Game Thread: July 31, 2007

LF Catalanotto
2B Kinsler
SS Young
DH Sosa
CF Byrd
RF Cruz
1B Wilkerson
C  Laird
3B Vazquez

CF Sizemore
LF Lofton
C  Martinez
DH Hafner
1B Garko
SS Peralta
RF Nixon
3B Blake
2B Barfield

Has Victor even been pied this year?

Opps, Its tv idiot.

Gradyforpresident - we'll be "all ears."  :-)

I'm glad to see Garko has solved the 1B hole we were worried about at the beginning of this season.  That was a nice grab on that bounce.  

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

Man, I'm teaching a course at the University of Washington and a few of my students were giving me the business about the Mariners being just one back in the Wild Card.  I might have to fail them.  

Also, is it my imagination or is he standing more upright again; a friend of mine noticed that when he had some good swings the other night, even hitting the ball hard the other way (though it was an out,) he seemed to be in more of a crouched position.

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

Maybe they expected a trade today too!

Come on, bear down, Fausto!

GatorTribeFan, a Panini overstuffed sandwich is delicious.  Really big.  The one I usually get is stuffed with genoa salama and some kind of cheese and ham.  I think there's coleslaw in it.  They put french fries in the sandwich.  It's excellent drunk food is what it is.

But it seems to me like his "even-keel attitude" and the "veteran calming presence" that a Nixon brings can both be blamed for our lack of urgency that we've all noticed over the last month or so. Granted it's very important the offence doesn't start to press, because that often makes things worse, but these guys need a good kick in the pants.

Read the thread - not as much negative energy as usual when the Tribe's down.

Disappointing trade deadline day for the Tribe.  But we're a better team today than last week.  We're still in the thick of it.

As and far as team morale goes, it's a tough call. On one hand, they make take it as a vote of confidence in their abilities. Or they could be looking forward to getting a valuable piece that may get them a step closer, and see this as a semi-failure.

Hopefully, Garko's HR did the trick, though lately, many of our runs have come on the HR; without the HR, it seems like we don't score - we're not bunching many hits together, probably because outside of Garko, no one is really blistering hot.  We need to turn that around soon.

Hafner, 367 AB'S 17 HR, 68 RBI, .822 OPS

Hafner, please catch fire!  Please!

5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 8 K, 1 WP; 2 G/7 F; 67 S/44 B (3.72)

Lee's line was something like 1 BB/6 K before I refreshed it this last time, but it seems he hit another bump in the road in the 6th, which is why Syracuse leads Buffalo 2-1 in the 7th.

Two other notes:

RHP Matt Miller - 0.2 IP, 2 K; 0/2 IR scored (i.e. got out of Lee's mess unscathed; perhaps this is why the Indians decided not to pay a high price for a reliever - were there many out there that were significantly better than Miller?)

3B Andy Marte - 0-4, 1 K (.242)  I would have strongly considered that rumored Cordero deal if they would have taken Marte, as I am not confident he'll ever live up to his potential.  Plus, either Cabrera (via SS and moving Peralta to 3B) and/or Hodges could help to make Marte expendable within the next year or so.

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

What was Michaels waiting for?  It was right down the middle.

I sure hope the offense wakes up soon - this is the Texas Rangers' pitching staff we're facing; this was Brandon McCarthy, the guy with a 5.52 ERA, the one who's given up 84 in 76.2 IP, the guy who's walked 36 and struck out 46, the guy who's given up 3+ ER in 6 of his last 10 starts, we were facing.

I'm starting to think the offense is becoming more of a concern than the bullpen or the rotation; why does it seem like every season that we go through this prolonged drought where virtually everyone in the lineup goes cold?  I know teams have dry spells, but this dry spell has been going on for two months with almost every hitter?  Is Shelton's job that secure, especially if this offensive funk continues, or might he be replaced for the 2008 season?

Just wondering.

But I will say this: There is something very, very wrong with this team right now. It's been playing .500 for two months, and that's not a playoff contending team.

There's this funny thing in sports where teams losing routine games almost always look apathetic.

• Wedge needs to stop the even keel stuff...get pissed, get tossed, do SOMETHING!

• Our veteran players need to lead another players only meeting and call out everybody. The air needs to be cleared.

• I am not proclaiming the sky is falling but this terrible play on most nights is getting old. I don't want to hear about our outstanding offensive numbers, score some runs to support what quality pitching we do have.

• Please get it together so that when I get back, baseball is still worth watching when the Tribe is playing (I can't stand the Yankee boasting, even here now in almost August). I am not ready for the Browns just yet!

Jack

I can't believe it but the Yankmees are right there.

[insert Cleveland angst here]

But we'll be fine. This is why we have games every night. No time to mope around.

April: 115 runs in 22 games = 5.23 runs/game
May:   180 runs in 30 games = 6.00 runs/game
June:  136 runs in 28 games = 4.86 runs/game
July:  121 runs in 26 games = 4.65 runs/game

In my mind, this offense hasn't been the same since that comeback victory over Detroit on June 1 - realize that we've only won more than 2 games in a row once since early June, and that was in late June and early July with a 6-game winning streak and winning 8 out of 9.  I agree that it seemed like that was the moment we were going to break out of that 3-week funk in June, but unfortunately, we fell right back into it again and are still in that funk through July, winning 1-2 games, then losing 1-2 games.

In regards to the Yankees and the Mariners, that play is probably not going to cut it for much longer if we want to reach the postseason.  Somehow this team needs to start playing more like it did in April and May, especially offensively.  

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

- Pedro Cerrano

They have 13 straight games (counting tonight) then they have 3 offdays in the following 8 days.

Sorry about the pessimism - I'm VERY FRUSTRATED AT THIS POINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Astrocab finished 4-5 and scored 2 R batting in the #2 spot; he's currently batting .500 (SSS understood.)  His first three hits were line drives, the first two to CF, the third one to LF.  His final hit was a flyball hit to CF.  His one out was a groundout to the pitcher, leading to the force at 2B.

Not a bad way to finish up your 2nd day at AAA.  :-)  

Also, Francisco has struck out 7 times, I believe, in 3 games back at Buffalo, as he's still trying to get reacclimated to AAA, it seems.  He's currently hitting .317.

Marte went 1-5, getting his lone single in the 9th with 2 outs, keeping the game alive until C Mike Rose made the final out on a GO to 1B.

As for Lee, that 6th inning was disastrous to his line, and what led to his loss.  (Does this sound familiar?  :-)

Here's what happened to Lee in that 6th:

GO to 3B (Out 1)
BB
BB
Coaching visit to the mound
K of Ford-Griffin (called strike 3 - Out 2)
2B to CF, 2 runs score
BB
Replaced by Miller, who strikes out Sal Fasano.

That unfortunately sounds very much like the Cliff Lee we know - let's hope he can make some progress while at Buffalo.  

Just my 2 cents.  :-)