Thursday, August 28, 2008

10 in a row!


The Tribe has been able to rattle off 9 straight wins since my last post. Some friends of mine believe this blog is a jinx on the Indians and said that the next time a put something up the team will subsequently lose. Whatever the case, I will continue to post weekly and it is nice to talk about some positive developments. Although the last 3 teams seem to have given up their respective seasons (Royals, Rangers, Tigers), a team still has to play these games and the Indians seem to be collectively succeeding. The keys to the Indians streak has been clutch hitting and a bullpen that is finishing games. After the installation and execution of Jensen Lewis as closer, the rest of the bullpen (Betancourt, Perez, Donnelly) have settled into their respective roles. Ryan Garko and Franklin Gutierrez have been a hot streak, and Kelly Shoppach and Jhonny Peralta have provide much needed power. Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee have continued their All-Star seasons, and the potpourri of pitchers (Reyes, Jackson, Sowers) have been just good enough to put together quality starts. Now back to the hear and now...


The Indians currently have a record of 65-67, with 30 games left. If the Indians go a respectful 20-10 to end the season, here is what the rest of the teams in the races would have to go for the Tribe to make the playoffs.


Red Sox 7-23

Yankees 14-16

White Sox 8-22

Twins 9-21


Basically, barring a complete meltdown by 3 of these four teams, the Indians are still done. The frustrating part is give the Indians just 5 more wins somewhere amongst the first 4 months, and they would still be in the race. Oh well, we might as well just enjoy our Tribe playing well now and wait until next year for contention again