Pronk Returns, Carmona sent WAY Down!

As speculated yesterday, Fausto Carmona has been sent down to the minors, but to Rookie ball down in Arizona. This is pretty telling, demonstrating how far Fausto has fallen. I imagine they will be able to keep better track of him down there with all of the new technology and the club will probably send special instructors (Tim Belcher, Jason Bere) to monitor his progress. Look for Carmona to be "working on things" for a minimum month time period. It looks like Tomo Ohka will be the new addition to the rotation, just hopefully on a 1-2 start basis until Aaron Laffey and Jake Westbrook return. Travis Hafner returns, which will help out the beleaguered lineup even if he only able to play 4-5 times a week. It will also take some pressure off of Shin Soo Choo, as he is more of an 5-7 hitter anyways. The DiaTribe has some good lineup solutions today for our Wahoos, so make sure to check it out.The Indians take on the White Sox this weekend in Chi-Town for a 3-game series.

Former Tribe owner, Dick Jacobs passes away

The former owner of the Cleveland Indians, Richard E. "Dick" Jacobs passed away after suffering from a longtime illness. He was 84 years old. Jacobs was the man responsible for turning the organization around during the 1990's as the Tribe won 6 American League Central Division Championships and 2 American League Pennants. The team also went to two World Series (1995 & 1997). Dick Jacobs was actively involved in Cleveland's Gateway Project which helped to build the Indians a new stadium and to bring the Cavaliers back downtown. Progressive field, formerly know as Jacobs Field or "The Jake" was also named after Jacobs. During his tenure Jacobs Field held a record of 455 consecutive sellout games. In 2001 Jacobs sold the team to Larry Dolan and family for $320 million.

Thanks for the memories Mr. Jacobs...you will be missed!

Fausto pounded again, Likely headed to Columbus

After allowing 7 runs in the first 2 innings today (raising his ERA to 7.42), Fausto Carmona is likely headed to Triple A Columbus. With Travis Hafner likely being added tomorrow in Chicago, Fausto will probably be the guy headed out. Columbus pitching coach Scott Radinsky has done a great job with guys like Rafael Perez, Jeremy Sowers, and Aaron Laffey (maybe they should have him up in Cleveland)! I imagine that won't be the only move coming, because Trevor Crowe looks terrible at the plate, Luis Valbuena has been struggling, and with Victor Martinez healthy, Chris Gimenez doesn't look to be getting too much time. I would imagine everybody's favorite rookie Matt LaPorta won't be down in Columbus too much longer as the injuries and inconsistencies pile up.

As for the series, barring an unbelievable comeback, the Tribe will lose 2 of 3 to the Twins. The first 2 games were played well, but Carmona pretty much killed any momentum the club was looking to build on from Wednesday's 10-1 victory (a great start by Cliff Lee with a bit of Jhonny Peralta sprinkled in). Hopefully the pitching will be adequate, because the back end of the the rotation as of now (Sowers, Huff, Ohka) looks pretty scary right now. Great for Columbus, but not so hot for a Major League squad.

As expected, Cabrera placed on DL, Barfield back up

Asdrubal Cabrera Wednesday became the 9th member of the disabled list (now tied for first with the Rays) with an AC joint separation or sprain of his shoulder. Ironically his injury matches his initials. Eric Wedge's favorite pinch runner Josh Barfield is back to the club, where he will presumably go back to his role of warming the bench until one of the slow footed Tribesmen need a running replacement. Expected ot fill in at shortstop will be Jhonny Peralta and Luis Valbuena with a sprinkle of Jamey Carroll from time to time. Too bad we have no other promising shortstops at Triple A to fill in, because this would be a great time to see what we have (where's Wilson Valdez when you need him!). Hopefully Peralta won't boot too many out there. The lineup for the game today is as follows...

CF Ben Francisco (R), 3B Jamey Carroll (R), 1B Victor Martinez (S), LF Shin-Soo Choo (L), SS Jhonny Peralta (R), RF Mark DeRosa (R), DH Ryan Garko (R), 2B Luis Valbuena (L), C Kelly Shoppach (R)

This collection of batters does not remind many of the '27 Yankees, that's for sure. It is the summer, it is our favorite team, and it is baseball, so crack a cold one, place it against your head, can come suffer through another losing season. Tribe Time; Where Infirmary Happens!

Tribe Loses Game, Shortstop

The Indians lost more than a game Tuesday, they lost their second most consistent everyday player when Asdrubal Cabrera attempted to break up a double play and ended up either separating or extremely bruising his left shoulder. I imagine Cliff Lee will throw his arm out and Victor will break his other knee cap sometime soon (and LeBron will anounces he is signing with some European team next season). Who really knows who the Tribe's leadoff hitter will be now. Ben Francisco? Jamey Carroll? Yikes is right. A season that most Cleveland fans thought was one of promise has turned into an utter disaster and they have only played 53 games. If Asdrubal is placed on the DL, I imagine Josh Barfield, Tony Graffanino, Matt LaPorta and possibly even Andy Marte (double Yikes) are all candidates to be recalled. J-Barf and LaPorta are probably the choices since they are on the 40 man roster.

The worst part of the injury is that it means we will be seeing Jhonny Peralta returning to shortstop. Jhonny was playing pretty well at third and moving back to the middle of the diamond will not help out the team fielding or the pitchers as Cabrera was vastly superior. This also means Mark DeRosa will be back at third base more regularly, a position he did not fare very well at before the changes were made (6 errors). This new injury should not prevent the Tribe from possibly trading DeRosa. Get the NL teams to bid against each other and take the best deal so he can play for his new NL club for 4 months instead of just 2 if a deal was made at the deadline. This team is pretty much dead, so get what you can for him and let Carroll, Valbuena, and even Gimenez fill in at the hot corner.

As for the game Tuesday, Joe Mauer keeps on killing AL pitching raising his batting average to .433 by going 3-3 with a homerun and 3 RBI. He is one of the best in the league and I imagine Twins fans will not enjoy seeing him in a Yankee uniform in 2011. Victor Martinez homered and was robbed of another by a great play by Carlos Gomez. David Huff pitched ok, but fell behind to many hitters after the 3rd inning. The Tribe had their chances to come back with runners on, but a lineup that sports Valbuena(who over swings), Crowe (who looks completely over matched), and Shoppach(who strikes out a ton but is sporting a tremendous beard) as your 7-9 tends to not strike much fear in the hearts of the opposition.

The Indians look to grind it out and get after it Wednesday as Cliff Lee takes on some guy named Anthony Swarzak. Still only 8 games back!!! (Triple Yikes!!!)

Down on the Farm Report: Lonnie Chisenhall

Most of the Cleveland Indians top prospects currently are playing ball in Ohio for minor league teams(LaPorta,Brantley,Rondon, Santana, etc.), or the big league club (Huff, Valbuena, Sipp), but there is a future star currently ripping up the Carolina League down in Single A Kinston that will soon be playing a lot closer to Progressive Field. With the organization still not completely settled on an infield for the future, top prospect Lonnie Chisenhall may be just be the fixture Cleveland has been looking for.

2008 First Round Selection helped the K-Tribe win yesterday with a two run homerun as Kinston defeated Wilmington 3-2. It was Chisenhall's team leading ninth home run of the season. He now leads the Carolina League with 42 RBI and is tied for second in home runs. Lonnie has posted .305 AVG .384 OBP .519 SLG .903 OPS in 48 games this season, pretty impressive stats for a 20 year old in his first full season in pro ball. Chisenhall's defensive stats stand out, but not really in a good way.

The former Gamecock made a position change over the offseason, moving from shortstop to second base. This season he has already committed 16 errors in 41 games over at the hot corner. Chisenhall was able to work all last season and spring training with former Indian and current Rookie ball Manager of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers Travis Fryman, who had to make the very same transition during his time with the Detroit Tigers. Fryman made the move flawlessly, and Lonnie seemed to take in everything his coach had to teach him. Usually your best athlete on a baseball team is put at shortstop, so I don't envision it being a problem for Chisenhall. With the Indians Farm system looking increasingly week at 2B, SS, and 3B at the higher levels, the team has a lot riding on this guy.

The Pitt Community College product has been named Carolina League Player of the Week twice already this season and has hit 3 grand slams already this season. He has a line drive swing that looks quite pure from the left side. Chisenhall probably needs to develop a bit better plate discipline by drawing more walks to help him move on up to Akron. I wouldn't be surprised to see him possibly moved to 2nd base sometime in his minor league career if continues to struggle at third base. He has the arm for any position in the infield, so it will be interesting to see where he projects as a Major Leaguer. As he gets older and stronger, I imagine his power numbers will increase even more.

I would consider Lonnie Chisenhall as one of the top 10 prospects in the Indians organization today. He is progressing rapidly through the system with a possible AA appearance in 2009 at the age of only 20. With current Indians' contracts up in a few years, (Martinez, Peralta), the team will be in desperate need of an impact bat. Chisenhall just maybe that guy.

Walking Wounded

The Indians dropped 3 of 4 to the Yankees this past series, but are competing with a depleted roster. They walked 11 batters today, but only lost 5-2. With Grady Sizemore placed on the DL, the lineup has taken on a new less-than-potent look. The roster has turned over so much that the celebration from Sunday's game (pictured above) almost looks like the guys are meeting each other for the first time instead of an exciting 9th inning win (Jhonny, meet Luis, Kerry meet Tomo.)

The key to Monday's game was with 2 on and nobody out, Kelly Shoppach (has been awful lately) popped up a sac bunt that subsequently doubled off Ryan Garko at second base. After Joba Chamberlins' obnoxious mannerisms over his good play, Jamey Carroll was thrown out attempting to steal. That sealed the deal for any shot of a rally. That was the ballgame right there, as Greg Aquino walked the bases loaded in the top of the 7th that led to a 4 run inning. Aquino pitched out of a bases loaded jam (Sowers walked the bases loaded in the 6th), but was unable to pull the Houdini act again. Jeremy pitched great for 5 innings, but became Jeremy Showers again in the 6th. This guy can just not figure things out on a consistent basis.

I attended Sunday's game which was well played by both teams and featured a walk-off single by Jhonny Peralta. The annoying part of my experience was having to sit in the right field mezzanine surrounded by Yankees fans wearing jersey's with their favorite players' names featured on the back. Do they know that their Bronx Bombers only sport numerals sans any lettering featured above? Apparently not. My wife and I figured that there was at least twice as many pinstipes as there were Tribe supporters out where we were sitting, which is pathetic. She actually turned to the gentleman sitting behind us who was dressed from head to toe in Yankee gear and snapped at him when he wondered why the Indians would bring in their closer in a tie ballgame. She said "he hasn't pitched in 3 games and they already went through 3 relievers last inning," which shut up the front runner and his snot-nosed son right there. Now you know why I married her. It made the victory that much more fun right there, even though it felt like we were cheering for our team in an opposing park.


Friday and Saturday's games were losses, one by a great pitching performance (Pettite) and another by a poor one (Carmona). Cliff Lee battled Friday but could just not get any run support. Fausto was the crappy Fausto as of late, allowing 7 runs (4 earned) in 4 innings. I didn't watch really any of Saturday's game as I was "witnessing" another Cleveland heartbreak. 2 up 2 down for the series over the weekend.

2 up

Victor Martinez fouled a ball violently of his knee Saturday, was back in the lineup Monday and stroked a homerun that my buddy Kyle was one row behind (he ducked for cover, just inexcuseable). The guy is a gamer and the team leader. I know the club shouldn't rush into any long term contracts when they are sattled with Pronk's albatross of a deal, but Victor needs to be in an Indians uniform for the next 5 years.

Carl Pavano has pitched fantastic in May and has helped settle a spot in a rotation that has been decimated by injuries in ineffectiveness. This guy has shown guts and I have to give him credit, he sure proved me wrong.

2 Down

All Kelly Shoppach has done over the past 4 games is go 1-14 with 8 K's. He now has 39 K's in 109 plate appearances (36%). That is just awful. Shapiro should have traded him in the offseason when his value was at the highest of his career. Don't be surprised to see Chris Gimenez a bit over the next week.

Fausto Carmona is completely lost and needs some major revamping of his pitching delivery. Get someone up here to help him figure things out because our ace of the future has become Albie Lopez.

Some good news on the injury front came out today, as Jake Westbrook is scheduled to make a 3 inning appearance for Akron Friday. If he has no setbacks, look for Jake to return to Cleveland sometime at the end of the month. It will be huge addition to the mash unit of a club, as Aaron Laffey is scheduled to return at the end of the month as well. Scott Lewis is making progress so all three could be in the pitching mix by July 1st. With Grady and Betancourt placed on the DL, the Columbus shuttle continues. You tend to forget who is actually on the roster anymore with guys like Tomo Ohka (my dad called him Timo Ocho yesterday) rounding out the 25. The Clippers have been forced to sign guys off of the street just to field a team (who is heck are Blaine Neal and Ken Ray)? The Indians move onto Minnesota Tuesday as David Huff looks to string two solid starts together against Kevin Slowey. Let's just hope they don't lose anyone else to injury.

Clippers Clips: "Hypnotized"

There are two things that Columbus Clippers starting shortstop can claim that no other person on the team can....a batting average below .200 and the fact that he is the only white guy on the team, scratch that, in the world that comes up to the plate with rap music. That's right, Andy Cannizaro, the 5'10 170lb number 9 hitter who looks like a mix breed between the bitter beer guy and an umpa lumpa comes to the plate each time when he is up to none other than NOTORIOUS B.I.G's "Hypnotize" That being said, the Clippers took a little bit of what seems like will be A-Can's only clam to fame will ever be, and used it to whoop up on Norfolk on Monday night beating them 16-3. I was truly HYPNOTIZED after this one folks. After getting crushed the last three nights by the Tides, the Clippers took one out on starting pitcher Radhames Liz. Although the right hander threw some gas topping out in the high 90's. As they say.... "the faster it comes in the faster it goes out!" Just ask Matt Laporta who went 3 for 4 hitting a blast off Liz in the 2nd inning. Also looking good tonight were Andy Marte going 3 for 5 and Jordan Brown going 2 for 3. As a matter of fact the Clips did so well tonight that Cannizaro even went 2 for 5, but don't worry his average is still under .200, finishing the evening at .197. Maybe he will drink a few Keystone Lights tonight and erase that face

Notables in this game were Travis Hafner and pitcher Joe Smith. Hafner who went 1 for 4 had two things going for him. Number one he looked really good in his uniform tonight, and number two he swung the bat with some authority. I was really impressed with his warm up swings in the on deck circle. In one of his warm up swings he took it deep, it look to me like it would have been a Home Run (more importantly he seemed not to strain or pull anything). Anyhow, I am sure he will be back up to Cleveland any day now. Joe Smith also made his first appearance in his rehab assignment. Although he did not look as good as Hafner in his uniform (not as muscley), he looked pretty good having only faced 4 batters and giving up one hit. The MPH sign on the scoreboard said he maxed out at 93mph however from my vantage point it looked closer to 94.

Jack Cassel started for the Clippers throwing 5 shutout innings before giving up 2 runs in the 6th and 1 more in the 7th. As mentioned earlier, Joe Smith threw to four batters in the 8th and then Blaine Neal came in for the save in the ninth, shutting the door the only way he knows how. All in all, the Clips were running on all cylinders tonight. The win brings Columbus back to .500 with a 26-26 record which oddly enough keeps them in first place of the God awful International West Division. Let's tip our cap and chug another Stone for ole' Cannizaro, every AAA club needs a guy like him!

Transaction Update: Tony Sipp gets recalled from Columbus

Tony Sipp was recalled today, as Rafael Betancourt was placed on the 15 Day DL. Raffy's groin injury will probably shelve him for 2-4 weeks, adding him to the list never-ending long list of disabled Indians. Their 8 man infirmary (Sizemore, Scott Lewis, Laffey, Reyes, Joe Smith, Hafner, Westbrook and Betancourt) is the second most behind Tampa Bay's league leading 9.

Since being in Columbus, the T-Train was 1-0 was a 4.15 ERA in 9 games. He has already pitched 6 1/3 innngs for the Tribe this year with a 4.26 ERA. It will be interesting to see who will be pitching the 8th inning for the Tribe, as Betancourt (although shaky sometimes) was the most reliable pitcher out of the pen. IT will be probably based on match ups with Sipp and Rafael Perez being the lefties, and Matt Herges and Luis Vizcaino being the righties. As long as Sipp doesn't totally implode, he should be on the roster for the remainder of the season.

Sizemore placed on DL, Gimenez recalled from Triple A

With Grady Sizemore suffering for several weeks from an ailing left elbow the Indians have finally placed him on the 15 day disabled list. Although no structural damage was shown after an MRI the Tribe thought putting Grady in the DH spot would help with his recovery...apparently that was not the case. Sizemore has only played in three games at Centerfield since May 16th. With this in mind, it marks the first time in his career that he has been on the DL.

Things are not looking to bleek for the Tribe right now as injuries keep haunting them. Yesterday in the first inning Victor Martinez went down after fouling a ball off his left knee. He is currently day to day and his ex-rays were negative after he was sent to Cleveland's Lutheran Hospital. Furthermore relief pitcher Rafael Betancourt left Sunday's game after only three pitches. Dennis Manoloff from the Clevland Plain Dealer commented today saying, "Since Betancourt takes three times as long between pitches compared to other pitchers, does this mean it'll take him three times as long to recover back to being ready to pitch? Only time will tell. So, with all of these injuries the Tribe had to make a move today. That move was bringing the versatile Chris Gimenez (pictured left) up from Triple A Columbus. Gimenez, a 2004 19th round pick was brought into the organization to play third base, however he has seen much of his time behind the dish; and with Victor being day to day the Indians need another backup. Furthermore, Gimenez is much liked by Tribe manager Eric Wedge because of his ability to play various positions.

So far this year in Columbus he has seen time at both corners in the outfield as well as First Base and Catcher. In fact the 26 year old rising star has seen the following time in the field this year: 25 starts at catcher, 11 in the outfield and 3 at first base. Offensively Gimenez started the year off slow batting only .151 in the month of April, however he has quickly started to come around as he is batting .294 in his last 10 games. As of yesterday he was hitting .235 with 15 RBI's, 6 HR's. His OBP is .323 and OPS is .749.

Clippers Clips: New Diggs for the Indians Triple A Affiliate

In the off season not only did the Cleveland Indians get a new home for spring training, they also got a brand spankin new home for their Minor League Triple A affiliate. The Wahoo Warriors teamed up with the International League Columbus Clippers who just opened up the brand New $55 Million Huntington Park (pictured above), which was rated by Ballpark Digest as one of the best new Baseball facilities.

With Cleveland knowing that their contract with Buffalo was ending after last season it work out perfectly for the Tribe as the Clippers only signed a two year agreement with the Washington Nationals (after previously being affiliated with the Yankees for over 30 years) and that contract was also up last year. It only made sense for the Tribe to make the easy trip down I-71 and team up with Columbus' finest...Columbus Clippers ring your bell! This new affiliation now leaves Cleveland with all but one of their Minor League affiliates in the Buckeye State. There were also two other factors that made sense for Cleveland.

#1 The Clippers were building a brand new beautiful state of the art facility
#2 This would be a fantastic oporrtunity to expand their fan base in the State Capital.

Because I live in Columbus, I have had the opportunity to watch 8 games at Huntington Park this year. Upon entering for the first time I can honestly say I was shell shocked....was this really a Minor League Facility....and did I just pay $3 to park and $6 for a ticket, someone pinch me. This facility is literaly a Major League Park on a smaller scale. It has all the ammenities, it is spacious, yet at the same time it is VERY intimate. You can pretty much sit anywhere and feel like you are on top of the field. For those of you who never experienced the old Cooper Stadium no need to worry. It was a piece of _ _ _ _! I hope they bury it in the cemetary that sat right next to it. At Cooper Stadium you had a 50% chance of either sitting next to someone who had about 4 teeth and another 50% chance of sitting next to NOBODY! The facility was so old and outdated and just did not draw a good crowd...not to mention it was in a terrible ghetto of a location. Ok, enough of my tangent on how crappy the old Clippers Stadium was.

Huntington Park brings an excitement to Downtown Columbus and a brand new clientele. People actually want to go to this place. It is always packed whether it is a Tuesday night game or Saturday day game. It is definitely an event. Sure there is an actual game going on, but you can make a night out of it. In left field they have a building that you would think has been standing forever...wrong. They built the AEP Power Pavilion building to make it look that way. It is truly a conversation piece in itself. The first floor houses the ticket office, Clippers Cargo team shop, restrooms, and concessions. The second floor is AWESOME. It is literally a huge bar...I said HUGE. The second floor basically gives you several options. You can sit out on one of 6 balcony's, you can belly up to the bar with friends and drink a cold one or do some shots if you wish, you can order food, or you can look at all the Clippers and Indians memorabilia that surrounds the entire floor. If you walk up to the third floor of this building you will notice two things that might be familiar. The first thing you will notice is the bleachers. Huntington Park took a little piece of Wrigley Field and put it in Columbus. That's right, there are bleachers high atop the building looking out onto the field. The second thing you will notice is the smell of Central Ohio's famous Roosters chicken wings. Roosters took over the third floor by offering their famous chicken wings and of course, you can always get a beer to quench your thirst.

Now, for the rest of the facility.... like I said it is truly amazing with a capital A. Everything from the site lines to the Concessions. 360 Architecture designed the facility and did a great job with the concourse...it is truly genius. Usually you have to walk down a tunnel and stand in line forever only to miss that unbelievable catch or long home run....not at Huntington Park. The concourses are set up on both the first and third base sides and are completely open to the view of play. So if you want to get up and grab your hotdog and Cracker Jacks you don't have to miss a single pitch. Throughout the concourse there is memorabilia from the Clippers past teams plus they offer food from several of Columbus' local restaurants so you are not stuck on the same old ballpark food. The one thing that I like the most about the park is that they have railing along the entire ballpark so if you feel like grabbing something to eat or drink or if you just feel like standing you have a perfect view anywhere in the park...plus you have something to lean against. I have found that buying the $6 bleacher seats and then standing right behind the first base dugout is the best value in town. That being said, Columbus Clippers General Manager, Ken Schnake did Columbus fans right with the ticket prices.....he kept them affordable! Box seats are $12, Reserved seats are $10, and General admission (bleacher seats and standing room) are $6. Plus they kept the parking at $3 (however if their is an event going on at Nationwide Areana then the parking goes to $10). With all this being said, a single person (like me) can go to a game, park, and watch the Clippers for under $10.

Here are some quick facts on the park:

-Year Opened: 2009
-Capacity: 10,000 (7,600 seats, 1,200 specialty seats, 1,200 lawn/SRO spots)
-Number of Suites: 32, with 42 loge boxes
-Owner: Franklin County
-Architect: 360 Architecture
-Naming Rights: Huntington Bank, $12 million
-Dimensions: 325L, 365LC, 400C, 365RC, 318R
-Website: clippersbaseball.com
-Phone: 614/462-2757
-Ticket Prices: Box Seats, $12 in advance, $15 day of game; Reserved Seats, $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and children twelve years old and under; Assigned Bleacher Seat General Admission, $6 for adults, $3 for seniors and children twelve years old and under.
-League: International League (Class AAA)
-Affiliation: Cleveland Indians
-Parking: Between $3 and $10 in adjoining lots and ramps.

In summary this is a fantastic place to watch the next stars of the Cleveland Indians. As a matter of fact, this year you have seen such players as Trevor Crowe, Matt LaPorta, David Huff, Luis Valbuena, Zach Jackson, Tony Sipp, and several more already don both Clippers and Indians uniforms. And the way the Tribe has been playing this year I am sure you will see several more players make the two hour drive back and forth on I-71. So if you are looking to see the next generation of the Indians play, or you just want to see the perfect Minor League Ballpark, then come to Columbus, OH and look me up...I'll show you around.

Dellucci Finally Gone! Perez back.

The David Dellucci era is finally over in Cleveland, as the Tribe designated the veteran for assignment while recalling Rafael Perez. His 3 year, $11.5 million dollar contract was a bad decision from the start, and the Indians will be eating the remaining $4 million left on his deal for 2009. He hit 15 HRs, 68 RBIs, with a .238 BA in 183 games, utilized primarily as a platoon outfielder over his 3 seasons. Double D got the wrath of many Tribe fans mainly due to his horribly overinflated contract and his inability to field or do what he was brought in to do, hit right handed pitching. Hopefully the Indians have learned there lesson in not signing aging players to multi year contracts. Rafael Perez makes his return to the Wigwam tonight and will be probably eased into steady work with the success of veterans out there (Herges, Aquino, Vizcaino). The club is currently rocking a 13 man pitching staff, which isn't a terrible thing considering how many innings the pen has compiled over the past week. Look for Travis Hafner to be the next player added sometime early next week while I imagine Tomo Ohka will be the pitcher to be sent back to Columbus.

Tribe Sweeps the Rays; The Evil Empire comes to Town

Well maybe that 10 run comeback may have done something to kick start this team into gear. The Indians are playing there best ball of the season, bailing out 2 bad starts and a rain shortened start with excellent bullpen work and timely hitting. Now only 6.5 games back in the Central, the Tribe will be looking to carry their momentum into their tough upcoming 4 game series against the New York Yankees. But first. let's take a look back..

3 Down

• Grady Sizemore must still be playing with a sore elbow, as he DH'd all four games. He went 4-16 with 3 walks, 2 RBI and 3 doubles. The pop still seems to be in his bat, but his swing seems long at times. I imagine they will leave him at DH until Hafner comes back. Some have speculated that it may be a disabled list situation, but I would be surprised if that happened since he still is playing every day.


• Fausto Carmona looks to be quite lost out on the mound. It seems as if the opposing hitters are just letting his slider go by since it is usually below the knees anyways. If he can't spot his fastball, his walks rise and the innings get longer. There must be something wrong with his delivery too as he seems to be unable to repeat it effectively as the opposing team seems to know what he is about to throw each time. He lasted just 1 1/3 innings, allowed 5 earned runs on 3 hits while walking 5 and striking out three. Fausto needs to straighten things out pretty quickly as the rotation is in need of a third starter to depend on.


• Shin Soo Choo's swing is looking longer and more of an uppercut. He did slug one home run, but went 2-16 in the series and may be in need of a day off against a lefty soon. Choo looked this way for a stretch in early April, but I am sure he will straighten things out as his walks are down too. His pitch selection is off right now and that is a major key in his success at the plate.
  

3 Up

• Jeremy Sowers had a huge hand in allowing the Tribe to claw back into the game Monday. He threw 5 shutout innings while allowing only 3 hits and a walk. Sowers earned the right to get another shot at the rotation Monday, so let's hope he can take advantage of it.


• Ryan Garko started all 4 games of the series and really found a groove, going 6-15, with 3 HR's and 7 RBI. Garko is a player who needs regular AB's to develop his groove at the plate and he seems to be doing just that. You may not see him in the lineup tonight (only if Grady goes back to center), but expect Ryan to get at least 5 starts a week if he is hitting like this.


• Ben Francisco had an outstanding series, playing center field and left while absolutely owning Rays pitcher Andy Sonnanstine. B-Franc went 6-13 with a HR and 5 RBI while single-handidly bringing the club back Wednesday. His career stats against Sonnanstine are video game like, going 8-9 with 5 HR and 12 RBI. The former high school team mates (Francisco/Garko) have found a nice little groove over the past week and that is why I imagine Matt LaPorta was sent down in favor of Trevor Crowe playing the role of 4th outfielder.

The pitching matchups for the weekend are as follows:

Friday Lee vs Pettitte Saturday Carmona vs Sabathia Sunday Pavano vs Hughes Monday Sowers vs Chamberlin.

It will be interesting to see the reaction ole' Carston Charles gets in his homecoming return to the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. If I was going, I would cheer him initially, then boo him mercilessly then after.

Tomo Ohka to the Rescue

With Zach Jackson's performance yesterday being less than stellar (really bad) and with Greg Aquino and Luis Vizcaino both hurling 2 scoreless innings yesterday (really good), the Tribe has called on veteran Tomo Ohka to help in the pen today (pictured left). The bullpen has actually pitched pretty good sans Jensen Lewis over the past few games. This is probably the right move since David Huff hasn't got out of the fourth inning of his previous two starts and Ohka can be stretched out as a long man. Don't look for Tomo to stick around very long as Rafael Perez has thrown 9 shutout innings down in Columbus. The Tribe looks the to sweep the 4 game series against the Rays today at 12:05 PM.

Zach Jackson to start tonight, Huff tomorrow, Rundles sent down

The Indians have settled on Zach Jackson starting Wednesday night's game and letting David Huff get one more shot in the rotation by having him throw Thursday. Jackson hasn't been real good in Buffalo, so it will be interesting to see how he fares against a tough Tampa Bay lineup. I assume whoever pitches better between the two will earn a spot in the rotation, while the other will be sent packing. Sowers earned himself another look with his 5 scoreless innings of relief Monday. Rich Rundles was sent back to Columbus, which was to be expected. In another minor move, Triple A shortstop Wilson Valdez was traded to the New York Mets for the dubious player to be named or cash. We hardly knew you buddy! The Tribe tries to make it 3 in a row for the first time all season tonight as Zach Attack takes on Ben Francisco's favorite pitcher Andy Sonnanstine.