It wasn't pretty on Tuesday night at the Prog, considering the Tribe gave up an 8-1 lead they held through four innings. But they did fight back in the 8th with a home run by Grady Sizemore to tie the score at 9-9 and push the game into extra innings. Then Victor Martinez finally gave the Indians the win with his first career walk-off home run (if you can believe that) and the Tribe's first walk-off home run of the season. The 12-9 win also dealt another huge blow to the Twins' playoff hopes, pushing them 2-1/2 games behind the White Sox. This was a game that lasted almost 4-1/2 hours and featured nearly 400 pitches and you know it kills the Twins to not win this one.
Martinez couldn't hide his excitement after his first career walk-off HRI laughed when watching Victor slide into home after his trot around the bases (although it sure didn't look like Ron Gardenhire was laughing from the dugout steps). You can't blame him for being excited. It's been a long, difficult season for him personally and I don't think he could help himself. But I actually do feel bad for the Twins. I wanted to see them win the Central this year, given my extreme dislike for Ozzie Guillen, Jim Thome, and the rest of the White Sox. Don't get me wrong - I love beating whatever team we play, but if I had my choice I'd rather see the Twins win the division. I'm just hoping we can also play spoiler for the White Sox during the final series of the year on the 26th-28th.
The Indians will look to finish off the sweep tonight with Cliff Lee on the mound for the good guys. This will be Tribe fans' last chance to see Lee and his historic season at home so I'm hoping for a good crowd. He will be facing Scott Baker who is pitching on only three days rest. It, looks like the Twins might be a little desperate at this point, no?
Other Tribe Notes: The Tribe got some bullpen help from Taiwan yesterday, signing 21-year-old Cheng-Chang Lee to a contract. The ABJ also has some more info on the newest Indian. And Anthony Reyes has been shut down for the season. Probably a good move to avoid any long-term injuries. I'm hoping for good things out of Reyes in 2009.
Browns Update: The Browns offense believes it will be better on Sunday vs. the Ravens. I sure hope that's the case, because 16 points in two home games is pretty embarrassing, regardless of who we played. And if we can't beat a team led by this guy then we probably are as bad as our record says right now. The team did make a small roster move in the wake of Robaire Smith's season-ending injury. Too bad we'll still have the same linebackers and secondary in Week 3...
"They're darned good teams — the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys,'' quarterback Derek Anderson said. ''There's nothing wrong with us. Remember last year? I've got to throw the ball better, and they have to catch it and make plays.''
Cavs Update: Just a quick note today... god forbid we have to go a couple weeks without more speculation on LeBron's future. My favorite is the huge picture of a smiling LeBron next to Jay-Z, as if that's the only place in the world that would make LBJ happy. Now I remember why I stopped watching ESPN. In fact forget I even linked to that story. The whole thing is so dumb. *Sigh* Just go read this instead. It's good to have Windhorst back.
