These guys are in first place right?

I just checked the standings and the Tampa Bay Rays do in fact lead the AL East by three games over the Red Sox. But you'd never know that by the way they've played against the Tribe this season. Last night's 5-2 win in Tampa puts the Indians at 5-0 vs. the worst-to-first Rays this year, with the Tribe outscoring them 36-10 in those five games.

More importantly in this lost season for the Indians, Cliff Lee improved to 15-2 with last night's victory, going 7 solid innings and only allowing 2 runs on 115 pitches. I've run out of things to say about Lee's season, but I'm really hoping he can keep this up over the next two months. Having him win the Cy Young after his nightmare 2007 would make this season a little more bearable for all Cleveland fans. But he will likely have to be very solid down the stretch to convince the baseball writers to vote for him. I actually caught a small piece on ESPN yesterday claiming that Joba Chamberlain should be in contention - he has pitched 89 innings, compared to Lee's 153 - so that's the mentality we're dealing with...

General Lee just keeps rolling along

Asdrubal Cabrera and David Dellucci provided all the run support that Lee would need last night. I cannot tell you how much I hate that David Dellucci is #2 and the DH in our lineup right now, but I'll at least give him credit for his two home runs in three games this month. And I won't complain about his .238 average and 39 RBI on the season (in 256 at-bats!). Well maybe I just did complain. The best news from last night's game was the bullpen performance from Rafael Perez, giving the Tribe a 1-2-3 8th and 9th inning to preserve the win for Lee. That's the Perez that we all fell in love with as the set-up man in last year's great run. I hope this Perez decides to stick around for a while. And if we could ever get Betancourt back on track we could have the two Raffys back again to bolster our AL-worst bullpen.

Other Tribe Notes: Newly-acquired pitcher Anthony Reyes may soon be heading up to Cleveland. And there are a few other reclamation projects that may get their shot with the big-league club in the coming weeks.

And sometimes baseball just doesn't make much sense. From what I remember, this guy was awful with the Tribe:

Ryan Ludwick was named NL Player of the Week for hitting .538 (14-for-26) with four homers and eight RBI for St. Louis.

Browns Update: The Browns finished up Day 12 of training camp yesterday. Romeo Crennel said that Brady Quinn will get most of the work at QB on Thursday night. And Josh Cribbs is reportedly looking to restructure his contract. I doubt Cribbs will let this become a big distraction, but it is something to watch.

Cavs Update: The Cavaliers finally signed a free agent yesterday, inking Tarence Kinsey to a deal. He will likely take the spot in the rotation that Devin Brown played last year. He's young, athletic, and is a safe pick for Danny Ferry. I expect more moves to be made, but right now everything is delayed until the Delonte West situation gets resolved.

Meet your newest Cavalier, Tarence Kinsey