Clip Joint At 11

Lost in the excitement over the Indians' winning ways is the streak by their AAA affiliate.  The Clipper have taken 11 straight, the last six of those on the road.  Just like the big club, the key has been pitching.  The Columbus pitching staff has posted a 2.72 ERA during the streak and, excluding the recently DFA'ed Jess Todd, the bullpen has been even better at 1.64.  True to form, David Huff gave up 3 runs on 4 hits over seven innnings to earn his third win and Frank Herrmann struck out five of the six men he faced to finish up a 9-3 victory.

On a day when their hottest hitter stranded seven men on base the rest of lineup carried the weight.  Chad Huffman's 0-for-5 was scarcely noticed as Jason Donald (.417) stroked three hits and drove in just as many.  Luke Carlin (.340) scored 2 runs and netted 2 RBI, Jerad Head (.361) knocked three singles and three more Clippers (Carrera, Chisenhall, Kipnis) had two hits and a ribbie. 

The four game series continues on Monday at 7:15 with, wait, I got this one, um... Scott Barnes on the bump.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Austin Adams got right back on the horse following a start in which he retired just 2 of the eight men he faced.  Today, Adams went seven strong, allowing a run on 3 hits and 3 walks and striking out 8.  He evens his record at 2-2.

Nick Hagadone followed Adams and threw another 1.1 scoreless.  That's 14.2 for the season with a .157 OBA and a 9.5 K/BB ratio.  Hagadone continues to build his case for promotion, although, with the aforementioned Columbus 'pen performance, it may be awhile.

Chun Chen's bat has truly awoken as he smashed two more round trippers.  Chen (.288) had three hits, three runs, 3 RBI to go along with 2 walks.  Chen has been batting cleanup all season long and has finally started to show why.  Leadoff man Jordan Henry (.283) had three hits himself and stole his 7th base.

Drew Pomeranz may still be without his first pro win, but the rest of his numbers are fantastic.  Pomeranz threw five and a third today, allowing an unearned run on four hits.  Pom walked 2 and fanned seven.  Over 23.1 in 2011 he has a WHIP of 0.86 and has struck out 34.  The organization's plan is to keep Drew on a similar schedule to that of Alex White, which means he should be in Akron by June and Columbus to start 2012.

Cheers.

A Quest Called Tribe

Time to put Joaquin Benoit on suicide watch.  After surrendering the now famous walk-off slam to Carlos Santana on Friday, the 17 million dollar set-up man allowed the Tribe their only rally of the day to facilitate the 5-4 win.  How ballsy was Steve Smith?  Sending Choo on a ball fifteen feet behind third and then Duncan on a hot shot to left?  Too bad Shelly didn't get to run over the Detroit backstop.  More than anything else I enjoy the dugout shots of this team.  Regardless of who is in frame, there is always a lot of chatter.  These guys are bonding as they pile up wins.  This would be their 13th straight win at home, 6th overall, and their 5th series sweep of the young season.  They swept a grand total of four series over the entire course of 2010.

I do not agree with Manny Acta's decision to send Justin Masterson out to start the 8th with the big guy having already thrown 115 pitches.  We all understand how taxed the bullpen was after the 13 inning affair yesterday, but the move shows just how little faith Acta has in someone like Justin Germano.  Understandably, he's not the ideal option for the 8th inning, but if you can't put the ball in his hand to get a few outs, then why is he on the team?  Garbage time only?  There has to be a better option.  That being said, props to Chad Durbin (ugh) for actually getting out of the 8th without further damage and earning the win.

There have been some rumblings around fandom recently that Austin Kearns' days may be numbered.  The organization did give him a million dollar contract in the offseason, but the need to add production trumps that.  Kearns is hitting .139!  With Chad Huffman and Travis Buck tearing up AAA pitching, it's a coin flip now whether such a move will be made anytime soon.  A significant consideration will be the health of Travis Hafner.  Pronk has not played in four games due to inflammation in his right ankle.  A Friday MRI revealed a strained tendon in the bottom of the foot and Travis has been wearing a walking boot for the past few days.  While he has not started, he has supposedly been "available" to pinch hit, though we have not seen him.  Between Kearns and Hafner, something has to give to put a potent bat into the mix.

Let's spend a minute on fundamentals.  Specifically, I have to compliment the Indians on two: sacrifice bunting and pitchers covering first base.  Even though Grady Sizemore and Asdrubal Cabrera could not get the run across in the 7th, Adam Everett's bunt was astounding.  Just to get the bat on the ball would have been impressive, but Everett put the ball in a place where the only play was to first.  Wicked.  In stark contrast to the past few seasons, when the team looked like Brennan Boesch trying to bunt (whoops, he hasn't, ever, memo to AL teams, he can't), the Tribe has been apt so far in 2011.  Similarly, I have never seen so many pitchers take return throws on double play balls.  I know the Indians staff throws a lot of ground balls.  Even so, the consistency with which the hurlers get themselves into good position after delivery is remarkable, exemplified by the play that Rafael Perez made to close the 11th inning yesterday.  Add this reliability to the overall skill on the infield and the runs saved (still tops in baseball at +22) translate into more and more wins.

Nice homestand for both Michael Brantley (.368, .981 OPS) and Matt LaPorta (.316, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1.139 OPS).  That's exactly the kind of production that they need to provide in order to make fans forget what the Indians gave up to get them. ;-j

Unfortunately, the Tribe takes Monday off before heading west to start a series with Oakland on the 3rd.


Cheers.

Goin' Both Ways

Yesterday, in the 4th round of the NFL draft, the Browns secured two unique players who could easily become huge pieces as the team moves forward toward respectability.

At pick #102 the Brownies selected high flying USC TE Jordan Cameron.  Cameron became in internet sensation when he recruited Blake Griffin to co-star in the following video.



At 6'5", 220, those ups can be quite useful on the football field.



Then, at pick #124, the Browns took FB/ILB Owen Marecic from Stanford.  And when you read FB/ILB don't misunderstand, he started at both positions and truly played both ways for the Cardinal.  Check this out --



I can't wait to see this mamma jamma leading the way for Peyton Hillis.

Cheers.

Clip Joint All Night

Let's get the housekeeping out of the way first.  There have been a flurry of transactions over the past few days and the Clippers have finally gotten their roster back to a stable 24... for now.  Who's in: Jason Donald, Frank Herrmann and (as speculated) LHP Eric Berger.  Who's out: Alex White (with the big club) and Jess Todd (DFA'ed).  Josh Rodriguez still sits in limbo, officially listed as "reassigned."

The Clips again took care of business down south last night, demolishing Charlotte 6-0 in the first game of a four game set.  Joe Martinez (4.91 ERA) shined in his first start (5 IP, 5 H, BB, 5 K) as a nominal member of the rotation to pick up his first win of the season,  Carlton Smith extended his perfect April to 11.2 innings (14 K) and Berger baffled the Knights with six strikeouts in his two innings to finish up.

Luis Valbuena (.300), elevated to the #2 hole, got Columbus started with a first inning solo shot.  Jason Kipnis (.253)  tripled (his 3rd already) in a run, Paul Phillips (.313) had three hits and scored a pair and both Travis Buck (.345)  and Chad Huffman (.301) provided two hits and an RBI apiece.  The offense is scorching hot, averaging 6.8 runs per game over the current ten game win streak.  Huffman has led the way batting .444 with a 1.439 OPS during the streak. 

The Clippers get right back at it with 2:15p first pitch.  David Huff takes to the hill.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Adam Miller's first regualr season appearance in three years could have gone better.  Miller lasted only one inning, giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits and a walk.  Adam gave up a two run dong and struck out one.  While a clean inning would have been nice, the more important issue is that Miller made the appearance period.  Having come all the way back from a bizarre finger issue and an experimental surgery, Adam had the entire organization behind him and will get every opportunity for success.

Kyle Blair continued to impress for the Captains.  Blair's fifth pro start lasted five innings and was marred only by a solo home run and a single.  Kyle (2.63) recorded ten ground ball outs and K'ed a pair.  The opposition is hitting .230 off of the 21 year old right hander and he appears to be first in line for a promotion when the dominoes start to fall.

Pretty Girl 05.01.11 - Kari Wuhrer

Mmmm, 1992.

A Quest Called Tribe

Why are the Indians 6.5 games better than the Tigers?  It boils down to fundamentals.  When you get a runner on second base in the 13th inning with no one out, you do only one thing: bunt.  Brennan Boesch did not (oops, zero career SH).  Asdrubal Cabrera did.  Two IBBs and walk off later and your Cleveland Indians are now 18-8.

I am still not sold on Manny Acta as some sort of prodigal genius, but I will tell you one thing, the man keeps his entire bench involved.  On a day when Lou Marson and Austin Kearns started and both Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner sat through 37 outs, Michael Brantley chose to truly arrive on the North Coast.  His 6th inning tater and his single to lead off the final frame were, doubtlessly, the two biggest hits of the night.  Rick Porcello had quelled rallies at every turn, making the home run was essential, without it we wouldn't have seen the 10th, let alone the 13th.  Coming into that inning the Indians had mustered just a Matt LaPorta single off of the Detroit 'pen after looking queasy against Al Alburquerque (who?).  Brantley picked the perfect time.  Had the game been sent to the 14th, Acta likely would have trotted out Chad Durbin (ugh) and we all know that would have ended badly.  As it stands, the pitching was tremendous.  Kudos to Alex White on his debut and to the bullpen on seven (let's count 'en 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) scoreless innings.

I'm on board, gang.  Sometimes a quick start means a bunch of guys playing over their heads (see 1988's 16-6 April), but that simply is not the case with this team.  If anything the Indians have a couple of huge pieces still struggling to get their footing (Carmona, Santana) or banged and bruised (Talbot, Carrasco).  While Jack Hannhan is hitting better than his history suggests he should, a man hitting in the bottom third isn't going to take you to the top of your division.  Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin are combined 9-0 and they will eventually lose.  Still, I won't describe who has never failed to delivery a quality start as a flash in the pan, nor a dude who finally seems to have learned how to repeat his delivery as a one month fluke.  At ten games over five hundred and with talent coming, the Tribe needs only to hold serve to eclipse my 85 win projection.  Let's do it, boys.

For now, I will actively withhold further comparison to the 1995 squad.  In my mind that was the greatest team of all-time and won't sully their memory with premature analogies.  I will say this, back-to-back walk-off wins with a torrent of young talent and an untouchable memories does make me feel nostalgic.

Here's to another sweep and Masterson to 6-0.

See ya at 1:05p.

Cheers.