On the brink of 20 wins

With their dominating 10-4 victory last night in Detroit the Tribe has now won 15 of 18... 8 in a row on the road... and 9 in a row overall. All impressive numbers to be sure - but not as impressive as Cliff Lee upping his record to 19-2. Do you realize he is on pace for a mind-boggling 24 wins this year? It sounds crazy, but at this point I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls it off.

"I just want to get as deep in the game as I can," Lee said. "Give the team a chance to win and put up as many zeros as I can."

Lee continued his season of dominance by going 7-2/3 innings and allowing 2 runs on 6 hits. He likely would have notched his 5th complete game of the season if he wasn't on a pitch count (and he should be now). And Lee got plenty of run support on this night as the Tribe belted 4 homers on the way to their 10 runs. Ben Francisco got into the act twice and even Jamey Carroll joined the home run party for the first time this season.

Lee will look to become the Tribe's first 20-game
winner in over 30 years on Sunday

So for the first time since June of 2005 the Indians have put together a 9-game winning streak. And even better news, they have climbed up to third place in the Central. I know it's all too little and too late this year, but I think Eric Wedge deserves some credit for how this team is playing now. How many other big league teams could withstand losing their Cy Young ace, having their #2 starter (Carmona) being injured for a stretch, trading away another veteran rotation guy (Byrd), trading their starting third baseman, and having their #3 and #4 hitters injured for a huge chunk of the year and still be around .500? Not to mention all the bullpen problems this year. It shows a lot of heart by this team to still play at this level after all that turmoil. And I think it bodes well for the team's future.

The Indians will look to continue the hot streak and go for the sweep tonight with Fausto Carmona on the mound for the good guys. Then they will enjoy a much-deserved day off on Thursday before starting a home series against the Mariners.

Other Tribe Notes: The team seems to be split on the decision to add instant replay. I'm actually OK with it, but why in the world would you throw it in right in the middle of the season??? Then again, this is Bud Selig we're talking about... Ryan Garko is finally on a bit of a hot streak... and Aaron Laffey may be back up with the big league club soon.

Browns Update: It will be a battle for a roster spot among Syndric Steptoe, Travis Wilson, and Steve Sanders... The team trimmed the roster down to 75 yesterday, with final cuts coming later this week after Thursday's preseason finale... Travis Daniels is just happy to not be on the Dolphins anymore.

Cavs Update: An interesting look at some predictions for this NBA season. Sasha for Most Improved??? Even I'm not that big of a homer... and Dan Gilbert is moving more things from Detroit to Cleveland.

Back in action

At last, the Tribe will be back on the field again tonight in Seattle. I'm very curious to see how they will perform in the second half of the season. If I'm Eric Wedge, the one goal I'm setting for this team is to get back to the .500 mark by the end of the season. With 68 games remaining, that means they would need to go 40-28 (a .588 clip) the rest of the way. Given the way they've performed so far this year, that may seem like a lofty expectation. But with less pressure, hopefully a more stable roster, and maybe, just maybe some guys returning off the DL (namely Victor Martinez and Fausto Carmona... I'm not really expecting anything from Hafner's bum shoulder this year), the team might start to look more like the AL Central champs of 2007.

But with the trade deadline approaching, there may still be some changes coming. As I noted yesterday afternoon, Asdrubal Cabrera was called back up from Buffalo and will join the team for tonight's game in Seattle. He was able to correct himself at the plate in AAA, hitting .326 (46-for-141). I still expect to see Casey Blake traded to a team in contention before the deadline so that could cause some re-shuffling in the infield. If Blake is indeed moved, then I would really look at DH'ing Jhonny Peralta, moving Cabrera to shortstop (his natural position), taking an extended look at Andy Marte at third, keeping Jamey Carroll at second (damn that Barfield injury and Phillips trade), and getting Garko back to regular time at first. This way you can look toward 2009 to really see what these guys can do.

And before next season, I'd be completely open to bringing Blake back on a smaller contract. He's a great clubhouse guy, a decent hitter, and a very versatile guy on defense. He'd be an ideal utility player for probably a couple more years. But we'll see how everything plays out over the next couple weeks. Terry Pluto also has a plan for the second half, with an eye towards the 2009 season.

Will Casey be dealt before the deadline?

Browns Update: Yesterday Phil Savage confirmed that Joe Jurevicius will likely start the season on the PUP list, meaning he will miss the first 6 weeks (five games) of the season. At this point I'm just hoping he is able to make it back to the field in what will likely be his final season in the NFL. Jurevicius was huge for the team last year, especially on third down, where he so often kept the chains moving with big catches. Get well soon JJ.

''We're obviously very concerned about Joe's situation,'' Savage said. ''It's been very frustrating for everybody. Every time he's taken a step forward it's been two steps back."

Cavs Update: Not really an update on the Cavaliers, but an interesting story about ousted PD Cavs beat writer Branson Wright. He was definitely not one of my favorite writers, and the biggest newspaper in the state owes it to the team and its fan base to get someone better in there. (Pssst... I will work for much less than you paid him. All I require is a cushy chair courtside at the Q and a laptop.)

The Cavs summer league team will also be in action again tonight at 8:00 in Las Vegas against the Wizards. You can catch the action on NBATV or for free here if you're bored on a Friday night. I promise I won't tell anyone...

Updates from an Off Day

With the Tribe enjoying a day off on Monday there's not much to talk about. CC Sabathia did win the AL Player of the Week award for going 2-0 with a fine 1.59 ERA last week. And Grady Sizemore used the day off to go pose for GQ Magazine. Don't ask, just read today's Tribe notes in the PD for details...

I prefer you gracing the pages of SI Grady...

Tonight the Tribe is back in action in Colorado for a World Series rematch... err, a meaningless interleague series in the middle of June. Jamey Carroll will receive his NL Championship ring while the rest of the team will probably be wondering why they couldn't seal the deal in Game 5 vs. the Red Sox to get to face the Rockies in October. Paul Byrd gets the start in this one against someone named Greg Reynolds. I would expect this one to be high-scoring in the Rocky Mountain air. I'll be hoping that Byrd can keep things under control to help his trade value. We need to keep him as attractive as possible before the end of July.

2 Out of 3 Ain't Bad

The good news: the Tribe managed to win a series. The bad news: the fire sale might be starting sooner than we expected. That's becuase Victor Martinez will undergo surgery Friday to remove bone chips in his right elbow and will be out the next 6-8 weeks. Josh Barfield also hit the DL yesterday. The Indians promoted catcher Yamid Haad and infielder Jorge Valendia (don't worry, I never heard of them either) to take their places. And Travis Hafner will still be out of the lineup at least through the team's next road trip to Colorado and LA. Add that to Jake Westbrook's season-ending injury and Tommy John surgery, and Fausto Carmona's hip injury, and the roster looks more like a M.A.S.H. unit. I now fully expect Paul Byrd and CC Sabathia to be dealt, among others.

Last night was encouraging from an offensive standpoint with the Tribe banging out a season-high 18 hits in a 12-2 win over the Twins. The offense was highlighted by Jamey Carroll's 4-hit night, and Shin-Soo Choo's 3-run homer. Aaron Laffey got the win, going 6 strong innings, giving up only one run. His ERA is now down to 2.83. And the team is still only 6.5 games behind the White Sox, even with all the struggles and injuries. But that's my optimistic side coming out. My realistic side is preparing for wholesale roster changes shortly. We resume interleague play tonight at the Prog with the Padres coming to town. Yours truly will be in attendance, so I fully expect to be disappointed with the results. Tonight it will be Jeremy Sowers against Josh Banks.

Laffey was solid again on Thursday night

Browns Update: Superagent Drew Rosenhaus is at it again, talking about a new contract for K2. Sometimes I hate what professional sports have become. It's more about posturing for your next contract than anything else. I wish agents could just be eliminated completely. Also, if you didn't catch the Browns highlight show on STO last night I highly recommend it. It was the top ten plays of 2007 with the audio feed from Donavan and Dieken. Great stuff and I'm sure they'll run it a few more times. Oh, and Brady Quinn just wants to win.

Cavs Update: It's official, Big Z is out of the Olympics for Lithuania. My heart hurts a little for him as this may be his last chance to represent his country. But the selfish Cavalier fan in me says this is great news for him to be 100% next year, resting his ailing back.

That's More Like It

Maybe Eric Wedge's little pep talk did spark something. Maybe this team isn't ready to roll over quite yet. Or maybe Detroit isn't that good. We'll know more as the season unfolds, but for now last night was finally one to enjoy for Tribe fans. Fausto Carmona pitched well again, even with 30 pitches in the first inning. Most importantly, he stuck up for his teammates by plunking Ramon Santiago and Gary Sheffield after John Verlander hit Ryan Garko and Jason Michaels.

Other signs of encouragement - Garko and Travis Hafner both hit home runs, Jamey Carroll did more than we've seen from Asdrubal Cabrera in weeks, and the bullpen (Lewis, Kobayashi, and Betancourt) looked pretty good, even if they were spotted a 10-run lead.

We'll see if they can keep it up when playing indoor baseball in the BaggyDome in Minneapolis this weekend. But for one night, all seemed well at the Jake (I know, I know, but look at the poll results). If anything, last night's win kept us out of the basement of the AL Central. That has to give us a little morale boost, right?

Updated AL Central Standings:

	W	L	Pct.	GB
Chicago	9	6	.600	-
Kansas City	9	7	.563	0.5
Minnesota	7	9	.438	2.5
Cleveland	6	10	.375	3.5
Detroit	5	11	.313	4.5

Fausto pitched well again, and stuck up for his guys