5/9 Indians @ Angels

[dmcdougal]

Indians try to improve on their 3 game winning streak. They have won 13 of the last 16 games. Here is the pitching matchup for tonight's game.

Tribe will be throwing Paul Byrd
(2-1) 2.92 ERA, 13 K, 3 BB, 1.30 WHIP

Angels will be throwing Jered Weaver
(1-3) 5.12 ERA, 20 K, 7 BB, 1.60 WHIP

Both pitchers have career ERA's over 4 against their respective opponents. Favorite would have to be Paul Byrd, who has been magic this season (don't forget to include his gem against the Mariners that was snowed out).

Here are the records going into tonight's game

Cleveland (20-10) 1st Place in AL Central by .5 G
Angels (17-16) 1st Place tie in AL West with Oakland

Cleveland leading the season series 3-1.

[dmcdougal]

Another interesting note...

Cleveland plays the Angels 4 more times after this (4 game series @ Anaheim on September 6-9).

We will not play a home game against the Angels this season. I know that we played a "home" game against them at Milwaukee, but I just found it interesting that we will play a team 10 times and never be at Jacobs Field

[Hoover]

Indians try to improve on their 3 game winning streak. They have won 13 of the last 16 games. Here is the pitching matchup for tonight's game.

Tribe will be throwing Paul Byrd
(2-1) 2.92 ERA, 13 K, 3 BB, 1.30 WHIP

Angels will be throwing Jered Weaver
(1-3) 5.12 ERA, 20 K, 7 BB, 1.60 WHIP

Brutal ERA for Weaver. Is he still be hurt? He sure isn't as dominating as he was last year, to put it mildly.

OTOH, the Angels hit Byrd at a .278 clip. He must keep Vlad in check, like Lee did last night.

[buddycowley]

I get to go to this game tonight! Woo!

What I'm most upset about is that CC didn't hit his turn here in SoCal. Would have loved to see the big guy on the mound tonight.

Angels haven't been hitting the ball well, and we can only hope that Byrd remembers enough about these guys to keep them in check.

Buddy

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

weaver gets chased out by inning 4 or 5

byrd is soild again allowing just 3 or fewer earned runs through 6+

[skatingtripods]

OTOH, the Angels hit Byrd at a .278 clip. He must keep Vlad in check, like Lee did last night.

You have to keep everyone else in check. Vlad the Impaler will get his hits, but they're ok if they come with the bases empty.

[dmcdougal]

I agree. We need to keep Matthews Jr and Cabrera off the basepaths. Cabrera seems to crush us.. let me look up that number real quick.

.389 (7-18) so far this season with 2 R, 3 RBI, and a SB

about .245 the 2 seasons before though so let's hope that he goes back to his usual numbers against the tribe.

Matthews Jr only 3-17 so far this season with a SB and 5 K

-however, he's a career .353 hitter against the Tribe.

[CLEfan86]

OTOH, the Angels hit Byrd at a .278 clip. He must keep Vlad in check, like Lee did last night.

You have to keep everyone else in check. Vlad the Impaler will get his hits, but they're ok if they come with the bases empty.

Keep the top of the order guys off the bases and we'll be fine. Looking at last nights lineup, 5-9 is currently a black hole for the Angels.

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

just under 2 hours until show time

[dmcdougal]

Starting Lineups

Cleveland
1. Grady Sizemore CF
2. Casey Blake 3B
3. Travis Hafner DH
4. Victor Martinez 1B
5. Trot Nixon RF
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. David Dellucci LF
8. Kelly Shoppach C
9. Josh Barfield 2B


Angels
1. Reggie Willitz LF
2. Orlando Cabrera SS
3. Gary Matthews Jr CF
4. Vladimir Guerrero RF
5. Casey Kotchman 1B
6. Erick Aybar 2B
7. Kendrick Morales DH
8. Mike Napoli C
9. Chone Figgins 3B

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

Starting Lineups

Cleveland
1. Grady Sizemore CF
2. Casey Blake 3B
3. Travis Hafner DH
4. Victor Martinez 1B
5. Trot Nixon RF
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. David Dellucci LF
8. Kelly Shoppach C
9. Josh Barfield 2B


Angels
1. Reggie Willitz LF
2. Orlando Cabrera SS
3. Gary Matthews Jr CF
4. Vladimir Guerrero RF
5. Casey Kotchman 1B
6. Erick Aybar 2B
7. Kendrick Morales DH
8. Mike Napoli C
9. Chone Figgins 3B

has this been justified yet?

whats your opinion?

[dmcdougal]

he is starting to hit well. had a few hits last night with runners in scoring position. I am not ready to give up on Casey Blake, unlike most of Cleveland.

[skatingtripods]

Blake's our best...yes, our best...#2 option. With Trot hitting like he is, he needs to be in an RBI position. Dellucci still sucks, probably more than Blake. Barfield isn't ready to hit there and I'd rather he hit 9th anyway.

At least Blake usually goes deep into the count. 1-2 and then called strike 3 is better than Barfield or Dellucci popping up the first pitch.

[dmcdougal]

good job Casey

[skatingtripods]

VMart is the man.

I'm convinced. Best pure hitter on this team.

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

VIC!!

big early hit again

[CLEfan86]

Woooo Victor, does it again!

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

haha ive never seen a cather interference call before


thats kinda cool if you are the batter, a 3-2 foul ball and u get the base lol

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

CLOSE!!!


dam u vlad

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

u guys see that hunter catch earlier??



that was sick

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

heres johnny!!

this guy is underrated as a SS hitter

top 10 in the league!

[dmcdougal]

Top 10 hitting SS in the league?? Of course he is

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

Top 10 hitting SS in the league?? Of course he is

all of the MLB

maybe even top 5

[dmcdougal]

now youre getting carried away.. Howard Dean

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD


Top 7th

DET 2
SEA 9


looks like we will get some help if we can pull this off

[skatingtripods]

Can we get a designated runner for Victor? God damn he is a tank. How does he not score on Peralta's double?

[CLEfan86]

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD


Top 7th

DET 2
SEA 9


looks like we will get some help if we can pull this off

Always nice to see, but a bit early to be watching the scoreboard.

[Charboneau]

I really like the way we force opposing starting pitchers into a high pitch count by being selective at the plate and fighting off good pitches with two strikes and taking them deep into the count. What did Weaver throw in the first - 35 pitches? At that clip we will be into there PEN very early.

[consigliere]

I really like the way we force opposing starting pitchers into a high pitch count by being selective at the plate and fighting off good pitches with two strikes and taking them deep into the count. What did Weaver throw in the first - 35 pitches? At that clip we will be into there PEN very early.

This lineup reminds me a lot of the Yankees lineup of the late 90s before they loaded up on All-Stars at every position. Back when they had the likes of Knoblauch, O'Neil, Bernie Williams in his prime, Jeter, Brocsius, etc they used to work counts like crazy,getting pitchers to hit the 100 pitch mark in the 5th or 6th ining.

[Charboneau]

I really like the way we force opposing starting pitchers into a high pitch count by being selective at the plate and fighting off good pitches with two strikes and taking them deep into the count. What did Weaver throw in the first - 35 pitches? At that clip we will be into there PEN very early.

This lineup reminds me a lot of the Yankees lineup of the late 90s before they loaded up on All-Stars at every position. Back when they had the likes of Knoblauch, O'Neil, Bernie Williams in his prime, Jeter, Brocsius, etc they used to work counts like crazy,getting pitchers to hit the 100 pitch mark in the 5th or 6th ining.

Great analogy. I think Weaver is already up around 52 - 53 pitches after two innings. You have to love the strategy. I would love to wear out their pen tonight and get a win.

[pup]

I must say, Casey Blake fits in well in the 2 hole. Of course, I think I could hit .225 hitting between Grady and Pronk.

[dmcdougal]

lol Pup..

We need to keep the pressure on Weaver and run him out of here. Don't let him think he is gaining control. I love the Cleveland strategy, especially with a young pitcher on the mound.

[dmcdougal]

great at bat for Hafner.. Keep him throwing pitches


remember we have a day game tomorrow so hopefully we can get the bullpen working early.

[skatingtripods]

Atta boy Byrdie. Any time Vlad Guerrero has to lead off the inning, I'm happy.

[skatingtripods]

Well, you can't keep Vlad down for long. At least he didn't hit it out.

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

guys can u PLEASE take some pitches?!

you made weaver throw 45+ pitches in 2 innings and now we swing at the first pitch every at bat, and if not then we swing at pitch 2.

Work him out of the game

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

come on hafner you are TERRIBLY due for a big hit

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

well this game will be over by midnight at this rate

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

WOW!


byrd plays hudini yet again!

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

time for bed after this inning


score some more runs before i leave plz

[Get_Wedge_Out_NOW!]

bases juiced with less then 2 outs and we lay an egg........AGAIN




way to look at strike 3 RIGHT DOWN THE PLATE with bases loaded and 2 outs


this leaving the bases loaded garbage is goign to hit us in the ass when we really need it eventually.........like the playoffs maybe?
i dont even wanna be around for that scene

[consigliere]

Man, Shoppach looked overmatched there. Barfield with a good at bat there.....not a positive result, got fooled with the breaking ball....but still a solid at bat.

[skatingtripods]

Anybody but Shoppach and Barfield.

[skatingtripods]

Once again, no one on for Vladdy. That works.

[skatingtripods]

Give Hafner a day off. Come on. He's pressing like crazy.

[Wahoot]

way to look at strike 3 RIGHT DOWN THE PLATE with bases loaded and 2 outs

Dude, that was a slider on the outside corner. It was not RIGHT DOWN THE PLATE. You may want to compliment your TV viewing with mlb.com's Gameday. Or Valium.

[skatingtripods]

Yep...

That's all I have to say.

Yep..

[consigliere]

Nice start by Birdie. The HR sucks, but really, 2 runs in 7 innings is fantastic.

Offense is sputtering. Not looking good tonight. Can the Angels squeeze out a run in the next two innings for the win?

[skatingtripods]

Unbelievable. I guess that's why Cabrera hasn't been used in important situations.

Good luck hitting K-Rod Dellucci, Garko, and Barfield.

[consigliere]

Damn. That didn't take long.