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.