Things went very much downhill here at Huntington Park after Jess Todd gave up the lead in the 8th.  Unable to find the plate, the once promising reliever allowed the Bats to tie the game up at 3.  The Clippers almost escaped but Matt McBride, who looked just awful in the field tonight, double clutched on a throw to the plate.  After Columbus squandered a couple of scoring opportunities in the late going, Louisville took the lead 4-3 in the 12th.  Carlton Smith looked abysmal in taking the loss.

The only highlight was the appearance of Aroldis Chapman to pick up the save in the bottom of the 12th.  Making the Clippers look simply silly, Chapman hit 103 on back to back pitches to Kyle Smith and threw consistently at 101.  Columbus went down without a fight.  Quel dommage.

Also, the Tribe loss.  David Huff = 2-10.  Ughhh.

Espino settles down after the long ball and goes 7 strong, 6H, 2ER, 4K, 80 pitches, 60 strikes.  Impressive from another no-name starter.  Mike Sarbaugh seems to be creating a culture of winning down here regardless of which pieces or how much talent he has on his team.  Hopefully we can see this translate to the standings on the North Coast.

Now Wyatt Toregas has injured his knee and the Clippers are left with Richard Martinez (?), who was hitting .130 at Kinston, as their only catcher.  So much for our organizational depth.

Carlos Santana, on the other hand, has escaped any sort of tear or fracture and will likely miss little more than the 15 days he's on the disabled list.

And good old David Huff served up another gopher ball.  It's nice to see that some things never change.  Unless, of course, you count Lou Marson's solo shot to make it 2-1 BoSox.

Paolo Espino's 1st AAA batter... gonzo, courtesy of Chris Dickerson.  It was a bomb off the scoreboard.  Where have you gone Alex White?  Or more appropriately, why have you yet to get here?

Hafner and Santana to DL.  Huff and Marson added to active roster.  Oh, joy.

And the Rockies have claimed Wes Hodges off of the waiver wire.  Sad to see him go, especially for nothing. Injuries caused him to fall too far behind others in the organization.

Could Britney's pants be any lower?  I swear that I can see the shadow of something just above the button.

Tidbits

Adam Dunn on waivers, the right claim will result in a trade.  Odd move so soon after the deadline.

Brett Favre is an ass, threatening retirement to get a raise out of the Vikings in an uncapped year.  Couldn't he have just done this in March and gotten his surgery on time?  And then just walked through camp without exerting himself?  Queen James take notes, this guy's the biggest prima donna of them all.

Tribe now with the youngest active roster in the bigs, 26.2 average age.  If the trial by fire tempers these kids to steel we may contend sooner than expected.

Paolo Espino called up to start for Columbus tonite, taking David Huff's place.  Bummer as it's Alex White's 5th day.  Good luck to David, I have a feeling that he'll need it.

Carlos Santana headed back to Cleveland for an MRI.  After "testing well" with the Indians medical staff, a DL stint, unbelievably to anyone who saw the play, no longer seems probable.