Motown Misery Continues

Things went from bad to worse on Tuesday night in the Tribe's first game in the post-CC era. Chalk up loss number nine in a row as Jeremy Sowers was rocked again for 6 earned runs on 10 hits in Detroit. The loss is particularly bothersome to me given that the Indians got to Justin Verlander in the first inning with a double and a home run... then followed that up with no hits over the next six innings. This looks to me like a team that has completely given up. I know the Tigers are playing well now and we are obviously in a huge tailspin, but pride needs to kick in at some point. And I'm not sure what happened to Sowers between 2006 and now but he does not look good. His ERA has ballooned to 7.81 to go along with an 0-5 record. Is this the same guy that went 7-4 with a 3.57 ERA in 2006? The Tribe will look to avoid their first double-digit losing streak since 2004 tonight when Paul Byrd takes the mound. Take my advice - don't watch.

Handshakes at the plate seem even more common when Sowers is pitching

CC Update: To add insult to injury, CC Sabathia won his first start in Milwaukee last night. He was shaky (as you'd expect given the enormous expectations, new league, etc.) but still fought through 6 innings giving up 5 hits, 5 walks, and 2 earned runs. He also did go 0-2 at the plate, but I imagine he was a little worked up for this game.

It will be tough to get used to this sight

Cavaliers Update: Onto hopefully some good news... the free agency picture became a little clearer last night as more faces changed teams. Elton Brand decided to stun the Clippers and bolt for Philadelphia, and then Cory Maggette got a huge contract from the Warriors. Of course Cavaliers' GM Danny Ferry is watching this all unfold with his full attention. Maggette would have made a nice addition to the Cavs and they did reportedly offer their full mid-level exception, but that just couldn't compete with the 5 years, $50 million he ended up getting.

So now this leaves and big decision for Twinsburg native James Posey. The Cavs are very interested, but it will be up to Posey to decide which team gives him the best chance to snag another ring. It will also be intriguing to see where Monta Ellis of the Warriors ends up.

Finally, obviously a longshot to be on any NBA roster again, Tractor Traylor is suiting up for the Cavs summer league squad.

We Just Can't Streak

So the Tribe split their four-game series with Texas. It could have been worse (from a hitting perspective, as we've seen all year), and it could have been much better (our pitchers were smacked around all series). I'm not gonna get too high on our hitting in this series, or too low on our pitching. I think a lot of it has to do with the ballpark, the strength of the Rangers hitters, and the abomination that is Texas's pitching staff.

All I know after last night is that Kevin Millwood looks weird without his goatee (I don't think I've really even seen him pitch since his great '05 season with us), Rafael Betancourt can't throw strikes anymore (and when he does they are usually hit a loooooong way), and the Tribe can't string together consecutive wins anymore. The last time the Indians won two straight games was May 13-15. Since then they are 5-14. Yikes.

Old friend Milton Bradley finished the series with 4 HR and 7 RBI

Tonight, we head north to face the Tigers to start a three-game weekend series. It will be Paul Byrd against Justin Verlander in what I expect to be another slugfest featuring two lousy pitchers. I didn't expect going into this season that on June 6th we'd be fighting the Tigers to stay out of the bottom of the Central. Jayson Stark has an interesting take on what's going on in what was thought to be one of baseball's best divisions.

Yesterday was also MLB's annual June draft - here's a rundown of all the Tribe's picks. I don't know anything about any of them but I hope they can help us somewhere down the road. Today's ABJ had some more information on top-pick Lonnie Chisenhall. I especially like the part about him being kicked off the team in South Carolina on burglary and grand larceny charges. Awesome.

Cavs Update:
Brian Windhorst reports that Andy Varejao will not be playing for his native Brazil in this summer's Beijing Olympics. I hope he is serious about rehabbing his ankle - he will either be valuable trade bait this year, or an important piece to the puzzle if he can regain his form of last year.

I'm also proud to report that I didn't watch one single second of Game 1 of the NBA Finals last night. I saw the score this morning and felt sick to my stomach thinking that could easily be the Cavaliers in place of Boston. And I felt the same way about last year's World Series. F the entire city of Boston. I can't stand them.