You're Waiting For a Train...: Apr 24, 2011

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Clip Joint Easter Special

It's not very often that a team wins when their starting pitcher lasts all of three and a third innings while walking six and throwing barely 50% of his pitches for strikes. Yet, that is exactly what happened this Easter Sunday for the Clippers. Corey Kluber (6.23 ERA) got the start and danced into and out of trouble until Jensen Lewis relieved him in the fourth. Despite the wildness Kluber struck out five and surrendered just three hits as two Indy runs (1 ER) came across. Lewis (0.00) was masterful over 1.2, putting just one man on base and securing the win when Columbus put up five in the bottom of four. Zach Putnam (0.87) threw two clean innings following Lewis and Josh Judy (3.68) closed for his first save. The only bump in the road came in the 8th when an erratic Frank Herrmann (6.75) gave up two earned and let Indianapolis back into the game. The final was 6-4.

Travis Buck (.625) got the Clips on the board with a second inning solo shot and added a walk and a second run scored. Buck certainly has made an impression in his first two Cow Town appearances. The five in the fourth came on a triple-homer-homer set from three straight hitters. Jordan Brown (.250) brought in a pair with his three base hit then came home himself on a Paul Phillips (.227) long ball. Luis Valbuena (.280) followed with a jack of his own to give Columbus the four run lead that would hold up through nine. Jason Donald (.250), still recovering from a broken hand and a strained quad, was back in the lineup going 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout as he handled the DH role.

The Clippers play a pair tomorrow to make up for Saturday's rain out. I'm kind of afraid to guess, but maybe Scott Barnes and Alex White for the twin bill.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Not much to tell with Akron and LC taking the day off, but friend of the family Tyler Tufts did throw a clean ninth in Myrtle Beach's series finale with Kinston. Ty worked around a leadoff double by CF Tyler Holt (.259) and wiffed formed top prospect Abner Abreu (.254) to finish the inning.

Since I have all of this extra space, I'll treat you to my favorite Easter Sunday baseball story of all time. Back in '98 I was sitting at my grandmother's house watching the Indians get their teeth kicked in by the Angels on good old channel 43. This also happened to be the day that wunderkind Kerry Wood started his first MLB game. 43 cut to a studio update on the matter which featured this quote, "Many find it appropriate that Kerry Wood makes his debut on this day that celebrates the greatest resurrection, just as he is poised to resurrect the Cubs franchise." Wow. Talk about hyperbole. All these years later it seems painfully laughable as well, especially after watching the Big K sputter through his tenure with the Tribe.

Now nap time.

Cheers.

A Quest Called Tribe

Was it enough to lose another one to the cellar dwelling Twins? Was it enough to put just three runs on the board again? Was it enough for Rafael Perez to betray his humanity for the first time in 2011? Short answer: Hells, No! On top of all of that dissapointment, Carlos Carrasco left after three innings with pain in his right elbow. To be filed under "Be Careful What You Wish For," expect David Huff to rejoin the big league club during the coming week. Huff missed his last AAA start due to the weekend tempest in Columbus.

Excrement. I mean excellent. Or maybe not. With Mitch Talbot on the shelf for another four to six weeks and Jeanmar Gomez showing himself only minimally more effective in relief of Carrasco, the dream might just be dead. I know, doom and gloom, but that's what we're used to here on the north coast and we're in line for a bit more. Think about who might be in line for a recall should another starter go down. Joe Martinez, a rehabbing Anthony Reyes or ... jeez, that's it. They're not going to call up a kid. Welcome back to 2010.

We could talk about instant replay and how you can't have it both ways. Either review literally everything to remove any chance of error or accept the human factor in the game as it has always been. I'm not going to get up on a soap box for either, but get off the damn fence Bud! Or you could call Goodell (he's doing a bang up job) and ask to borrow a few red flags. Bah!

It is still not as bad as it seems. The Tribe still resides at the top of the division and this might just be the storm to be weathered en route to a breakout season. Troubling to me is the inability to take advantage of a sun-drop single and tie the game off of a bunch of chump relievers in the 8th. Worrisome is Asdrubal Cabrera hacking at the first pitch with Grady Sizemore on second in the ninth. Disheartening is how important today's game became after the team's inability to produce against a pack of no name starting pitchers over the past week. Just plain disgusting is the single home run that the Indians have cracked on the road trip.

Aaaaahh, I hate losing! Even for the best of teams it is going to happen 50 or 60 times a year, but I don't have to like it.

Still, Vinny Pestano's nasty. And Justin Masterson pitches on Tuesday.

Cheers.