Royals Swept Away

When in need to end a whole team slump, what better destination is there in the American League than Kansas City? The Indians played a nearly flawless 2 days of baseball, vaulting themselves into 2nd Place in the AL Central. Miraculously the Tribe has pulled within 2 games of .500 with the dreaded New York Yankees invading Cleveland tonight. Solid to outstanding starting pitching was prevalent all series. Hitters who have been struggling contributed, and the team made zero errors. With six games remaining, it is not out of the realm of possibility for the team to finish April 4-2, resulting in a 14-14 record. That would be an amazing feat considering how bad the Indians have played so far this year. Hopefully Progressive Field will be jam packed with Tribe for this upcoming four game series, but more than likely there will be many Yankee fans in attendance.

Here were some of the Highlights:

Grady Sizemore: 5-14, HR, 3 RBI. Had a great first game of the double-header, not so great the other two. He has tee'd off on average pitching as of late, but against tougher pitchers, he has struggled. Grady has become an outstanding mistake hitter, but his eye has been a bit off on breaking stuff in the dirt.

Casey Blake: 6-8, Grand Slam Homerun, 8 RBI. Casey collected almost 40% of his hits in two games, was aggressive as he usually is with first pitch strikes. Leading the team in RBI from the 9 hole.

David Dellucci: 3-9, 3 runs, one huge late inning homerun, 3 RBI. David has broken the left field curse (even though he misplayed a double in the last game of the series). If utilized correctly, can be a huge part of this team against right-handers.

Ben Francisco: 2-6, double, 2 runs, 1 RBI. He's Back!! Even though it looks like his stay will be short, he proved in the first game yesterday that he should be on this team at least plattooning in left field. Great slide, good at-bats, should not be in Buffalo anymore.

Masa Kobayashi: 1 1/3 innings, 0 hits, 0 earned runs. Masa pitched in a semi-pressure situation in the first game yesterday and pitched well. Has elevated himself into the 7th/8th inning role.

Cliff Lee: 9 innings, 3 hits, 9 K's, 0 earned runs. Cliff has been the best pitcher in baseball this year, now posting a eye-popping 0.29 ERA. Lee will come back to earth sooner or later, but has been the one stable force on this team all year.

Areas of Concern:

Aaron Laffey/Jeremy Sowers pitching 2 out of the next 4 games: Hopefully one of them can hold serve against the dreaded Yankees.

Jason Michaels: Had 2 hits yesterday, 1/3 of his season total. Needs to be jettisoned off the team so Ben Francisco can help this team progress. I asked my friend Kyle why most Tribe fans hate him like I do, and he said, "Who likes a chubby curly-haired blond guy anyways?" So true.

Jensen Lewis: Fastball is below 90 MPH, has been struggling most outings. Seems to have pitched himself out of the 7th/8th inning, making the bullpen a bit weaker.

The Evil Empire invades Cleveland tomorrow. Andy Pettite will take on Paul Byrd in a battle of the HGH hurlers.

Down on the Farm Report: Adam Miller

It has been a struggle for Adam Miller to even get on the mound for a game that counts. Between elbow, shoulder, and blister problems, this farm phenom has been limited to just 19 games last year. The 23-year old Texan fire-baller has been rumored to be included in almost every Tribe trade possibility over the past few seasons. My friend Ryan has said that he is a myth, never to ascend to anything. I believe he will be our future closer. Yesterday was Miller's first appearance in a game that counted, and he pitched well. He threw 5 innings, gave up 4 hits, walked 2, 0 earned runs, while striking out two. The Indians plan for him is to keep Miller starting in the minors to stretch his arm out. If all goes well, we may be seeing this alleged number 1 prospect sometime this summer in an Indians uniform.

Tales from the Teepee Volume 5: Paul Sorrento

Special to the TTO

There was nothing better than the Tribe at the Jake in the mid to late 90's. The '95 edition of the Wahoo Warriors fielded an All-Star lineup that won 100 games in a strike shortened season. Belle, Baerga, Lofton, Ramirez - all household names. But no one Indian captivated the hearts and minds of tribe fans more than Paul Sorrento. Paul was blue-collar all the way. A first baseman with limited range, in '95 Pauley batted a cool .235 but mashed 25 monster bombs. It was all or nothing with the mighty Paul Sorrento. He was the Average Joe that every once in a while would be that bolt of lightning that would lead to a big inning. More often that not he would strike out or send a weak grounder to short, but he did just enough to share time with Eddie Murray at first base.

Whether it be his signature Soprano style mullet, or the fan favorite giant bowl of spaghetti and meatballs that glowed from the Jacobs Field scoreboard each and every time Pauley stepped to the plate; tribe fans will forever hold a special place in their hearts and minds for Paul Sorrento.

Teepee Trivia Note of the Week - Paul Sorrento was the 1st Cleveland Indian to hit a grand slam at Jacobs Field.

by Frisky

Westbrook Placed on DL, Francisco called up

In a somewhat surprising move, Jake Westbrook has been placed on the 15 day DL with a left intercostal strain. The Indians have not said yet when the injury occurred. Jake has been pitching great this season, so this adds to the quickly mounting issues for the Tribe. Ben Francisco will probably play the next four games as a sort of audition before the Indians need a starting pitcher for Saturday. Paul Byrd will now throw Friday, and I imagine Aaron Laffey will fill in Saturday. The developing situation will concern how well Francisco plays. If he is knocking the cover off of the ball, a move with Andy Marte or possibly Jason Michaels will be on the horizon.

Tribe Bats Go Back to Sleep

Travis Hafner was definitely not toasting his Budweiser to these last two games. Five runs in three games? That is all the Twins and Indians could muster over a three game series. The Twinkies took two of these pitching masterpieces, dropping the Tribe down to a 7-12 record. I understand teams go into hitting funks but this is borderline ridiculous. Pitching was finally not the issue in any game. This team looks flat and unable to string any momentum from game to game. The Cleveland media has said numerous times that GM Mark Shapiro will not make any drastic changes until the 40 game mark. If the offense continues to sputter, a change in the outfield corner slots or at second or third will become necessary. If I had an answer to this teams terrible play, I sure would not be blogging.

Here were some of the few highlights:

Cliff Lee: 8 innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 8 K's, 0 earned runs. Pitched a gem, leading the AL with a 0.40 era, Has started almost half of the Indians wins. They are 4-12 when he does not pitch

Paul Byrd: 7 innings, 6 hits, 1 earned run. Byrd has seemed to put his early season struggles behind him, producing back to back solid starts. The lack of run support hopefully will not get to him.

Victor Martinez: 4-12 1 RBI. Is consistently making contact, pounding out hits, still is slower than usual on the basepaths. Needs more chances with RISP.

Casey Blake: (Friday's Game) 2-4, HR, 3 RBI's. Provided the offense in the only win of the series. Also hit the lone homerun. Looked bad at the plate Saturday and Sunday, but so did the whole team.

Areas of Concern:

Eric Wedge: Why on earth did he pitch to Justin Morneau in the tenth? He is the best player, most legitimate RBI threat and they already dodged fate by getting him out in the 8th. Also leaving Rafael Perez in was a stretch, let's see what these other guys in the pen are made of. Andy Marte probably will be gone by May, but why not let him play in a few games? It is not like he could do any worse than a lineup that scored 1 run in 19 innings.

Grady Sizemore: 2-13, 0 walks. As a leadoff hitter he has to get on base more. Just struggling along like the rest of the team.

David Dellucci's Defense: The guy may be able to climb a wall, but he is not good in left. He has made two diving catches but that is more due to his lack of range. Dellucci's arm is like spaghetti, and he covers zero ground.

Travis Hafner: 1-8, one sore shoulder. Pronk says he is OK but his swings and approach look more like 2007, which will severely damage the lineup.

Jhonny Peralta: 1-7. The hitting rollercoaster that is Jhonny's 2008 rumbles on. Looking forward to some consistancy.

The Indians get a much needed day off tomorrow as they travel to Kansas City to take on the Royals. CC Sabathia takes on Gil Meche. Hopefully the Tribe can win their first series since April 3rd.