Who are these guys?

The Tribe completed an impressive series in Texas by taking all three games over the weekend. And that was on the heels of a sweep of the Royals at home last week. Overall the Tribe has now won 7 straight and is 15-7 in the month of August. They have also swept two consecutive road series, something the team hasn't done since the 2005 season. And they were 20-38 on the road prior to those two sweeps. All of this leads me to a couple of questions: 1) Who are these guys? and 2) Where have they been all season?

"This means a great deal to us," Wedge said. "We want to finish with the best record and as high in the standings as we can. It's about pride. It's about competitiveness."

Friday's 7-5 win featured a strong start by Fausto Carmona to earn his sixth win of the year. And Saturday's 8-7 win included a comeback from a 7-1 deficit. Then last night's 4-3 win had some more clutch hitting from Franklin Gutierrez (.328 BA, .955 OPS, 3 HR, and 12 RBI in August), a great start by Anthony Reyes (7 innings, 1 ER, 4K), and even some nice bullpen work from beleaguered reliever Rafael Betancourt.

A sight for sore eyes - Raffy Righty nailing down a save

So what does all this mean for the Tribe? Who knows. Maybe it's just the ebb and flow of a long season. Maybe it's the fact that all the pressure is off now and they are finally relaxing. But their recent hot streak is impressive when you consider all the changes to the line-up and pitching staff. Who knows how long the good play will last, but they have gotten themselves in position now to finish at least .500 if they can go 19-14 down the stretch. And considering where they were a month ago, any Tribe fan should be happy with where they are now. They move on to Detroit for a three-game series where they will look to leapfrog another team in the Central (only 1.5 behind the Tigers now!). Zach Jackson will get the start for the good guys tonight.

Other Tribe Notes: Sheldon Ocker says the Tribe's recent winning is a group effort. And Kelly Shoppach's play behind the plate is giving the Indians some options for the future.

Cavs Update: Call him 'Le-Bronze' no more. LeBron was able to shed that ridiculous moniker yesterday and now it's time to "witness gold" as he said in his post-game interview. LBJ led Team USA to the gold medal in Beijing with a 118-107 victory over Spain.

The moment he received his medal, James reached down, grabbed it and stared at it. He held it inches from his eyes and just gazed at it, transfixed. And when they handed him a bouquet of red roses, he held them to his nose and inhaled two huge breaths, the sweet smell of victory filling his nostrils and lungs.

And hopefully everyone noticed that the King was the one that started the nice gesture by being the first one to hang his gold medal around Coach K's neck and encouraging his teammates to follow suit. I have a feeling this isn't the first championship that LBJ will be winning, and I think this experience will only help to propel him in his NBA future.

Browns Update: I won't go too much into the Browns' lackluster preseason loss in Detroit on Saturday. In fact, I didn't even see one snap of their "dress rehearsal" for the season since we had a family commitment that day. I know there are a lot of worried Browns fans out there, and I'd be lying if I said I was comfortable with us opening up against the Cowboys in less than two weeks. But the fact remains that the Browns have been very shorthanded the last couple weeks, and the injuries are certainly hurting their preparation for the opener. The good news is that maybe we will be seeing a shorter preseason soon. I know I'm getting tired of shelling out $45/ticket for two games I don't even bother to attend.

Don't forget about Tony Grossi's Monday podcast at noon. You will likely be able to hear a lot of Browns fans being talked off the ledge today.

A grand day for Grady

(My apologies to the handful of faithful readers out there - I was busy yesterday and didn't have time for a post. As Bartles and Jaymes used to say, 'thanks for your support.')

The Tribe has again made the Royals look like... well, the Royals. The completed the three-game sweep of K.C. yesterday with a 10-3 victory at the Prog. It was the Indians' fourth win in a row and 10th in their last 13 games. Grady Sizemore had a banner day at the plate, going 4-for-5 and collecting 7 RBI. And more importantly, Cliff Lee continued his dominant season in collecting his 18th win, going seven strong innings and only allowing two earned runs.

"I didn't feel like I had my best stuff," he said. "I had to battle. The double plays were big. Give credit to the offense. When you get five runs in the first three innings, it gives you some cushion." - Cliff Lee

Grady watches his 3-run shot sail into the party seats in right

With their recent hot streak the Tribe has now escaped the basement of the AL Central and pretty much left the Royals for dead. It gets to the point where you almost feel bad for Kansas City and their miserable performances every year. This will likely be their fifth consecutive season finishing in last place with over 90 losses. But hey, better them than us. The Indians are now also only 2.5 games behind the Tigers for third place in the division. And to keep my dream of .500 baseball alive, they will have to go 22-14 down the stretch. Difficult but not impossible.

The Tribe opens up a six-game road trip tonight with the first stop in Texas. Fausto Carmona will be on the mound to face the Rangers at 8:05.

Other Tribe Notes: Eric Wedge will have to decide who gets playing time with the vets coming back. And apparently I'm not the only one enjoying these Olympic broadcasts... and some updates on the guys on rehab assignments.

Browns Update: The Browns will look to bounce back from the lackluster Monday night game and a shortened week with their Saturday night game in Detroit. Shaun Rogers is resisting the chance to take a shot at his former team. And a former Brown is happy to be paid, even if he is now a backup for Detroit.

Building a lead

There a few things to be happy about (aside from Cliff Lee's turnaround) during this 2008 season for the Tribe. But we should be thankful that they seem to have found a way out of last place and are now building a cushion on K.C. to keep them stuck in the basement. Last night's 9-4 victory at the Prog featured three home runs by the Indians (watch 'em: Sizemore, Garko, and Choo). It marked the Indians' eigth win in their last eleven games and gave newcomer Anthony Reyes his second victory with the Tribe. Even though only 18,946(!) were there to witness it, I'm starting to think that this team may actually be building something for the future. Obviously this is far too little and far too late to make any noise this season, but their goal should be to get back to .500. I had written that goal off a few weeks ago, but at 57-67 (.459) they at least have a shot again.

Grady swatted his 28th HR of the season in the 6th

They will need to go 24-14 over their last 38 games to reach .500, which is a stretch. But they have gone 20-18 over their previous 38 games amid the turmoil of all the trades and injuries. With Barfield, Martinez, and Hafner all hopefully back soon it is an attainable goal and could prove to be a springboard into a much better 2009 season. And it at least gives us some reason to watch every night, right? Zach Jackson will look for his first win as an Indian tonight as the series continues.

Other Tribe Notes: Grady Sizemore is happy to finally hit another home run... Ryan Garko is now more focused... Eric Wedge just wants all his guys back... and finally, there are plenty of reasons to avoid ESPN, but this article is worthy of a read.

"I'd have to say the down you get from failing is way worse than the up you get from being successful. It's something you've got to be able to get past and learn from. … You see people make excuses and you just don't want to be that guy." - Cliff Lee

Browns Update: Some injury updates in the wake of the Giants game, revealing that Cribbs and DA may be lost until the season opener (just what we wanted, ugh). Cribbs has the dreaded high ankle sprain and they are probably just going to be overly cautious with Anderson's concussion. This could spell trouble. I predict a full-blown QB controversy among some fans if Brady Quinn plays well in his start Saturday night. And Terry Pluto gives some thoughts on the team and some scribbles in his notebook.

Cavs Update: LeBron James chipped in 16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals in Team USA's 116-85 whipping of Australia in the Olympic quarterfinals. The Redeem Team will move on to the semifinals Friday morning to face the winner of the Argentina/Greece quarterfinal game.

Swamped in the Meadowlands

Things were not pretty for our Brownies in New York last night, falling 37-34 to the Giants. Of course most loyal Browns fans' immediate reaction after watching the first-team offense and defense was one of panic. It's understandable with a 30-3 deficit early in the 2nd quarter, taking into account all the many bad penalties, big plays given up on defense, and downright horrific-looking offensive plays. It was bad enough that I ended up switching back to the Olympics after seeing Derek Anderson, Josh Cribbs, and Brodney Pool all leave the game with injuries. The three of them will be vital to the Browns' success this year in my opinion.

"Unbelievable," Crennel said. "Evidently we didn't do enough work. I told the team it's my fault for trying to save them in practice by not hitting. We're not very good right now."

But I did feel better after receiving a text from my buddy Nicko. He brought up a good point - after the feel-good training camp and all the national praise, perhaps this is exactly what this team needs right now. A kick in the pants, a bruise to their egos, and a message that nothing will be given to them this season. They need to earn it. And remember, this is just the preseason - a dress rehearsal for the real thing and a place to work all the kinks out. I thought the MNF announcers were especially critical of the Browns when I was watching, with Tony Kornheiser at one point making fun of them for being the "chic" pick this year. I'm sure there was more than a hint of vanilla in the Browns offense last night considering they play the Giants in the regular season. I'll be far more concerned if this is what we see on the field when these two teams meet again on MNF on October 13th.

Seeing DA laying on the turf isn't a pretty sight, even for a BQ fan like me

Cribbs is set to get an MRI today on his injured left ankle, and I'm honestly praying that he is all right. I know Syndric Steptoe had a big game last night and looks like a capable replacement, but Josh Cribbs is a game-changer... Bud Shaw is panicking that the Browns aren't ready for prime time... and even with the bad showing some game balls were awarded (although not officially by the head coach). I'm hoping that Phil Dawson's big leg continues into the regular season. The Browns will have a short week of work, preparing for a game Saturday night in Detroit.

Tribe Updates: Franklin Gutierrez and David Dellucci (a personal favorite of mine this year) have been showing improvement at the plate. I appreciate Dellucci's hard work, but I still don't see how or why he would fit into this team's future plans... Terry Pluto gives his always-enjoyable scribbles on the Tribe... and Matt LaPorta was in the center of an Olympic beanball-fest against Team China yesterday. I'm really getting sick of these Chinese athletes (sorry if my USA-centric opinion is shining through but there is no way those Chinese gymnast are 16). Check out this video at the 2:45:30 mark if you want to see LaPorta getting beaned. And the 2:06:40 mark if you want to see what kind of started it. Just watch out for all the unedited swearing if you're watching at work.

"He told me, 'I'm OK, I'm OK,'" U.S. manager Davey Johnson said of LaPorta "I said, 'No, you're going to the hospital.'"

Not exactly the Olympic moment that LaPorta was hoping for

The Indians are back on the field tonight at the Prog to start a three-game battle with Kansas City to stay out of the Central cellar. Anthony Reyes will be on the hill for the good guys.

A little breathing room

The Tribe finished a nice weekend series win on Sunday, taking two of three from the Angels, the owner's of the best record in baseball. They really could have taken all three from L.A. (or Anaheim, whichever you prefer) if not for some very sloppy defense on Saturday. But as a hefty singer from the 70's once said, two out of three ain't bad, especially in a season like this one for the Tribe where most fans are just hoping to squeeze out any positive vibes.

My wife and I were at the Prog on Friday night to see Cliff Lee go the distance for win #17 in a 3-2 victory (even if it did cause us to miss this). Lee has found the winning formula for the Tribe this year - just keep the game out of the hands of the bullpen. He induced four double plays in that victory, and watching him pitch this year really is great if you followed his struggles last year. By my estimation (and barring any injuries) he should get about 7 more starts before the season is over, and if he pitches anywhere near the level he has so far, win #20 should be here around mid-September.

Sunday's 4-3 win featured a Houdini-like escape in the top of the 9th by Jensen Lewis to get Jeremy Sowers just his second win on the year. Grady Sizemore gave the Indians the lead for good in the 6th. And to illustrate how well the Angels have played this year, this was their first series loss to an AL opponent since May. That is pretty impressive. With the win the Tribe has now won 7 of their last 10 and they have opened up some breathing room in the fight to stay out of the basement in the Central. They currently stand a game and a half up on the Royals and only 3-1/2 behind the Tigers. They will enjoy a day off today to make room for the Browns on MNF :)

Jeremy Sowers finally notched win #2 on Sunday

Other Tribe Notes: The Indians will have some big names in the line-up on Tuesday night in AAA Buffalo. Martinez homered in Akron on Sunday. And Jensen Lewis wants to be the closer of the future. Personally I'll settle for dumping a boatload of money on K-Rod (and his 47 saves already) this winter.

Browns Update: The Browns finally get back on the field tonight for their second exhibition game, this one on Monday Night Football against the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Today's PD jokes about a possible Super Bowl preview, but is it really that far-fetched? There are plenty of reasons to watch this one, even if we will possibly play this team twice more after tonight. Want another reason? It's the debut of the Browns in brown pants. I'll admit, I'm excited for a peek at the new look. And of course, don't forget Tony Grossi's noon chat today.

"I've seen a highlight reel of Braylon [Edwards] catching the ball and me running for touchdowns. We're not the team to look over anymore. Cleveland is in the house. Put us on prime time and let's see what we can do." - Josh Cribbs

Cavs Update: LeBron and Team USA destroyed Germany today, 106-57 to finish pool play in the Olympics. His stat line reads 18 points (7-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range), 3 rebounds, and 2 steals in just 18 minutes of action. If you missed the game, it can be seen in its entirety here (not that I would ever condone watching something like that in the office). Team USA will continue play on Wednesday in quarterfinal action against Australia.

"Going against Greece and going against Spain, it was really easy to get up for," James said. "And we could have easily came in and had one of those games where we make excuses, but we didn't take a step backwards today and that was good, it was really good."

And speaking of LeBron, we've finally found an article about him in a national publication that is worthy of reading. Stop the presses, there is sanity out there. While I don't agree with everything in there (particularly the Ferry bashing - and granted, this was written before we acquired Mo), it is the first national story I've seen that presents valid points as to why LBJ would want to stay here. Imagine that.

There's the 'pen I remember

During the Tribe's recent five-game winning streak, the relievers actually started to look a little better. Jensen Lewis got a couple saves, Rafael Perez looked outstanding, and I was starting to have a little hope that our bullpen wasn't a complete disaster. Then came the last two games. Brandon Donnelly was shelled on Wednesday night, and Thursday it was Rafael Perez's turn, with some gas thrown on the fire by Edward Mujica for good measure. Those two combined to give up 8 hits and 7 earned runs in the top of the 8th inning, turning a 3-3 tie into an 11-3 deficit, and eventually an 11-6 loss.

No need to delve any further into the details of this one, but 13 hits and 6 runs should be enough to get a win on most nights - unless your bullpen gives you no chance, which has been an ongoing theme all season long. If this isn't evidence enough to Larry Dolan that he needs to spend a lot of money on the back end of this bullpen, I don't know what is. I'm usually not critical of Tribe ownership, but if they don't get something done to fix this over the winter I will be extremely disappointed.

The lone good news from Thursday night was that starter Zach Jackson looked pretty solid in his Indians debut and may end up being a key piece to our future as part of the Sabathia trade. He was the victim of some bad luck in the 5th inning when Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo lost a fly ball in the lights, allowing for one of Jackson's three runs allowed over five innings. At least the Royals lost again to keep us a half game out of last. The Indians will look to bounce back tonight as they start a 3-game weekend series against the best team in baseball. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Los Angeles, California in Anaheim (or something like that). Cliff Lee (yay!) gets the start tonight.

The Tribe gets disappointing split after taking the first two from the Orioles

Other Tribe News: Matt LaPorta hit a 3-run shot to help propel Team USA to their first Olympic win on Thursday over the Netherlands. His swing looks pretty nice to me (it can be seen around the 6:25 mark of the video on that link)... Josh Barfield could be back soon... And Travis Hafner finally made it back to Pronkville.

''I think he felt good and he looked good,'' Wedge said of Hafner, the Indians' designated hitter. ''We'll get him back out there Saturday, and hopefully he can go out (on a rehab assignment) next week.''

Browns Update: Kamerion Wimbley is trying out some new moves for '08. I can't wait to see what he can do now that he has some guys in front of him... Travis Wilson is giving credit to Joe Jurevicius for his improved play... and this Steve Sanders is turning into a favorite of mine, and not just because he's a fellow Bowling Green alum.

Cavs Update: LeBron seems to like the trade for Mo Williams (and I'm loving another article from Brian Windhorst). And Williams insists he can play defense.

"I'm excited about the opportunity to play here. I can reiterate, as far as defense is concerned, I know what it takes to win. It's no secret. It takes defense to win." - Mo Williams

At least we know Mo's D will be better than one former Cavalier...

Streak ends at five

All good things must eventually come to an end. We knew the Tribe's winning streak couldn't last forever, and it ended at five as the Orioles took them down 6-1 last night at the Prog. The good news is that the Royals continued their losing ways and spared us from last place for another day. The bad news was that another ex-Indian came back to haunt us. This time it was Jeremy Guthrie, our one-time can't-miss prospect that never panned out for us. He went 7 solid innings against his former team last night to win his fourth straight game. I guess we can add Guthrie to the growing list of former Indians that couldn't figure things out here but have gone one to have solid seasons elsewhere (joining Ryan Ludwick, Russell Branyan, Brandon Phillips, Jody Gerut, etc., etc.). And yes those guys really have combined to hit 71 HR's this year...

"I just focused on what I had to do, blocked things out, and the guys got some big hits," said Guthrie, refusing to say he felt that he extracted any revenge on an Indians team that put him on waivers in January 2007.

Anthony Reyes had another decent start for the Indians, who may have just found something in that minor deal with the Cardinals. Reyes went 6 innings, giving up only two earned runs on 96 pitches. The bullpen did not fare so well (again). This time it was Brandon Donnelly's turn to help raise the ERA of the AL's worst bullpen. He entered in the top of the ninth and promptly gave up 5 hits and 4 earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning, turning a manageable 2-1 deficit into a 6-1 hole. The Tribe will look to make it 3 out of 4 from the Orioles tonight when newly-promoted Zach Jackson gets the start.

Reyes had a second straight solid start for the Tribe on Wednesday night

Other Tribe Notes: Victor Martinez and Josh Barfield are set to start rehab assignments soon. And apparently Masa Kobayashi is getting tired. I know the feeling - I'm tired of watching him get lit up on the mound. And Shin-Soo Choo just wants to watch Korea in the Olympics.

Cavs Update: Now onto the big news of the day yesterday. The more I think about it, I just love the trade for Mo Williams. I liked it when I heard about it yesterday, but I love it now. The fact that Ferry pulled this off without having to use our two biggest tradeable assets (Varejao and Szczerbiak) really shows how hard he must have had to work to get this done. Now we still have their expiring deals, along with Eric Snow's $7M, to package in another deal before the deadline in February. I still think that we will work to get another big man, especially given the loss of Joe Smith. It will really come down to how ready rookie J.J. Hickson is to step into the rotation. And it will be interesting to see where this trade leaves Delonte West in his contract negotiations...

Some trade reactions from around the web:

• Bill Livingston of the Plain Dealer
• Bud Shaw of the Plain Dealer
• Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon Journal (more on him in a moment)
• Cavs GM Danny Ferry
• John Hollinger of espn.com
• Marty Burns of SI.com
• Damon Jones (and yes, this finally puts my mohawk tribute site to rest)
• Mo Williams himself on WKNR yesterday evening
  

And my favorite piece from yesterday's trade comes from Henry Abbott's Truehoop blog, where he gives some background on Brian Windhorst breaking the news of the trade. It's good to have you back Windy :)

After 55 days in the hospital, dealing with all manner of health trouble that I'll let him tell you about if he's so inclined, today was the day that he got to go home for the first time.

Would you believe he actually dictated this story over the phone, from the car, on the way home from the hospital?

Most sportswriters never get to have a "Willis Reed" moment, but Brian has certainly had his.

Also, as expected this morning, Team USA exacted some revenge on Greece in game #3 of their Olympic run. The Americans won 92-63, with LeBron James chipping in 13 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks.

Browns Update: Nothing big today, just some news of a rough practice yesterday. I can't wait till we can start hitting other teams, instead of each other. The real season is now only 24 days away if you can believe it...

Welcome to Cleveland Mo!!!

The Cavaliers pulled off a rather large trade today, bringing in Mo Williams for Joe Smith and Damon Jones. Williams is an offensive spark plug that should help LeBron immensely. I hate losing Joe Smith because I liked what he did in his short time here last year. But Smith and Jones are both expiring contracts and the Bucks were obviously looking to trim payroll. We've been hearing the Williams rumors for the last few days and I have to say I'm fairly shocked that this one went down.

The Milwaukee Bucks traded point guard Mo Williams to the Cavs in exchange for the expiring contracts of guard Damon Jones and forward Joe Smith. As part of the deal, the Bucks will receive Jones and Oklahoma City point guard Luke Ridnour. Oklahoma City acquires Smith and Bucks forward Desmond Mason. Oklahoma City also will send swingman Adrian Griffin to the Bucks.

And probably the best news of the day in this trade - Brian Windhorst returned to the ABJ to break the story! Welcome back Windy, you were sorely missed.

Mo Williams brings his 17.2 ppg to Cleveland to help out #23

Climbing our way out

Don't look now but there's a new last place team in the AL Central. For the first time since July 26th, the Tribe has emerged from the cellar and put the Royals back in their rightful place. I'll try not to get too far ahead of myself, but I see we are only 3-1/2 back from Detroit now too. And just so you don't think I'm kidding, visual proof:

The Indians won their fifth straight game last night, this time a 7-5 victory over the Orioles. They did it with more solid hitting and again overcame some shaky bullpen work late in the game. They were also helped by Baltimore kicking the ball all over the field, amassing four errors in the process.

Jeremy Sowers was in line for his long-overdue second victory of the year (he has gone at least six innings in five straight starts, yet has nothing to show for it) but Masa Kobayashi quickly put an end to that. Kobayashi's line for the night - 0 outs, 2 hits, 1 earned run, and 1 inherited runner scored on 13 pitches. Not good. But Rafael Perez was good (his ERA is down to 2.80 after a disastrous start to the season) and he enabled the Tribe bats to get another win over an AL East team.

Asdrubal Cabrera was the hero at the plate again last night, getting the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the eighth. Cabrera is now hitting .324 for the month of August (8 hits in his last four games) and appears to finally be comfortable again at the plate. And Jensen Lewis did some nice work in a 1-2-3 ninth inning to get the save in the ever-changing closer experiement for the Tribe. They will look to extend the winning streak tonight at the Prog with another one against Baltimore. Newcomer Anthony Reyes will make his home debut for the good guys.

I could get used to this winning thing

Bye-Bye Birdie: It wasn't all good news from the Prog yesterday. Paul Byrd was dealt to the gates of hell to play for Satan's team (otherwise known as being traded to the Boston Red Sox). I wasn't aware that Byrd had even cleared waivers when I learned of the deal yesterday afternoon. As I've said before, he wasn't the greatest pitcher ever to wear an Indians uniform. But he had a lot of heart and I will always fondly remember his Game 4 start in New York last year in the ALDS. And Byrd was treated so unfairly in last year's ALCS with the whole HGH thing. I will always wish him well personally, but I hate seeing him go to Boston. Ugh. The Indians will either get cash or the infamous player to be named later in return...

"I don't know if the trade is ironic because of the HGH thing," said Byrd. "I think it's more ironic because it's the team that beat us. I wasn't a Red Sox fan this off-season, let's put it that way. Putting on that Red Sox jersey may take a minute or two."

Other Tribe Updates: The neverending search for bullpen help was again a topic of discussion yesterday. And with Byrd's spot in the rotation coming up again tomorrow, it looks like Aaron Laffey may be coming back up to Cleveland.

Browns Update: Just when I thought it was safe to type "arthroscopic surgery" in an earlier Browns update, we're hit with this. I know we are deep at tight end, but it's still not something we need. And Tony Grossi had been saying that depth may help us land a defensive back in a trade, so now, who knows? At least Donte Stallworth wasn't really trying to win the number one receiver job.

Beasts of the East?

I think at this point the Tribe might be wishing this were 1993, before the divisions in baseball were realigned and we had the pleasure of residing in the AL East. Of course, we were also still in the old Stadium and our roster was pretty horrible (aside from young Thome, Belle, Ramirez, etc.). But the point I'm trying to make is that in 2008 the Tribe has been awful in the own division (just 17-30 vs. the AL Central), but a stellar 16-8 vs. the AL East after the weekend sweep in Toronto and then their 13-8 victory last night against Baltimore. To illustrate the quirkiness of realignment in MLB, this was somehow the first time the Indians faced the Orioles since May 7, 2007 (they have played the Reds - a team from the National League - 12 times since then). It doesn't really make sense and no one is really a fan of it as far as I can tell:

"It's a tough thing, but it's the same for both teams," Wedge said. "I don't
like it, but there's nothing I can do about it. It's part of baseball. Now that
we have interleague play and the unbalanced schedule, that's how it works out."

Last night's game was a bit of a wild one, with the Tribe taking a 7-3 lead into the 7th inning. Then Fausto Carmona ran out of gas and Edward Mujica, in true 2008 bullpen fashion, somehow allowed 4 runs to score on just 4 pitches (sadly, he was only charged with one of those runs). He proceeded to blow the lead and the win for Carmona, only to end up getting the win himself when the Indians' offense scored three more runs in the bottom of the 7th. It's been that kind of
year for the Tribe. Asdrubal Cabrera was the hero at the plate last night with the game-winning RBI double, to go along with a 2nd inning home run. Andy Gonzalez also hit his first home run in an Indians uniform. Brandon Donnelly also made his Tribe debut, returning to a major league mound for the first time in over a year, working a scoreless 8th inning.

Gonzalez was one of three Indians to homer on Monday night

The Indians and Orioles continue their 4-game series tonight at the Prog with Jeremy Sowers still looking for his 2nd win of the year. With a win and a Royals loss the Tribe can climb out of the Central cellar for the first time since July 26th.

Other Tribe Updates: Ryan Garko appears to really be sorry (at least to "the clones") about not running out that grounder. And we get some injury updates on Victor, Hafner, and Barfield.

Browns Update: Steve Sanders (no, not him) is temporarily seizing the opportunity with the first-team offense in the wake of Braylon Edwards' bizarre post-practice shoeless foot injury. And Romeo isn't too concerned about the injury. He also is seeing improvement in the secondary.

Cavs Update: LeBron chipped in 12 for Team USA in their 21-point win over Angola this morning. They are now 2-0 to start the Olympics with their most important games (Greece and Spain) next on the horizon.

LeBron and the Redeem Team won easily on Tuesday morning

Busy weekend

It was a busy weekend for my wife and I as she earned her Master's degree from Bowling Green State University. But in between the trip to BG on Friday, the graduation party at our house on Saturday night, and all the overnight guests, we were able to see/hear some of the Tribe's sweep in Toronto over the weekend. It's been a recurring theme this year that the team seems to play some of its best baseball when I'm occupied with other things. So I wasn't all that surprised by the sweep, I just wish they could play like this when I'm actively watching.

We caught some of Friday night's game from the patio of the great BW-3 on East Wooster in Bowling Green. That was the site of many formative drinking nights in my younger days, so it was nice to be back there again watching the Tribe. Anthony Reyes made his Indians debut and gave us reason to think that one of Shapiro's trades may already be paying off. He was able to scatter 7 hits over 6-1/3 innings, while allowing only one run in the Tribe's 5-2 victory.

"I was excited just to start somewhere fresh," Reyes said. "I think with St. Louis, that was probably it for me. I was excited for the opportunity and just excited to be coming here, having a chance to come up here and compete."

On Saturday we heard most of the game from the Ohio turnpike while heading back home. Paul Byrd was outstanding yet again, pitching a complete game (on only 93 pitches), while allowing only two runs and 6 hits in the Indians' 4-2 win. That game also featured a bizarre ending, just when it seemed things might be getting a little dicey for Byrd. At this point, I'm hoping Byrd just stays on the team (and helps on the quest for a non-last-place finish) because he's not going to clear waivers in a trade.

"I feel good with where I'm at right now," Byrd said. "I'm very confident. I know my numbers aren't great for the overall season, but right now I feel like I can beat anybody. I feel like I'm at the top of my game."

Then Sunday's game was only seen in bits and pieces between all the Olympic-watching we were doing at home. Cliff Lee became the first Indian ever to start a season at 16-2 in the 4-0 win, continuing his stellar turnaround from a year ago. He went another 8 shutout innings yesterday, giving him 17 consecutive shutout innings against Toronto this year. David Dellucci and Jhonny Peralta gave Lee all the support he would really need in the top of the first inning. Lee is inching closer to becoming the Tribe's first 20 game winner in 34 years.

Lee has dominated the Jays (and everyone else) in 2008

"It's just easier when you're having success," Lee said of his superb season. "Things go easier, you have more fun. Things flow better when you're having success. I'm going to continue to just ride it out."

The Indians will look to build on their three-game winning streak as they return home tonight and finally get to play outdoors on natural grass (the dome road trip through Minnesota, Tampa Bay, and Toronto won't be missed, I'm sure). They start a four-game set against the Orioles tonight with Fausto Carmona starting for the good guys.

Browns Update: I haven't blogged since Thursday's preseason opener so I wanted to give a few quick thoughts...

• Our first-team offense looks unstoppable by anyone not named Mother Nature. I can't wait to see these guys on the field again.
• Braylon Edwards makes at least one spectacular catch per game. If he stays healthy (more on that below) he might get 20 TD's this season.
• I wouldn't worry too much about our DB's giving up big plays to the Jets. Most of the guys that were on the field at that point will be selling insurance or playing in NFL Europe (if it even still exists?) soon.
• I wish everyone would just cut Brady Quinn some slack, including Chudzinski. Everything he does seems to be hyper-analyzed by the fans/media, and overprotected by the coaching staff. Let him air it out, and let him make some mistakes in the preseason. He needs to learn more on the field, and he will no doubt be needed in a big spot at some point in the future.
• And speaking of Quinn, his value went up a few notches after watching Ken Dorsey struggle through the fourth quarter. Somehow his 8-for-26 and 2 INT's don't even begin to tell the story of how bad he was out there.

So now on to the bad news. You knew it would happen sooner or later - a freak injury to a Brown. We really cannot afford to go into battle without Edwards, so let's all just hope and pray for no staph infections, no unexpected arthroscopic surgeries, and please no "teeny, tiny fractures to the non-weight bearing bones" to any more of our Browns.

This is not a sight that any Browns fan was looking forward to...

The Browns also signed two safeties yesterday to try and shore up the depth in the defensive backfield. And K2 is looking to help a rookie teammate. Don't forget that it's Monday, which means it's time to chat with Tony Grossi at noon.

Cavs Update: LeBron did his best and almost came up with the Olympic highlight of the day on Sunday (the US men's 4x100 swimming relay team narrowly beat him out) with a resounding and-1 alley-oop dunk. And he did help lead Team USA to a resounding rout of China in their basketball opener with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Team USA takes on Angola tomorrow morning in their second game.

Hitting rock bottom

I thought the Tribe hit rock bottom this season on July 9th when they lost their 10th consecutive game. It seemed at that point that things couldn't get much worse. They had blown a bunch of winnable games during that stretch and finally slid to 16 games under .500 before partly righting the ship and rattling off four straight wins over Tampa Bay just before the All-Star break. The worst of the season was over, right? Time to look toward the future and watch some of the younger guys fight for spots on the team next year. At least that could be interesting to watch. But there was nothing interesting about yesterday's game in Tampa Bay. A more proper way to describe it would be sickening.

The Indians officially hit rock bottom yesterday around 4:00 PM when their bullpen completely imploded. Holding a 7-4 lead heading into the 9th inning it felt like things were safe and they would escape taking two of three in the series against the resurgent Rays. But then Edward Mujica, the latest experiment in the great closer search of '08, was handed the ball. Just nine pitches later, Eric Wedge was forced yank Mujica from the game with the score tied at 7 and still no outs. Masa Kobayashi got the call and did Mujica one better, allowing three more runs on just 8 pitches and not recording an out. Final score: 10-7. The Rays danced around near home plate and the Tribe headed off to Toronto to continue their awful season. Thankfully we are spared from watching the 'pen again today as the Tribe has the day off in Canada.

Next up, Kobayashi to complete the implosion

I should note that the bullpen can't be completely blamed for this one. Indians hitters were nearly as awful (excluding Jhonny Peralta who was a stellar 5-for-5), leaving 18 men stranded on base. It's just a continuation of the year-long theme of zero clutch hitting and disastrous bullpen work. And that's a great recipe for a last-place finish.

Other Tribe Notes: Ryan Garko was benched yesterday after not running out a ground ball in the second inning, just to round out the Tribe's great day. Garko has really been a mystery to me this year. And some injury updates and call-ups yesterday. I'm gonna go out on a limb and predict that Brendan Donnelly will be getting a shot at the closer's role in the near future. He can't be any worse than the other candidates have been.

Browns Update: FINALLY, we get to see the Browns on the field in some real game action (at least as real as the preseason can get). They will take on the Jets tonight at the Stadium in a 7:30 kickoff. Thankfully the Brett Favre saga didn't end until yesterday, but I have a feeling it will still be somewhat of a media circus surrounding the Jets. Romeo Crennel is looking forward to assessing his players in a real game setting. And Brady Quinn promises to remain a patient understudy to DA.

''I want to see how the rookies react to the environment with people in the stands and it actually counting,'' Crennel said. ''Also in the preseason, the tempo of the game increases. . . . So I want to see how they handle that. Will they hit? That becomes an important thing — and how they handle getting hit.''

Cavs Update: The Cavs released their 2008-09 schedule yesterday. They will be the very first game on the NBA schedule this year, opening in Boston on October 28th with revenge on their minds. The Cavaliers will be featured on 25 national TV games (not including games aired on NBATV). They also get another Christmas Day game, this time against their bitches, the Washington Wizards.

LBJ & the Cavs will look to spoil the ring ceremony on 10/28

Also of note, Bud Shaw agrees about the lunacy of LeBron playing in Europe. We will get to see LBJ take center stage on Sunday when Team USA plays China in their Olympic opener.

The sky is falling!!!

Well, not really, but the good folks at ESPN would like to have Cavaliers fans believe that. I can really see no other explanation for why this story was released last night and is still featured prominently on the front of espn.com. I'm already sick and tired of hearing about LeBron leaving and his unrestricted free agency doesn't even begin for almost two years from now. The fact of the matter is that he will not play in an inferior league, even for an outrageous offer like $50 million/year. Marginal talent like Josh Childress (a nice player, but nowhere near a superstar) might signal a beginning of more NBA players heading overseas to chase more money, but I just can't see a star like LeBron ever doing the same. I think the "person close to James" that leaked this story is probably doing this just to hype up the international appeal of LeBron's marketing plan. And what better way to do it than release this information just two days before the start of the Olympics? Now international basketball fans can watch the greatest player in the world and drool over their chances to snag him in 2010. Sounds to me like a great strategy for the making of a "global icon," a goal LeBron has stated many times in the past. But fear not Cavalier fans, he won't be heading to Europe, and he has over a hundred million reasons to stay in a wine and gold uniform.

LeBron to Europe? I don't think so.

Speaking of that, let's take a quick look at the Cavaliers' salary cap numbers. As much as the national media would like you to believe that LeBron is leaving, he has no reason to. Not only can the Cavs offer him more guaranteed money over more years than any other NBA team, but Danny Ferry has also done an excellent job of clearing cap flexibility for the next two off-seasons. The expiring contracts we have this season (Wally Szczerbiak, Damon Jones, and Eric Snow) total over $25 million. You can bet these will be used in a trade at some point to bring in more talent for this season. And Joe Smith and Anderson Varejao (if he opts out of his non-guaranteed year for 2009) will clear another $10 million. Then we will have another $25 million coming off the books in 2010 with Ben Wallace and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The point I'm trying to make is that the roster you see now will not be the same roster over the next two seasons. It will be more talented and should give Cavs fans everywhere a reason to smile. Just be patient and we will hopefully see LeBron get his 'Pippen' and a few other guys to help bring us the title we crave. And that said, we are already very close even with this far-from-perfect roster. LeBron is that good. The sky is not falling and the future is bright in the short- and long-term for this franchise.

Tribe Update: You knew it had to happen eventually - the Tampa Bay Rays finally figured out a way to beat our Indians (just their fourth win in their last 23 tries against the good guys). All you need to know about this one is that the Tribe could not find a way to drive guys in once they were on base (13 runners stranded!) and Rafael Betancourt continued his downward spiral. Then he decided to make it worse. And then Edward Mujica joined in the home run party. When the dust finally settled the Tribe lost again, 8-4.

Yay, they brought in Betancourt!

Thankfully the Royals lost too, so the Indians are still within shouting distance of finding their way out of the Central cellar. I've given up on my silly dream of .500 baseball this year and am now just hoping to finish ahead of the Royals. Today Jeremy Sowers gets the call for the Tribe in a 12:40 start (the always fun weekday getaway game). This one could get ugly.

Browns Update: Day 13 of training camp brought more details about Josh Cribbs hoping for a new contract. Tony Grossi says that Cribbs is out of line. We also got the news of Gary Baxter's arthroscopic knee surgery, and I was not surprised (let's just hope for no follow-up staph infection). And D'Qwell Jackson expects to have a big year, thanks to the new d-line in front of him.

''My loyalty is to this football team and I'm sure they'll show me the same loyalty in return.'' - Josh Cribbs

These guys are in first place right?

I just checked the standings and the Tampa Bay Rays do in fact lead the AL East by three games over the Red Sox. But you'd never know that by the way they've played against the Tribe this season. Last night's 5-2 win in Tampa puts the Indians at 5-0 vs. the worst-to-first Rays this year, with the Tribe outscoring them 36-10 in those five games.

More importantly in this lost season for the Indians, Cliff Lee improved to 15-2 with last night's victory, going 7 solid innings and only allowing 2 runs on 115 pitches. I've run out of things to say about Lee's season, but I'm really hoping he can keep this up over the next two months. Having him win the Cy Young after his nightmare 2007 would make this season a little more bearable for all Cleveland fans. But he will likely have to be very solid down the stretch to convince the baseball writers to vote for him. I actually caught a small piece on ESPN yesterday claiming that Joba Chamberlain should be in contention - he has pitched 89 innings, compared to Lee's 153 - so that's the mentality we're dealing with...

General Lee just keeps rolling along

Asdrubal Cabrera and David Dellucci provided all the run support that Lee would need last night. I cannot tell you how much I hate that David Dellucci is #2 and the DH in our lineup right now, but I'll at least give him credit for his two home runs in three games this month. And I won't complain about his .238 average and 39 RBI on the season (in 256 at-bats!). Well maybe I just did complain. The best news from last night's game was the bullpen performance from Rafael Perez, giving the Tribe a 1-2-3 8th and 9th inning to preserve the win for Lee. That's the Perez that we all fell in love with as the set-up man in last year's great run. I hope this Perez decides to stick around for a while. And if we could ever get Betancourt back on track we could have the two Raffys back again to bolster our AL-worst bullpen.

Other Tribe Notes: Newly-acquired pitcher Anthony Reyes may soon be heading up to Cleveland. And there are a few other reclamation projects that may get their shot with the big-league club in the coming weeks.

And sometimes baseball just doesn't make much sense. From what I remember, this guy was awful with the Tribe:

Ryan Ludwick was named NL Player of the Week for hitting .538 (14-for-26) with four homers and eight RBI for St. Louis.

Browns Update: The Browns finished up Day 12 of training camp yesterday. Romeo Crennel said that Brady Quinn will get most of the work at QB on Thursday night. And Josh Cribbs is reportedly looking to restructure his contract. I doubt Cribbs will let this become a big distraction, but it is something to watch.

Cavs Update: The Cavaliers finally signed a free agent yesterday, inking Tarence Kinsey to a deal. He will likely take the spot in the rotation that Devin Brown played last year. He's young, athletic, and is a safe pick for Danny Ferry. I expect more moves to be made, but right now everything is delayed until the Delonte West situation gets resolved.

Meet your newest Cavalier, Tarence Kinsey

Locked in the cellar

The Tribe ended another 'blah' weekend in Minnesota yesterday with the Twins taking two out of three in the series. Friday night featured Nick Blackburn shutting down the Indians' offense yet again (he's 3-0 with a 1.30 ERA in four starts against the Tribe this year) in a 4-1 Twins' victory. The Indians did put a nice game together on Saturday night behind another strong start from Paul Byrd for a 5-1 win. Byrd has only given up five earned runs over his last four starts, totaling 26 innings of work. But the same old Tribe reappeared yesterday when they had a chance to win a series, this time in a 6-2 loss to the recently reactivated Francisco Liriano (of course his first win of the season). The Tribe is now 17-30 (.362) vs. the Central Division, and that is the main reason they are now firmly locked in the Central cellar, a full three games behind the Royals. The series loss also makes them 19-36 (.345) on the road and by my unofficial count, 12-20-4 overall in series this season. I guess the good news is there are only 52 games left.

The Twins are now 10-5 vs. the Tribe this year... compared to 4-14 last year

The Indians continue their road trip tonight when they open a three-game series vs. the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays (only five sellouts this year???). The Rays should have revenge on their minds in this series after losing four in a row at the Prog back in July. At least we get to see Cliff Lee pitch tonight.

Other Tribe Notes: Not that this is really news, but Eric Wedge would like a new closer by next spring (I'm begging, please be K-Rod, please be K-Rod). And the Red Sox have reportedly offered Joe Borowski a contract. Not exactly the recipe for repeating as World Series champs.

Browns Update: Remember Travis Wilson? The Browns used a third round pick in 2006 on the receiver from Oklahoma and so far he has given us just two career receptions for 32 yards. With the injury to Joe Jurevicius the Browns are looking for someone to step us as a reliable third receiver and he has impressed his coaches thus far in training camp.

''Travis has had a particularly good OTA (organized team activities) period, he began to show up and make some plays, and I think that has carried over to training camp here because when the ball comes his way, he's been catching them,'' Crennel said.

The Browns may also have found a diamond in the rough to fill in for the injured Antwan Peek. And today is Monday so don't forget about Tony Grossi's noon update from training camp (if you can't tell by now I'm a big fan of these).

Cavs Update: Terry Pluto reports that the Cavaliers are talking to Denver about J.R. Smith. Personally I'd be shocked if we gave an offer sheet to a restricted free agent at this point. I think a trade would be the only possibility, but I've been wrong before.

Could Smith soon be wearing wine and gold?

And from China, LeBron James chipped in 10 points in 24 minutes to help lead Team USA to a 21-point win over Russia. The Redeem Team has one final tune-up vs. Australia tomorrow before the real games begin.

Finally a 'getaway' win!

I've been harping on it all season here, but the Tribe finally accomplished what I thought was impossible yesterday - a win in the dreaded weekday 'getaway' game. The 9-4 win gave them a split in the 4-game series with the Tigers (although they really should have taken 3 of 4), and gave Fausto Carmona his first win since May 12. He was much stronger in this outing than his previous one, going 6-1/3 innings and allowing only 2 earned runs on 99 pitches. Grady Sizemore provided some offensive punch with his 27th home run (2nd in the AL), a 3-run shot in the 5th. And Ben Francisco made a terrific diving catch early in the game.

This picture just speaks for itself - Fasano & Kobayashi, an unstoppable battery

Granted, the Indians are still in last place in the Central - a full two games behind Kansas City - but they have played much better of late. Since the 10 game losing streak that seemed to last forever (June 28-July 9) they have gone 10-7. Not earth-shattering, but respectable given all the injuries, trades to key players, bullpen struggles, and pitching rotation scrambling. The trade deadline did pass without Paul Byrd being dealt yesterday, but he still could be moved sometime this month.

The Tribe pushes on tonight in Minnesota, beginning a 9-game road trip that will also take them to Tampa Bay and Toronto. Jeremy Sowers will get the start tonight and can hopefully improve his dreadful 5.86 ERA and 1-5 record.

Other Tribe Updates: Some info here about finalizing the CC trade and some early returns on the Casey Blake trade. And some updates from the farm. And Grady Sizemore is having a career year, in case you hadn't noticed.

''I just pace around the clubhouse,'' Sizemore said. ''My routine is so crazy; I don't really want to get into it. I think I do more running in the clubhouse than I would if I was playing in the field."

Browns Update: The first injury news of training camp hit yesterday. Not a huge blow but it's always nice to have depth on defense, so let's hope Peek is back for the regular season. Terry Cousin is one guy who's not worried about the Browns' secondary. And Andra Davis likes the talent all around him. Finally, Terry Pluto gives some views from Thursday's practice.

Of course no training camp report would be complete without a dumb video update:


Cavs Update: LeBron returned to action yesterday with 20 points (8-9 from the floor) to lead Team USA to a 114-82 exhibition win over Turkey in China. He then chipped in 15 points this morning (7-9 from the floor) as Team USA dumped Lithuania, 120-84. And LeBron is now using FIBA rules to his advantage in China.

You just know Loozer wishes he still had this guy on his team every night