Friday, April 15, 2011
A Quest Called Tribe
Both pitchers threw well, running into only one inning of trouble apiece. The difference was the Justin was able to manage the O's in the 4th while Britton gave up six straight hits to the Tribe in the third. I will freely admit that I was among the those that doubted Masterson's future as a starter during the off season. Last season the big right hander lacked command within the strike zone. That resulted in a lot of hard hits. This tendency bred the urge to nibble which, in turn, led to a bunch of walks. So far in 2011, Masterson (1.33 ERA) has been a strike throwing machine. Against Baltimore, 66 of his 90 pitches were for strikes. More importantly, he was spotting his pitches where he wanted them. Ergo weak swings and, for Masterson, ground outs. Justin lives on ground balls, to the tune of 12 of his 21 outs this evening and 36 of 61 on the season. Similar to Fausto Carmona, you cannot count on the punch outs, but you do not need to. Over 7 beautiful innings, Masterson allowed that lone 4th inning run on four hits and a walk. He struck out three.
As has been the case in many games this season, the Indians offense was opportunistic and several players made nice contributions. Travis Hafner (.293) cranked a 6th inning long ball into the gale of 20MPH headwind (Did anyone else see the shot of Pronkz Donkz during the IBB?). Asdrubal Cabrera (.302) now leads the league in RBI. Still, nothing was better than Michael Brantley (.333) beating out a would be sacrifice in the four run third. On some nights, like tonight, even Matt LaPorta (.225) looks like a major league hitter. It is truly a shame that those nights continue to be so few and far between. Also, Josh Rupe stinks. No complaints though.
Joe Smith waded through three hits and a run in the ninth. It was his first game back from rehab. If his oblique injury lingers, his effectiveness will be severely hampered all season. Grady Sizemore and Jason Donald both got the night off for Columbus.
Tribe wins, Tribe wins. That's your 9-4, first place Tribe (the ChiSox are losing). And all of you successfully dodged my rant on why Jackie Robinson is merely iconic and not a folk hero.
Cheers.
P.S. Has anyone else noticed how quick these games have been (2:26, 12 innings in 3:16, 2:15, 2:25 over the last 4). That's the mark of good pitching. Remember 1p start tomorrow.
Fake Nipples
Such asexual teasing falls into a disturbing pattern that I have found with the fairer sex. Most girls (this is based on direct statements from a number that I have conversed with and additional extrapolation) want every dude on the street to want to have sex with them. Nice. I can dig it. The issue is that they don't actually want to nude up with all of us guys, they just want us to want to. Get it? They want to irritate us. This is the latest and greatest piece of evidence that the femmes are just bat-shit crazy. Men want all of the chickadees to want to do the deed AND we would very much prefer the shades (and other things) to actually fall. No muss, no fuss.
I can grasp the concept that, sometimes, the chase is fun. Often, I agree. The pea in my mattress is that there is no reason, in this age of decadence and consumption, for the status quo to be one of lies and aggravation. Yeah.
I suppose that I will never truly understand women (shocker), but there is absolutely no way that anyone can convince me that there is a sliver of sanity involved in a thought process designed to frustrate and enrage.
I Bet Ke$ha Likes All This Attention
And Katy Perry gets indignant and Lady Gaga shaves her eyebrows with a turtle.
Dimes For the Clip Joint
The Clippers relied on pitching on Thursday, mustering all of ten hits in 14 innings. Game 1 can be summed up in a single sentence. Jeanmar Gomez (1.46 ERA) threw a complete game shutout (7 IP, 8 H, BB, 7 K), Sizemore smacked a third inning homer, and the Clips took a 1-zip win to intermission.
For some reason, minor league managers often use spot starters on double header day. Thereby, no one really had any idea who would start the second game. I guessed Alex White. The PD suggested Corey Kluber. Columbus skipper Mike Sarbaugh sent Joe Martinez to hill. Martinez (4.26) was unspectacular in eating 3 innings, holding the fort until Luis Valbuena (.375) tied the game with a two run fourth inning double. Chad Huffman (.095) broke out of a season long 0-fer with 2 hits and scored three times, while Jordan Brown (.286) walked in all four of his plate appearances and came across twice. The Clippers iced the game thanks to a sloppy Toledo 7th, securing the win for Carlton Smith. Smith and Zach Putnam (1.69, 2nd SV) allowed just two base runners over the final four frames.
Columbus plays one more in Toledo before coming home Saturday for the home opener. If Sarbaugh slides back into his rotation, then White should start tomorrow and Zach McAllister at Huntington.
Other Minor Points of Interest -
I have an odd fascination with the prospects that the Indians acquired from dealing their entire team away over the past 3 seasons. One of those players is Scott Barnes, the dude that we got from the Giants in the Ryan Garko trade. Barnes has been rather innocuous in the the year and a half since he joined the organization, but the 23 year old lefty seems to have arrived. Following a brief but powerful first start (4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K), Scottie tossed a gem tonight for Akron. In seven stellar innings Barnes allowed just two hits and struck out 10 without issuing a walk. The Aeros put up a five spot in the 8th and Scott notched his first win. You can never have too many lefties.
For anyone who might be wondering, St Ed's product Alex Lavisky is getting steady PT behind the plate for Lake County, but is having a tough go of it so far. Already 20, Lavisky is just 4-for-28 (.143) and has piled up 12 Ks. No need to worry, it's a long season.
Don't tell that to Nordonia grad Tyler Tufts, though. Ty made his third consecutive scoreless appearance for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, fanning a pair. Over three and a third this season, Tyler has been touched for a paltry two hits and a walk, while striking out 6. Keep it up, kid.
Cheers.
Pretty Girl 04.15.11 - Jennifer Lawrence
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