Jays Series a Microcosm of the Season

Well the Indians finished up the first half of the season by dropping 2 of 3 to the sub-.500 Toronto Blue Jays and have lost 4 of their last 6 to fall 1 game behind the now AL Central leading Detroit Tigers who polished off a sweep of the powerful Boston Red Sox this afternoon.

The Blue Jays series was a perfect microcosm of the Indians season to date. In Game 1, the Indians managed to battle back after one bad inning by a starting pitcher (Cliff Lee), to get within one run of the lead, only to be done in by some shaky bullpen work (Fernando Cabrera) pushing the Jays’ lead back to 3. The Indians managed to put a run on the board in the ninth but ultimately fell short when they couldn't catch a break or come through in the clutch.

In Game 2, they ultimately came out firing on all cylinders putting up 9 runs in the first five innings behind a solid outing by a starter (Fausto Carmona) and the game was never in doubt. The “good” bullpen (Rafael Perez, Rafael Betancourt, Joe Borowski) came in to toss 3 2/3 innings of 1 run baseball to make sure there was no treat to the lead.

And then in Game 3, after averaging 7.5 runs in the first two games, the Tribe put up a giant goose egg and squandered a gem of an outing by a pitcher (Paul Byrd), who threw 8 innings of 3-hit shut-out, baseball before allowing a base runner in the ninth who scored after a questionable call by Uncle Eric in deciding to pitch to the Jays’ only All-Star and hottest hitter instead of intentionally walking him to set up the double play. This was after the Indians loaded the bases in the top of the ninth and failed to score as they failed to come through in the clutch.

This has been how the first half of the season has gone from day one… an ongoing roller coaster of what to expect with the same trends over and over. The Tribe has managed to persevere despite their shortcomings. Last year they were 18 games out at the All-Star break, this year they are 1. They have 4 days off until they have a 6 game home stand against AL Central bottom feeders Kansas City and Chicago. Let’s keep the recent trend of monster second halves going, boys. We’re going to need it.

Motor City Sh!tty

After trading punches Tuesday and Wednesday with the division rival Detroit Tigers, the Tigers essentially mopped the floor with the Tribe beating them up 12-3 to take the series 2 games to 1 and move within one game of the AL Central lead with 3 games to go before the All-Star Break.

C. C. Sabathia, in his last start before the All-Star Game, gave up 7 runs and 10 hits in only 4 innings for the Indians as the game was over by the third inning when Carlos Guillen hit a 3 run homer run off Sabathia and was out of reach when Gary Sheffield hit a 3 run shot in the fourth. Sabathia who did not have his "A" stuff today looked over matched throughout the entire contest.

The question is, was the game an aberration or will the Tigers use it as momentum going into the second half of the season? The first two games were highly competitive with the Indians catching a couple breaks and coming through in the clutch to win in 11 innings Tuesday The Tigers turned the tables in winning Wednesday night's affair. The Tribe still leads the season series 6-4 with 9 games to play.

If anything the series added a little fire to the rivalry as the Tigers seemed to cry foul on every little nuance. Whether getting Rafael Betancourt called for automatic balls for pitching too slowly or Ivan Rodriguez whining about where Travis Hafner stands in the batter's box every time up, the Motor City Kitties seem to be even less likable than their neighbors the Detroit Pistons. Just another reason to hate Michigan and that's fine by me.

The Indians head North of the border to take on the Blue Jays in Toronto for a 3 game set in Canada to finish off the first half. A sweep against the sub-.500 Jays would be nice. The Indians swept Toronto in a 3 game series earlier in the year at Jacobs Field.

Halfway Home

49-32 - First Place American League Central

30-12 at home at Jacobs Field (and Milwaukee)

434 Runs Scored - 2nd in MLB

24 Saves - T-5th in MLB

3 All-Stars - (Martinez, Sabathia, Sizemore)

Now if you would have told any Cleveland Indians fan before the 2007 season that you knew that this is where the the Tribe would be after 81 games, two things would have been true: you were full of sh!t and any true Indians fan would have gladly accepted this position.

But the tone around the fan base is one of pessimism, not optimism. There is talk of the lack of prodcution from the veteran OFs (Dellucci and Nixon) signed in the off season. There are rumblings about the need of a RH power bat in the middle of the line-up. Many are worried about the lack of clutching hitting and daily production from the team, especially Travis Hafner. And there is concern over some of the young arms in the bullpen (Cabrera, Mastny, Mujica) not living up to expectations.

But despite this, the Indians remain on top of the AL Central, less than two games removed from the best record in baseball. Yes, you read that right, less than two games removed from the best record in baseball.

I prefer to look at it this way. This is where the Indians sit DESPITE the issues they have had the first half of the season. Imagine the offense when Travis Hafner awakens, and he will, from his June slumber. We've gotten a glimpse of the Indians starting pitching staff this past week when they are at full strength and hitting their spots. The Indians were 17 GAMES BEHIND after 81 games last year... SEVENTEEN! Under Uncle Eric they have historically been a notorious second half team. In 2007 they aren't starting the second half needing to make a hard charge. Instead they need to maintain and hold off the Tigers and the hard charging Twins.

I'm not saying the Indians are the best team in baseball. I'm not saying that they are a mortal lock for anything. All I'm saying is that right now, despite all of their faults, they are in 1st place, somewhere they haven't seen for quite a few years.

And, IMHO, that's pretty damn good.

Westbrook Shines, Francisco Delivers

And with that, and thanks to the hard charging Twins steamrolling the Tigers, the Tribe regains first place over the Tigers by 1/2 games.

Despite struggling again on offense, (can we PLEASE cut down on the strikeouts) the Indians managed to top the Devil Rays, 2-1, in the opening game of a four game set at Jacobs Field. The great thing to see was Jake Westbrook's 7 inning, 5 hit, 1 run, 2 walk, 7!?! strikeout performance in his second start after coming off the Disabled List. Jake worked out of a bases loaded, 1 out jam in the first and gave up a run in a shaky second, but was lights out from then on. Unfortunately the Tribe offense was dormant and he was blocked out from picking up the win. That went to closer Joe Borowski who pitched a harmless ninth, and for the first time I can remember, came through in a NON-save situation.

The Indians won on a walk off home run by Ben Francisco, the first batter reliever Shawn Camp faced in the bottom of the 9th. The dinger was Francisco's first in the Majors and was the capper to a night in which he slapped his first major league hit to RF in the 4th inning.

Even with the slumbering offense the Tribe appears to get a little more of their moxie back which they seemed to rediscover after taking 3 of 4 from Oakland. A good sign after looking dead in Washington, DC against the lowly Nationals. The Indians MUST stop playing down to their opponents and a sweep of the D-Rays prior to heading to Detroit would be nice.

3 Outta 4 Ain't Bad

Well, it wasn't easy or pretty, but the Tribe managed to come through when they needed it most and take three out of four games from the A's after a 4-3 come from behind victory this afternoon at The Jake.

Other than Fausto Carmona lasting an inning plus three more solid outings from C. C., Cliff Lee and Paul Byrd. C. C. had one bad inning and was dominant in the series opener on Monday, notching Win #11 on the campaign. Lee and Byrd did not pitch brilliantly but solid enough to allow the Indians to hang around and notch two come from behind victories via a pair of three run home runs. Team Rafael (Betancourt and Perez) continue to be blinding, brilliant lights from heaven (or the bullpen) and Joe Borowski managed to weasel his way out of a sticky situation in the 9th inning of today's game to notch his 22nd save.

On the offensive front, hopefully a good omen as both Travis Hafner and Ryan Garko have shown signs of life during what have been horrible, horrible Junes for both. Jason Michaels continues to impress with today's 3-run bomb to win it and a key PH double on Monday night. I am still not sold on him as an everyday player but he has taken advantage of the Dellucci injury and you can not knock his defense despite his minor brain cramp in the 9th today. Franklin Guitierrez showed a little more pop in his bat but still needs to show more consistency at the plate and get his OBP up. And what can you say about Kelly Shoppach? The PH 3 run JACK to win it on Tuesday (and he laid down a sacrifice bunt today) and I love the way he calls a game. If anything good came out of the Pronk/Garko June swoon it may be the fact that we got to see what Kelly Shoppach can do and so far, I like it.

The Tribe stands at 13-13 for the month of June which is incredible with how God awful they have played this month. They open a 3 game set with the putrid D-Rays tomorrow so lets hope they make it 15-13 heading into July and the All-Star Break. Let's be positive people. They sit sit only 1/2 game out of first and there is still a ton of baseball left to be played.

DC Disappointment

I actually paid money to watch this in person?!?

In what I can only describe as putrid, embarrassing, upsetting and stomach churning, the Indians managed to score 6 total runs and lose the final Interleague series of the year, 2-1, to the hapless Washington Nationals, a team who experts predicted at the beginning of the year could challenge for the MLB record for losses in a season. The Indians put up 1, 4 and 1 runs against the Nats powerful starting rotation of Micah Bowie, Matt Chico and Jason Simontacchi. This put the Indians at an even 9-9 in Interleague play when almost every other American League team put up a winning record.

On the bright side Grady Sizemore is Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez is Victor Martinez. Fausto Carmona, Paul Byrd and Jake Westbrook all had average to above average outings especially when compared as to how they have fared recently. And the bullpen despite a few jambs actually pitched pretty well. But that is not saying much going up against a Nationals team who is dead last in nearly every offensive category and has used 9 different starting pitchers this year. Remember this is a Nats team who was just swept by the Tigers in 3 games by a combined margin of 32-13.

The worst thing is that the Tribe looked completely like a team that did not want to be in the Nation's Capital playing baseball. Aside for Sizemore and Josh Barfield it definitely looked as if the Indians thought they could just show up and the Nats would hand them 3 games. Despite their poor record, the Nats do come to play every night and Manager Manny Acta doesn't tolerate a lack of effort. Now I thought that was Uncle Eric's strength, motivation. He may need some work on this in game managing but I thought his M. O. was getting the most out of his players. If that's the case, the Cleveland Indians are in trouble. The Indians can lose and I can deal with it, but I was embarrassed at the way they played this weekend. With the Tigers peaking right now, the Tribe is in serious trouble if they can't get out of this funk they are in.

The return home for a seven game home stand against Oakland and Tampa Bay before headed to Detroit and Toronto to close out the first half of the season. Let's hope they can right the ship before the All-Star Break.