Finally... a game!!!

It had been 9 days since the last time a Cleveland team played, with the Browns and Indians last suiting up on September 28th. So even though last night's preseason game at the Q didn't really matter, at least it finally gave us something to talk about. And our first look at the new-look Cavaliers. Well, at least the first listen since the game wasn't televised. And by the way, it was damn good to hear Joe Tait's voice again...

Big Ben throws one down vs. Toronto last night

I wouldn't put too much stock in the final score, with the Raptors winning 104-84. How seriously can you take a game in which LeBron played 8 minutes and chipped in one point on three shots from the floor? And keep in mind that Delonte West wasn't even in the building. Overall the starters didn't really play much at all (Mo 26 minutes, Sasha 22 minutes, Ben 20 minutes, Z 22 minutes) with the goal being to keep everyone healthy and rested for the start of the season. So mission accomplished there. Brian Windhorst has the rundown in the PD (how good does that sound?) this morning of all the good and bad from last night's game.

"We looked pretty good at it at times, at other times we looked sloppy," Mike Brown said. "We have to be selective with our tempo, we have to know how to run."

And I also liked this piece from George Thomas at the ABJ (apparently taking over for Mr. Windhorst there) on JJ Hickson's Cavalier debut:

Rookie J.J. Hickson (7 points, 4 rebounds) didn't light things up on the scoreboard, but willingly and enthusiastically played some tenacious defense. His digging one off the floor in the first half led directly to a Cavs basket, but it was in the fourth quarter that he showed what the team saw in during the summer. He stole the ball from Toronto's Will Solomon at the 10:44 mark near midcourt and dashed to the Cavs basket, sealing the deal with a thunderous two-handed dunk that got the crowd roaring.

So it's one preseason game down, seven more to go before the real season starts in just 20 days. Terry Pluto likes what he sees so far with Mo pushing the tempo... And here's an interesting tidbit about the Cavs possibly coming close to acquring Jermaine O'Neal in the offseason. All I can say is thank the sports gods that that didn't happen. He will no doubt be hurt again by January... And finally, what to make of Anderson Varejao this year? One of my favorite Cavalier 'insiders' has a good piece on RealCavsFans.

Tribe Update: We found out yesterday that Travis Hafner's shoulder may need arthroscopic surgery. That's great news considering we are on the hook for $57M over the next four years with him and he's already showing diminishing skills at the plate. Hopefully it is due to the shoulder and it gets corrected, but I'm not holding my breath right now. Paul Hoynes and Sheldon Ocker both give their summaries from Mark Shapiro's state-of-the-team address yesterday. I thought it was interesting to hear him put so much emphasis on acquiring another starter. I'll eventually jot down my thoughts on the 2009 Tribe here as soon as I stop being lazy about it.

Browns Update: I guess it's time to get back into Browns mode again. I will reluctantly play along, this time with lowered expectations. But my patience is obviously wearing thin. Tony Grossi has a scouting report today on the defending Super Bowl champs. I'm just hoping we can somehow keep this game close and not embarrass ourselves in the spotlight. At least Josh Cribbs is feeling good again.

The sweep taste of victory

The Tribe was able to cap off their sweep of the Twins with a 6-4 win last night at the Prog. Amazingly, the Indians are now 31-35 vs. the Central Division after such a horrendous start to divisional play. They even still have a chance to finish with a winning record against Central foes if they can somehow sweep both their remaining three-game series against Detroit and Chicago. More importantly, last night's victory brings them within 2 games of the .500 mark with just 10 games to play. So just a 6-4 finish (or better) would mean a non-losing season, which would be pretty remarkable when you consider how bad things were in July.

Pronk's shot in the 4th was a sight for sore eyes

The only downer to last night's game was that Cliff Lee wasn't able to hold on for his 23rd win. He entered the 7th inning with a 4-2 lead, but some bad luck caused him to depart with a 4-4 tie and a disgusted look on his face. I just love Lee's intensity this year. He was so upset he didn't even notice the rousing standing ovation he got from the crowd, who realized that this was their last chance to thank Lee personally for an amazing year. But thanks to the offense picking Lee up, his no-decision allowed him to finish the year a perfect 10-0 at home.

"I was so focused on what just happened, I didn't hear anything," he said. "I was just frustrated with the way things went in that inning. I was caught up in the moment." - Cliff Lee

The Indians also managed to sock two more home runs off of Twins' pitching last night, giving them a total of eight in the three-game sweep. The most welcome sight was obviously the shot off the bat of Travis Hafner. It was one of those no-doubters that Pronk has become known for over the years and I had my doubts whether we'd see one of those again in 2008. Jhonny Peralta also added a solo shot of his own in the 4th for his 22nd on the year.

Other Tribe Notes: Terry Pluto reflects on Cliff Lee's stellar season... The Indians' 2009 schedule was released yesterday, and good news - we play 40% of our games in August and September instead of April and May. I'm already dubbing it 'The Season of Redemption'... The Tribe will enjoy their final off-day of the year today before beginning a three-game series with the Tigers tomorrow night at the Prog.

Browns Update: Stop me if you've heard this one before - Donte Stallworth still isn't healthy enough to play. Shocking I know... And Tony Grossi talks about Braylon Edwards and his 'slump.' Whatever is going on with that, it needs to change quickly. I'll be back here with my big Sunday prediction tomorrow...

Cavs Update: Only 40 days until the season officially kicks off. Nothing big to report really, just that I'm excited. The Cavs may be rounding out their roster with the addition of Ronald Dupree. Here are his career numbers. Nothing earth-shattering, but maybe a little more depth in camp, and perhaps some good defense if he makes the final roster.

Back on track

The Tribe returned to their winning ways in Baltimore last night (after a forgettable Monday night) with a 6-1 win. Jeremy Sowers was able to notch his third win of the season with 8 strong innings of work (7K, 1BB, and 72 strikes in 96 pitches). And more importantly, this game finally featured the return of Travis Hafner off the disabled list. He went 2-for-4 with two singles and a walk. So the Indians finally have all of their bats back in the line-up for the first time since May 25, although now there are only 19 games left in the season.

A sight for sore eyes: Pronk singling in the first inning

"He looked good, [took] a couple of strong swings," Wedge said. "I felt like it was a great start for him in regard to him getting back with us and getting back into the swing of things here at this level."

I actually didn't think Hafner would make it back on the field this year. It has been a tough season with the shoulder injury and the passing of his father. But I have to admit it was nice to see him back out there having some fun and helping contribute to another Tribe win. They are now 33-22 in the post-Sabathia era and only need to finish 11-8 in their quest for .500. And you have to wonder what could have been had this team remained somewhat healthy this season. They are only 9-1/2 out right now even after all the adversity. But as we are used to saying in Cleveland, there's always next year...

Other Tribe Notes: Mark Shapiro talks about the infield options for 2009... Brian Bullington was called up from AAA Buffalo to start the second game of Saturday's double header... and some strange details are emerging in the yet-to-be-finalized CC Sabathia trade with the Brewers.

Browns Update: The Browns offense is getting ready to play the Steelers, with our without Donte Stallworth at receiver. Why do I have a feeling this guy will never be 100% this year? To add to the speculation that Stallworth might be recovering for a while, the Browns re-signed receiver Paul Hubbard to the practice squad... Tony Grossi gives his scouting report on the Steelers... obviously the Browns defense needs to improve quickly to beat their arch rivals.

Cavs Update: OK, only 48 days until the season opener. If you can't tell I'm obviously excited for this season. There probably won't really be much to talk about until training camp opens in a few weeks, but I did like this article from the Toronto film festival where the documentary 'More Than a Game' (chronicling the LeBron-led Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary high school basketball team) just premiered. It should be something to see.

Then, James, a 6-foot-8, 260-pound man who has carried an NBA franchise on his back since his rookie season at age 18, stopped talking and started to get choked up. He cried onstage. For the first time, the public witnessed a deeply emotional moment for James. ''This is the first time I've cried — in basketball or anything — since we lost that national championship game in eighth grade,'' James said, referring to an AAU game in Orlando. He wasn't the only one who cried.

1-9 and 0-1

The Browns are now 1-9 in season-opening games since returning to the league in 1999. Most of those losses over the years can be attributed to them just not being a very talented team. And when you factor in that every one of those openers has been at home, it really makes it seem a lot worse. But the Browns have talent now and they were 7-1 at home last year. So their 28-10 loss at the hands of the Cowboys yesterday is troubling, even if somewhat expected.

I have no problem with losing to the Cowboys. They are obviously an elite team in the NFL and will likely challenge for the Super Bowl this year. I understand that and I even said last week that a loss wouldn't surprise me and that the Browns could even afford to lose this non-conference game. What bothers me is the way it happened. From Donte Stallworth hurting himself in pre-game warmups, to Braylon Edwards dropping catchable balls, to the defensive line putting absolutely no pressure on Tony Romo, to our defensive backs getting torched by Cowboy receivers. There is a long list of things that were troubling to any of the 73,000+ of us fans that were in attendance yesterday. I won't dwell on this loss for very long, with much more important business coming up this Sunday.

The Browns defense couldn't stop anyone in blue on Sunday

My hope is that the Browns will be able to put this game behind them quickly and focus on the Pittsburgh Steelers. They need to get healthy and get focused on their own 'must-win' game now. They can't afford to start the season 0-2 with two road games in Baltimore and Cincinnati looming ahead. So all I'll say about Sunday is that the game was not much fun, and the tailgating was the highlight of the day. That's not what I expect the rest of this season.

"I wanted to put some points on the board ... there were 10 minutes left, and if you don't make it, then where do you go?"- Romeo Crennel on the decision to kick a field goal when down 28-7 with 10 minutes remaining

Other Browns Notes: Terry Pluto has some scribbles on Sunday's game, including some comments about Crennel's puzzling decision to kick a field goal when down 28-7 in the 4th quarter. That was just one of many "WTF" moments from yesterday's game for me... Braylon Edwards says he's just a little rusty after the preseason injury... and Pat McManamon gives his thoughts on a forgettable opener.

Tribe Update: There was some good in Cleveland sports yesterday - Cliff Lee notched his 21st victory in the Tribe's 3-1 win in Kansas City yesterday. The win puts Lee at 21-2 on the year, and barring a catastrophic collapse in his final four starts, he should now be a lock to bring home the Indians' second straight Cy Young Award.

"I really don't think about it that much," Lee said. "I think about preparing each day and doing everything I need to do to get ready for my next start. I don't really reflect back on previous outings and what I've done or look too much ahead of today. That's been a key to me being successful this year. I'm going to continue to have the same mindset."

The team is now 32-21 since the Sabathia trade... With the Anthony Reyes injury the Tribe has called up Scott Lewis from Akron to take his place in the rotation... And finally, Travis Hafner could be back on the field as early as tomorrow night for the Tribe. He homered in his last two starts for Akron in the playoffs over the weekend.

Cavs Update: The Cavs made it official on Friday with Lorenzen Wright. They also inked second-round pick Darnell Jackson from Kansas to a three-year deal. And speaking of Arthur, his letter to Kansas fans makes me happy to know we have a class-act wearing the wine and gold... The start of the season is only 50 days away now!

Streaking to redemption

Well, the Tribe has found a way to come full circle. I never thought it would happen back on July 10th when they were hitting rock bottom in Detroit. But they have claimed redemption with a ten-game winning streak to erase the memories of that horrible losing streak, and fittingly, they did it in the same city for a little extra emphasis (isn't it always fun to beat Detroit?). Their 9-7 victory over the Tigers last night was the latest in a shocking turnaround that has them sitting just 2 games under .500 with 30 games left to play.

"You have to stay in the moment," said Wedge. "You don't want to get ahead of yourself and you definitely don't want to look back. You just keep trying to get better."

This streak has been immensely enjoyable for me mainly because of the way it seemed to come out of nowhere. But if you look deeper, the team has played great baseball since the trade deadline on July 31st. In that stretch of 25 games they have gone 19-6 (.760). In those 25 games the bats have come alive, with the team averaging 6.08 runs per game, while allowing 4.76 runs per game. And they've done it with the long ball as well - out-homering opponents 35-20 in that same stretch. The Indians are finally getting consistent hitting throughout their line-up and it is translating into wins. As I said yesterday, it is likely too little, too late for this season, but it should make things a lot better for Tribe fans heading into next season.

Last night the Tribe added two more home runs from hot-hitting Kelly Shoppach (6 HR's this month) in the 4th and then Shin-Soo Choo in the 7th. Fausto Carmona didn't have his best stuff again, but he was able to give the team 6 innings of work and the bullpen was able to hold it down (although there were some scary moments between Rafael Betancourt and Jensen Lewis). So now the Indians will enjoy a day off before starting a weekend series with the Mariners. Hopefully the off-day doesn't get anyone out of their rhthym. But the Mariners are 22-42 on the road - by far the worst in the AL. I'm just happy I care again about an Indians/Mariners series this year!

Choo went deep again last night and has showed some real promise over the last month

Other Tribe Notes: Looks like Victor could finally be back this weekend, with Hafner and Barfield soon to follow. And also some good news regarding Matt LaPorta in Akron.

Browns Update: The Browns will look to avoid any major injuries tonight in their preseason finale at Cleveland Browns Stadium against the Bears. Romeo thinks it's time to look 'decent,' and I can't say I disagree. And here's a Browns season preview along with 'expert' picks (those always make me laugh).

30/30 and a half-game behind

The Tribe just kept rolling along last night, collecting their eighth straight victory with a 4-3 win in 10 innings in Detroit. This makes it 14 wins in their last 17 games and they are creeping closer to 3rd place in the Central, now just a half-game behind the Tigers. Grady Sizemore became just the second Indian in team history to join the 30/30 club, adding two more HR's last night. He now has 31 homers and 34 steals, and actually a decent shot at the exclusive 40/40 club with 32 games still left to be played.

Welcome to the 30/30 club Grady - got enough left for 40/40?

"He's unbelievable," manager Eric Wedge said of the three-time All-Star. "You wouldn't know if it was his first or his 30th. In a low-scoring ballgame, he set the tone. That's what he does. He does it from a spot in the order that can give us a lot of energy."

Newcomer Zach Jackson gave the Tribe another good start, going 6-1/3 and allowing 3 runs. Then the bullpen (where have you been all year???) really came through with some solid work, aside from Masa Kobayashi's two hits allowed and no outs recorded. Rafael Perez and Brandon Donnelly kept the Tigers scoreless for 2-2/3 innings. And the suddenly hot-hitting Franklin Gutierrez gave the Indians the lead for good in the top of the 10th with a shot to left field. Jensen Lewis came on to close things out was able to register a 1-2-3 10th for his 7th save in 8 chances. It makes me wonder how good this team could have been with a semi-consistent bullpen all year...

The Indians will look for their ninth in a row tonight with ace Cliff Lee on the mound for the good guys. He will look to improve on his 18-2 record and his 2.43 ERA... although I'm not sure what else he can do at this point for an encore. He has simply been incredible all year. With a win the Tribe would also move ahead of the Tigers in the standings for the first time since June.

Other Tribe Notes: Victor Martinez may finally be ready to return before the rosters expand on Monday. But not so fast for Travis Hafner. And Matt LaPorta is back in town after his beaning in China. Let's hope he's able to finish out the season in Akron.

Browns Updates: Brady Quinn will likely get another start in the Browns' quest to avoid injury before the season opener (a.k.a. their final preseason game). This is good news for Brady, as I'm sure he can't be happy with his performance in the last game. Although I'm a little concerned that Derek Anderson's next snap he takes in a live game will be on September 7th against the Cowboys... BQ has also been putting in some extra time with Donte Stallworth... And don't expect to see much from the Browns again in the finale, as they will be without lots of players.

No, thank you CC

Before I go into a recap of last night's game, I wanted to touch on something today that I didn't think I'd be talking about - CC Sabathia. In today's Plain Dealer, CC and his wife Amber took out a full page ad (costing $12,870) to take time to thank Cleveland for 10 great years. It's rare these days to see an athlete take the time to thank his community for their support and I think it shows what kind of guy CC is. I completely understand the business side of the Tribe trading him - we had to do it - but I will miss having a guy like him in our clubhouse. Someone that really seemed to like being here. Imagine that.

"Thank you for 10 great years... you've touched our lives with your kindness, love and generosity. We are forever grateful! It's been a privilege and an honor!" - CC and Amber Sabathia & family

Back to the business at hand... counting down the days until Browns football (only 38 days till the season kicks off!) by watching our beloved Tribe struggle through the season. Last night was another example of why we are still stuck in last place. The 8-5 loss at the hands of the Tigers puts the Tribe's division record at 15-27 (compared to 11-6 vs. the East, and 14-14 vs. the West). When you play that poorly in the division, you have no hope of making the postseason. That's seven more division losses than the Royals! So even with their -75 run differential we may be looking up Kansas City for a while (currently 1.5 games behind them). Ugh.

Ginter only lasted 4 innings on Tuesday night

Matt Ginter took the loss last night, going only 4 innings and 77 pitches, and showing why he probably doesn't really belong in a major league rotation. And Rafael Betancourt continued his tailspin in '08 giving up 2 more runs in his inning of work (including yet ANOTHER home run), after the Tribe had fought back a little to make the game interesting. By my own unofficial stats, Betancourt by far leads our struggling bullpen in 'demoralizing hits' this year. His ERA is now at 6.04, compared to 1.48 last year, and to me is as big a reason for the complete collapse this season as any other. Cliff Lee returns to the mound tonight with his outstanding 14-2 record to give us one reason to keep watching.

Other Tribe Notes: Victor Martinez may be back by the middle of August (only two weeks away, where did this summer go?). Terry Pluto shares his current thoughts on the Tribe. And Paul Hoynes talks about the closer role in the AL's worst bullpen. Finally, condolences to Travis Hafner who lost his father on Saturday after battling cancer.

Browns Update: Day 7 of training camp is in the books and Tony Grossi talks about three guys from UNLV hoping to shore up the defense. Also a video update from Tuesday:


Cavs Update: LeBron James has been chosen as the cover boy for the latest issue of Time magazine in their '100 Olympic Athetes to Watch' story. Pretty cool honor and well-deserved from this Cleveland homer's point-of-view.

King of Cleveland and now 'Redeem Team' leader

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...

Another Series Win

Two series wins in a row now. I'm trying to remain optimistic despite all the injuries and offensive problems that have plagued this team all season long. So winning two series in a row is a good start and even through all the adversity, the Tribe only sits 5.5 games behind Chicago midway through June. Sunday's win over the Padres featured another solid pitching performance from CC Sabathia, who went 8 innings, striking out 10 and allowing 3 runs. Coupled with Friday's 8-5 win (featuring a near 3-hour rain delay and and me getting soaked in the process) it was a pretty good weekend. Saturday was really a winnable one too when the game went to extra innings, but another bullpen meltdown killed any hopes of a weekend sweep.

Grady has been on a home run tear lately with 5 in the last 5 games

The Indians will enjoy a day of rest today as they travel to Colorado for a three-game series starting tomorrow night. Call me bitter, but I'm looking at this as the World Series that should have been last year. And we would have taken care of this team just like the Cavs would be taking care of the Lakers right now. F'n Boston.

Paul Hoynes thinks Grady Sizemore should remain in the leadoff role, even with his recent power surge (9 HR in his last 16 games). Also, there will be a lot of scouts in attendance every time CC takes the hill before the trade deadline. And finally, some updates from Sheldon Ocker on Travis Hafner, Jake Westbrook, and Asdrubal Cabrera.

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.

Happy to have a night off

I'm happy the Tribe played a day game yesterday. I'm even happier they have the night off tonight. My wife and I had to catch up on five episodes of "Lost" we missed during the end of the NBA season and the playoffs. And our DVR has been at about 99% capacity for the last week. So we got in three episodes last night and will probably get the other two tonight. That has to be more entertaining than watching the '08 Indians invent new ways to lose every game.

Yesterday's loss was really a backbreaker in a couple ways. First, the Tribe is now 5.5 games behind the White Sox, instead of 3.5 had they won. But more crushing was how they lost this game. They took an early 2-0 lead in the first, of course still leaving runs on the board when they couldn't score again with no outs and men on first and third (shaking my head as I type this). Then after falling behind 3-2, Jhonny Peralta hit a big HR to put the Tribe back on top 5-3 in the sixth. In comes Rafael Betancourt in the top of the 7th to promptly give up the lead and the game.

More of the same at the Prog on Wednesday afternoon

Betancourt, who was so dependable last year, is now sporting an ERA of 5.56. And Eric Wedge is not happy about his performance yesterday. Even more troubling to me is the fact that the Tribe has now not scored a run in the 7th inning or later in 10 straight games. Just stop and think about that for a second and it becomes clear why they are 2-8 in those ten games. They get back on the horse tomorrow night in Kansas City and it looks like Pronk will give it a go with his bum shoulder, even if he is afraid of needles. Personally, I'd rather see him go on the DL and get himself straightened out. It's not like we'd miss his hitting (or lack thereof).

Cavs Update:
Terry Pluto has put together a fictional conversation between Danny Ferry, Dan Gilbert and Mike Brown that is mildly entertaining. This obviously will be a huge off-season for the wine and gold and the clamoring has already started to put Michael Redd in a Cavalier uniform. It will be interesting to see what Mr. Ferry can pull off this summer with all these expiring contracts (Wally Szczerbiak $13M, Eric Snow $7.3M, Joe Smith $4.8M, Damon Jones $4.4M, not to mention Andy Varejao's one year left with a player option in 09-10, Sasha Pavlovic's non-guaranteed contract after this year, and deciding what to do with Boobie Gibson and Delonte West). It should be an interesting summer.

Browns Update:
I caught an interesting interview with Phil Savage on the drive home from work yesterday. Every time I hear this guy talk I like him more. Check it out if you haven't heard this two-part interview from WKNR: part one & part two.

A Rare Offensive Explosion

...well, not really an explosion, but 8 runs in a game for this year's version of the Tribe is definitely a sight for sore eyes all over northeast Ohio. The offense actually made an appearance early last night, with Franklin Gutierrez's first inning grand slam off of Mark Buehrle. The Indians also pulled off the incredibly rare triple steal in the 6th inning last night. I didn't even realize it at the time because it was such a bizarre play, but trust me, it involved bad baserunning by the Tribe and even worse defense by the White Sox. At any rate, it was the first triple steal in the major leagues since 1987. So this month has featured and unassisted triple play and now a triple steal. Call me crazy, but I'd rather just see wins and good hitting. Aaron Laffey also pitched another solid game, giving up 2 runs over 6 innings. He is now 3-3 with a very nice 1.59 ERA. He will obviously be very important over the next month with Fausto's hip injury.

Gutierrez provided a much-needed offensive spark on Tuesday night

Today Jake Westbrook makes his return from the DL for the noon start against the White Sox. I hate these day "getaway" games but we do have a one-game win streak in them, so maybe our luck is changing. Also, it looks like Travis Hafner's bat might be missing from the lineup for a while. Wait, hasn't it been missing the entire season??? (insert Big Chuck and Lil' John laugh track here)

Lee Dazzles Again

Cliff Lee is on a mission this year and it is quite a thing to behold. I can't believe this is the same pitcher that I watched during this game last year, right before he was demoted to Buffalo. I remember sitting in Jacobs Field at the time wondering if we'd ever see the same reliable Cliff Lee we had known before the '07 season. Fast forward to today and he now stands at 6-0 with a microscopic 0.81 ERA. He is the first Indians pitcher to win his first 6 starts of the year since Greg Swindell in 1988. Lee pitched another scoreless 7 innings in Yankee Stadium last night as the Tribe handed Chien-Ming Wang his first loss of the year. To boggle your mind even further, Lee now has 39 strikeouts and only 2 walks so far this season, with opponents batting just .163 against him! Who knows how long this will last, but it sure is fun to watch. Here is a nice article from today's New York Newsday about Lee's amazing turnaround.

The offense did get some timely hits again last night and David Dellucci has now made me a believer. Ben Francisco seems right at home in a big league uniform and Travis Hafner continued his puzzling and depressing slide at the plate (literally a 2-foot GIDP with the bases loaded!). But today the Indians look for their first sweep in Yankee Stadium in almost 20 years. Unfortunately it is an afternoon "getaway" game and I think the Tribe has dropped somewhere around their last 50 of those. Hopefully they get a good performance today.

39 K vs. 2 BB? The Nintendo numbers continue for Cliff.

And tonight the Cavaliers look to even their series in Boston after letting Game 1 slip through their fingers. The Cavs do have a history of playing well on the road in the postseason after "letdown" games so we'll see what they bring tonight. Don't expect LeBron to dump a 2-18 shooting night with 10 turnovers again. I expect big things from him in Game 2. I smell a win for the Cavs and a loss for the Tribe. Maybe someday soon they can both win on the same day...

Weekend Recap

After the big Game 6 win by the Cavaliers on Friday I was hoping for a nice weekend from the Tribe to get back over .500. Instead the offense continued to sputter and wasted two decent pitching performances by CC Sabathia and Aaron Laffey. I honestly don't feel like going into all the details right now. It seems to me it's just the same old problems. No patience at the plate, and guys continually being fooled by pitches. After some hope from Travis Hafner, he has disappeared again in the 6th spot in the order. Really, at this point everyone besides Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez looks lost in the batter's box. Victor did continue his hitting streak to 15 games today. And according to the PD tonight, some hitting help is on the way. Thankfully the boys have a day off tomorrow, before heading to New York. I have a feeling Derek Shelton will be busy tomorrow...

Now, on to the good news. As expected, the Boston Celtics did beat the Hawks in their unlikely Game 7 on Sunday. So now the Cavaliers have a chance to slay the overhyped beast of the East in Boston. Consider this payback for the 2007 ALCS. I'm going out on a limb and predicting our Cavaliers in 6. And I did correctly guess the Wizards series. Here's the schedule:

Game 1 - @ BOS, Tue. May 6, 8:00 pm, TNT
Game 2 - @ BOS, Thu. May 8, 7:00 pm, ESPN
Game 3 - BOS, Sat. May 10, 8:00 pm, ABC
Game 4 - BOS, Mon. May 12, 8:00 pm, TNT
*Game 5 - @ BOS, Wed. May 14, TNT
*Game 6 - BOS, Fri. May 16, ESPN
*Game 7 - @ BOS, Sun. May 18, TBD
(* if necessary)

LBJ is not impressed by the hype, and neither am I

Finally, a walk-off winner

Wow, last night's Tribe game was painful for 11 innings, but ultimately they got the job done. Paul Byrd pitched 7-2/3 strong scoreless innings and left with the Tribe up 1-0. Raffy Lefty (Perez) came in and got out of the 8th with the lead still intact. But Raffy Righty (Betancourt) gave up a leadoff single to Ichiro Suzuki and you could just see that he would somehow score to tie it in the ninth.

I won't go into all the details, but the Indians had many chances to win it in the 9th, 10th, and 11th. They were a staggeringly bad 2-for-10 with the bases loaded in the series. But FINALLY, Asdrubal Cabrera singled home Franklin Gutierrez with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 11th for the walk-off win. The Tribe is now 7-3 in their last 10 and only 1.5 games out of first. Notable in this game is the shake-up in the batting order - Casey Blake moved up to the 2-hole, David Dellucci to #3, and Travis Hafner was dropped down to 6th. Hafner did respond with two doubles so hopefully he is finally finding his way out of this slump.

Now the dilemma tonight - we have tickets to see the Tribe vs. the Royals. But the Cavaliers face the Wizards in Game 6 at the same time. I guarantee if we end up going to the Tribe game that the Cavaliers will play well and close out the series. And if we don't go, there will surely be a Game 7 on Sunday. So do I opt to watch the game at the Batter's Eye bar in right field? It will kill me, but I may just have to take one for the fans of Cleveland. More later on this difficult decision.

Cabrera finally broke through in the 11th and was mobbed by his teammates

We'll have to take the split

I guess a split with the Yankees in a four-game series in April isn't the worst thing. But after taking the first two games of the series (and winning 5 straight) I was hoping for at least three out of four. We were done in by Chien Ming-Wang on Sunday, but encouraged by CC's solid outing. Then last night, we were done in by a bunch of infield singles by the Yankees in the 6th inning. Aaron Laffey did pitch 5 no-hit innings, so that is something to take away from this one.

I'm still more than a little concerned about Travis Hafner. And basically the entire bottom of our batting order. But I'm hoping we can escape April at .500 by taking the next two from the Mariners tonight and tomorrow night. Fausto gets the start tonight and then the amazing Cliff Lee looks to continue his hot streak tomorrow. I like our chances with those two guys on the mound. Hopefully they can get some support from the bats.

Laffey was solid in his spot start Monday night

There is a 'W' in Sabathia

It took 5 starts, but Carsten Charles Sabathia finally earned his first victory of the season last night, pitching 6 shutout innings and allowing only 4 hits while notching 11 strikeouts. This was much needed from the big fella and a welcome sight for all Tribe fans. And to double our pleasure, the offense decided to make a rare appearance too.

The final tally was 15-1 (damn you Jensen Lewis!) as the bats worked for a season-high in runs and hits (17). The highlights for me were, of course, Casey Blake's grand slam and Franklin Gutierrez's 2-out bases loaded double that scored three. And I must mention that David Dellucci did put together a very nice night at the plate, going 2-5 with a HR. His average is up to .275, so maybe I'll have to lay off him for a little while.

The only low spot in the game for me was Travis Hafner going 0-5 to drop his average to .213. He needs to turn it around too, but the good news is he still has 142 games left on the season. Hardly a time to panic. Let's hope the bats have some hits left in them tonight as Fausto Carmona takes to the hill.

Casey did his part to help the slumbering offense, hitting a grand slam on Tuesday night

Lee Shines Again

Cliff Lee is quickly making a believer out of me this year. He looks like a new man on the mound. He went a very solid 8 innings last night, surrendering only 2 hits to go along with 8 strikeouts and only one walk as the Tribe shutout the Minnesota Twins 4-0. For the season Lee has now gone 22-2/3 innings, collecting 20 strikeouts compared to only 3 walks. His ERA is now a sparkling 0.40. Incredible. I laughed when I heard people saying he could be the difference-maker this year for this pitching staff. So far he has been the glue holding it together, and has surpassed anyone's reasonable expectations.

So the Tribe has now won 2 in a row for the first time since the season opening series vs. the White Sox. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. Casey Blake provided all the offense we needed last night, driving in 3 runs with a single and a solo home run. I'm a little concerned that Travis Hafner sat this one out with a "sore shoulder." We'll see how long this problem lingers...

Cliff Lee is making doubters (like me) eat crow in '08

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

A lesson learned

Games like last night's Tribe game in LA (or is it Anaheim, since the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim play there?) are the reason why I usually opt out of going to bed early in order to watch my teams play late games. You just never know what's going to happen and if you go to bed early, you might miss something good. Of course, after the frustrating loss on Monday night I opted for sleep and missed the ending completely. Travis Hafner hit a huge 2-run HR with two outs in the top of the ninth to give our Tribe a big come-from-behind win. Jake Westbrook also pitched a complete game. Lesson learned: I will stay up for all West coast games the rest of the season. Thankfully the Tribe comes back home after this afternoon's game. I hate these getaway games - we never seem to play well when I'm forced to listen at work on the radio. Let's hope Byrd performs a little better this time around.

Hafner flipped the script on the Angels late Tuesday night

Central update: The Tigers are now 0-7, giving us a 3.5 game lead on them already, even with our mediocre start. I am enjoying this immensely.