Cliff Lee is good at pitching

February 3, 2008 -

(Cliff Lee) - "How do you think we'll do this season?"

(Mark Shapiro) - "Well Cliff, I think we will be decent. Potentially good"

(Cliff Lee) - "I'll probably start off slow again this year and just be a mediocre pitcher, maybe a #5 starter"

(Mark Shapiro) - "Well that's all we can ask of you. You're a role player and we appreciate that"

(Cliff Lee) - "Thanks, I just want to get paid"

(Mark Shapiro) - "Would you like to be paid more?"

(Cliff Lee) - "Of course"

(Mark Shapiro) - "OK then, lets make a bet. If I win, you have to win a lot of games this season. If I lose, then you can only win a few games"

(Cliff Lee) - "Sounds like a deal. Paper-rock-scissors."

(Mark Shapiro) - "Two out of three right?"

(Cliff Lee) - "Duh"

(Moderator) - "One Two Three Throw..........

(Cliff) - Rock

(Mark - Paper

(Moderator) - "Round One goes to Mark"

(Moderator) - "One Two Three Throw..........

(Cliff) - Scissors

(Mark) - Paper

(Moderator) - "Round Two goes to Cliff"

(Moderator) - "One Two Three Throw..........

(Cliff) - Scissors

(Mark) - Rock

(Tribe Fans) - "Booo Yaaa, Now Cliff's got to win lots of games"

Well it looks like Cliff is holding true to his word. Thanks man. Paper-rock-scissors is definitely a binding contract.

Cleveland (13-15) - 8

Seattle (13-15) - 3

POG - Cliff Lee (5-0)

Oh Come on.

My favorite player pitched tonight for the Tribe. And did a pretty good job. But apparently, the rest of the team enjoyed losing last night so much, that they decided to "make it happen" again tonight.

When I made the decision to blog each game of the season, I had no idea how tough it would be to write back-to-back losing posts. I've had to do it a few times already and it is not awesome.

Our number 2 pitcher should not be losing games to the Mariners. I could understand the lose if the Mariners were fielding Griffey Jr, A-Rod, Ichiro, Randy Johnson, etc., but they are fielding a bunch of jazz hands. Unacceptable.

This blog is getting tough. I think I have a wrinkle.

Cleveland (12-15) - 2

Seattle (13-14) - 7

POG - I guess LeBron James. He's still relevant in Cleveland right?

Aaron gets an A......almost

It's very unfortunate to have a young player come in and be devistated during his first outing. Laffey pitched a great game until the 6th inning. I mean a great game. Even in the 6th, when the wheels fell off, it wasn't all his fault. The first 2 yanks that got onbase with infield hits. And then he hit A-Rod in the cup. Confidence is key for any pitcher, especially a very young, un-proven pitcher. I was please to see Wedge announce that he would be giving Laffey at least 2 starts when he called him up.

As good as he did pitch, it was unsettling to see him beat himself up on the bench after getting pulled. We can only hope that he takes the good and the bad from this game, but still comes out positive. Taking a no-hitter into the 5th has got to be worth something, especially for a young kid.

Cleveland (12-14) - 2

Yankees (14-13) - 5

POG - AL Central (For keeping the losing pace and keeping the Tribe in the race)..... Bottom line, ther has to be someone to make the playoffs for the Central.

Dang it Wang!

I was pretty excited about day 2 of Weekend-O-Sports-O-Awesome. It was basically just like yesterday, with a little church mixed in. Also throw in that Talladega was today and arguablly, 2 of the best pitchers in the game right now were facing off against each other (C.C. and Wang).

Well it's very difficult to accept a loss to the Yankees, but I was actually pleased with today's performance. C.C. and Wang pitched just about identical games, with the exception of one change-up to Cabrera. I can only hope that C.C. takes away the good from this game. He's only given up 1 run in the past 14 innings.

Cleveland (12-13) - 0

New York (13-13) - 1

POG - Kansas City Chiefs - I know they didn't play in this game today, I don't even like the Chiefs at all, but I have heard so many times, over and over and over again today how they "won" the draft. So i'm officially brainwashed.

Starting to get a little cocky.

There are now two things that I am absolutly positive that Kobayashi truely loves. Nathan's hotdogs and beating the Yankees. Did you see how happy he was?!?!

And what a great day! Indians at home against the Yankees on TV. 2008 NFL Draft started. NBA playoffs. NHL playoffs (i think). Byron Nelson Classic. Even got to lay a few pallets of sod in the rain, but the sod definalty won that one.

To say that I enjoy watching the Indians beat the Yankees is an understatement, but what I enjoy even more is when we win a game like this. They came back in the 6th to tie, had more hits, almost had it. Bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, outfield in.....and then Vic happened.

Cleveland (12-12) - 4

New York (12-13) - 3

POG - Masa Kobayashi - 2 innings pitched, 2 k's, 0 er's, 1st Major League win

Yankees = Royals....HaHaHa

For the first time this season I actually feel a little cocky about the whole deal. I mean, if we can have Paul (maybe HGH) Byrd going up against Andy (Yeah, I took HGH) Pettitte and still getting the win, well things must be going good right?

Two of the last three starters haven't pitched incredibly, but they have continued to do just enough. And what more can you ask for than just enough? I mean, today is Friday. How many of you out ther can seriously say that you did "just enough" at your job today?

Although the 15 run outing kindof scared me, now it's good to see us combining runs scored > runs allowed in a more favorable manner.

Jhonny was onny tonight

Cleveland (11-12) - 6

New York Damn Yankees (12-12) - 4

POG - Jhonny Peralta - (not to show a sensitive side, but I giggle each time I type "Jhonny". I mean, does he not know his mom spelled it wrong? Or is he just OK with it? 2-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI

Turn your head and Kauff....man

In a long season, you take any series sweep you can get. This might just be exactly what the Tribe needed to get back on track. So we are not going to go 162-0 this season. Maybe not even 150-12. Oh well, I guess there's always next year.

The main objective now is to secure a solid pitching rotation. The other night showed promise that C.C. might be making a few adjustments (getting ahead in the count, and throwing stikes). Carmona has continued last season's success like a true vet. Cliff Lee, funnily enough, has been the most consistent pitcher this season. Paul Byrd is reeeeaaalllyy old, but every win he can give us is a gift. He's even a nice compliment to the C.C/Carmona combo. And then there is Jake. Oh Jake.... We really need you to be more dependable. You make a lot of mulah. You have huge potential. You have had an incredible start this season. You are also.....soft. Our starting rotation is extremely shallow.

Although we swept KC, this weekend is a very interesting and important series for the club. As we showed last fall, we can handle the Damn Yankees. But at this point in the season, it's important to instill confidence in the team, even if that means beating an over-rated over-paid over-hyped team.

Quick recap....Game 1 - Grady hit alot(4-5). Carmona pitched good enough to win. Perez sucked, but bullpen survived.

Game 2 - "Note to self........Cliff Lee might really be legit".

Not to go un-noticed....Rafael Betancourt got his first save tonight. Maybe he won't hate saves as much as Borowski.

Game 1 -

Cleveland (9-12) - 9

Kansas City (9-12) - 6

POG - Grady Sizemore - 4-5, HR, 2 RBI

Game 2 -

Cleveland (10-12) - 2

Kansas City (9-13) - 0

POG - Bob Gibson/Cliff Lee - Obviously the Strickland's plug worked. EAT AT STRICKLAND'S. Cliff Lee - Complete game - 3 hits, 9 KO's, 0.28 season ERA

KC is still KC

There are only 2 things that you never fear in baseball.......Barry Zito or the Kansas City Royals. So you have to know that I knew something was wrong about this season when last night I was nervous about our ace/Cy Young winner pitching against K.C.

So it's hard to tell if this was just C.C. being C.C., or K.C. being K.C. Either way, it worked out fine.

Casey Blake decided to personally make sure that there was no way possible for the bullpen to blow the lead. Going 4-4 to improve his batting average to a whopping .233

Cleveland (8-12) - 15

Kansas City - (9-11) - 1

POG - Casey Blake - 4-4, 6 RBI, 1 HR, 2 doubles

Hit Balls, not Byrds

In another strong outing, Paul Byrd did what he could, but wasn't able to close out the deal.

I guess i can't get too upset that we keep losing low scoring games. Especially with the lineup that we have, right? How can you sit here and blame Perez for giving up the runs, and not ask yourself, where have our bats gone?

I'm not asking for grand slams every inning. But I do feel like I can ask for our offensive players to try to touch their bats to the opposing pitchers balls.

I might be WAY out there, but I do think that we are missing a crucial part of the game. Hitting is good. Seriously.

New season starts now. Can we put together a game in which both offense and defense decide to play together. Let's do this guys.

Cleveland (7-12) - 1

Minnesota (9-10) -2

POG - Me- For being the most consistant part of the Indians' season (again thanks to bf trey www.chd3.blogspot.com)

Pirates of the Blackburn

WOW! Were we robbed tonight? It might be something to look at. I mean, his name is Blackburn.....One Eyed Blackburn (I think).

I can't be too disappointed with Jake. I mean, he is doing his job. Over and over again.

This was just a hard faught game, that was won by one team's hitting.

Still not worried. It's just the Twins. Right?

Cleveland (7-11) - 0

Minnesota (8-10) - 3

POG - Justin Morneau - 2-4, 2 RBI, yeah, that's all it took.

Cliff on Mound/Casey at Bat

Cliff Lee - Going into tonight, he was 2-0. With a 0.61 era. 12 K's. 1 (yes one) walk.

Francisco Liriano - So much "promise". Going into tonight, he was 0-1. With a 7.71 era.

It has made me sick today seeing the "potential vs performance" debate rage on in the national media. Obviously Liriano is the better pitcher because of his potential, right? And obviously Cliff Lee is only looking good because other Cleveland pitchers are under-performing, right? Well at least that's how ESPN wanted to set it up.

Every now and then you see an unexpected player step up and take the Twin by the horns. Well tonight was that night. Cliff lee pitched one hell of a game. In the midst of a questionable start to Vthe season, Lee has been the most consistant piece of the puzzle. Tonight only giving up 2 hits is nothing but exceptional.

I always wonder why pro sports players can't play like pros every night. I have always thought that it was just because they were a bunch of spoiled brats. Well I just might have been proved wrong tonight. Take Casey Blake for example. He has obviously been holding back the entire season. I couldn't understand why, until tonight. Casey decided to "let it all out" tonight with a 2-4 game with 3 RBI. And we say thank you.

Cleveland (7-10) - 4

Minnesota (7-10) - 0

POG - Clifford Lee - 8 innings pitched, 0 earned runs, 2 hits, 8 KO's

[special thanks to bf Trey for a few tips. Check him out at http://www.chd3.blogspot.com/]

------Photo caption------ Cliff at Strickland's. By far the best ice cream joint in Ohio.

Tigers....Schmigers

Now this is what I signed up for. I understand that there have been a few rough days we have had so far, but it is days like this that make it worth while. It's clear that Wedge lit into the team last night. I can hear it now....."Hey guys, lets think outside the box. Throw strikes!!! Make contact!!!"

Well skipper, your words have been heard loud and clear.

Selfishly, I am glad that our guys decided to start playing on a night when Fausto was pitching. I mean, what a great night across the board. Carmona became an ace tonight. He proved that if you stick up for your teammates, then they will give everything they have for you. Fausto pitched 6.2 strong innings giving up only 1 earned run, improving his ERA to 1.96. More importantly, Lewis, Kobayashi and Betancourt closed the game out by not even giving up a single hit.

Equally impressive was the hitting tonight. Most people look at Hafner and think he's all muscle and no brain. But I have heard a rumor that this afternoon, before the game, he addressed the team and said.... "Hey guys...me have idea...we hit ball tonight." It must have been an inspiring speech because even Jason Michaels got involved.

It is great to win a game. It is greater to win a game by alot. It is greatest to win a game by alot when we are playing a team in the Central Division.

Cleveland - 11

Detroit - 1

POG - Fausto Carmona - 6.2 innings pitched. 7 hits. 1 ER. 1 rebound from a terrible outing.

C.C. See Ya

I originally started this blog as an effort to chronicle the great achievements of our Indians this season. Of course this was our year. Right? A returning Cy Young pitcher. A hard nosed lineup that just finds ways to get it done. A manager who adjusts the lineup day-to-day like a crab fisher trying to get paid. A general manager, taught by the Hart, that seemingly has everything right and in place.

I have heard many praises for Shapiro for "building" a team and locking up so many of our young stars for many years to come. He even said on national TV that he was looking to build a team of quality "team" guys. While I can, and do respect him for that, when is it OK to factor in wins? Honestly I am proud, as a die-hard Cleveland fan, to hear us nationally recognized as having the best group of men playing baseball. But is that enough?

I'll be a Cleveland fan until my last breath, let's make that clear. It is far to soon to bail out on this season, but I don't think that it's too soon to start asking for our players to take some responsibility.

Take tonight for example. I could sit here and write so many reasons why it is OK for us to lose to Detroit. I mean, they have got an All Star lineup (Ivan Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Guillen, Brandon Inge, Placido Polanco, Edgar Renteria, Magglio Ordonez, Jacque Jones, Gary Sheffield) and pitching staff (Verlander, Bonderman, Rogers, Robertson) at least on paper. But C.C., this is your 4th start. Something has got to give. Maybe it isn't the Tiger's lineup. Maybe, just maybe, it could be you. Four games, 18 innings pitched, 32 hits, 27 earned runs, 5 hrs, 14 bb's, 14 ko's (what?), 13.50 era.

Tonight was just embarrassing. The key to winning series is pitching and batting, and tonight, we did neither. Michaels...just go home. I almost would rather place a tire in the outfield, at least then Akron would get some press.

I have reached a moral roadblock : I do enjoy that we have quality men playing ball for us each night, but if Michaels can't figure out how to touch his bat on the ball, then I might be leaning to other options......Barry Bonds..... I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

Cleveland - 2 (sick)

Detroit - 13 (sick)

POG - Not C.C. - Miguel Cabrera - 4 hits, 5 RBI

Borowski is Outski....and still same results.

Today there were two very interesting things that took place.

1 - Joe Borowski went on the "Disabled List" after starting off with the worst first two weeks imaginable by a closer. This is very interesting to me. As I predicted in my previous post, Shapiro was going to have to find some way of getting him off of the roster. Who would have guessed that he would have had an "injury". Thanks to my dad, I was informed about a prophetic comment made last night by none other than Manny Ramirez. When asked about the pitch he hit out of the park last night, Manny said... "I'm not sure if it was a change-up, or a hanging curve ball". Why is this interesting? Well only because the pitch that Manny hit out last night to win the game for Boston was actually Borowski's fastball (84 mph). Unless this guy can come up with an awesome skill (aka. hitting, telling jokes, cooking grits), there is absolutely no reason to keep him on the roster. Especially since we have the guys that CAN finish the job. Right?

2 - Well, so much for having the guys to finish the job. I guess you have to give a little credit to Jensen Lewis for being a team player. "If Joe Borowski is hurt and can't blow a game.....Maybe I can be the guy - Jensen Lewis".

This is starting to get old and we are not even to May. If the starters do well, the bullpin tanks. If the starters give up 90 runs, the bullpin comes in and shuts down. I think I have a remedy. The starters and the bullpin need to take a quick picnic, just so everyone knows that they are all playing for the same team.

Starters - It is not fun for the bullpin to come in during the 4th inning to save you.

Bullpin - It is not fun for the starters when you blow leads or ties.

Baseball 101 - (Batting) Score more than the other team. (Pitching) Give up fewer runs than the other team.

Cleveland - 3

Boston - 5

POG - Okajima - 1 inning pitched (9th), 2 K's

.....and then it happened..again

Being one of maybe 7 Cleveland Indians fans living in Mississippi, I was overly excited to have one of our games nationaly televised by ESPN tonight. Westbrook has been incredible so far this season, so I was absolutely pumped to see him live.

Game time..... Everything looks great. Jake gives up a run, but everything looks great. Especially when the bats start to catch fire on another 30+ degree night. It was great to see Garko get on base for a 12th straight game. It was great to see Haf get a 2 RBI single. It was great to see Wedge bring in Betancourt to face a lefty (Ortiz) only to get a strikeout and then face Manny and do the same. Everything was great, especially how Victor was calling the game from the catcher position (Almost like Sandy). Everything was GREAT.....and then it happened..again

Joe Borowski came in to "save" the game. NOTE TO SELF : "SAVE" no longer means "SAVE"

Cleveland - 4

Boston - 6

POG - (I absolutely hate to write this) - Manny Ramirez - Stupid game winning HR

Cliff was Cold/Hot

Well apparently it was January in Cleveland yesterday. 38 degrees gametime temp with a 28 degrees windchill factor? Maybe it's the Mississippi in me talking, but forget that. You're not supposed to play baseball in the middle of April if it's 38 degrees.

Obviously Cliff Lee agreed with me. He didn't want to have anything to do with the cold either. So far this season, when our other pitchers didn't want to pitch anymore, they would just start giving up runs so Wedge would yank them. Well I like Cliff's approach better. Just get outs, don't waste any time, and get back in the warm dugout.

Kudos, Cliff, Kudos.

Cleveland - 7

Oakland - 1

POG - Cliff Lee - 8 innings pitched, 2 hits, 8 K's, 0 BB's (ZERO BB'S!!!), 0.61 ERA

Where's Fausto?

I'm not too sure exactly who this guy in the #55 jersey on the mound today. He kindof resembles Fausto Carmona a little, but nah, can't be him right?

3 Earned Runs in 3.1 innings. 8 Walks? 1 Strikeout? I have to admit that I was in New Orleans this weekend and didn't get to see the game. So I'll just assume right now that it is only a mis-print. Yeah, a mis-print.

Cleveland - 3

Oakland - 7

POG - Joe Borowski - 1 inning pitched, 3 batters faced, 1 strikeout, o hits, 0 walks. Atta Boy Joe.

C.C.? Really?

Ladies and Gents..........C.C. Sabathia. It's almost like my CD is set on repeat. Is there anyone out there that knows exactly why C.C. absolutely hates Cleveland now? That's the only explaination right? How can someone go from winning the Cy Young one year, and the next year forget the rules of baseball and just assume that the more runs you give up, the more you win? Apparently, even Dale Murphy came back to knock in some runs tonight. C.C., dude, seriously, stop it.

Don't get me wrong. I really do like Sabathia. Really. Obviously it must be inside his head. I'm sure he's thinking....."Boy, I really let myself go this offseason. Am I getting bigger? I AM getting bigger. How can I fix this? Oh, I know!! I'll try to blow every game this season so coach takes me out. That way I can go back in the clubhouse and do some yoga. Genious!"

Well I'm not buying it C.C. In fact, I saw this same thing happen a few years ago. So......whatever happened to Bartolo Colon? Is he working at Captain D's yet? C.C., you still have time to turn it around this year, but it still might not be a bad idea to start taking those junior college courses on how to teach a 7th grader to throw a curve.......and how to stuff down that last Krispy Kreme.

Anyway, about tonight. Again it was a roller coaster. I got so mad watching the first 7 innings, and then there was hope!!!!! And then the hope was gone.

On a brighter note, Joe Borowski did not blow a save tonight nor did he give up any runs. Hooray!!!

Cleveland - 7

Oakland - 9

POG - Joe Borowski - 0 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs allowed. Great night for Joe.

Carmona got Paid

I don't usually make morning posts, but today I am making an exception.

Thanks to http://www.cleveland.com/ for the story. Fausto Carmona (my favorite player) and the Indians just agreed to a contract that could keep him in Cleveland for the next 7 years.

I'm not quite sure how this plays in to the whole C.C. Sabathia negotiations, but it has got to be great news for any Tribe fan.

Good for you Fausto, good for you. Going from $375k/year to around $6.857 mil/year. By the way, can you just imagine if today when you walked in to work, you were given a 1,771% raise? Not too shabby. No more Hot Pockets for him.

Lame Duck

ATTENTION INDIANS' PITCHING STAFF........ Giving up homeruns is not fun!!!!!

---Growing up, one of my best friends was a pitcher. In high school, his mother would not park behind the outfield fence on days that he pitched. Paul Byrd's mother does not park behind the outfield fence either.

Yesterday was the second game of the year that I was able to get paid for watching. What a roller-coaster. I also saw an interesting quote taken from Mike Napoli (who?) after the game...... "We're hitting home runs right now, which is good for us". Really? That's pretty deep. Thanks Mike.

This "Napoli" however did go Barry Bonds on Pauly. As did Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman. I have to give props to Vlad for not making Jensen Lewis feel left out also.

On a positive note, Travis Hafner was hit by a pitch.

Cleveland - 5

LA Angels - 9

POG - Mike Napoli - 1-4, 4 RBI

Thank You Haf

For the first time in a few days, I'm finally starting to actually have a positive feeling about the team. What a great game all around. I also think that Jake has also had it up to here with Borowski.

I had to watch the game online last night since it wasn't on TV. It was total heartache when I was watching the top of the ninth. Carroll.....out 1. Sizemore.....out 2. Cabrera.....walk. Then Hafner came to bat. If you ever watch games on Yahoo.com, then you will know what I'm talking about. Whenever there is a long pause and the updates hault, either.....

A. There is a pitching change
B. There is a disagreement going on (ie. manager upset at a call, batter charging the mound (see Robin Ventura)
C. Someone just went deep.

Well in this case, thankfully there were no managers yelling at each other, and Sandy Alomar Jr. was not karate kicking anyone, so that leaves us with option "C".

Pronk sure saved the day.

Cleveland - 4
LA Angels - 3
POG - Jake Westbrook - 9 innings, 3 ER's, 4 K's
Honorable Mention - Eric Wedge, for not putting Borowski in to close out the game. Save, Schmave.

Hunted Down

Borowski........

Apparently, when the Angels of Anahiem (?) signed Torii Hunter to the ridiculous contract over the offseason, Borowski was also included in that deal. That's my only explaination. Why else would he enjoy giving up homeruns so much? I really knew something was fishy when he started pitching underhanded to Hunter in the bottom of the ninth.

What should have been a Welcome-Back party for Victor turned into a Welcome-to-California party for Torii. At least we were invited to the party.

*Closer For Sale.....Cheap

Cleveland - 4
LA Angels - 6
POG - Torii Hunter - 3-5, 5 RBI

Here He Is Folks

Ladies and Gents.......May I introduce.......Cliff Lee!!!!!!

I have to admit that the only time I have personally seen him throw was last season in Dallas where I watched him pitch an awful game. Maybe he was distracted since he was pitching on "Sosa Appreciation Night". Which makes total sense. There was a parade and even a speech from Vin Diesel. Can't get better than that. (the funniest thing about that night was that it was "Sosa Night" and he was beaned in the head on his first at bat and was out for the rest of the game.....except for the parade in the 7th inning of course)

Well today, Cliff pitched an incredible game......and Borowski somehow didn't blow it. I guess at the end of the day I could say I was happy with it all.

Cleveland - 2
Oakland - 1
POG - Cliff Lee - 6.2 innings, 4 hits, 0 ER's

4-Man Rotation? Wait, what?

I am not saying by any means that I am perfect. But I am saying that I do not understand in the least why we have gone to a 4-man rotation so soon. If my numbers add up correctly, Cliff Lee is the 5th man in the rotation and is being paid around 3 million a year. Let me clarify that a little more.......

Cliff Lee is being paid 3 million dollar bills a year, but somehow is not qualified to make a start in the fifth spot in the rotation?

C.C. is obvisouly still thinking that he's going to screw up the first part of the season and "make-up" for it later on, in order to land a sweet big money deal. While I hope that he does follow through with that deal, I am already starting to become impatient with him. Is he alot fatter or is it just me?

Cleveland - 1

Oakland - 6

POG - D. Eveland - 7 innings, 6 hits, 1 ER, 7 K's

Why aren't Fridays always good?

I have to say that it's too bad they cracked down so hard on "performance enhancing drugs" because it really looks like this new rule is taking it's tole on Byrd. 8 hits in 4.1 innings? Come on man. Maybe Paul just really misses the minor leagues that bad.

Another thing, we have Garko and Hafner going deep with no one on base? That can't be a good thing. Also, 1 run scored on a passed ball and another on a wild pitch. Victor, suck it up, we need you to start playing more like Alomar and less like Pierzynski.

On a brighter note, Detroit is 0-4. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

Cleveland - 3

Oakland - 6

POG - J. Duchscherer(who?) 5 innings, 4 hits, 1 ER, 6 K's

HR's are not always awesome

This was the first game of the season that I was able to watch at my real job. I guess now that I have this blog, at least I can say that I am only watching the game at work because it's for my "other job". If anyone knows a way to convince your boss of that, please feel free to let me know.

Obviously, C.C. is trying to convince Jake that it is uber fun to give up homeruns. That's at least the best excuse I can come up with right now. Jake pitched a helluva game for the most part though. How does a lineup like this get 2 hits? Hillary would definately say it was Bush's fault. I however, say that it must have been the game time. So for now, we can chalk this one up to sun-in-eyes.

Cleveland - 1

Chi White Sox - 2

POG - J. Danks 6.2 innings, 2 hits, 1 ER, 2K's

Cama Cama Carmona

One thing that will soon be realized throughout this blog is that I am extremely passionate and loyal whenever I choose a "favorite" player. For instance, I can say that I am, and have been, the biggest Sandy Alomar Jr. fan outside of Ohio since he was a backup catcher in San Diego in 1988 (where he played in only one game). Last season, I saw the same hard nosed grit in another young star in the Indians organization. His name........Fausto.

Tonight, Fausto started right where he left off last season, except no bugs. 7 innings pitched, 4 hits, 4 K's and 1 earned run. You're my boy blue! Sizemore and Cabrera basically carried the offense with 6 hits and 5 RBI's (or R'sBI.....never quite figured that one out). It was also the first time we got to see what new signee Jorge Julio had to offer, and he was able to match Borowski's effort from last night. Money well spent I suppose.

2-0 in the Central to start the season. Detroit is 0-2. KC is 2-0. Too early? Tooshey.

Cleveland - 7

Chi White Sox - 2

POG - F. Carmona 7 innings, 4 hits, 1 er, 4 bb and 4 k's