doubt it.. The Indians acquired Matt LaPorta because... HES MATT LAPORTA! DUH!

While we are on the CC Trade... Eric Wedge actually spent some time to watch his former Ace pitch.

"Not too many days do I wait around and watch the end of another baseball game after we're done playing," said Wedge. "CC is a special guy." (Plain Dealer)

Some may wonder if the Brewers are abusing their new toy. Whatever you want to call it, they are getting their moneys worth for him.

Ryan Garko is really taking to the pick yourself up and dust yourself off thing.

"I made a mistake, I owned [up to] it, and I was pretty hard on myself these last couple days," he said. "But everybody makes mistakes and gets knocked down sometimes. It's about what you do when you get back up." (Indians.com)

I've been waiting for Garko to do this. He's been met with plenty of opportunities this year and hasn't taken advantage. If there was ever a time to repsond, it would be now.

It's becoming painfully obvious that Anthony Reyes just needed a change, and the Indians provided him with that.

Here's a little bit of Karma for ya after letting Brandon Phillips flourish with another team.

"When I'd get sent down in St. Louis, no one ever told me what I was supposed to work on," said Reyes. "It wasn't like it was anything mean, but I was going crazy trying to figure out if I did something wrong. Did I step on someone's toes?" (Plain Dealer)

Minor Issues: Aaron Laffey Dominant in 2nd Buffalo Start

You think Aaron Laffey wants to mess around in the Minor Leagues any longer?

Last night he made a bid to prove that he was ready to go back up to Cleveland after he hurled 8 scoreless innings against the Iron Pigs. 4 hits, no runs, 1 walk, 9 punch-outs. The question now becomes, who do you send down?

The idea.. Trade Paul Byrd.... I hope.

Wes Hodges and Brandon Pinckney powered the Aeros with 2-4 and 3-4 nights and 1 and 2 RBI respectively.. Scott Lewis pitched 7.1 strong with just one run off four hits and 5 strikeouts. Chuck Lofgren finished the game up striking out a pair.

Kinston won and Beau Mills upped his RBI total to 80 with a two run double. Jared Goedert had a solo home run and a 2-5, 2 RBI night. Johnnie Drennen also hit a solo shot to tie the game late, Mike Finocchi didnt allow a hit, but walked three in his 1.1, yet he picked up the win.

Lake County was suspended due to rain, and Mahoning Valley fell. Ryan Blair hit a two run home run and Cord Phelps collected two more hits.

Here is a piece on Dallas Cawiezell of the Captains. Dallas made the SAL All-Star roster this year and according to the story on Minor League Magazine, he's just a "country bumpkin".

Byrd Soars to Complete Game; Garko Goes Off

WHOA SON WHAT AN ENDING..

Ben Francisco plays the ball off the wall perfectly and throws a strike to nail Overbay!

If it wasn't for Joe Inglett, Paul Byrd would have probably had an easier time in this game.

Not to say this one wasn't easy..

After being down two runs after the first two innings, Byrd got the lead in the 6th and never looked back. Inglett who we profiled just a bit ago had the big game, going 3-4 with a triple and he was a BUG in the hair of Byrd who went the distance with just 6 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts and 2 runs. Just AWESOME. Can we trade him now?

Speaking of bugs in the hair, Ryan GARKO was a pest to Roy Halladay today.. Had he remained benched, the Indians may have no won this game.

Garko had the best ABs I've seen from him this year in one game. He battled in just about all of them and not only did he have a hard out, his hits were perfectly placed. He took a sinker down and lifted it into the alley for a double. He singled the other way on a outside placed pitch. He just was what you were expecting from Garko this year. Not only that, he put the socks down.

Maybe he has turned it around? He looked focus, laying off pitches he was swinging at earlier in the year.

Hey Dellucci, what? 3-4 with an RBI and a walk. Seriously, all our vets are like doing well. Let's trade them while they have value, someone must want them.

Ben Francisco 2-4 including a sac bunt and failed bunt. Why did he bunt the first time?

Andy Marte had the socks up, exact opposite of the Garko Man and he had an RBI.

10 HITS AGAINST HALLADAY?!?

ARE YOU KIDDIN ME TUNA?!

That's awesome..

Tomorrow, We got OUR Cy Young Contender going out against some guy named Scott Richmond.. Let's try to avoid what happened to the Jays today and get our Cy Young Guy a win and avoid the let down.. AND more importantly, a SWEEEEEEP.

[BOXSCORE]

What Could Have Been: Joe Inglett

Joe Inglett
Toronto Blue Jays
Utility Infielder/Second Base
5'10" 180 - 7/20/1978
B/T: L/R
Acquired: 2000 Draft, 8th Round
How he got away: Claimed by Toronto off Waivers in September, 2007



Super Joe! What a ball of fire Joe Inglett was when he got called up in 2006. Inglett was one of those players that just never could get up until he did in 2006. When he got there he was an everything man, playing everywhere and provided energy. He battled for a job in 2007 Spring Training, but lost out and was sent to Buffalo. He spent the year in Buffalo and got DFAed for..... David Dellucci, who needed to be activated so he could have his three at-bats in the regular season...... Right

Joe "Voo Doo" as he was called by recently fired manager John Gibbons, has fit in with Toronto to form the current double play tandem with another former Indian, John McDonald in Saturday's game.

Interestingly enough, Inglett has sort of fell into that same boat the Indians had him in.. He was barely the 25 man roster, getting called down to make room for another injured player coming off the DL. Yet both times that he's been called down, another injury occured and he's been called right back up.

Joey is hitting .286 with a .343 on-base percentage. He's knocked in 26 runs and scored 25 with 7 stolen bases. Not bad for a guy who's been called down twice. He's also one of the leaders in Triples in the League and that is with less at bats than the hitters in front of him.

So was letting Joe Inglett go in favor of David Dellucci the smartest thing? Like said with Izturis, Inglett would be nothing more than a utility man. I'd rather have Inglett than the Delluci Jerk, but what can you do.. It's not like Brandon Phillips got away. Not only that Inglett is already 30 years old.. He's a fringe major league player, but he's doing a good job for Toronto this year.

Wakeup Wahoo: Lewis Getting his Shot; Reyes' New Start

Here's a little bit of interesting news on the Closer Front.

Huston Street was claimed off waivers by a Non-Contender.. The Indians have heavily been rumored to at least have interest in Oakland's closer, but nothing got done. Considering the Mariners have a closer and the Royals are better than us, oh man, the Indians could have very well won the claim. It is all moot though as nothing got done.

Speaking of Closers..

"He'll get more opportunities," manager Eric Wedge said.

"It was a little different heartbeat going in there," Lewis said. "I look at it as an opportunity. You can't make it bigger than what it is." (Indians.com)

I'm telling you that Jensen Lewis might be the in-house answer if there is one. He loves the big lights, he gets that fastball up when it matters. He is a BIG GAME pitcher.. He would thrive as a closer because of his moxie and "You will not beat me" attitude. I hope he gets more chances.. He did a good job.

Also Wedge said on Rafael Perez that he simply can't throw him three innings every night.. That sucks, Perez would be an old-school closer.. Come in and pitch three innings for a save.. Ha.

While we are on the subject of Jensen Lewis, let's hope he isn't heading down that Joel Zumaya road with the Guitar Hero phenomen.

You mess with the bull and you get the horns if you don't hustle under Eric Wedge's watch. It was the reason Milton Bradley got dealt and it is the reason Ryan Garko won't start until Wedge feels ready.

"I'm not playing him today," Wedge said before the game. "I'm not sure when I'm going to play him." (Plain Dealer)

I'm not sure if we have to worry about Venezuelan players playing for the WBC next spring. Juan Rincon said that plenty are un-happy with the way things went down last year, and already three key players have backed out in Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, and Johan Santana.

"He was selling tickets to the players, and the tickets should have been free. The players' families couldn't get hotel rooms and weren't getting into the ballparks for the games until the fourth or fifth inning." (Plain Dealer)

Rafael Betancourt who played last time around said if they asked him, he would partake. Be my guest bud. Just keep Vic, Franklin and Asdrubal away from the team.

Injury updates galore.

Lonnie Soloff says Travis Hafner could take BP next week. Right now he is taking soft-toss and by the end of next week could be taking regular Batting Practice with the team. Once he takes 60 soft-tosses, he'll graduate to BP and once he is good in BP he'll go out on a rehab assignment.

Victor Martinez is already taking Batting Practice and should be ready for a rehab assignement mid-week.

The final invalid could be on the same schedule as Victor Martinez or at least close to it. Josh Barfield took BP and all went well.

Anthony Reyes is speaking up about why he didn't feel good in St. Louis.

"I felt I didn't fit in [with the Cards]," Reyes said. "It was hard trying to make people happy there. It made for some long years." (Indians.com)

Dave Duncan might be a genius, but he isn't the communicator Carl Willis is.. If Reyes is someone who needs to communicate, he came to the right place.

"It was great working with [Triple-A pitching coach Scott] Radinsky," said Reyes, who went 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in Buffalo. "And the pitching coach here [Carl Willis] is nice. I see a lot of positives to it. There's more communication here." (Indians.com)

I'm going to echo the sentiments of Anthony Castrovince, who got a win when he found out that Reyes is the first Anthony to pitch for the Indians, EVER. I'm not an Anthony, but I've often been called that AND Tony.. Which is far worse.. Tony doesn't count, it is Tony in itself and itself alone.

Minor Issues: Teams Split Double Headers and do some Mashing

The Herd lost to the mighty Iron Pigs as John Halama had a very weird line.. 7 innings, but 11 hits and a walk that amounted to 7 runs. Brad Snyder went 1-4 with two RBI and Chris Gimenez went 3-4. Aaron Laffey goes tonight in his second start for Buffalo.

Akron not only bashed the hell out of Trenton in the second game of a double header, they shut them out. Stephen Head continues to rip, going 2-4 with two RBI but the big night belonged to Mr. 3 Ryan Goleski.. On 8-8-08, Goleski went 3-3 with 3 runs and 3 RBI. He hit two home runs and walked once. Brandon Pinckney has a three run homer. JD Martin, Reid Santos, Tony Sipp and Scott Roehl combined for a four hitter with just one walk. Akron probably forgot they played game one. Kevin Dixon went six strong and Bronson Sardinha homered in the loss.

Another bashing happened thanks to the K-Tribe. Carloton Smith went 5 strong, giving up just 2 hits and no runs. Carlos Santana scored two runs, Niuman Romero knocked in two, and Carlos Rivero went 3-4 with three runs knocked in.

Lake County won the first game in exciting fashion. Mark Thompson hit a sac fly in the bottom of the tenth to give the Captains a win and his third RBI of the night. Ron Rivas went 4-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Joanniel Montero got pounded for 7 runs in 2 plus innings as the Captains lost the second game.

CORD PHELPS!! He went 2-4 but those Grapes won again.

New Minor League Happenings on Carlos Santana, Scott Lewis, David Huff, Jon Meloan and a few Scrappers.

Dennis Manoloff sat down with Aero Wes Hodges about his goal of making it to the Big Leagues.

Jenny Lew, I've Saved You

Wow.. Quick and Painless..

Jensen Lewis' quick save was a sight for sore eyes of Tribe Fans.

After the lead-off walk, Lewis got two ground ball outs and the strikeout of Alex Rios to end it. Thank god. Give him another shot.

Anthony Reyes pitched gooood. I like what I saw from the kid. He was getting ahead of just about every hitter he faced. 20 of 27 hitters faced got first pitch strikes. He allowed 7 hits but just one walk and all the hits were singles. Not to mention some of them were bloops and dribblers up the middle. He was simply just getting ahead, had them at two outs, the hits were harmless.

He pitched real well, I was real impressed with him. Lookingforward to more.. 6.1 innings, 7 hits, 1 walk, 1 run, 4 k's and the win.

Offensively it was all the 4th inning. Francisco and Choo with back to back doubles knocked in the first two runs and then Gutierrez with a single knocked in the third. That would be it until Francisco and Choo did it again with back to back singles to knock in two more. Shoppach went 1-3 with two runs and a walk hitting in the three hole again. Guess it wasn't just for one game Shoppy. Choo went 3-4 with the one run and two RBI

Tomorrow it's Paul Byrd and Roy Freaking Halladay, not cool. Day Baseball and FOX doesn't knock us out for once!

[BOXSCORE]

LOLTribe: Kelly Shoppach Now Owns Home Plate

I realized today was Friday.. So Joe Inglett will be put on hold till tomorrow.

Here is the second edition of LOLTribe! I might have to go Bi-Weekly considering how many pictures I have for this one.

Jamey Carroll and his amazing floating bat!

Joel Skinner chose the wrong time to give the stop-sign. Damn you Joel, shoulda sent Lofton!


He's doing it again! This time, check out how small Asdrubal is.


Rafael Perez recognizes how good Kelly Shoppach is..


Kelly Shoppach shows his dominance by writing his name behind home plate.


Jhonny Peralta, verifies.


Kevin Slowey gave up a home run to David Dellucci.. I'm sorry Slowey.


Even Loochers thinks its comical.


Asdrubal must have had some bad chicken.


If you are a fan of the Office, you understand perfectly...

Wakeup Wahoo: Peralta Picking It Up

Jhonny Peralta is just getting it done on the RBI front and now he's getting that average up.

"What a great day for Jhonny," said Wedge. "He was squaring up everything. Hitting the ball other way. Staying through breaking balls, squaring up fastballs." (Plain Dealer)

Gotta tip your hat off to Jhonny getting these 5-5 nights. Keep doing it Jhonny... We need them.. I'm shocked because he hasn't really cooled off at all since he started this tear. That was the thing with Jhonny. He was always there and then gone. He's been consistent as all hell. .371 in the last 26 games.

There is tons of talk about Trevor Crowe geting called up come September.. Most believe he is the solution to the lead-off problem the team would have if the Indians moved Grady Sizemore down in the order.

"Obviously I'd like to hit leadoff. But, the thing is, Grady Sizemore is such a good leadoff hitter, that if he wants to do it, he's going to be there," Crowe said. "All I can do is play as well as I can every day." (Indians.com)

I certainly think Crowe compares to Grady a little bit. He could be a great solution if the Indians ever decide to move Grizzle down.

So Brendan Donnelly and Anthony Reyes called up for the game today. I'm sure we will see Donnelly if needed. Reyes will start for sure and let's hope he does good. He could be a great solution to our starter problem for next year. That would leave one vet signing instead of two. Donnelly doesn't have a contract for next year but you would think if he shows he is back that he'd give the Indians dibs on re-signing him because they gave him a chance to rehab.

"So far, everything has been feeling good," Donnelly said. "I've kind of been treating these games as a Spring Training for me, working on different things each outing, all while competing and trying to get people out, execute pitches. Each time it seems like it's been getting better and better and stronger." (Indians.com)

Expect more news on Hafner today and if It warrants it I'll update. If not, look for a Joe Inglett, What Could Have Been.

Update 12:45: I forgot to mention that Paul Byrd CLEARED waivers, he can be traded to any team of the Indians choosing if someone wants him. Doubt it happens though.

Try to get the boards updated the best I can. There's some moving around going on with the rosters and who knows what else will get shaken up, there could be some releases or shifts, never know.

Minor Issues: Mills, Goedert, Santana Mashing

Big Buffalo got a win behind Zach Jackson, who pitched into the 7th inning, giving up 3 earned, off 6 hits with 4 strikeouts. He's now 3-1 since coming over to the Bisons in the Sabathia trade. Morgan Ensberg went deep and Jordan Brown had a 3-5 game with 1 RBI.

Akron fell to Trenton by a run yesterday. Ryan Edell went 6 solid innings giving up two runs, but Erik Stiller couldn't hold it giving up three runs. Jose Constanza went 2-4 with an RBI.

A beat down was handed to Salem thanks to Beau Mills and Jared Goedert of Kinston. Mills went 3-5 with a home run and 4 RBI, while Goedert went 2-3 with 3 RBI and 2 walks. Carlos Santana went 4-5 with three runs scored and he's now hitting .419 since coming to Kinston. Kelvin De La Cruz would have benefitted from the output had he gone five innings, but he could only go 4 giving up 2 runs.

Lake County got suspended because of ran and Mahoning Valley lost to that stupid Grape again. Cord Phelps is a monster though, going 1-3 with 2 RBI and 2 walks. Lonnie Chisenhall is now hitting .280 and he knocked in two more runs himself.

GCL Lost.. Cool Man

Like noted yesterday, the Tribe signed 7th round outfielder Tim Fedroff. The main chips left to fall are Curtis Haley, the 2nd round pick and 5th round pick Zach Putnam a multi-guy from Michigan. If the Indians can sign both of them before the 15th, that will give them their top 14 draft picks.

Some news on the Triple-A front. As we all know, Columbus wants the Tribe and the Tribe want Columbus for their Triple-A team next year. The Indians contract with Buffalo has not been renewed that is up after this year. The New York Mets have interest in Columbus.. Hey New York, BUFFALO is opening up.. Go after them, Columbus want's Cleveland and they want to reach out to the western part of the state.

Hafner Shoulder at 75%, Could be close to Live BP; Indians sign Fedroff

Well I've been patiently waiting for the news on Travis Hafner and we haven't gotten much. All we know though is his shoulder is at 75%, which was the target percentage for him to progress into some heavier baseball activity.

He took the soft-toss from hitting coach Derek Shelton and Lonnie Soloff evaluated him. CastroTurf says more will be known tomorrow.

We'll find out tomorrow, but right now things look good for Hafner. He could be back by September, optimistically.

The Indians did get their 7th round pick, Tim Fedroff signed before the August 15th deadline.. Curtis Haley and Zach Putnam remain. I'm more hopeful they get the Michigan guy signed but hey hey hey whatever.. I'm glad we got Fedroff though, saw him in the CWS and he looks good.

Also, the Indians got Andy Cannizaro from Tampa Bay in exchange for cash. So, nothing big was given up to get him.

Photoshop Off-Day: Super Stache Brothers

The Super Stache Brothers.. Sal and Matt!

Featuring Brandon Phillips as Boo, for haunting the Indians.

Ozzie Guillen as a Goomba because you just want to jump on his head.

Joel Zumaya as Bowser for his ability to throw fire.

Zack Greinke as Todd, the little lovable brother that is always looking up to the big dogs.

Milton Bradley as a Bomb-Omb: Why? Because he's gonna explode at anytime of course.

and Rod Gardenhire as Wario, because the picture fits and he's fat and Gardenhire looks rather cool with the Wario Nixon Pose.

Staring of course Sal Fasano, the hefty Mario Brother and Matt Ginter the longer slender more brother, kind of.

Equally awesome mustaches.

I'd buy the game. Super Sal Power Up Baby.

Also got this e-mail submission which you are free to do, by e-mailing me here.


Thanks to Scott for the submission, please visit him here.

Wakeup Wahoo: Reyes To Start Friday

I'm also renaming this. Wakeup Wahoo!

Could something be in the works for Paul Byrd? Are they simply pushing him back a start to Saturday? Not positively sure right now, because his scheduled start on Friday is no more. Anthony Reyes will start the game against the Blue Jays Friday Night.

"I'm excited," Reyes said. "Every time you get a chance to pitch in the big leagues, it's exciting. I'm going to go up there and show them what I can do, and hopefully I can stay." (Indians.com)

I'm excited too, for the fact that this is a big time prospect that fell out of favor because of issues with a pitching coach. The potential talent is there and we've seen it before. This could be a steal of a pick-up. Oh and as for Matt Ginter and the reason he was placed on the DL, the word is forearm strain.

Speaking of injuries. Asdrubal Cabrera left yesterdays game early after jogging out onto the field and catching a spike in the turf and collapsing to the ground. Droobs is Day to Day with an Ankle Sprain and we'll see if he's in the lineup tomorrow. If not Jamey will start a game or two at second, it isn't expected to be anything DL worthy.

If anything, we got to see Sal Freaking Fasano play first base, somethine he actually has done before. But it was fun to see it. The MAIN reason he had to play first base?

Well because Ryan Garko went and got himself yanked from the game, which made Andy Marte take over as DH, effectively losing their last infield option.

Wedge was pretty disappointed as you can imagine. Garko broke the number one cardinal sin you can break as a player under Wedge. His words were quick and painless to the media, but I'm sure Garko got an earful. Ryan being a good kid realizes what a bonehead he was probably took it like a man and I wouldnt' be surprised if this turned his year around. He might get benched one more time but who knows, this could be the kick in the ass he needs.

Speaking of Wedge.. The one thing he hates the most other than not hustling is telling Grady Sizemore he won't be starting. That has happened like maybe 5 times since Grady became a full-time player? I mean seriously it's like going to the Dentist for him. He only has to do it like twice a year.

Victor Martinez took swings from both sides of the plate yesterday but he won't be ready for his rehab assignement as first thought. Victor will put in a few more days and probably be sent out after the weekend series in Toronto when the team returns home. That could be a guess though. His elbow might not be ready to go full out, but for the most part, his elbow feels free and easy for the first time in a long time.

"My elbow feels great," said Martinez. "It's been a long time since I've felt like this. But we still have some work to do." (Plain Dealer)

Eric Wedge watched Travis Hafner take cuts off a tee from Cleveland via video. As we know, today is Hafner's next strength test as Lonnie Soloff returns to Cleveland to see how much Hafner has progressed. Let's hope for some good news.

Josh Barfield ran the bases with Victor Martinez and says he feels close to returning. He's given his legs a good workout during his time off and could be off on rehab assignment this weekend sometime.

The fan-fallout from yesterdays' ridiculous loss is in full-force. Call-in shows were probably flooded on the Clevelan Radio stations and it was a popular topic on Bruce Drennen's show from what little half hour I saw of it. The Cleveland Fan also has some thoughts on it.

I think though, this is a big reason for Mark Shapiro to go out and get a closer with some money. I'm all for spending the dough to bring in a guy who's done it before. I'd also like to go get another arm like Will Ohman, Dan Wheeler, or bring back Bobby Howry.

Check out all the former Tribe players making waves in baseball this year.

Minor Issues: Santana goes deep; Bullington pitches well

I've renamed Minor League Update because Minor League Update took too long to type out.. So one more time.. Minor League Update is no Minor Issues.

Buffalo took a 1 run loss yesterday to Indianapolis. The lone runs were scored off Brad Snyder and new addition Andy Cannizaro solo home runs.. Cannizaro was playing second base for the Bisons. Bryan Bullington went 7 un-earned shutout innings. He gave up 2 un-earned runs striking out two.

Akron had a good win last night. Randy Newsome picked up his 26th save and Tony Sipp pitched another solid shutout inning. Jose Constanza has a three run double and Josh Rodriguez, playing 2B knocked in number 46 of the year.

Those damn Pellicans swept the K-Tribe last night. Carlos Santana did go 2-5 with a two run home run. He's now got 102 total RBI between his two teams. Carlos Rivero went 2-4 with a solo home run and 2 RBI.

Lake County had a late 4 run 8th to take a game over Delmarva. Jeff Hehr went 2-4 with three RBI and Joey Mahalic pitched 5 solid innings giving up just one run off four hits.

Those damn grapes logo team Jamestown beat the Scrappers. Lonnie Chisenhall was the lone man going 3-5 with three RBI. Eric Berger had another good outing, going 5, 1 hit innings.

So Tom Mastny is on his way to Buffalo.. Cannizaro replaces one of the roster spots vacated by the call-up. I'm expecting some more movement though because of a 40 man roster move. We could see the end of Brian Slocum. Dun dun dun!!

Shake Up is Coming: Anthony Reyes and Brendan Donnelly Called Up

So I think the the shake up will continue beyond this. BUT, here are two moves real quick. The Indians sent Tom Mastny down to Buffalo and called up Anthony Reyes. Reyes will probably start this weekend. They need a start because Matt Ginter is headed to the 15 Day DL.

To take Mastny's spot in the bullpen, former World Series reliever Brendan Donnelly will be called up. They still need to make a move for the 40 man roster. No word on that either..

I just hope there's a move coming with Juan Rincon.. Maybe a Paul Byrd trade.. Maybe find a way to get rid of Rafael Betancourt.

More Shake-up to come I hope. I like both these moves.. Hopefull Donelly is right and we can get him back next year.. We need ANOTHER FRIGGIN guy in the pen.

Oh Man...

I'm short winded and I think it's showing.

God....

I was all AMPED up about talking about a series win.. Sowers pitched eh again yet they continue to say he's good.. I mean I'm not satisfied with 3 runs per game.. 3 runs is okay for most of the time, but not ALL the time..

Then again he's been keeping the team in the game, which is all you can ask for..

STILL OH MY GOD HELP ME

Jhonny Peralta goes 5-5 with a HR and two RBI.. Franklin Frickin Gutierrez leads the game off with a home run, and WE STILL LOSE?!

We out hit them?

Seriously.

SERIOUSLY?!

How about Garko?

Boyyyyyyyyyy.. Maybe this is just what Garko needed.. Get benched for being a dumb guy..

Andy Marte came in and did a good job.

Then Sal Fasano playing first!

I mean this was supposed to be a friggin celebration!

It has turned into a

I wanted to stab a pillow-day.

.. I'll be back tomorrow.. I guess..

[BOXSCORE]

Asdrubal Cabrera's Red Bat Rebound

I've pointed out the new use of the Red Bat by Asdrubal Cabrera.

Well I have stats to back it up!

I'm estimating that Asdrubal Cabrera started using the red bat full-time when he hit his home run against the Tigers on July 28th..

Since that game. Cabrera has hit .290 with 2 HR, 4 RBI, 6 R, 6 BB, 8 SO.

Red Bat POWER!

Multimedia and Theories

Here is the complete archive of Images, Videos and Sounds I've posted on this website.

VIDEOS
1-15-09: Travis Hafner Talks to Media
12-19-08: Kerry Wood Introduction
8-5-08: Rafael Betancourt's Pitching Lesson
8-4-08: Matt LaPorta's Olympic Home Run
7-9-08: Sal Fasano Knows How to Bunt
7-6-08: Kelly Shoppach displays his thoughts on the Tribe's 8-Game Losing Streak
5-28-08: Victor Martinez Kicks the Bucket

SOUNDS
8-10-08: Sal Fasano's KFC Ad
7-5-08: Matt Underwood Puts It In His Ballsack

IMAGES
7-1-08: Little Jeremy Sowers and his Tie
6-5-08: Cliff Lee's Dagger Eyes
4-12-08: Travis Buck and The A's Can't Handle the Cold
3-3-08: Aaron Laffey's Goatee and Tattoos
Marlborowski
Joe Borowski, We Will Never Forget

THEORIES
Eric Wedge, Gray Hair Watch
Asdrubal Cabrera's Red Bat Rebound
The Eric Wedge Clubs

MU: Wedge's Confidence in Perez Growing

"It wasn't like [former Yankees reliever] Sparky Lyle coming out in the fourth inning and running through the ninth," Wedge said. "But we'll take it. I'm very confident in him, I think he's one of the best left-handed relievers in the game. When you look at last year, he was [pitching in the] sixth, seventh and eighth. This year, it's the seventh, eighth and ninth. It's a great experience for him." (Indians.com)

I think it's close to safe to say that Rafael Perez will be the favorite for more of the saves from now on. I think he'll continue to work the two-headed monster, but Perez is just in the zone and you'd be crazy to not let him try. He could very well be the man if the Indians can go out and get another left-hander (Perhaps in-house with Tony Sipp or maybe Will Ohman?) for the bullpen.

One guy he isn't so confident in is Rafael Betancourt, who continues to be a bull-headed son of a bitch of a reliever. I mean come on dude.. The coaching staff tells you to stop using your fastball exclusively. There is nothing as far as a quotable on Rafael Betancourt that I can find, but I think Wedge is visibly po'ed.

"Annoying is a good description of that game," said manager Eric Wedge. "We played almost four hours. Left 13 on. Had the lead early. Had multiple opportunities to take the lead back or at least tie the ball game. We squandered those." (Plain Dealer)

Carl Willis wants the media to stay quiet on the 20-game win talk about Cliff Lee.

"What he's done is focused well from one start to the next," said Willis. "He hasn't gotten too far ahead of himself." (Plain Dealer)

I'm with him.. I don't talk about it. For Lee to win 20 games is up to the offense in my opinion. It really doesn't matter.. If Cliff Lee continues this year he should win the Cy Young Award. Period.

One scout said he wonders why the Indians have waited so long to give Andy Marte a chance.. Well for one, last year he had the job until he got hurt. This year, well.. It makes sense.. They waited too long this year, but whatever. Besides the point.. Scout also said Kelly Shoppach was the best player in that deal.

Quote of the day:

''For me personally, it's been an extremely difficult year offensively. I'm capable of much more. But it's not over, and I'm hoping to put up some better numbers.'' (AKBJ)

Die.... I'll let you guess who said that.

MLU: Losing Kinda Night

Chris Gimenez went 2-4 with a run batted in in Buffalo's loss to Indianapolis last night. David Huff lasted just 1 and 1/3 innings thanks to rain, while Jon Meloan pitched two perfect innings with a strikeout.

Akron lost but they sure did put a whole heck of a lot of hits on the board. They out-hit Altoona 10-6, but lost 3-4. Four different players had two hit nights, including Josh Rodriguez, Bronson Sardinha, Brandon Pinckney, and the man who continues to rip, Jerad Head.

Three Hits and an RBI for Niuman Romero, but Kinston lost on a walk-off hit.

Just a losing kind of night.. Lake County fell as well, Ryan Miller lasted just two innings. The Captains struck out 12 times.

Mahoning Valley had an off-day.

Hey though, Chris Jones pitched 6 innings of one hit ball for the GCL Indians in a win.

Rafael Betancourt Teaching You How to Pitch

You can blame Kelly Shoppach for calling for the fastball all you want.

But WHAT IS RAFAEL BETANCOURT DOING?!


Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Yeah.... I don't get it either...

Whatever...

Juan Rincon should be cut tomorrow.. Rafael should be placed on waivers to see if someone wants his brokendown ass... Just.

Ugh.

We lost in grand fashion, what more do you want? Carmona struggled, I barely paid attention because of the awful pitching.

It's just getting frustration to watch on a night-by-night basis. Especially with how well they played last night.

Tomorrow. I don't even know.. Kazmir and Sowers? Oh yeah that's reassuring. Here comes another loss.

[BOXSCORE]

Unbelievable....

MU: Shapiro Questioned by Ticket Holders; 15 for Lee is Special

Q: "How about the potential players to be named later in the CC Sabathia trade. Who are they?"

A: "Did Paul Hoynes send you? He asks me that every day," Shapiro quipped, referring to the Cleveland Plain Dealer's longtime Indians beat writer. (Indians.com)

That was one of the questions Mark Shapiro was faced with when he had to answer the questions of more than 100 season ticket holders yesterday.

Either way. I'm getting sick of seeing Wendi Nix's mug on TV.. So let's talk about David Dellucci.

"Growing up, I never thought I'd hit one home run, much less 100," he said. "It's a sign that you've played a lot of years in the big leagues, I guess." (Indians.com)

Great job David.. That sounds like an old player just talking cause hes old. That is the exact reason you reached 100 home runs.

Cliff Lee really had to work for his 15th win. It didn't come easy for the lefty as he really tipped his cap to the Rays' hitters.

"They're not in first place by accident," Lee said. "They put me to the test. They do a lot of things right offensively." (Plain Dealer)

Did you hear? Kelly Shoppach has made it to the Hall of Fame already!

"Hey Datzy," he said to bench coach Jeff Datz, walking nearby. "Did you hear? I'm in the Hall of Fame!" (Indians.com)

Cooperstown called Shoppach and asked for his bat from the historic 5-extra base hit night he had. He obliged and now he will stand in Cooperstown forever. That's one hell of an accomplishment, he should be proud.

You guys notice Jhonny Peralta sort of shielded his eyes last night on a pop up? Turns out the lights are really bright in Tropicana Field. This is the second of three domes the Indians will play in on this road trip. They are the only three domes left and we play in all of them. The hope is that the roof will be open in Toronto.

Eric Wedge and Carl Willis talked about Anthony Reyes and the timetable on getting him up to the big leagues.

"He's in our plans," said Wedge, when asked if Reyes would be called up soon. "I think we'll have him up here sooner rather than later. How that's for vague? It's vague, but a precise vague." (Plain Dealer)

"His fastball was consistently at 92-94 [mph]," pitching coach Carl Willis said. "The thing he's done in both outings is maintain his fastball velocity throughout. From what I'm hearing in Buffalo, he's a very competitive kid who competes well." (Indians.com)

Anthony Castrovince believes Reyes is higher on the pecking order than Aaron Laffey is, and Laffey got hit bad last night with a lot of hits and walks.

Victor Martinez ran the bases with no problems yesterday. He is on track to rehab soon. Vic was also the subject of the newest Indians Mailbag.

MLU: Scott Lewis Has Career Night in Akron

Buffalo Buffalo get a little Buffalo... The HERD win again behind three solid innings from the bullpen. Aaron Laffey made his first start since getting sent down and he struggled. Laffey went 6 innings giving up four runs off seven hits and three walks. Brendan Donnelly, Preston Larrison and Bubbie Buzachero cleaned it up for three scoreless innings as the Bisons' offense battled back. Jordan Brown had a pinch hit, bases clearing double that supported the offense.

Scott Lewis' career night only lasted 5 and 2/3rds innings. Yet he earned the win, completely shut down Altoona and 10 of the 17 outs he recorded were via the strikeout. Lewis walked two and gave up a hit but he completely baffled the Curve hittes. The bullpen gave up just two more hits to three-hit the Curve completely. There was plenty of offensive support from the Aeoros. Matt Whitney went 3-5 with a run batted in and Ryan Goleski knocked in two runs himself. Wyatt Toregas knocked in a run and is now hitting .336 since he arrived at Akron.

Attack of the Pellicans! Oh Man, Myrtle Beach compltely manhandled the K-Tribe last night. Every pitcher gave up at least two runs.. I mean every pitcher.. The only one who didnt was Jerad Head. Yes Kinston was forced to use yet another position player as a pitcher. This time though, Jerad Head surrendered just one hit and a walk in his inning allowing 7 less than Cristo Arnal did. Oh Tom Glavine pitched for Myrtle Beach on a rehab assignment.

Lake County lost, despite their 2-4 hitters reaching base seven times in the game. Ryan Morris un-hittable... Morris went five innings without a hit, two walks and 7 strikeouts. Morris has now 11 straight innings of no-hit baseball.

Another big win over that team with the deer Mascot. Get the chain, because Cord Phelps is OFF IT! 4-5 with two runs scored and two runs batted in. He's now hitting .333 since his Scrappers debut. Robbie Alcombrack went 2-5 with two runs knocked in. PJ Zocchi pitched five solid to pick up his third win of the year.

GCL wins and Abner Abreu is at it again. Number 8 Home Run on the year for Abreu as he knocked in two. Adam Abraham had two and a his 4th home run of the year.

Tracking Matt LaPorta

LaPizzle Does it again!

Matt LaPorta hit another solo shot in Team USA's rout of Team Canada last night. He went 2-5 with another RBI and finished the four game exhibition series with three home runs, five runs batted in and .313 average. Team USA leaves today and will be in Beijing tomorrow. The news will die down for awhile until competition starts on the 13th.

Nick Weglarz was back in action, going 1-2 with a walk. TJ Burton and Jeff Stevens did not pitch.

Tribe Make It Five In A Row Over Rays

That was a rather entertaining game to watch.

Cliff Lee is always entertaining.

He made it interesting allowing those silly hits like Aybar's bunt, Iwamura's hit up the middle, the bloopers from Gabe Gross. For the most part, he was in command and getting the hitters to hit his pitch. Can't argue with the job Clifford did tonight to get number 15.

Cliff went 7 innings, giving up the eight hits and two walks for two runs and he only struck out two. Weird night for Cliff but I thought he pitched well. He had some quick innings but then some long ones.

How Dellucci? You think he was pointing to that heckler after the Home Run? I hear that guy all the time.. He's just as annoying as the cowbells.

But he did shut the heckler up, thank god. Maybe he can get on fire here and at least make his playing time worth it. Maybe some team will take interest if we put him on waivers.

Asdrubal Cabrera provided the other home run. He had some niffty glove-work as always. Basically saved Cliff in the 7th with that diving stop.

Jhonny Peralta got on in the 2nd and none other than Kelly Shoppach knocked him in with a double. Then after Peralta stole second and went to third on a catcher's error, Kelly singled up the middle for another RBI. He's just getting everything going his way right now.

Rafael Perez with the two inning save, no hits, no walks, a pair of punchouts.. Great job by Rafael tonight.

Tomorrow it is Fausto The Great against Edwin Jackson. Should be a good one.

[BOXSCORE]

MU: David Dellucci is about as relevant as Brett Favre on this Blog

Brett Favre's back and the defense is in trouble... Oops Sorry.. Not Really important.. But Neither is David Dellucci, yet we will still talk about him.

"He's had pitches to hit, but he's just a tad off. He'll get pitches that he fouls back or pitches that he just misses. Hopefully, as we keep moving here, he'll start to square some of those baseballs up and help us." (Indians.com)

That was Eric Wedge on David Dellucci.. I'm done wasting my breath. Him being on this roster just makes me want to SCREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!

"Everybody judges you by numbers," he said. "Our goal is to hit the ball hard. You can't control where it goes or what happens after it leaves the bat. There has been a lot of games where I hit the ball good and had nothing to show for it, and [if] you read the box scores or look at a batting average, you wouldn't be able to tell." (Indians.com)

This sounds like a broken down veteran who has no future. Oh WAIT!

Someone who does have a future is Kelly Shoppach who says that this is best stretch he's ever swung the bat.

"I had a stretch last year where I swung the bat well, but it was over a month and a half," he said. "I wasn't playing every day and no one noticed." (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Please keep it up Kelly..

Ryan Garko and Jhonny Peralta think the Twins have what it takes to win the division.

"They are built around Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau," said first baseman Ryan Garko. "They're two of the best hitters in the big leagues and I don't think they get a lot of credit. They also have a great bullpen. They win the games they're supposed to win. That makes a big difference."

"I think they have a chance to win the division," said shortstop Jhonny Peralta. "They don't have the big power hitters that some teams have. But they can run, they can bunt and their starting pitching is really good." (Plain Dealer)

In case you haven't heard, The Boston Herald is reporting Joe Borowski was offered a contract. By who? The Red Sox.. No Joke.

You saw what David Dellucci said.. Now look at what Ben Francisco has to say.

"Baseball is baseball. You've got a job to do and you've just got to go out there and do it," he said. (Indians.com)

yeah, DO YOUR JOB DELLUCCI! Stop making excuses that you don't have control over where the ball goes.. Of course you do. JERK.

I'm tired.. The game yesterday was exhausting. Just awful.. Just Awful..

Minor League Update: LaPorta getting it done for Team USA

Michael Aubrey's 8th inning solo shot gave the Herd a win over Syracuse last night. Aubrey went 2-4 and his home run put Anthony Reyes in line for his second win. Reyes was lock down last night going 8 strong, allowing just one run off five hits and four strikeouts.

Akron lost last night despite Bronson Sardinha's bases clearing double. Wyatt Toregas knocked in a run and had two hits. Kevin Dixon struggled giving up seven runs in three innings, while Tony Sipp pitched two solid innings giving up nothing and striking out one.

Kinston got two in the top of the 11th to edge Salem. Lucas Montero and Carlos Santana both had two hits including a home run. Jerad Head has the big night going 3-6 with FIVE RBI, including a 3-run shot.

Joanniel Montero went 7 strong to aid the Captains in their win against the Legends. Matt Brown went 3-4 with an RBI.

Mahoning Valley beat up on a team with a deer logo. Lonnie Chisenhall goes deep again and Cord Phelps went 3-5. All Hail that Mahoning Valley team.. They are the bomb.

New Minor League Happenings Focusing on the new Catching Duo in Kinston.

Tracking Matt LaPorta

Matt LaPorta went 1-3 with two runs scored and a solo home run. It was his second of the exhibition series with Canada. The four-game stand in North Carolina ends today. The United States won the third game and look for a 3 game win. Jeff Stevens pitched a scoreless inning, striking out a pair in the ninth inning.


Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Pre Game Chatter: Martinez Could Rehab Soon; Olympic Update

Victor Martinez will continue to hit soft tosses until early next week when the team hopes to let him take regular Batting Practice. The goal is for him to be on a rehab assignment as the Indians get to Toronto for a 3 game series against the Blue Jays to wrap up the 9 game road trip.

Either way, he won't be a regular catcher anytime soon. The Indians won't chance it with his elbow. He'll see games behind the plate, but expect a lot of DH and 1B starts for Vic when he comes back. Not a problem with Kelly Shoppach mashing.

Speaking of DH's, Travis Hafner will have his strength test earlier than I thought. Lonnie Soloff will make the trip back to Cleveland on Thursday during the off-day to test Hafner's shoulder. If it's 75% (which it should be if the past indicates it correct), Hafner's rehab could be accelerated quite a bit.

Josh Barfield will be right behind Martinez as far as