5 and a half hours for that?

I really feel bad for the few brave souls who remained at the Prog last night to watch that debacle. Luckily, I wasn't one of them. My wife and I were finishing up a major landscaping overhaul at our house and didn't even tune into the game until around 9:30 when it was already 11-7. A comfortable lead in the 8th inning, right? Not exactly with this bullpen. They (mainly Edward Mujica and Masa Kobayashi) unraveled yet again, allowing the Tigers to tie it in the 8th and then actually take the lead in the 9th. Some heroics by Kelly Shoppach (five extra base hits on the night) allowed the Tribe to tie it in the bottom of the 9th, but that really just delayed the inevitable.

Shoppach's incredible night went to waste in another bullpen meltdown

I do vaguely remember waking up for a second around midnight to see the Tribe had the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th with no one out. But I fell back asleep and didn't see what transpired until this morning. Shoppach struck out (but he can be forgiven after his banner day), and then my favorite double-play candidate, Andy Marte, did what he does best ending any possible hope of a win. How you can't score with the bases loaded and no one out is beyond me. But then again, this game did also feature an 8-1 Indians' lead with Cliff Lee on the mound. Obviously he's not perfect, but with that much run support he shouldn't have to be. And the bullpen should be able to nail down a win in these types of games. Final score: 14-12 Tigers. Just another microcosm of an ugly season.

Today's game should be tons of fun. Fausto Carmona is on the mound in a noon start at the Prog. He needs to redeem himself after his forgettable comeback from the hip injury on Saturday. And I won't go into another rant about these weekday getaway games, but by now we all now how much the Tribe sucks in these situations. With both bullpens being worked so hard last night I expect an ugly game if either starter is shaky. But the Tribe knows all about ugly this season.

Cavs Update: LeBron James made a surprising move yesterday. I don't want to go all political on here but let's just say that I endorse his endorsement.

Browns Update: Day 8 of training camp went without any major glitches. Brady Quinn is showing improvement. And Shaun Rogers is a hit with his new teammates. 38 days to go Browns fans...

"I'd have to say he's got to be one of the best if not the best defensive tackle in the NFL," said Fraley, a nine-year veteran.

This #92 is more intimidating than MDP... will he get his own McDonald's sandwich too?

Can this Byrd still fly?

Maybe I was wrong about Paul Byrd. Perhaps he still has a little bit left in the old tank. I've been hoping for a start like this from him for a while, for my own selfish reasons. Last night's outing wasn't pretty (with him they rarely are) but it was effective. Byrd went 5-1/3 innings and got the win as the Tribe beat the Angels 5-2. This is now the Indians' 7th win in their last 8 games after their horrendous 10-game slide. And this one ended a five-game winning streak for the best team in baseball.

"Every inning was a battle," Byrd said. "It was just one of those nights where nothing came easy... I flirted with disaster all night, and somehow came out on top. Rarely do I pitch well against teams I play for, so it's just nice to beat the Angels."

This game featured some rarities worth noting. First, Andy Marte hit another home run and got a single. That gives him a whopping 2HR and 3RBI on the year. But if you dig deeper into his game log, you'll find that this was his fourth multi-hit game since July 5. So maybe the increased playing time has made him more comfortable at the plate. And if that's the case, I guess I can see why Eric Wedge is so hesitant to move Jhonny Peralta (another HR for him last night) to third right now. So Ryan Garko will continue to be the odd man out, unless Casey Blake is moved before the deadline.

The other rarity from last night was Masa Kobayashi's 1-2-3 9th inning for the save. I don't have any statistics at my disposal (actually I don't really know where to look), but I'd venture to guess that there haven't been many 1-2-3 9th inning saves for the Tribe at all this year. In fact, the bullpen has saved only 16 of their 42 wins (38%) this year (compared to 49 of 96, or 51%, last year). But Kobayashi is now 4-of-6 in save opportunities and hopefully he can continue to get an extended look in the closer's role for the Tribe.

Maybe there will still be a trade market for Byrd, who fought hard on Monday night

Other Tribe Notes: Good news from the injury front - Fausto Carmona is expected to make his return on Saturday against the Twins. And Mark Shapiro has some options in free agency this winter, but how likely is he to pursue them? He also needs to determine which player will be the final piece of the CC trade.

Browns Update: Less than 24 hours until training camp opens and no news is good news. But here's a handy guide to camp in Berea. And the Browns have somehow dropped from #9 to #10 in espn.com's NFL power rankings, without even playing a game or holding a practice yet. Those rankings frustrate me to no end, yet I still look at them regularly.

Cavs Update: Not really breaking news, but LeBron James continues to be an all-around good guy. And he shares some thoughts on the 2008 Olympic team.

"Four years ago, I wasn't put in the position I could care. I didn't get to go out and play the way I could," James said. "This time I'm a captain and I know we are going to be a very tough team to beat."

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...

An unlikely sweep... and other thoughts

Well maybe the Indians are finally rounding back into form? Maybe the Rays really are just a fluke and are now crashing back to earth? Or maybe that team meeting before Thursday's game actually woke the Tribe up? We won't really know the answers until the second half of the season starts. But for now, the four-game sweep of Tampa Bay sure was a nice way to cap off an otherwise miserable first half of the 2008 season. And it was definitely unexpected coming on the heels of a horrendous 10-game losing streak.

Friday night's game featured more solid pitching from Cliff Lee, who notched his 12th win on the year with a 5-0 victory. With a 12-2 record and a tidy 2.31 ERA, today Lee did get the nod as the All-Star Game starter on Tuesday night in New York City. Quite a turnaround from his dismal performance in 2007. On Saturday the Indians won 8-4, behind Ryan Garko's career-high 5 RBI night. And yesterday's game featured a very bizarre stat line, one I thought I'd never see again to be perfectly honest. And Jhonny Peralta seems to be finally reaping the benefits of his laser vision correction surgery (7 hits and 2 home runs this weekend). We even had an Andy Marte sighting! And Ben Francisco is playing well again, raising his average by 14 points with a 12-for-19 series. The only bad news I could find after the Tribe's weekend was the fact that they allowed the Red Sox back into first place in the AL East...

A truly backwards weekend: Tribe sweep & a Mastny win!

More Tribe: American League home run leader Grady Sizemore takes his swing up against the short porch in right tonight in New York for the Home Run Derby. And we got a glimpse of the future with new prospect Matt LaPorta on Sunday in the Futures Game. And of course, I will miss seeing this in a Tribe uniform during interleague games. That is a hell of a swing for a pitcher.

Gladiators Update: The fun ride ended on Saturday afternoon as the Philadelphia Soul beat our Gladtiators 70-35 in the National Conference championship game. Early offensive mistakes and a turnover really put them in trouble in the first half and they just were never able to recover. But 2-14 to 9-7 and two playoff wins is nothing to take lightly. Good job by Bernie Kosar, the entire coaching staff, and the players. I'm now a fan and will be looking forward to more indoor football next spring.

Cavs Update: No news yet on the neverending James Posey saga. But Terry Pluto has some thoughts on what is happening behind the scenes in Cavalier-land.