When the Royals broke out with four runs in the top of the fifth, it appeared the game might be out of reach, but the Indians had a five run eighth, coming back from a 5-3 deficit to win 8-5 Wednesday night at Progressive Field in Cleveland Ohio.

Zach Jackson made his second start for the Indians, and just like the first time, he came away with a no-decision.  Jackson gave the Tribe seven innings, giving up five runs, four of them earned, while surrendering seven hits; most of those coming in the first and fifth innings.

In the first, he allowed three hits, but got out of the inning fairly unscathed via the double play ball after the Royals loaded the bases.  Mike Aviles, Esteban German, and David DeJesus all singled, bringing up Jose Guillen with nobody out.  Guillen sac-flied in Aviles for the first run and out of the game.  German moved up to third, putting runners at the corners with one out.  Billy Butler saved Jackson’s bacon by grounding to Asdrubal Cabrera, who flipped to Jhonny Peralta turning a big inning into an inning-ending double play.

The Indians broke on top in the bottom of the first after they hit into a double play of their own.  Grady Sizemore walked, but Gutierrez grounded into the double play.  With two out, Ben Francisco was safe at first on an error by third baseman Alex Gordon.  Peralta took advantage of the miscue by blasting 20^th home run of the season and registering his 69^th RBI of the year, giving the Tribe a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the second, Shoppach joined the homer-club-of-the-day, belting his 13^th of the year and putting the Indians up 3-1.

Jackson would throw zeroes until the fifth, when the Royals put up a four-spot for a 5-3 lead.  They loaded up the bases again with nobody out on a pair of singles and a hit batsman.  Aviles doubled, scoring all three runners.  After a German fly-out, and a DeJesus strikeout, Aviles stole third, and came home on a Shoppach throwing error. 

In the bottom of the eighth, Shoppach atoned for his blunder by homering for the second time inn the game, his 14^th of the year, making it 5-4 Royals.  Shin-Soo Choo, the master of pinch hitting and drawing a walk, pinch hit and drew a walk.  Cabrera sacrificed Choo to second, and the Royals brought in reliever Joakim Soria.  He walked Sizemore.  Franklin Gutierrez delivered the fourth Indians home-run of the night, making it 7-4 Tribe.  The Indians would tack on another run via Peralta being hit by a pitch, Dellucci walking, and Garko singling home Peralta.  Basically four of the five runs scored this inning were guys crossing the plate after being walked. 

Jensen Lewis picked up his fourth save of the year. Gutierrez made a great diving catch on Gload for the first out.  Lewis struck out Olivo, and finished the game on a Gordon line-out.

The Indians go for the series sweep on Thursday, finishing off their homestand.  Cliff Lee(17-2, 2.43 ERA) takes the mound hoping for his 18^th win of the season.  He’ll battle Royals righty Zack Greinke(9-8, 3.29 ERA).  Game time is 12:05.

Could be a good day to play hooky, get the blue flu, or be Ferris Buehler. 

In the AL Central division match-up of the Indians and Royals that could be dubbed, “The Battle of the Basement”, Cleveland hosted Kansas City in the first of a three game series at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio.

Current cellar dweller Kansas City jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first.  Indians pitcher, Anthony Reyes, usually jumping ahead in the count and throwing a load of strikes in his previous starts, opened this game by walking Mike Aviles.  After a ground-out moved Avilesto second, David DeJesus doubled to center, making Reyes pay for the walk.  A pair of fly-outs limited the damage to a 1-0 lead.

The Indians struck back in the bottom of the second.  Shin-Soo Choo hit the first pitch he saw out of the park via the center field fence, making it a 1-1 game.  Ryan Garko singled to left.  On a Kelly Shoppach double, Garko motored all the way around from first base after it appeared left fielder Jose Guillen pulled up instead of cutting the ball off.   That made it 2-1 Indians with one out.  Andy Marte flied out for the second out, and Asdrubal Cabrera delivered the two-out RBI single, scoring Shoppach.  Royals starting pitcher Luke Hochevar had an extremely slow delivery to the plate, and Cabrera, not known for his wheels, stole second, his third stolen base of the season.  His slow-motion burst of speed was wasted when Grady Sizemore ended the inning with a fly-out.

The Indians added a run in the fourth when Garko homered to left with nobody on and nobody out. 

The Royals got the run back in the top of the fifth, narrowing the lead to 4-2.  Aviles was the guy crossing the plate again for the Royals.  He singled and moved to second after Esteban German walked.  DeJesus grounded out, but moved both runners up, and Guillen’s ground-out scored Aviles.  Mark Teahen flied out to end the inning.

Donnelly came on in relief of Reyes in the top of the sixth.  He walked Gload with one out, then gave up a single to Olivo and Smith, scoring Gload.  Choo backhanded Smith’s single and fired a one-hop strike to third, nailing Olivo for the second out.  Avileshad his third hit of the night that would have easily scored Olivo from second had he not tried for third, and the game would have been tied.  As it was, Donnelly struck out German to hold the lead at 4-3.

In the bottom of the sixth, Hochevar left the game before throwing a pitch, pulling a muscle in his side during warm-ups.  Nunez relieved, and the Indians took advantage.  With one out, Shoppach walked.  Marted ripped a double to the wall, moving Shoppach to third.  The Royals played Cabrera perfectly, shading shortstop toward second, and Cabrera was thrown out while the runners stayed put.  Sizemore jumped all over the first pitch he was for his 28^th home-run of the year, giving the Indians a 7-3 cushion.

Perez pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, then the Indians came back and scored a pair on three hits, opening up a 9-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth.

Masa Kobayashi came on in the ninth, hoping for a quick inning.  That wasn’t to be, as he allowed a run on three hits, but did finish off the game, Indians winning 9-4.

Reyes ended up picking up the win even though he left after five.  Hochevar took the loss.

These two resume play Wednesday night at 7:05.  Righty Gil Meche(10-9, 4.13 ERA) goes up against Cleveland lefty Zack Jackson (0-0, 5.19 ERA). 

Rafael Betancourt came on in the eighth, taking the Royals down in order.  The Royals matched the Indians in hits with 13.  

The Indians had three home-runs: Choo (5^th), Garko (10^th) and Sizemore (28^th).  Sizemore, Gutierrez, Garko and Cabrera had two hits.  All nine guys for the Indians registered a hit in the win. 

The Indians completed the weekend against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by winning 4-3, scoring them a 2-1 series win.  Heading into Monday’s day off, that had to feel pretty good.

Jeremy Sowers came out on top of a back and forth contest, giving up two runs in the first. 

The Angels got on the board with three straight singles before Sowers had even registered an out, and were up 2-0 after a fielder’s choice was the first out of the inning.  Sowers issued a free pass, but squeezed out of the inning with no further damage. 

Sower’s albatross this entire season has been the first inning.  This Christmas, when making out his wish list, getting out of the first inning unscathed will probably high on his list.

The Indians put Sowers right back in the driver’s seat, registering a pair of their own in the bottom of the first.  After a Grady Sizemore fly-out, Jamey Carroll and Ben Francisco each singled putting runners on first and second.  Jhonny Peralta failed in his bid to move anyone up, flying-out for out number two.  Ryan Garko was hit by a pitch, loading up the bases for Franklin Gutierrez.  He singled home both Carroll and Francisco, tying the game at two.

The Indians took the lead in the bottom of the third with pretty much the same suspects from the first inning.  Carroll walked, Francisco singled, and once again, there were runners on first and second.  Peralta grounded into a double play, but after the dust settled, Carroll was standing on third with two out.  Garko hit a rare infield single, rare because he is about as speedy as a three-legged turtle, and Carroll scored.  In actuality, it was a high bouncing-checked swing infield collision, not Garko, that registered the single.  The Angels got out of the inning with no further damage, but the Indians were up 3-2. 

In the top of the fifth, the Angels would even the score.  Chone Figgins opened the inning with a single.  After an Aybar pop-up, Mark Teixiera singled Figgins over to second.  Vladimir Guerrero hit into a second out fielder’s choice, but a past ball with Torii Hunter at the plate allowed Figgins to score from third. 

The Indians scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth.  Sal Fasano made up for his past ball by starting the inning off with a double.  He’d score after a sacrifice by Cabrera and a bloop single by Grady Sizemore.  The Indians have been playing a bit of small ball in the last few games and its been working.

Jensen Lewis came on for the Indians in the ninth and got his third save of the year, albeit not an easy one.  Juan Rivera started the inning off with a single.  Gary Matthews Jr. came in as a pinch runner, and the Angels also sent in Sean Rodriguez as a pinch hitter.  He sacrificed Matthews Jr. over to second for the first out of the inning.  Kendry Morales, the second pinch hitter in a row for the Angels, singled Matthews to third.  With runners on the corners and one out, Figgins popped out to third.  Aybar fouled out to end the game.

Lewis appears to have taken to the closer role like a duck to water, a good sign for an Indians staff that has tried everyone but Slider the mascot at that position this year with absolutely poor results. 

Monday is an off day for the Tribe.  They are back in action Tuesday night playing against last place Kansas City.  A sweep would be a nice boost toward overtaking Detroit, while three losses would put the Indians right back into the cellar.  Luke Honchar(6-11, 5.44 ERA) goes against Anthony Reyes (1-1,3.67 ERA).

In a season of disappointment, Cliff Lee’s seventeenth was a great day in the grand scheme of everything Indians.  After the Tribe lost two straight to Baltimore with a non-existent offense, Lee showed why he’s deserving of the Cy Young award against the best team in baseball, posting a 3-2 win in the friendly confines of Progressive Field.

Lee and company pulled off a remarkable four double plays in victory, all four in the late innings of the game (5,6,7,8); then, not having to rely on the bullpen for victory, Lee finished off a 1,2,3 ninth.

One hundred and seventeen pitches, eighty of them strikes.  Nine innings, six strikeouts, two walks.  Even more impressive, he lowered his ERA in the process - incredible.

While Lee’s victory will probably take a back-seat to Michael Phelp’s tying of Mark Spitz’s seven Olympic golds, Lee may have cemented his place in Indians folklore by securing Cleveland’s second Cy Young in as many years.

The Angels jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, but the average fan watching, including myself was thinking.  BIG DEAL!!  That is all you guys are getting.  The run came via a single, a sacrifice and a single – an impressive first inning for the Angels.

Jered Weaver held the Indians at bay until they tied it up in the fourth.  Ben Francisco led the inning off in the fourth with a double.  Jhonny Peralta doubled him home, but was out trying to stretch the hit into a triple for the first out of the inning. 

Juan Rivera put the Angels back on top with a home-run to left ,and yes, the sweat broke out just a little.

The Indians took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth, setting the table for the remarkable display of three additional double plays. 

Shin-Soo Choo kicked off the two inning scorefest with a double after Peralta had flied out.  He advanced to third on a wild pitch.  Ryan Garko singled Choo home and moved Shoppach over to second, and Indians manager Eric Wedge went for the jugular by sending in David Dellucci as a pinch hitter for wet-blanket Andy Marte. 

Dellucci drew a walk, loading the bases for Asdrubal Cabrera.  Angels reliever Jose Arredondo shot himself in the foot, issuing a free pass and walking in the winning run. 

In the process he earned himself a loss.  Kudos to Weaver, who went toe-to-toe with the best, and came out with a draw through five and a third.

With the win, Lee has roughly eight starts to win three and reach the magic mark of twenty wins.

These two go at it again on Saturday at 3:55 PM.  John Lackey (9-2, 315 ERA) takes on Fausto Carmona (5-4, 4.91 ERA). 

This will be a real test of Carmona’s mettle as he continues his return from the DL. 

Personally I smell victory.

Pop Quiz….   What do you get when an Indians starter goes five innings and you have to rely on the bullpen to hold the opposition while you catch up.  A : A loss.  B : something else.  Answer?  11-6 Baltimore win.

Zach Jackson went five innings, gave up eight hits, three runs, one walk and a strikeout on 97 pitches in his first outing as a Cleveland Indian.  Not bad, not great.  He did his job by keeping the game close as, when he left, the Indians trailed 3-2.  Most teams would take that kind of effort from a guy just called up.

Problem is, five innings doesn’t cut it for an Indians starter because the bullpen is such a train wreck.  Sometimes eight innings isn’t even enough.

The Indians relievers did hold the game until the eighth.  Enter Rafael…….. Perez?

Perez, the brightest light in the Indians bullpen, couldn’t register an out and gave up four runs, taking the loss.

Now what?  Einy Meenie, miney, Mujica……  four more runs score before the eighth ends….  11-3 Baltimore.  That is one tough inning.

The Indians scored three in the bottom of the ninth, just enough runs to make the average fan stay up an extra half hour for nothing.  The Indians did end up staying out of the cellar after Kansas City lost as well.  Woohooo!!

Both teams scored two in the first.  Baltimore’s pair came on three hits : A single by Brian Roberts, a double by Melvin Mora combined with an Asdrubal Cabrera error, and a single by Hernandez.  2-0 Baltimore.

The Indians pair came on three hits as well.  A Grady Sizemore single, a Ben Francisco single, and a Shin-Soo Choo double that drove in both Sizemore and Francisco knotted the contest a two-all.

In the top of the fifth, back-to-back doubles by Hernandez and Millar allowed the Orioles the 3-2 lead.

Juan Rincon took over in the sixth for the Tribe, putting up two innings of zeros, exactly what Cleveland needed in this tight one, and handing the game to Perez with the Indians and Baltimore all tied up at 3-3, after the Indians got one in the sixth.

That is when the wheels fell off.  Millar singled.  Payton was safe on a Gonzalez error.  Montanez doubled.  Castro singled, and by now three runs crossed the plate with nary an out. 

Mujica came on for this result : Rouberts groundout…. Hoo ha!  One out!!  Intentional walk to Cleveland slayer Markakis.  Mora double.  Intentional walk to Huff.  Unintentional walk to Hernandez.  Millar, first batter of the inning way back when, single.  Payton foul out… two outs!!  Montanez single.  Castro pop-out.  In case you lost count of the outs between all the hits and walks, that would be three.  Runs across the plate?  Eight. 

I can hear Eddie Murphy as the nutty professor singing “ Thursday night score eight… It’ll be so great” Same week as 08-08-08….. Score the runs in the eighth….”.  

Sheesh!!  Well at least it wasn’t news on Brett Favre.

In the ninth the Indians put three up just for the fun of it.  Franklin Gutierrez homered.  Did this prompt me to sit closer to the edge of the couch?  No, not really.  After a pair of outs, Choo doubled.  Shoppach singled Choo home.  Garko doubled, scoring Shoppach. 

Yes, I admit it, I was moving a little closer to the edge of the couch.  Gonzalez walked.  Oh yea….. groundout, Cabrera, game over. 

Let’s go to the big board to see what the prize is for an eighth inning implosion Bob!!  Oh, a three game series against the Angels – leaders of all of baseball in wins!! 

Cliff Lee (16-2, 2.45 ERA) will be gunning for his 17^th win of the year against Jerred Weaver(10-9,4.51 ERA).  Gametime is 7:05. 

Factoid of the day : Cliff Lee’s full name is Clifton Phifer Lee. 

Anthony Reyes continued his strike-pitching ways in his second outing with the Indians, throwing 101 pitches, but leaving after six down by a 2-1 score.  Cleveland would eventually lose 6-1, giving up four in the ninth.  The Indians posted a four-spot in the first inning in the first two meetings with the Baltimore Orioles, but apparently nobody posted the memo to keep ‘em coming for Reyes.

Reyes final numbers?  Six innings, two hits given up and two earned runs, no K’s, two walks, and no chance for a win.  Strikes to balls was about a 2-1 ratio.  Reyes spent a lot of time ahead in the count, many times 0-2, but had a hard time getting the third one past Baltimore hitters.

The Indians were gunning for their sixth win in a row and bragging rights to their longest winning streak of the season after tying five in a row on Tuesday.

Baltimore took the lead in the second on a home-run by Aubrey Huff.  They’d take a 2-0 lead shortly thereafter.  Millar walked following the Huff homer.  Luke Scott singled Millar to second.  Hernandez grounded out, but moved up both runners in the process on a bullet shot that Andy Marte let trickle away far enough where he couldn’t tag third base and take out lead runner Millar.  The miscue ended up costing the Indians a second run, as Payton grounded out to Cabrera at second, scoring Millar. 

The Indians offense just couldn’t seem to get on track against Guthrie, but did manage a run in the bottom of the fifth on a pair of doubles by Marte and Sizemore, the second scoring Marte with two out.

Rafael Betancourt came on for the Indians and pitched two innings of shutout ball, although he did get himself into a jam in the eighth, giving up a walk, a single, and a flyout that put a runner on third with one out before getting a foul out and a ground-out, holding Baltimore to just the one-run lead.

Guthrie left after seven, relieved by Cherry.  Cherry, roughed up a bit one day ago, got Cabrera on a ground-out, and struck out Sizemore before issuing a free pass to pinch hitter Ben Francisco.  Shoppach was the next guy up, and on a 2-2 pitch, the Indians sent Francisco toward second.  Shoppach fouled it off, and Francisco jogged back.  The Tribe stayed aggressive, sending Francisco again, Shoppach fouling off another one.  The next pitch Francisco did not take off, and the 2-2 slider was in the dirt, allowing Francisco the easy pass to second.  Shoppach missed the 3-2 low ball, and was thrown out at first after the ball skipped away from catcher Hernandez, finishing off the Indians in the eighth.

Brendan Donnelly took over for Betancourt in the ninth, and allowed Hernandez a single right off the bat.  The next batter Payton dropped a flyball on the third base line in front of Choo and behind Marte, putting runners on first and second with nobody out.  Juan Castro came up trying to bunt the runners over.  He fouled off the first two bunt attempts, wondering what the Orioles would try next.  Castro squared off and got the bunt down, but Garko was practically standing on top of him and threw to third picking off lead runner Hernandez.  Brian Roberts grounded into a fielders’ choice, getting Castro at second.  Nick Markakis was next.  Being seven for eleven in the series thus far, Donnelly tip-toed around Markakis, working up a 3-2 count.  Donnelly threw a fastball straight down the pike, and Markakis drilled it right back at him, making Donnelly dive for cover and scoring Payton from third.  Next batter Melvin Mora looped on into right-center, putting runners on first and third with Aubrey Huff due up.  Huff blistered a double down the first base line, scoring two and chasing Donnelly.  Juan Rincon came on and immediately threw a wild pitch that scored Mora and put Huff on third, making it a 6-1 lead.  The Indians finally registered the last out on a fly-ball to right. 

Indians pitching did not record a single strikeout during the game, prompting announcer Rick Manning to dig into the archives and find out that hadn’t happened since April of 1994.

Jhonny Peralta would get the fifth Indians hit in the bottom of the ninth, but the Tribe’s five game winning streak was dead in the water with the 6-1 loss.

Guthrie picked up the win for Baltimore.  Reyes dropped to 1-1 with the Indians, taking the loss. 

Zach Jackson will make his Indians debut on Thursday, called up to take Paul Byrd’s spot in the rotation.  Daniel Cabrera pitches for the Orioles.  Jackson is a lefty, and was called up instead of Aaron Laffey for the start.

The Indians matched their longest win streak of the season on Tuesday, winning their fifth game in a row by beating the Baltimore Orioles 7-5.  Jensen Lewis picked up his second save of the season.  Jeremy Sowers left with a 5-3 lead and the bullpen blew it for him, letting the Orioles tie it up before an Asdrubal Cabera RBI single in the bottom of the eighth put the Indians ahead for good.

It was the second time in two nights the Indians squandered an early lead, but pulled it out late with some clutch hitting.  The Indians move a half a game up the Kansas City Royals and climb out of the AL Central cellar. 

Both Jeremy Sowers and Garrett Olson opened the game looking like they wouldn’t last very long, but both starters settled down : Olson goung six and Sowers six and a third.

Baltimore struck first in the top of the first, scoring two runs on two hits and a walk.  Brian Roberts started the game with the walk.  Nick Markakis continued his hit parade from last night, teeing off on Sowers for a double and moving Roberts to third.  Melvin Mora singled home Roberts and moved Markakis to third.  A sacrifice fly off the bat of Aubrey Huff to center fielder Grady Sizemore rounded out the Orioles first inning scoring.

The Indians picked Sowers right up, putting up a four spot in the bottom half of the inning.  Jamey Carroll started the Indians off with a single after Grady Sizemore grounded out to lead off the inning.  Carroll went to second on a wild pitch.  After a Ben Francisco strikeout, Peralta singled to left, and Carroll tested the arm of Louis Montanez by going for home.  Montanez made it close, but Carrroll made a great slide, avoiding the tag and dragging his back foot across the plate scoring the first run of the inning.   If Carroll is out, the Indians don’t score at all this inning.  Still alive, Kelly Shoppach walked, and Garko delivered a two-out RBI single scoring Peralta.  Montanez got tagged for an error, and Shoppach ended up on third and Garko on second.  Franklin Gutierrez pulled off the infield single, scoring Shoppach.  Andy Marte singled, scoring Garko, giving the Indians a 4-2 lead.  Cabrera flied out to end the inning.

The Indians extended their advantage to 5-2 in the fourth.  Cabrera opened the frame with a double, moved to third on a Carroll grounder that Mora bobbled and threw wide right into the stands behind first base, scoring Cabrera and putting Carroll on second.  The Indians couldn’t add to the lead.  Francisco flied out and Peralta grounded out, leaving Carroll stranded at second.

Baltimore trimmed the lead to 5-3 in the fifth.  On back-to-back singles by Payton and Castro, with Payton standing on third Markakis hit a long fly-out to right, scoring Payton.

In the top of the seventh, Sowers gave up a single to Montanez, and got Payton to fly-out, before yielding to Masa Kobayashi.  Kobayashi gave up a double to Scott, and a single to Roberts, scoring Montanez. 

The Indians brought in Rafael Perez to hold the lead, but he gave up a single to Markakis, scoring Scott and allowing Baltimore a 5-5 tie.

Perez got out of the inning by getting a double play ground-out by Melvin Mora.

Perez came back out after an ineffective seventh by the Indians offense, striking out two, allowing a hit, but holding the tie through eight.

The Indians offense came through in the bottom of the eighth.  Shin-Soo Choo entered as a pinch hitter and was hit by a pitch.   Marte laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt up the first base side, moving Choo to second.  Asdrubal Cabrera delivered the go ahead RBI single, scoring Choo.  Sizemore was intentionally walked, Carroll struck out, but Francisco pulled off an insurance run RBI single.

Jensen Lewis came on in the ninth in a save situation, and save the game he did, getting a fly-out and a pair of strike-outs to end the game."Lewis earned his second save of the season.  Perez ended up with the win.  Jim Johnson earned the loss.

The Indians insured themselves of at least a split in the four game series with Baltimore by winning the first two, and they keep alive the opportunity for two series sweeps in a row in the process. 

The two teams go again Wednesday.at 7:05 with the Indians going for their longest win streak of the season.  Jeremy Guthrie(9-8, 3.26 ERA) will battle Anthony Reyes (2-1, 3.86 ERA). 

Reyes is coming off his first start of the season, and it was a good one.  Guthrie is a former Indians prospect that was placed on waivers and picked up by Baltimore.

At the time this article posted, the White Sox were winners and the Twins were losing to the New York Yankees by three in the top of the ninth so it looks like the White Sox will move back into first place in the AL Central by a game.

The opening game of the Indians – Orioles could not have been any stranger had both teams wore throwback uniforms and it was a full-moon Friday the Thirteenth with a ladder set up over home plate and black cats crossing underneath.

The Indians opened up a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first, uncorking the strange plays immediately.

After Grady Sizemore walked, David Dellucci tripled, scoring Sizemore.  Ben Francisco singled Dellucci home.  Jhonny Peralta singled, moving Francisco to second, and the unusual baseball antics began.  Shin-Soo Choo hit a made-to-order double play ball back to the pitcher.  He flipped it to shortstop Alex Cintron.  Cintron missed the outside of the bag with the first foot, hopped and landed his back foot behind the bag prior to throwing to first.  Choo beat out the throw, and both runners were called safe.  Typically speaking, if a fielder’s foot is within, oh like a mile of the bag, the runner is called out.  In this case, the ump made the right call, and the manager argument ensued to no avail. 

Ryan Garko sac-flied in Francisco and Sal Fasano singled, scoring Peralta. 

In the bottom of the second, the Indians went up 5-0, this time on an Asdrubal Cabrera (3) home-run.

Baltimore drove in their first two runs of the game with some small ball and a missed double play by the Tribe.  Ramon Hernandez walked, Jay Payton singled.  Cintron grounded to first, and Payton was out at second for the first out of the inning.  Brian Roberts grounded to Asdrubal Cabrera.  He tried to tag Cintron on his way to second, missed, but Cintron was well out of the base path.  Cabrera threw to first for what appeared to be an inning ending double play, but Cintron was safe on the missed tag.  That scored Hernandez.  Nick Markakis doubled, scoring Cintron and making it 5-2.  In reality, Carmona should still have been pitching a shut-out.

In the top of the fourth, Aubrey Huff hit his 24^rd home run of the season, narrowing the gap to 5-3.

 In the bottom of the fifth, the Indians scored a pair as Peralta and Francisco led off the inning with walks.  That brought out Alex Castillo from the Baltimore bullpen.  He plunked Choo with a pitch, loading the bases.  Garko singled to left, scoring Peralta and reloading the bases.  Sal Fasano was the second Indian of the inning hit by a pitch and the fourth free pass of the inning, and Francisco scored.  With the Baltimore pitching having absolutely no control, Andy Marte inexplicably swung at three pitches in a row, two of them low, and recorded the first out of the inning.  Cabrera hit a weak popup for the second out, and Sizemore flied out, leaving the bases loaded.

Trailing 7-3. the Baltimore Orioles came all the way back in the top of the seventh, even taking an 8-7 lead!  After Carmona registered the first out of the inning, and Indians announcers made the comment that with one more out, Carmona would have the longest outing since returning from the DL, Fausto lost all control, walking Hernandez and Payton.  Cintron singled, giving the Orioles bases loaded with one out.  Roberts singled, moving all runners up one station and scoring Hernandez.  That was it for Carmona, at least in terms of pitches thrown.  He’d get tagged for three more runs one batter later when Edwardo Mujica allowed a bases clearing triple to Markakis.  That ended Carmona’s bid for the win since the game was tied at seven-up.  In the next strange occurrence of the game, Melvin Mora hit a sac-fly to right fielder Ben Francisco.  Francisco fired home, but the ball short hopped right through Fasano’s legs and Markakis, who looked like he’d be out, came in safely.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Indians retook the lead.  Rocky Cherry came on to pitch for Baltimore, and immediately gave up a double to Choo.  Garko singled Choo over to third, and the weirdness continued.  Shappach came on as a pinch hitter for Fasano.  He hit one to third, and Choo was caught in a run-down.  Orioles catcher Hernandez ran Choo all the way back to third, never getting rid of the ball, and Choo made it back safely.  Hernandez ran right through Choo, shoving him off the bag, and Choo was ruled safe on the push-off.  Choo scored on a sac-fly by pinch hitter Jamey Carroll, Carroll’s first pinch-hit RBI of the season.  Walker relieved Cherry and dished up a double to Cabrera, scoring Gonzalez, a pinch runner for Garko.  Sizemore then grounded out but scored Shoppach in another unusual play.  The groundout went to Baltimore’s first baseman, and the delay while he stepped on first was the half-step Shoppach needed for the slide home under the tag. 

In the eighth, the Indians tacked on another three.  Francisco solo homered on a 2-0 count with a no-doubter into the home-run porch.  Peralta followed that up with a double, and after a Choo pop-out, Andy Gonzalez homered, his first as an Indian, making it 13-8. 

Brendan Donelly came on in the top of the eighth, allowing one hit and no runs in his debut as an Indians big leaguer.  Donelly hadn’t pitched in the Bigs since June 10^th, 2007, while he was with Boston.

Jensen Lewis pitched a one-hit ninth, closing it out for the Tribe. 

The Indians ended the game with 13 runs on 13 hits.  Baltimore finished with eight runs on nine hits.  Francisco, Peralta, Garko, and Cabrera each had two hits for the Indians.  Markakis led the way for Baltimore with three hits and four RBI’s.

Tuesday is the second of four.  Garrett Olson(8-6, 6.06 ERA) goes for the Orioles against Jeremy Sowers(1-6, 5.70 ERA).

Minnesota took over first place in the AL Central with a win and a White Sox loss.

Lee wins 16^th, Indians Sweep Jays.

Cliff Lee pitched eight innings of scoreless, eight hit ball, Rafeal Perez insured Lee his 16^th win with a lock-down ninth, and the Cleveland Indians won 4-0 over the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday afternoon.

Lee is now 16-2 on the season with a 2.45 ERA. 

The Indians offense jumped on the Jays 2-0 in the first, and never looked back.  Grady Sizemore led off with a single.  David Dellucci doubled him home, and after a Kelly Shoppach strikeout, Jhonny Peralta singled home Dellucci for the early lead.

The Indians added a run in the third on a two-out Shin-Soo Choo double and a Ryan Garko single to left that scored Choo.

In the eighth, they’d strike for their fourth of the game.  Taking advantage of a lead-off Garko single, a Franklin Gutierrez walk, and a Sizemore single scoring Garko. 

The Blue Jays came the closest to getting to Lee in the fifth.  Stringing together a single and a bunt single, they had runners at first and second with nobody out when Cliff Lee helped himself out.  The Jays went to the bunt again, trying to advance the runners and Lee fielded it cleanly, throwing to third and picking off the lead runner. On the next batter, Lee got the inning-ending double play ground-out, keeping his shutout intact.

Rafael Perez continued his pitching dominance, striking out the side in a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

The Indians home Monday night to face a struggling Baltimore Oriole team.  Fausto Carmona (5-4, 4.46 ERA) pitches against Dennis Sarfate(4-2, 4.58 ERA).

Game time is 7:05.  Cleveland will play the next ten at home, the first four against the Orioles, three against the Angels, and three against Kansas City.

The Indians are 6-4 in their last ten, and 5-1 in the last six.  They are one game back of the Kansas City Royals for last place in the AL Central.  Cleveland is 52-64.  Kansas City is 54-64.  The White Sox lead the division by 13 games over the Indians at 65-51.

Football has started.  We’re done with the Tribe right?  The Indians win 5-2.  Call me whatever you want, but I am enjoying watching the Indians.  A lot.  You are too.  Admit it.  Have you stopped?  My suggestion?  Stick with it.  It’s fun.  It’s exciting.  I can’t wait for next year. 

The Indians haven’t been in a place where you are looking forward to next year for a while.  Usually, we are rooting for the current session.   Sure, you could say, YES we have.  2006 was bad.  It was.  This bullpen is worse, or not.  Yet………I’ve been there when the Indians were always in last place.   Thankfully, that was a while back.

Personally, I’m in a new place…… I’m excited.  Ok, ok I admit, it’s just like the old days this year.  Where else could you go but up.   But seriously, the Indians are on the move.

We expected greatness this year.   We did.   It didn’t happen.  Not even close.  But the Indians are fun to watch.  Not all year, but now…. With the new group.  Admit it… Its like NASCAR….. You watch, waiting for the wreck.

Anthony Reyes put up his first MLB start with the Indians as a win….. Times to come man, times to come.

I don’t judge the “V” on Reyes….. I think it’s on the team, but yet I’m optimistic about Reyes.  

While Reyes was hot in his first start : six and a third innings pitched, seven hits, and only run earned run, the real crux of the matter is the Indians seem to be adjusting into what I’d like to see as a team : and I LOVE it.

Rafael Perez, a staple in the Indians lefty organization, or organization as a whole for that matter, did his business again, going an inning and a third and giving up one run, unusual for him.   He’s usually lights out.  When he stinks, he’s great.  How can you beat that.  He is, and will be. Lights out seven and eight.

Jensen Lewis, a one inning wonder this evening, was moved to the closer, a PERFECT role for him.  Guess what?  One inning, 0 hits, 0 runs.  One B on B, but one K and TADA….. the Indians win.  Lewis has ALWAYS demonstrated closer potential.  Not lights out stuff like the big closers in the game, but he has the stuff that closers are made of.  He’s a fighter.  He is.  He did it once in the role.  Put him there again.  He’ll show you he’s the man.  He won’t be the best.  He won’t be dominant, but HE WILL WIN.  That is what he’s made of. 

Keep the faith Eric Wedge.  Let Lewis close.  He has the gumption.  Hand him the ball.  Let him win.

You did it.  You’re there.  Let Lewis blow it.  As Nike would say…. JUST DO IT.

Am I excited about the bullpen?  YES!! I am.  Screw football.  Well not really, but it has its place, and not in August.  Ok in August too.  BUT….

This year, I’m excited about the Tribe.

Exciting as it seems, I’m somewhat bummed that Lee won’t meet Halladay.  Two days ago, he would have.  The Indians called up Reyes, and he didn’t.  Bummer.  The Cy Young award was mano-a-mano.  Now?  I guess we’ll see by the starts, but it won’t be against each other.

It does give Lee a shot at 20 more than it did meeting up with Halladay, but Lee wipes Halladay off the map, and the Cy Young is his.  If it’s me?  I take that any day of the week.  Best against best.  I lose, I lose.  Let’s go.  But I do understand the mentality of not meeting up.   At least I guess.

Lee will win 20, and he’ll win the Cy Young.  He’ll be the only pitcher to 20, just watch and he’ll win.  By avoiding Halladay, he’ll be 16-2.  He would be anyway.  Should have kept the matchup. 

So much for my thoughts, lets head back to the game.

The Indians jumped on top 3-0 in the top of the fourth.  Kelly Shoppach opened up the inning after one out with a double.  After a Jhonny Peralta flyout, Ben Francisco doubled, scoring Shoppach.  Shin-Soo Choo doubled, scoring Shoppach.  Franklin Gutierrez joined in, scoring Choo for the third run of the inning. 

The Jays scored one back.  After an infield single and a regular single, Matt Stairs hit a single as well, and it was 3-1 Tribe. 

The Indians would score another pair in the eighth.  After a pair of walks to Carrol and Shoppach, Peralta struck out, giving the Indians two outs. 

Francisco would single home a run and move Shoppach to second, prompting a pitching change.   

Carleson came in, giving up a single and a run to Choo and Shoppach respectively, putting the Indians up 5-1.

The Jays would get a run back, on a double and a Mench pinch-hit single, but it wasn’t enough to chase down the Tribe.  

The Indians win, 5-2, and make chasing down the Royals a hope….. ar least for today…. Next year, thougb, looks extremely hopeful.