Huge early season game vs. Twinkies tonight

[Charboneau]

Tonight is a huge early season match up. If we could steal one tonight and come home 4-4 off this road trip - given the sweep in NYC - that would be a huge boost. Plus, beating Santana the first time we face him sets the tone in my opinion. I know it's a long way to go but I would like to head back to the Jake three games over .500.

[tribefan333]

Whenever you beat Santana and the Twins is a great day. It'd be nice to get one up on these guys and steal one.

[Steve Buffum]

Not a lot of downside, really: if you get dominated by Santana and lose, that seems like something you'd be able to shrug off as "one of those things."

[consigliere]

In what could be Fausto's last start, I am curious to see what he does tonight. I don't give us much a chance of winning, but would love to steal this one. Last night's win was important though because it insured a split.

[Hoover]

If he pitches as good as he did at Bankee Stadium, the Tribe has an excellent chance to win.

But that faux astroturf will make Fausto's job a lot harder. I wish they'd just blow that place up now. Blyleven even admitted that there are lots of Twins fans sending emails who'd like to see the Baggydome demolished ASAP.

BTW, Blyleven and his shower buddy in the booth are even worse than Hawk Harrelson. They're total homers, but they're not funny or informative. At least Hawk has some good stories. Dead air is better than those Twins announcers.

[swerb]

Should be a fun one tonight. Anyone have (or know where to find) Santana's career #' against the Tribe?

[pup]

7-2. 3.07 ERA.

[The Math God]

According to the Twins website:
3 wins 1 loss 3.00 ERA 27 Inn 18 hits 10 runs 9 earned runs
32 Ks 7 walks

seems hard to believe he has only started against us 4 times, but...

[swerb]

Good God .... Hafner absolutely killed that ball.

Don't get much better than that matchup.

WHOA ... Santana plunks Vic on the next pitch!

[The Math God]

Sorry,
Upon further reflection, the number I pulled off the Twinkie web site are this season's stats

Yes, Pronk did crush that ball

[Dozen]

Good God .... Hafner absolutely killed that ball.

Don't get much better than that matchup.

WHOA ... Santana plunks Vic on the next pitch!

Why wasnt Santana pulled after that foul ball Blake hit?

[FUDU]

Anybody seen Grady lately?

[He Gone]

Yeah, I'm watching him bat right now..

He also had a good bunt earlier.

AND he just drew a walk.

[StewieG]

[sarcasm]That wasn't intentional.[/sarcasm]

[BruceK]

My man Mike Rouse comes through!

[pup]

All I want to know is where is all the Carmona is 2 years away and we need to send him down talk? Back to back impressive starts.

[He Gone]

DONT JINX HIM!

GO FIND SOME WOOD TO KNOCK ON!

[Steve Buffum]

My man Mike Rouse comes through!

I had no idea Mike Rouse was anyone's cause celebre.

I also had no idea he could get a hit.

I think ESPN is spoofing me.

[consigliere]

Nice job by Rouse there. Indians really making good of what little opportunities they have had offensively to scratch out 5 runs in a game started by the best pitcher in baseball.

Question: Do we really send Carmona back to Buffalo when Lee comes up after Carmona's next (and last) start? Props to Fausto for making it hard on the Indians, and he has made the most of the opportunity given to him with the Lee injury.

[Steve Buffum]

In all seriousness, this Twins offense is really painful to watch. It's like the Alex Cole Indians. Jason Tyner? Alexi Casilla? What, is Marv Throneberry unavailable?

[Steve Buffum]

Four straight balls to Nick Punto (Nick Punto!). Is Carmona gassed? Bring in Fultz to face Mauer?

[consigliere]

Good job Fausto. I'll take that everytime out, even though there is no excuse walking Punto.

Just heard the announcers mention Tyner has the longest homerless streak in the majors, where he has yet to hit a HR in lie 1091 ABs.

[consigliere]

Wow. That was a helluva play by Barfield there.

[StewieG]

For all the crap I give Wedge about the way he handles his pitching staff, he handled Carmona perfectly tonight. Regardless of how this game turns out, I'll support him for sticking with Carmona into the 8th, and when he brought him out tonight. If he would've left him in to face Mauer, I'd have lambasted him, but nice job Wedge.

How far have expectations been lowered when I'm praising the manager for taking a pitcher out at the right time?

WOW! Nice play by Barfield!

It's Borowski time...

[StewieG]

Yeah Buff, with the exception of the 3 hitters in the middle of the lineup, their offense is terrible. For as good as Santana is, he can't carry that offense into the postseason. He'd have to be near perfect almost every time.

[Dozen]

Good job Fausto. I'll take that everytime out, even though there is no excuse walking Punto

Agree, this is why Id rather see him take his lumps now as opposed to watching Byrd. He was just a lil worked up on Punto

Wow. That was a helluva play by Barfield there.

Thats 2 tonight, Im starting to like this kid

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

plz boro dont pull a yankees

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

plz boro dont pull a yankees

wipes sweat off brow


THANK YOU JESUS!!

[pup]

In my best Lou Brown..."It's starting to come together boys, it's starting to come together".

That is a large win for these guys. Beat Johan. Take over 1st place. With the Rangers and Orioles coming in for 5, this could be the start of a nice little run.

[BruceK]

Fausto over Santana!

[tribetalk]

SWEEP in the Metrodome.
This is the Twinkies team which I expected to see this year... Average pitching with an average at best offense.

Indians are getting on a roll!

[Steve Buffum]

In my best Lou Brown..."It's starting to come together boys, it's starting to come together".

That is a large win for these guys. Beat Johan. Take over 1st place. With the Rangers and Orioles coming in for 5, this could be the start of a nice little run.

It may be that we look back at the Yankees meltdown as the galvanizing moment of this season. (I know, early early blah blah blah) This team has been so plagued with lousy starts and an inability to bounce back from adversity that it just seems different this time: we took 4 of 5, on the road, including 3 in our last AB and one against The Greatest Living Pitcher Huzzah.

It just ... looks ... different.

[BruceK]

Another thing -- the Tribe has a pretty good record considering they've really only had three real home games.

[StewieG]

Starting a season well is one thing. Sustaining it is a completely different thing. This team has got to be able to sustain success for a long period of time, which is something they actually haven't been able to do up to this point. That's the thing they have to learn to do.

But with that said, this is a nice win that I really did not expect.

[Hoover]

It's an especially nice win just before they face the struggling Strangers and awful O's. Texeira, Blalock & Young are off to miserable starts. Let's hope they don't get healthy the next two games.

Great start by Carmona tonight. He really had them off balance, and kept his composure when he gave up a couple. Color me impressed.

[pup]

Actually, once they have started to play well in a season, they usually continue it. The terrible Aprils have been their biggest problems.

[Mr. MacPhisto]

Actually, once they have started to play well in a season, they usually continue it. The terrible Aprils have been their biggest problems.

Except for last year. They had a winning record in April and bombed out in May & June.

According to MLB records, the Indians are 6-5 on the road. We all know that the "home" games in Milwaukee should be kept in the road column, so they're 8-6 on the road and 2-1 at home. That's pretty good.

When you consider how much adversity they've faced to start the season and that three of those losses came in New York, it's not so bad.

Fausto logs a second good start. The bullpen pulled it out again, even with Lord Joe giving up a meaningless run. His ERA may look like Jason Johnson's, but he's picked up 8 saves and has officially blown none (btw, how do you get credit for a four run "save" but you don't get credit for a blown save when you give up a four run lead - hello padded stats!).

The Tribe started this road trip off by going 0-3. They finished at 4-4. Managing errors and runner left on (still a problem) prevented them from going 6-2. That record was within their grasp.

On the bright side, they have only one series loss thus far. Also on the bright side, the Yankees haven't won since beating the Tribe.

For those watching, the Devil Rays now have a better record than the Yankees. It won't stay that way, but the Rays have been able to make the Yankees their bitch the past couple of years. I'd love to see them take the season series from New York again and I'd especially love the Yankees to miss the playoffs. Not likely, I know, but a boy can dream.

[StewieG]

The Yankees starting pitching is in shambles. Any chance we can get something decent from them in return for Byrd? Maybe Melky Cabrera or someone like that? Or get Lastings Milledge from the Mets, or the one OF prospect from the Diamondbacks whose name escapes me (not Justin Upton)?

[Hoover]

There's a good chance the Yankees will miss the playoffs. Their pitching is in tatters. They're depending on AA starters. They've got another one pitching on Thursday. Yankees aren't likely to be going to the playoffs with so many rookies.

Caveat--unless the eastern division really blows this year. Then all bets are off and they could sneak in.

[Mr. MacPhisto]

The Yankees starting pitching is in shambles. Any chance we can get something decent from them in return for Byrd? Maybe Melky Cabrera or someone like that? Or get Lastings Milledge from the Mets, or the one OF prospect from the Diamondbacks whose name escapes me (not Justin Upton)?

I'd seriously consider shopping Byrd if Lee comes back and looks good. Carmona has put in two good starts and has much more upside as a #5 than Byrd does. Miller has recently got hit on in Buffalo (4 ERs), but I still think he's pretty close to ready. Stanford has also started well. He got 2 ERs tonight, raising his ERA to 1.00.

[leadpipe]

Can't throw them under the bus quite yet. They've got the top pitching prospect in the game pitching this week (he should have been there since day one). They have a reasonable chance to get Petitte healthy and have Clemens for the second half. All these options, incidentally, are more attractive than Paul Byrd. The Tribe needs to find the desperate sucker, and while the yanks might seem desperate, I'm not so sure they are that dumb.

[StewieG]

They might not be desperate yet, but if the losses keep piling up, and the injuries keep piling up, they'll get desperate. But I'm not dead-set on trading him to NY. I'm just looking to trade him anywhere, so we can get Carmona into the rotation on a permanent basis once Lee comes back.

[tribefan333]

Ya I could see them asking for a deal real quickly. A-Rod has 14 HR's and is hitting lights out, he's given them run support, they score 8 runs half the time, and they are still 3 games under .500.

[swerb]

How bout Byrd & Carmona for Phillip Hughes???

[Steve Buffum]

How bout Byrd & Carmona for Phillip Hughes???

Not a chance. No Phillip Hughes. You don't get Homer Bailey, you don't get Tim Lincecum, you don't get Phillip Hughes. Live long and prosper.

I'm with Tony: I would offer the Yankees Jason Davis, because that would kill two birds with one schmuck. Otherwise, intercourse the Yankees.