The Indians were down 7-1 and came back.  Best story of the night?  Maybe.  The Indians posted their longest win streak of the year.  Possibility.  Jensen Lewis stuck out the side in the ninth witb the game on the line at 8-7?  Hey take your pick baby, its all good!

After Jeremy Sowers left in the third, and the Indians were down, most would say game over.  This new group of late season Indians said…… No Problem.

The Indians weren’t behind all night.  They started the first just like they’ve been doing, taking a 1-0 lead.  Grady Sizemore manufactured the first run.  He walked, and stole second.  David Dellucci walked negating the steal, but putting runners on first and second.  Sizemore, not content with the steal, swiped third as well on a double steal move with Dellucci taking second.  The move paid off when Jhonny Peralta sac-flied Sizemore home, opening up the 1-0 lead.  That double steal would prove the right move, as Shin-Soo Choo struck out to end the inning.  Without the base advance, the Indians would have come away with a big-ole zippo. 

One of the great things in the last x number of games has been the Indians going for broke with a national league mentality, stealing, bunting, etc….   doing the little things that ended up being runs that mattered.

Basically, you could say the Indians stole a run, and they’d need it.

The Rangers tied the game in the third, scoring one run on three hits. After Rangers starter Brandon McCarthy bailed himself out of second and third inning jams with inning-ending double play grounders. 

Chris Davis doubled to right with one out.  In a questionable call Joaquin Arias singled by hitting a grounder to short.  The question wasn’t whether Arias was safe, but whether the hit was not an error.  Cleveland shortstop Peralta fielded the ball, and threw to first, pulling Ryan Garko off the bag.  Cleveland announcers claimed foul, saying the error should have been a throwing miscue on Peralta, or a fielding error on Garko, but not a hit.  They also claimed this was the second time in two nights that Rangers hitters were given a huge benefit of the doubt, questioning their ranking of second in the AL in hitting stat. 

Objectively, I’d have to agree with the Indians announcers.  Both hits should have been registered as errors.  I have no idea whether the ranking should be questioned.

Bottom line, the game was tied at 1-1.

The second time through the lineup, Sowers got shelled big-time.  He ended up giving up six runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth, a geometric progression that can not be ignored by straight-out-the-door math majors, ending his evening pretty darn early.

The shelling went as such.  Milton Bradley earned a walk right out of the gate.  Hank Blalock singled, moving Bradley to second.  Marlon Byrd doubled, scoring a pair and clearing the bases.  Davis struck out for the first out of the inning.  Joaquin Arias singled, and scored Byrd.  Brandon Boggs flied out for the second out of the inning, leaving Arias on first.  Arias stole second, and went to third on a wild pitch from Sowers.  None of that ended up mattering since Michael Young homered to center, chasing Sowers.

Edwardo Mujica came on and got Josh Hamilton to fly out, ending the inning.

Mujica has been cover-your-eyes awful, or lights-out all year, an hopefully the fly-out meant Tribe fans were looking at Mr. lights out. 

They were.  Mujica carried the Indians into the seventh, going two and a third, giving up two hits and no runs and registering himself as lights-out Mujica.

In the meantime, the Indians pulled off a six-spot inning of their own, tying the game.

They didn’t take McCarthy, as he was replaced by Josh Rupe.  Rupe got hammered for five runs in two-thirds of an inning. 

He started off the fifth walking Asdrubal Cabrera.  Sizemore singled, but Dellucci grounded into a double play, moving Cabrera to third with two outs.

That’s when the wheels came off for Texas.  Ben Francisco walked, and Peralta was hit by a pitch in a disputed play that looked like it hit his bat.  That loaded the bases of Shin-Soo Choo, who walked, scoring Peralta.  Garko singled , scoring a pair and leaving runners on first and second.  Warner Madrigal came on in relief of Rupe, but surrendered a home-run to Kelly Shoppach, tying the game at seven.

The relief pitching held both teams in check until the bottom of the eighth, when the Indians took the lead for good.  Shoppach scored an infield single with one out.  Jamey Carroll entered for Andy Marte and, on a passed ball, Shoppach moved to second.  Manager Eric Wedge gambled and pulled Shoppach for pinch runner Franklin Gutierrez.  It didn’t take long for this move to pay off, as Carroll singled, and Gutierrez motored home, giving the Indians an 8-7 lead.

Rafael Betancourt would hold the lead.  Enter Jensen Lewis.  He struck out the side, picking up his sixth save, and giving the Indians an 8-7 win. 

The Indians win six in a row for the first time his season, and they have a chance for the sweep on Sunday.  The Indians don’t pick up a game on the Detroit Tigers.  They beat Kansas City 4-0. 

Sunday’s game is another 8:05 central start.  Indians Anthony Reyes(4.96 ERA)goes up against Vincente Padilla(12-7, 4.96 ERA). 

The Indians are gunning for their seventh win in a row and second series sweep.in a row. 

Rafael Perez gets the win, Jamey Wright picks up the loss.  The Indians score eight runs on eight hits.  Sizemore, Garko, and Shoppach each register a pair of hits apiece for the Indians. 

The Rangers register seven runs on ten hits.  Young, Laird and Arias score a pair a piece in the loss. 

Texas drops to 63-67 on the season.  The Indians improve to 61-67.  The Indians are still 2.5 back of the Tigers for third in the AL Central. 

The Rangers are in second in the AL West but 16 games behind the Angels.

The Indians jumped out front 5-0 in the first two innings, then held on tight, winning 7-5 in the opening game of a six game road trip that will be three against Texas and three more against the Tigers in Detroit, a team they trail in the division standings by 2.5 games. 

Fausto Carmona picked up his sixth win of the season, but just barely, as Jensen Lewis looked human for the first time in his short tenure at closer, giving up a pair of hits and a run to Texas in the bottom of the ninth.  He still picked up the save though, his fifth of the year.

The Indians offense came through right away in the first.  With one out, Jamey Carroll walked.  Ben Francisco hit a single, his first of three hits on this particular evening.  After a Jhonny Peralta fly-out, Ryan Garko got a big two-out double, scoring Carroll and Francisco and handing Carmona a 2-0 lead before he even stepped on to the field.

The Indians would take on three in the top of the second, opening up a 5-0 lead.  Sal Fasano led off the second with a single.  He lumbered home on an Andy Marte triple.  Asdrubal Cabrera sac-flied Marte home.  Next batter Grady Sizemore walked, and moved to second on Francisco’s second hit of the night.  He scored on a Peralta single, but Garko struck out, squelching the scoring at three for the inning.

Carmona pitched most of the first few in trouble, but didn’t give up a run until the fourth.  Chris Davis landed on first after a Carmona error, then moved to second on a Carmona wild pitch.  Jerrod Saltalamacchia singled Davis home, narrowing the Indians lead to 5-1.

That was the only run Carmona would surrender.  His tag line went six innings, six hits, one earned run, five strike-outs and three walks – and the win.

His pitching counterpart, Matt Harrison, picked up the loss, going 3.2 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits, with three walks and two strikeouts.

Kameron Loe, the second pitcher of the night for Texas, held the Indians in check for 4.1 innings, giving Texas a chance to climb back in this one.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Rangers offense did just that, scoring three and drawing to within 5-4.  Milton Bradley and was lifted for pinch runner Jason Ellison.  Ellison moved to second when Blalock walked, putting runners on first and second with nobody out.  Marlon Byrd made sure the walks would not go to waste with a three run home-run.  That was it for the Rangers in the eighth, but it put them in position to win.

Rafael Perez was the pitcher of record for the Indians, on the hook for three.

The Indians added a couple of insurance runs in the top of the ninth, and as things turned out, they’d need them.  Eddie Guardado came in for Texas, issuing a walk to Cabrera.  After a Sizemore pop-out, Carroll singled Cabrera to third.  Ben Francisco, the Indians man of the day, doubled, scoring Cabrera and planting Carroll on third.  Peralta was intentionally walked.  Garko fouled out for the second out of the inning.  Gutierrez walked on a full count, scoring Carroll.  Texas brought on reliever Francisco, and he struck out Fasano, getting Texas out of the inning.

Currently anointed Jensen Lewis took the hill for the Indians and gave up his first run in the closer role, but still got the job done, converting every save opportunity he’s had since assuming the role a couple weeks back.  Boggs homered, Young singled and it looked like a Texas comeback was in the making.  Two strikeouts later, Lewis got Blalock to line-out, ending the game.

The Indians had seven runs on eleven hits, Francisco leading the way with three.  The Rangers had five runs on nine hits, Saltalamacchia recording a pair. 

These two square off again with an 8:05 start time.  Indians lefty Jeremy Sowers (2-6, 5.46 ERA) pitches against righty Brandon McCarthy(5-10, 4.87 ERA).

The Royals had two errors in the first three innings, and the Indians capitalized on both, putting Cliff Lee up 5-0 through three innings of play.  For his part, Lee didn’t give up a hit until the fifth, and he earned his AL leading 18^th win of the season while completing the three game sweep of the Kansas City Royals.  He ties Arizona’s Brandon Webb for most wins so far this season.

In the Battle for the Basement, the Indians came out on top, literally, opening up a 5.5 game lead on dungeon dweller KC.

The Indians put up three in the bottom of the second.  The first man aboard, Ryan Garko, was the result of a fielding error by shortstop Tony Pena Jr.  Jamey Carroll singled and after a Shoppach strike-out for the second out of the inning, Asdrubal Cabrera singled, loading the bases.  Grady Sizemore came through with a two-out triple, allowing all three runners to score. 

The Indians picked up two more in the bottom of the third on Ben Francisco reaching first after a Billy Butler throwing error, Peralta safe on first on a fielders choice that bagged Francisco, and Shin-Soo Choo’s 6^th home-run on the first pitch he saw, making it 5-0 Indians.

Cliff Lee didn’t allow a hit until the sixth, then gave up three runs on four hits, two of the runs earned, narrowing the lead to 5-3 Indians.

Jason Smith reached first on a hit off the end of the bat and an error on third baseman Jamey Carroll. John Buck singled. Mark Teahen doubled both runners in, and Pena Jr. singled Teahen home. 

Lee got a bit of insurance from a sixth inning run on a Carroll walk, a Cabrera groundout that moved up Carroll, and a Sizemore single to left that scored Carroll.

The Indians would add another in the seventh when Peralta homered to one over the left field fence, his 21^st of the year. 

Cliff Lee left in the after seven with a stat line that read 6 hits, 2 earned runs, 7 K’s and 2 walks, not to mention a comfortable 7-3 lead.

Rafael Betancourt took over, giving up a pair of singles, but getting a double play on a liner to Garko that caught German off guard at first.  Garko pulled off the unassisted double play.  Guillen popped out, ending the inning and leaving a runner stranded on third.

The Indians piled on three more in the eighth on a pair of walks to Carroll and Cabrera, and Sizemore’s 29^th home-run of the year.  10-3 Indians.

Brendan Donnelly took over in the ninth, getting the first two batters on fly-outs and striking out John Buck to end the contest. 

Sizemore’s 29^th home-run set his career high for a single season, eclipsing his previous mark of 28 in 2006.  For his career Sizemore has 107 homers in five seasons.  The only season he hit less than 20 in a year was his first year (2004) in the majors.  He was up for 43 games that season.

Brendan Donnelly took over in the ninth, getting the first two batters on fly-outs and striking out John Buck to end the contest. 

The Indians had ten runs on ten hits, while the Royals managed three runs on eight hits.  Both teams had two errors each, and three of the four errors accounted for runs on both sides.

The Indians leave the confines of Progressive Field and head to Arlington Texas, taking on the 63-65 Texas Rangers Friday evening at 8:05 EST.  The Indians are 7-3 in their last 10, while Texas is 3-7.   Cleveland lefty Fausto Carmona (5-5, 4.71 ERA) squares off against lefty Matt Harrison(5-2, 5.77 ERA). 

RowdyZ, a blog comment contributor, proudly sends us a link to this video claiming he is the dude pulling down this home run ball.  All I can say is "SWEET"!!  I do not have a game ball to my credit.  About the only cool thing I can really recall from a Tribe game was the time I finished the last sip of my beer and the "BEER GUY" magically appeared with another one.  Cool, but no game ball catch.

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.