Stop me if you've heard this one before

It's beginning to sound like a broken record, but the 2008 Cleveland Indians really can't hit. They demonstrated that again over the weekend, losing two out of three in Kansas City to the lowly Royals (themselves losers of their previous 12 in a row before to Saturday and Sunday). So the Tribe now stands six games below .500 at 25-31, and five games out of first in the craptastic Central division. Oh, and just one game ahead of the Tigers.

Recapping the month of May, the team put up some shockingly bad offensive numbers on their way to a 12-15 record. Their .218 batting average and .297 on-base percentage really say all you need to know. That average was the lowest for the franchise in one month since August of 1968! It was also the lowest in the majors since September of 2003 when the Mets hit .217. Not really the type of records I was hoping for, one year removed from the ALCS. Sheldon Ocker of the ABJ probably does a better job summing up my feelings than I can this morning.

The Indians begin a 4-game series in Texas tonight with Aaron Laffey on the mound. Oh, and the Rangers are the best hitting team in the AL so you know runs will be needed in this series... looks like another week of fun for Tribe fans everywhere! Ugh.

Even the Royals have fun playing the Tribe this year

Another Weekend of Futility

Apparently my phone-wallpaper-switcheroo had no effect on the Tribe's play. I know you are all shocked out there. Over the long holiday weekend the Indians were only able to muster only one win, 5-2 over the Rangers on Saturday night. Sandwiched around that game were three losses (12-9 on Friday, 2-1 in extra innings on Sunday, and then 6-3 last night in extra innings to the White Sox). So here we sit, just 10 days after the Tribe was in sole possession of first place in the Central. Now they are 5.5 games behind the White Sox and closer to a trade deadline fire sale then another Central division crown.

Not to sound like a broken record, but the way this team plays on a daily basis still follows the same script. Poor execution with runners on base, sloppy relief pitching, and absolutely no scoring threats from the 7th inning on. Not exactly a recipe for winning the close games that we are inevitably involved in with this starting rotation and feeble offense. I've run out of ideas for solutions, short of giving Derek Shelton the axe. But apparently he walks on water and can do no wrong in the eyes of Eric Wedge. All I know is I'm sick of watching this team piss away games. I was at the Prog for Sunday's debacle. I knew it was over when the Rangers tied it at 1-1 in the 7th. Pretty sad when you know your team has no chance to score again after that... sigh.

Terry Pluto is also sick of watching the same thing every night. Ditto for Sheldon Ocker. Just to add more misery, Fausto Carmona will be out for at least a month. Fun time to be a Tribe fan right now. Maybe there is something to the odd year theory for the Indians ('95, '97, '05, '07). Does that mean we'll have to wait until 2015 if that pattern holds true? Shoot me now.

My last ditch effort to change the Tribe's luck - it's up to Jobu now