The Tribe continued the recent hot streak last night at the Prog, winning their 12th in their last 15 games with a 9-3 victory over the Central-leading White Sox. Fausto Carmona almost gave the Indians a quality start, but ran into some trouble in the 6th inning with the Tribe up 4-0. He allowed three runs in the inning but the bullpen slammed the door shut after that. The best news of the night occurred in the 2nd inning when Victor Martinez went deep onto the home run porch for his first homer in almost a year. That was definitely a sight for sore eyes.
The HR drought finally ended for Victor on Tuesday night"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about [his drought]," Martinez said. "This game is all about having fun and the guys made some fun of me. It was a great feeling."
If the Indians are able to complete the sweep this afternoon (although I have my doubts considering it's a weekday getaway game with Jeremy Sowers starting) I may officially become a little excited about the prospects of a White Sox collapse. A win today would bring the Indians to 8.5 games back in the Central with 24 remaining. Obviously a very difficult mountain to climb, but still possible considering the Tribe ends the season with a three-game series in Chicago September 26-28. The fact that I'm even entertaining that thought right now is a credit to how the Indians have really turned their season around. A winning season is now firmly within their grasp and I will be bitterly disappointed if they don't at least achieve that.
Other Tribe Notes: Some roster updates for the Tribe now that September has arrived... And some historical context for Cliff Lee's great 2008 season... And finally, a rundown of all 20 of Cliff Lee's wins.
Browns Update: Tony Grossi has an early scouting report on the Cowboys. And the Browns have been watching "Hard Knocks" on HBO too. I've caught a couple episodes and I have to say, if I was a Cowboys player I probably would have punched Jerry Jones in his obviously surgically-stretched face by now. Why is he in every team meeting?
No, that's not a mask, but it still may frighten young children
