Off day..A Couple Off Days Actually.

Well I haven't posted in awhile. In fact it's been a week today since I last posted. I just started a new job and am still working my other. This will all be over next week and hopefully I'll get back to posting on a regular basis. Enough of that.

The Tribe have been a bit of a disappointment  recently, losing 4 out of their last 5. They blew a comeback opportunity when Carlos Santana decided he had played enough baseball for the night and ended the game on 3 straight strikes. They bounced back though and got the win the next night. In the final game of the series we saw some of the old Chris Perez. Recording his first blown save of the year in a 3-2 lose. We can't win them all and we showed that we weren't invincible. Adding to the blown comeback and save, we had a blowout. Not in our favor though, with the Twins absolutely dismantling Carmona for his second lopsided lose of the season after a couple solid outings. Still a lot of questions with Carmona; hopefully he and the Tribe pitching staff can answer some of those questions and get him straightened out soon, or we might see our "ace" get demoted to the number 2 spot. Finally to end the series the Tribe fought until the end but couldn't pull out the victory in the rain shortened series against the Twins. All things considered I don't think there is too much to worry about (other than Carrasco going down with an elbow issue).

The Tribe had an off week where they looked much different than the team who scraped and fought hard to win games. With some better starting pitching and clutch hits we can get back to our winning ways. The Indians are back home tomorrow after an off day today to start another series with the Royals and hopefully notch a couple more wins to their belt and keep themselves atop the standings. Finishing the first month strong and a couple of games above .500 will do wonders for the Tribe and keep them confidant. Which will be a major factor for these young guys. Let's get em boys!!! One game at a time.

Voting for the Madden cover ends this week and Peyton Hillis needs all the help he can get. As a Cleveland fan I know it would mean the world to me to see a Browns player on the cover. I'm sure many of you agree. Let's make it happen, let's make history! Here is the link to vote: http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/feature/madden2012cover

Well that's all. A longer post than I had originally planned but I had a lot to talk about. I'll try to keep up so this doesn't happen again. Thanks for the support and goodnight.

Tweet of the Day:

The Great White Buffalo. And A Tribe Win.

Peyton Hillis has reached the finals of the ESPN Madden Cover Voting. Beating out the favorite and reigning super bowl champ Aaron Rodgers. Hillis has some tough competition, going up against a former Madden cover alum, Mike Vick. A lot of people are questioning why Vick is even in the running considering his recent legal troubles and the fact he's already been on the cover. But somehow he's made it through every round and is now facing an upset machine in Hillis.

I don't really think Vick has a chance. For one you have all of Browns nation backing Hillis up, and that is not a small contingent. Add the fact that anyone who still hates Vick for his dog killing days are going to to be voting against him, and we may see the first white non-quarterback on the cover of Madden 12. Also the first Cleveland Brown to ever grace the cover of one of the most successful video game franchises in history. As a Cleveland sports fan I honestly don't give a hoot about the "Madden curse". Peyton deserves to be on that cover and it will be a great day in the Cleveland sports world when he wins the title. GO HILLIS!!!

My summary on the Tribe will be short tonight. The games is going late and I have work early. Never a good combo. It took 10 innings but the Tribe finally broke the Royals pitching staff. Grady has another great game, going 3 for 5 with another double. Carasco worked out of several jams but he was clearly losing it at the end of his start. Great situational base running put together by the Tribe in the 10th. Couldn't ask for a better game. Hopefully tomorrow us Tribe fans will be able to relax a little more than tonight.

Well that's all for tonight. Great win for the Tribe which gives them the tie with Colorado for the best record in baseball and a two game lead in the Central. I can sleep easy tonight. GO TRIBE!!!

Tweet of the Day:

The Tribe Does Some Spring Cleaning Today. Sweep The O's.

Well there you have it. Another day, another Tribe W. There wasn't much to complain about today. Carmona notched his first win of the young season, going for 7 innings and striking out 5. He put himself into a lot of jams today but worked out of all but one unblemished. Another quality start from an Indians starter.

Scoring early has been the key for the Indians success this year. Scoring 3 runs in the first four innings was key and kept Carmona pitching with the lead. Somehow someway the Tribe have figured out the winning formula in just the first 15 games this season. Quality starts combined with solid defense and the offense to back it up.

Grady Sizemore. What can you say about this guy. He hadn't played in a major league game in nearly a year and he didn't skip a beat. Going deep in his second at bat with an 0-2 count. Then in his third at-bat he doubles; he might have had some rust but it didn't take long for him to shake it off. There wasn't much going on in the field for Sizemore, just one fly ball. I can't wait to see him start laying out for balls again. Welcome back Grady, we missed you.

While in no way do I think Santana is out of his slump, but that homer in the second was a good sign. He went hitless in his last 3 at bats. The big rip had to have boosted Santana's confidence, but he is still just 1 for his last 28 at-bats. It's only a matter of time before we see the true potential that he possesses.

It's looking like Travis Hafner is for real this year. He homered again today and had a solid single, which raised his batting average to .354. A hot start for Hafner is just what he and the Tribe need. It's looking like we now have a legitimate lineup now with guys 1 through 9 contributing. So far this year we are looking offensively competent. Something that wasn't the case all of last year.

Well that'll do it for today. The Indians are now 11-4 heading into the series against the Royals, which surprisingly should be a very interesting series. Kansas City is currently down 2 heading into the bottom of the 7th with Seattle. If they lose the Indians will be in sole possession of first place in the A.L. Central. Not too shabby. GO TRIBE!!

Tweet of the Day:

Chance Of A Win In The Forecast For The Tribe? I Think So.

O-Cab gets to second on the wild throw by the O's third baseman then scores on the Travis Buck single. Maybe Buck is worth another look. We'll see what he can do the rest of the day. Grady doubles to right in the 5th, continues to impress on his first day back for the Tribe. Choo with a deep ball to center but Pie makes a flailing catch to end the inning. Carmona gets another double play and works out of a jam in the 5th. Solid pitching so far from the only pitcher on the Tribe without a win. PRONK. Hafner gets a solo shot to right field. Gotta love and respect the power of
3.the Tribe this year, unexpected but accepted. The chances of Carmona getting the win is looking better and better each inning while the Tribe continue to pour on the runs. Indians 4 Orioles 1 at the end of 6 in Cleveland. GO TRIBE!!!

Check back at the end of the game for more.

Grady Is Back.

Finally get to watch a game for once. Carmona is pitching his lights out right now. Through 3 innings he has 3 strikeouts and mostly groundouts. Santana homers in the second to put the Indians up 1-0! Good to see a hit finally from him..it's been too long. Grady is back!!!! I questioned Acta for putting him at the lead-off spot. I should have known that was wrong. It's good to have you back Grady, keep up the good work. Carmona is getting himself in a bit of trouble right now. The Orioles finally break him and grab a run off of the double play. Indians 2 Orioles 1. Carmona gets Guerrero to strike out, that's now 4 in the game. So far so good for the Tribe. Looks to be another good game.

Check back in the 6th for more updates and analysis.

This Can't Be Real...Or Can It?

Wow. Indians win their second straight against the Baltimore Orioles. That alone is not too impressive. What's impressive is the 10-4 record they hold this year. Who's to say this isn't just some early season excitement and young players exceeding expectations? No, this is more than that. This is Tribe baseball like I remember it. Growing up during the 90s I guess you could say I was spoiled. With teams that headlined Manny, Thome, the Alomar Brothers, Omar, and don't even get me started about their pitching! Those were the Indians I remember, on any given night it was almost expected that the Tribe was going to win. Guaranteed. In the late 1990s the Indians were UNSTOPPABLE. Well..almost. This years team, though early in the season still, is giving me those same feelings. We may not have the household names like we did back in the day, but we're just getting started.

With another win tonight the Tribe keep rolling. Keep fighting. Never giving up. Winning attitude. It's all there. Veteran leadership, young talent, guys going in to every game trying to prove what they have and earn their spot on the big stage. Although some of the guys who have been performing extremely well struggled tonight (Brantly and Asdrubal Cabrera) Hafner continued to look every bit like the old Pronk we used to know. Santana's batting woes continued tonight. I hope for the Indians sake and for the fans that this is nothing to worry about and once he settles in will start hitting on a regular basis. Don't know how long Travis Buck will continue to play for the Indians but he certainly made the most out of what playing time he got tonight, going 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Buck will presumably be moved out soon to make room for Sizemore who is apparently game ready and just waiting to hear the word.

With another dominating pitching performance from one of our "young guns", Josh Tomlin notched another victory to his belt. The Tribe now have two starting pitchers with 3 wins, and we're just a little over halfway through the month of April. I think all the doubters are beginning to doubt themselves. The Tribe are for real.

With a delayed start, and on and off rain throughout the day, the attendance dropped back down. Just a little over 10,000 for tonights game. So maybe it was just the hot dogs that brought in fans on Friday night, but it's only a matter of time before the rest of the fans wake up and realize that there is baseball once again in Cleveland. GO TRIBE!!!

That's all for tonight. Sorry for the tardiness on the post. Worked all day and got to chill with a good friend for most of the night. I'll be better tomorrow. I promise.

UPDATE: Got on Twitter this morning to find out Grady will be starting in his center field position and batting lead-off!!! I'm kinda shocked about all this news. Not that Grady is finally making it back from surgery that has led to him being out for almost a year, no, it's the fact that Travis Buck, who everyone had assumed would be shipped out to some minor league ball club is in the starting lineup today. Yes you heard right. Travis Buck will be in the lineup today starting in LF and batting 7th. I'm seriously baffled by this. It came out of left field (pun intended). Why bench one of the better hitters on the team in Brantly, and honestly a better hitter too. Travis buck had 3 hits last night. Big deal? Not really. He'll struggle today and things will be back in order by Monday.

Tweet of the Day:

For some reason this tweet is super small. When I tried changing the size it only came up as text. I'll try to work is out.

Dollar Dog Night..Nuff Said.

Just got outta work..got a chance to listen to a bit on my break but that's it. Bummer. Got a text from my brother that simply said "Matt LaPorta!!!!!". From that text alone I knew things were going good. From what I heard on the radio after the game, Masterson pitched a gem. Going 3-0 in his first three starts is very impressive and hopefully a sign of good things to come for the young right-hander. Michael Brantly continues to impress me at the lead-off spot and it will be fun to see him stay at that position when Grady comes back. Another thing I'd like to point out is the attendance for tonights game. Just like I predicted in my earlier post, fans came pouring in for those hot dogs (and maybe to see the Tribe play some awesome baseball). According to ESPN.com, The Prog pulled in a little over 16,000 fans. That's quite an improvement over the last couple games played at home for the Tribe, with just over 19,000 fans combined in the two games following opening day. Tomorrow will be the real test to see if it just wasn't some fluke because of dollar dog night.

With a 1:05 start time tomorrow and the weather supposed to be bad (52 degrees and stormy) I wouldn't be surprised to see a delay. For the Tribe on the mound will be Josh Tomlin (2-0, 2.63 ERA) going up against Jeremy Guthrie (1-1, 0.64 ERA) in what should be another good match-up. Tomlin has been strong for the Indians this year and if the bats continue like they did tonight we'll have no problem notching the second win of the series.

Another prediction that was really just a foolish assumption, was the lose 2 win 8 trend that the Indians have started. With the win tonight they might have just started another 8 game win streak. Obviously this is just a ridiculous trend that I'm sure will end soon; but for the time being it's nothing I can't hope for. The Tribe are 9-4 and in first place in the Central division. Hopefully the Tribes winning ways persist and this isn't just some fools gold. GO TRIBE!!

P.S. Don't forget to vote on the poll of the week!!

Tweet of the Day: