Flick to Click: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (US)

Coming 12.21.11.

P.s.  Rooney Mara pierced her nipples for this role.  You know what that means...

Clip Joint Makes Perfect

Nick Hagadone

Well, first of all, Nick Hagadone may need a bit more seasoning.  The big lefty got rocked for four runs in two thirds of an inning last night to raise his AAA season ERA to 8.22.  It went a little something like double, walk, single, sac fly, 3 run homer.  Ouch.  Hagadone not only allowed his own four to score, but the double brought home an inherited runner as well.  Nick struggled with his control, missing on 10 of his 21 pitches.  Despite maintaining a .233 OBA, he has surrendered six earned runs in his last inning and a third (40.50 ERA).  Time to take a breath and get back on the horse.

Regardless of the 10-4 shellacking that the game ended up as, it was heartening to see Jared Goedert swing the bat a bit better.  Goedert (.174) singled, doubled, walked and scored a pair of runs.  With the impotence apparent in the big club's offense, it would be a pleasant surprise to see him return to 2010 form and make an impact on the lake this season.

David Huff started and pitched like a pedestrian.  Over five innings David allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks.  He struck out 5 and was pulled after just 84 pitches.  No word on a nagging injury, but Huff is certainly not throwing like a man who could help the Tribe chase the pennant.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

CC Lee notched two more K's in a scoreless inning as the Aeros lost 6-2 last night.  Lee (2.90) is averaging 16.88 K/9 over his last 4, 14.94 over his last 10, and 13.06 on the season.  Good stuff.

LeVon Washington has quietly broken out of an 0-for-20 slump with a seven game hitting streak.  Although the first six were only single hit games, LeVon posted three hits and three runs scored yesterday.  Washington is batting .346 with 8 runs scored and a pair of steals during the run and has raised his season average from .167 to .225.  Keep it goin', L.

Cheers.

A Quest Called Tribe

Ježiša a Máriu.

As the Indians furiously attempted to mount a ninth inning comeback, their hottest hitter came to the plate to lead off.  Asdrubal Cabrera dug in picked out a fastball to his liking.  The home crowd cheered as the ball landed beyond the rightfield fence and AzCab trotted around the bases.  With the heart of their order still to follow the Tribe had trimmed the Texas lead to 11-2.

Yeah, kids, that is as good as it got.  Thanks to the re-emergence of the Tony Sipp's "Gas Man" persona Justin Masterson was saddled four earned in his 6.1, but we should not let the big man off of the hook.  11 baserunners is not a good thing.  Still, Justin fared a bit better than the utterly worthless Chad Durbin.  My newest plan is to trade Chad back to the Phillies for former Indians farm hand Wilson Valdez.  The skill Valdez showed in beating the Reds in last week's 19 inning marathon can surely be of better use than Durbin's toss and lob fest.  In fact, Valdez became the first player to start a game in the field and eventually earn the win since some dude named Babe Ruth back in '21.  Me rikey.


Seriously though, it is past time for Adam Everett to go.  A .606 OPS and a .900 fielding percentage can no longer be tolerated.  Release him.  Call Cord Phelps up.  Put him in the lineup once or twice a week at second for Orlando Cabrera (.602 OPS) and the same at third for Jack Hannahan (.673 OPS).  There is absolutely no downside.  Even if there is concern about his fielding, he is not going to look as out of sorts as Everett.  Worst case scenario, he hits .140 and looks completely over-matched.  Then we bring up Luis Valbuena instead, still better than Everett.  A number of different metrics describe Adam as one of the best fielding shortstops of all-time.  That would be quite useful if we ever played the man at his natural position (0 starts, 7 innings all year).


Let us review --


Kick 'em out:  Carlos Carrasco, Adam Everett, Chad Durbin


Call 'em up:  Zach McAllister, Cord Phelps, Nick Hagadone

Oops.  We have not yet spoken on the last.  Tomorrow, kids.


Cheers.

Pretty Gilr 06.04.11 - Emma Caulfield

Hey Soos Christeas, this one is much hotter than they ever let her be on TV!

Bullish On the Clip Joint

Jeanmar Gomez

For as much crap as I give Jeanmar Gomez, dude tossed a beauty tonight.  Gomez (2.53) threw eight full innings allowing a single run on 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4.  He picked a great night to do it as well.  The recently anemic Columbus offensive was at it again, producing just a single matching run in regulation.  While Gomez's numbers are eerily familiar to those of Zach McAllister's (Call him up!), I still do not believe the Jeanmar has a future in bringing wins to the lakefront.  His stuff simply is not good enough to get big league hitters out.  We have already seen that this year.

Even though the Clips looked like stale dog doo at the plate (four runs or fewer in 5 of their last 6) again, the kids that will matter on the North Coast came through when it mattered.  After taking 0-fers during both last night's tilt and the first nine innings tonight, Ezequiel Carrera and Cord Phelps stepped up.  With one out Zeke walked and Phelps followed with a double.  The legend that is the Chiz Kid was intentionally walked to load the bases.  [The Heat just lost game 2!]  With the lead in sight, Chad Huffman went down on strikes.  That left it up to Jason Kipnis.  He responded with great patience against a Bulls reliever that walked four in an inning and a third, drawing a freebie of his own to snare a 2-1 advantage that the Clippers would not relinquish.

On a night where the Tribe looked sloppy, their AAA mates looked crisp and that was nice to see.

David Huff tries to right the ship (0-2, 7.98 in his last 3 starts) as Columbus start a brief two gamer in Louisville tomorrow at 7:05p.

A Minor Points of Interest --

Thank goodness that Steven Wright pitched tonight because nothing else worth relaying crossed my ticker.  Wright (1.69) continued his impressive shift to the knuckleball with his first seven inning (4 K) outing of the season.  He allowed six hits and 3 walks but got a pop-up and a K to escape a bases loaded jam in the second and induced a doubled play to end the 4th.  Wright's progression is notable as he seems to be learning how to use his new pitch in a more cerebral way, setting up hitters instead of just tossing it up.  Best of luck, Steven.

Cheers.

Pretty Girl 06.03.11 - Aimee Teegarden

I knew she would grow up eventually.  Nice.  And she's an A so I see her more often as I pick and choose. ;-j

A Quest Called Tribe

 Where to begin... where to begin?

I'm not saying that he rode the short bus, but to call Matt LaPorta a mongoloid would be an insult to mongoloids everywhere.  Now, do not get me wrong, the kid can play defense and he is showing some liveliness as the plate.  Still, whenever he is called upon to use some baseball smarts, he comes up lacking.  Why, why oh why, would you turn to look at the other runner?  Throw the GD ball to O-Cab and let him make the decision with everything in front of him.  I almost punched out my flat screen.

On top of the ire inspired in me, the play totally took Carlos Carrasco (5.18) out of the game.  It was not as if Carrasco was mowing the Rangers down beforehand and he completely fell apart afterward.  This came to a head when he could not even bring himself to shout "Hold the ball!" to Carlos Santana.  God damn it.  I am not a Carrasco fan.  In fact, at this juncture, I am calling for his demotion.  I will not argue with his stuff, although he did not register a strike out tonight, but the guy simply does not know how to pitch.  Too many missed spots.  Too much pitch repetition.  The third time through the lineup Texas was 5-for-7.  If you cannot think ahead and set up hitters for the next at-bat while continuing to retire them, then you belong in the bullpen.  Send Carlos down.  Even his best day is sloppy.  Recall Zach McAllister.  He has earned it.

The Tribe has now played 54 games to a 33-21 record.  Over the first 28 games (19-9) they committed 13 errors in the 26 games since (14-12) the team has made 20.  For all of the talk of starting pitching or batter regression, the major difference has been in the field.  If the Indians cannot recover defensively they will have to hope that 15ish games over .500 (that's 90-72) is good enough to take the division.

All that being said, it certainly does not help when your 1-thru-3 hitters bat 1-for-14 (4 K) and the oppenents 6-thru-9 produce 8-for-14 with 5 runs scored and 3 RBI.

Time to buck up again and take the series.

Seriously, send Carrasco down.  Now.

Cheers.

Mark Me Down For Two

Recently a buddy of mine suggested that Peyton Hillis' victory in the Madden 2012 cover bracket would force the company to re-evaluate the process in coming seasons.  He found it ridiculous that a man with less than one good season should be the cover boy.  Now I do find some logic in that, but in the mean time, I am going to dig the vibe of a Browns player on the cover.  I am sure that many of my fellow Browns fans will do the same.  For a city that hasn't posted a a national victory in half a century, we need whatever we can get.  If you take a step back and realize that Madden cover is not an actual award, surrounded by legacy and prestige, it is pretty damn cool that Hillis won the 64 nan battle royale.  And EA, if you're listening, I will buy two - one to play and one to have the man sign for posterity.

Also, the video is awesome.

Cheers.

A Quest Called Tribe (Pure Rage Talkin' Boobies Video Edition)

What I meant to type was "Title Is Way Too Friggin' Long Edition!"  No joke, Chris likes to talk.

Bored At the Clip Joint

Lonnie Chisenhall

Let it be known that I am writing this part last as I am sick of describing Corey Kluber's crummy starts.  He allowed four runs in six innings, which is pretty much par for the course for a man with a 6.32 ERA.  Enough about him.

Actually, little else of interest happened.  Lonnie Chisenhall broke out of a 1-for-20 slump with a single and a triple.  Wes Hodges launched a 3-run dinger to briefly tie the game before Joe Martinez got his hands on it.  The Clippers top two (Ezequiel Carrera and Cord Phelps) combined to go 0-for-9 with 3 K's.

They have been on the road for way too long.  I will try to be more enthusiastic tomorrow.

Jeanmar Gomez gets the nod at 7:05p on Thursday.


Other Minor Points of Interest --

Adam Miller's second AA appearance was not quite as successful as his first.  After the Aeros rallied with seven 7th inning runs, Miller (13.50), who has tossed a clean 6th, allowed the first five to reach following the stretch on four singles and hit batsman.  He was saddled with the final three earned and the loss to even his record at 1-1.

Chun Chen (.285) was an integral part of the comeback, launching his 7th home run in the 7-run 7th.  Seven.  Chun added an RBI double in the second.  He leads the team with 28 RBI on the season.

Well, his mates did not provide him with even a single run of support, yet Wednesday's outing can be considered a complete success for Drew Pomeranz.  Throwing for the first time in a fortnight due to lingering hamstring tightness, Pom (1.85) shutout the Wilmington Blue Rocks for five frames, tallying 3 hits allowed, a walk and four punch outs.  Since it is so much fun to look at Drew's season numbers - .190 OBA, 1.05 WHIP, 11.95 K/9, 1 HR allowed in 43.2 IP.  Now we know why Pomeranz has fallen behind Alex White's blueprint and remained at Kinston into June.  Assuming he has no further injury setbacks, he should be promoted before the All-Star break.

On a perfect day at the plate for Anthony Gallas (3-for-3, 2B, HR, BB, 2 RBI), Michael Goodnight (2.37) raised his record over .500 (4-3) with five scoreless innings.  Goodnight (still love that name) allowed 3 hits and four walks, while fanning 8.  He has posted a 1.14 ERA over his past four starts and lowered his OBA to .173 while Gallas pushed his OPS to 1.017.

Pride of Nordonia, Tyler Tufts (2.16) pitched a scoreless 7th inning (H, K), preserving Frisco's 5-4 lead and earning his first AA hold of 2011.  Oooh, a hold.  Sexy.

Cheers.