Tribe Beat Sox!

Who could have predicted that 5 games into the season the Boston Red Sox would not have a win? Its crazy to think that the Tribe now has an opportunity to sweep them after winning todays game with a final score of 4-8. Mitch Talbot had a pretty decent outing today for the Tribe. Going 4 and a third innings and only allowing 2 runs to the Red Sox lineup is very impressive. Whats even more impressive is he had 7 K's. Talbot found himself in many jams, but he continued to pitch through it and got out of them unmarred. Talbot did a great job, and if he continues to pitch like this it will be great to have strength at the back end of the rotation.

After Talbot was yanked in the fifth inning, Chad Durbin entered the game. Durbin was used as a match up guy, and did his job successfully by recording a strikeout. From there, the winning pitcher of the game was summoned, Rafael Perez. What can I say about Perez? He did an amazing job. Going 1 and a third innings, he struck out 2 and did not allow a run or hit. In the 7th inning, Frank Herrmann was called upon. Herrmann looked great,but unfortunately surrendered a 2 run home run to Adrian Gonzalez. It was an amazing at bat, and Herrmann made several great pitches. However, Gonzalez battled by fouling them off and then unloaded on a fastball that caught a little bit too much of the plate. Those two runs would be the last that Boston would get as Tony Sipp would shut them down in the 8th, and Vinnie Pestano recorded a 0 in the 9th. The Tribe bullpen has looked great so far this young season. It is really shaping up to be a strength of the ball club. All good teams have one thing in common, a great bullpen. It looks like the Tribe has that together and could be very good this season.

The Tribe offense looked great this game as well. To score 8 runs on the pitching staff and bullpen that Boston has is quite a feat. Leading the Tribe offensive was Asdrubal Cabrera who hit a 3 run bomb. He went 2-5 and drove in 5 runs. Asdrubal Cabrera was by far the player of the game for the Tribe. Matt LaPorta also had a nice day at the play going 2-3, scoring 2 runs and driving one in. Shin-Soo Choo appeared to have broken out of his slump today when he hit a 2 run shot in the bottom of the first. However, that may not be the case because in the second inning he grounded into an inning ending double play. Choo is showing improvement at the plate, and I predict that this slump will fade away soon and Choo will be back to normal. His contribution is crucial for the Tribe offense. Travis Hafner also looked good in this game going 1-3 with a walk. His walk was one of the best at bats Ive seen from him in awhile. He took Matsuzaka too a full count, and then to a 9 pitch at bat. He fought off some tough pitches, and then drew the walk. If Hafner stays on the role hes been on, the Tribe offense will continue to thrive.

The Indians played a great game today to beat the Red Sox. From the great start from Talbot, to the high scoring Tribe offense, to the shutdown by the bullpen, this young team was able to do it all. I'm really looking forward to tomorrows game when the Tribe will have an opportunity to sweep the Red Sox. Pitching probables for tomorrows game are Jon Lester for the Red Sox, and Fausto Carmona for the Tribe. Fausto is coming off of a rough start against the White Sox and is looking to redeem himself and prove that he is the ace of the rotation. Tomorrow will be an exciting game, and the Indians could sweep the Red Sox for the first time since God knows when! I am counting down the minutes until 12:05 when the first pitch is underway.

Tribe Battles Back to .500

The Tribe squared off with the Boston Red Sox today at Progressive Field and the Tribe was able to come out on top of a 3-1 score. This victory can be credited to the pitching of the Cleveland Indians. On a night that was slow offensively for the Tribe, the pitching staff really did an amazing job to insure a Cleveland victory. Josh Tomlin had a great outing. Going 7 innings and only giving up 1 run on 3 hits to a powerful Boston lineup is unheard of from a guy who has been in the majors for less than a year. Tomlin was the difference maker in this game, and I have chosen him as the player of the game.

Besides Tomlin's amazing pitching, the bullpen did a stellar job. Tony Sipp was called upon in the 8th, and he responded with an amazing inning posting a goose egg on the board without allowing a hit. Then in the 9th Chris Perez was called into action. Wild Thing 2.0, as I like to call him, nearly gave me a heart attack. After recording an out, Perez then gave up a single to Dustin Pedroia. He then got Adrian Gonzalez to fly out. Then he faced Kevin Youkillus, a man who has the weirdest batting stance in the history of Major League Baseball. Youkillus drew a walk, and Perez was really in a jam as he had to face David Ortiz with men on first and second. It was a nail bitter, but Perez forced Ortiz to swing at his pitch and got him to fly out to end the game. Wild Thing 2.0 successfully recorded the save, his first of the season.

Along with the great Cleveland pitching, the offense and aggressive base running contributed to the win as well. The Tribe stole 3 bases (Asdrubal Cabrera, Matt LaPorta, and Michael Brantley). I really like to see the Indians being aggressive on the base paths. With not having a great hitting team, it really improves your chances of scoring when you are able to advance runners without having to make a sacrifice. As far as the offense is concerned, Travis Hafner is having an All-Star caliber year. He had a double today that he absolutely crushed. It was a screaming line drive that pounded off the right field wall just a few feet below the yellow line. Also, Jack Hannahan continued to impress me at the plate coming up with another key hit that drove in a runner. He is producing great numbers from the bottom part of the lineup. I think that the Tribe got screwed on a few called third strikes. Dan Iassogna had about the most sporadic strike zone that I have ever seen. I think that my 12 year old brother could have been more consistent than him. He practically handed the chubby billy goat (Bobby Jenks) 2 of his strikeouts. That was ridiculous, and I hope to never see Dan umping behind the plate again for the Tribe.

The defense looked solid yet again. Besides the error that was committed by Tomlin, the defense was perfect. That was only the Tribes second error in 4 games, which is pretty decent. Its really nice to see all 9 of our guys fielding their positions so well.

The Tribe played their hearts out and did a great job. They were able to beat a team that has one of the highest payrolls in baseball. It is ridiculous how they were able to sign the free agents that they did this off season. It warms my heart to see how their expenses are not benefiting them yet and they are off to an 0-4 start. The Indians played a great game that went from their pitching ,to their key hits, to their aggressive base running. They did not let the sporadic strike zone effect them, and they played their hearts out. If the Tribe continues to play like this, they have a shot at winning the weak American League Central Division and heading to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

I Believe That We Have One!

The Indians played their hearts out today and earned their first victory of the season improving their record to 1-2. Justin Masterson had the best outing of any starting pitcher for the Tribe this year. Going 7 innings and giving up only 1 earned run, Masterson lead the way for a 7-1 Cleveland victory. Masterson dominated the White Sox lineup, getting 16 ground ball outs. Justin Masterson is by far the player of the game. Anytime a starter for the Tribe can go 7 innings and only allowing 1 earned run, you gotta tip your hat to them.

During this game, something spectacular happened. The Indians turned the fourth triple play in Progressive Field history. In the fourth inning, with runners on first and second Alexi Ramirez popped up a bunt that was caught by a diving Carlos Santana at first base. From there, Carlos threw it to Cabrera at first to double up A.J. Pierzynski. Cabrera threw it to Asdrubal Cabrera who stepped on second to double up Carlos Quentin completing the triple play. This defensive astonishment and many other great plays in the field helped Masterson out greatly. Giving up 7 hits, these great defensive plays helped him out of a great deal of jams.

The Indians remained scoreless until the bottom of the 6th when Orlando Cabrera blasted a 2 run home run to left. This would ignite the Tribe offense who would score the next 2 consecutive innings. Carlos Santana had a great day at the plate going 2-4. Another notable hitter was Lou Marson. Since Santana took the day off from catching and played first base, Marson was inserted into the lineup. He went 2-3 with an RBI and a walk. Overall, the Indians had a great offensive day. They posted a .500 average with runners in scoring position going 2-4 as a team.

The bullpen did a phenomenal job today. Tony Sipp was called upon to take over for Masterson in the top of the eighth. Sipp came out strong striking out Adam Dunn, and then getting the next hitters to pop out and then ground out for a 1-2-3 inning. In the top of the ninth, Chris Perez was handed the ball. He too had a great outing causing Chicago to go 3 up 3 down. Although it was a non save opportunity for Perez, it was still nice to see him get some work in and do it so well.

Things to take away from this game are that the Tribe may have found a solid set up man in Sipp, Chris Perez will be a great closer, Marson is swinging a great bat, Masterson might be one of our better starters, and the team can play solid defense. With not that great of experience in the pitching rotation, the Tribe is going to need to play solid defense which they have up to this point besides the 1 error that occurred during todays game. I am really looking forward to watching this group of young Cleveland players play the rest of this season. They show a lot of heart, devotion, and a ton of potential. If they play like they did today, and the bullpen keeps up the great work they are doing, they will most defiantly cause some commotion in the American League Central Division.

Go Tribe,

Drew Lilly

Tribe Falls to 0-2

Carlos Carrasco took the mound for the Tribe today, and had a less than satisfactory outing. Going 6.2 innings giving up 7 earned runs on 10 hits is not going to cut it as a number 2 pitcher in Major League Baseball. The final score was 8-3 in a game that was all White Sox. The Sox got up early again, and the Tribe was not able to catch up.

About the only positive thing that happened today was Travis Hafner swung the bat well. Hafner went 2-4 with a solo home run. Also, Hannahan continued to show impressive numbers at the plate going 1-4 driving in 2 runs. As a team, the Tribe hit terribly with runners in scoring position going 1-11. This is not going to cut it for a young Cleveland team. With the few opportunities that they are going to have to score, they have to capitalize. 1-11 is simply not good enough, and the Indians will need to improve on that category.

In my opinion, the player of the game for the Indians was Travis Hafner. He blasted a home run, and showed that Pronk still has what it takes to me a middle of the lineup hitter. I called it in an earlier article that this is Hafner's year. This is the year that he returns to the 2007 Travis Hafner that had hit 42 home runs. Right now he is on pace to hit 81 home runs! Though I don't think that he will stay on this pace, I still think he is capable of hitting 40 or more home runs this season.

What really is disappointing is that the Tribe's pitching rotation does not feature one veteran player. The oldest pitcher is Mitch Talbot, who will be 28 in October. With this young of a pitching staff, it would really benefit the Indians to have a veteran in the rotation that could help the younger guys out. I'm not saying that the Indians need to go out and get an all star, just bring in someone like they did in the past with Paul Byrd, Carl Pavano, and Kevin Millwood. However, the Indians failed to add that in the off season, and the pitching staff is going to suffer because of it.

The Tribe will conclude this 3 game series against the Chicago White Sox tomorrow at 1:05 pm at Progressive Field. Toeing the rubber for the Tribe will be young Justin Masterson. Masterson will be squaring off with John Danks. The Tribe will be hoping to avoid the sweep tomorrow. I am predicting a high scoring affair as neither starting pitcher is that great. I think the final score will be 7-6 Indians.

Recap of Home Opener

The home opener at Progressive Field today was a surprise to many including myself with the offensive fireworks displayed in todays game. However, the outcome was unfavorable to the Tribe as they lost 15-10. Heading into the bottom of the 6th looked hopeless for the Indians as they faced a 14-0 deficit.

Many people, including myself, counted them out of the game at that point. However, the Tribe would battle back in the bottom of the 6th posting a 4 spot. From there, the Tribe would battle back and found themselves down 15-9 going into the bottom of the 9th. Cleveland would scratch out one run, and left runners on first and third when Jack Hannahan came to bat. Unfortunately, Hannahan came up short, but whose to blame him. Hannahan had an amazing game at the plate going 3-5 with a home run, scoring 3 runs and an RBI.

Fausto Carmona did not have the type of outing that has to be expected from the ace of the rotation. He went 3 innings allowing 10 earned runs on 11 hits before he was taken out of the game by Acta in the top of the fourth. He gave up 2 home runs, which is a clear sign that his sinker was not working today. When Carmona's sinker is working, it is a very difficult pitch to hit. This horrendous outing has lifted his ERA to 30.00. On the bright side, of the 9 outs he recorded, 5 were via strike out. If the Indians are to create some commotion in the division, Carmona is going to need to step it up and perform at the level he did in 2007 when he was a 19 game winner and candidate for the Cy Young award.

Although the Tribe was unable to pull off the comeback of the century, they did impress me a lot in the later part of the game by never giving up. They showed an immense amount of heart. This is something that Manny Acta is trying to install into his players, and I think he is doing a great job of it. It was defiantly interesting to see the new faces on the Tribe get some action in a real game today. Hannahan was a big surprise to me. I have never had the privilege of seeing Hannahan play before today (also in spring training) and have not heard too much about him but I was thoroughly impressed. Other players who impressed me were Santana, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Matt LaPorta. Santana went 3-5 with a home run and scoring a pair of runs, and driving in 3 runs. Asdrubal Cabrera went 3-5 and scored a pair, and LaPorta went 2-5 scoring a run as well as driving one in.

The outcome was not in the Tribe's favor, but this game showed that there is a lot of potential for a young Cleveland team. They went 8-15 with runners in scoring position, which is over .500 and just amazing. They were down early, and did not give up. They showed an immense amount of heart, and darn near pulled off the comeback of all comebacks. If I had to pick a player of the game, I would without a doubt pick Jack Hannahan. The man was a stud today, simply put. I liked what I saw with the Tribe offense, the key is going to be getting the pitching to hold the opposition to only a few runs. If the Tribe is able to get its pitching down, they will make some commotion in the American League Central Division.

Opening Day!

As you should well know, (if you don't, where have you been the last week?) tomorrow is the home opener for the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe will look to turn it around after a rocky season a year ago. They are playing the Chicago White Sox at 3:05.

Starting for the Indians will be Fausto Carmona. Carmona had an on and off season a year ago posting a record of 13-14. Fausto will be squaring off with Mark Buehrle. Buehrle is coming off a .500 year posting a record of 13-13. Personally, I hate Buehrle. After drilling Travis Hafner in the face in 2005. A few inches higher, and Hafner very well may have died. Buehrle is number 3 on my hate list of professional athletes.

The Indians will not be at full strength tomorrow as Grady Sizemore was placed on the 15 Disabled List. Likely starters for the Tribe will be Kearns in left, Brantley in center, and Choo in right. I expect the infield to look as follows:

3B: Jack Hannahan

SS: Asdrubal Cabrera

2B: Orlando Cabrera

1B: Matt Laporta

C: Carlos Santana

DH: Travis Hafner

It will be interesting to see what the starting lineup looks like tomorrow, but if it were up to me, I would have it as follows:

1. Michael Brantley

2. Asdrubal Cabrera

3. Sin-Soo Choo

4 .Carlos Santana

5. Travis Hafner

6. Orlando Cabrera

7. Austin Kearns

8. Matt Laporta

9. Jack Hannahan

Overall, I like the lineup a lot. There are very few, if any, holes in it. I think that the Tribe will be a solid offensive team in the 2011 campaign. The only question will be our young pitching rotation, and questionable bullpen. For tomorrows game, I predict that it will be a low scoring game as both teams have their aces throwing. I am predicting a 2-1 win for the Tribe. The key is going to be Fausto going late in the game and getting the ball to Perez for the save in the 9th.