Tribe at O's: 07.01.12

[Erie Warrior]

1. B. Roberts, 2B
2. J. Hardy, SS
3. C. Davis, RF
4. A. Jones, CF
5. J. Thome, DH
6. W. Betemit, 1B
7. R. Flaherty, LF
8. R. Paulino, C
9. R. Andino, 3B

vs. Masterson

1. S. Choo, RF
2. A. Cabrera, DH
3. J. Kipnis, 2B
4. J. Lopez, 3B
5. S. Duncan, LF
6. C. Kotchman, 1B
7. J. Donald, SS
8. L. Marson, C
9. A. Cunningham, CF

vs. Matusz

Stinker of a lineup for Acta. Any chance these guys have 15 hits in them?

Gotta be 1000* on the East Coast today.

[dazindiansfanuk]

Lock your doors and windows folks...... the Apocalypse is coming..... Aaron Cunningham goes deep!

[Prosecutor]

Duncan and Cunningham with home runs in the same game. How can we possibly lose?

I'm sure I just jinxed us.

19 hits last night with three guys getting four or more hits for the first time since '09. Things are getting wierd. And how about Jason Donald with a double in his first at-bat?

Nice to see Thome again. I see he still hasn't lost that speed getting down the first base line.

[googleeph2]

I get juiced, on Matusz and just hang a-looose!
(early 1970s ELton John reference)

btw I am sick of Jim Thome

[dazindiansfanuk]

With the way we're hitting in this park, maybe we should consider moving another Cleveland team to Baltimore

[pod2dawg]

I was just going to post how anemic the bottom of our lineup was......I will continue to shut up.

[andrew6586]

The fact that the crap part of our lineup is mashing the ball today just means one thing: this pitcher has never thrown a baseball before today.

[Prosecutor]

Jason Donald hasn't changed. He still can hit left-handed pitching and he still can't play shortstop.

Don't look now, but Shelly Duncan is starting to get going. He's a streak hitter who is either hot or ice cold. It looks like he might be getting one of his hot streaks going like last September.

[bookelly]

Damn...there goes the perfe/shit...no hitter.

[Prosecutor]

The fact that the crap part of our lineup is mashing the ball today just means one thing: this pitcher has never thrown a baseball before today.

Actually he has, but he's given up 16 earned runs in his last 17 innings coming into today's game. He's really messed up right now. And the Tribe just messed him up a little more.

Tough break for Masterson. An error by Donald, a stolen base on a close play, and a bloop single. There goes the shutout. Let's at least nail down the win. Could we possibly win three straight against lefty starters?

[Prosecutor]

O's creeping back into it. Adam Jones is a doubles machine. Thome 0-for-3.

Cunningham strikes out with a runner on third and one out. Sheesh. That home run was definitely a fluke. Matusz had nothing today.

[Erie Warrior]

3 runs isn't enough.

Dunc Smash!

[Prosecutor]

Don't look now, but Shelly Duncan is starting to get going. He's a streak hitter who is either hot or ice cold. It looks like he might be getting one of his hot streaks going like last September.

Duncan now with two doubles and a HR today and 7 hits in his last 16 at-bats. Ride him while he's hot because it won't last.

Or maybe this is just a Camden Yards thing.

[Erie Warrior]

Another game with double digit hits. Hope they didn't use them all up this series.

Atta' boys to Masterson, Acab and Duncan. Great series for a lot of guys.

[Bigfist]

I was unable to see the game, but saw this rather strange line from Hoynes:

"Aaron Cunningham opened the third with another homer, his first of the season. When he got to the bench, his teammates gave him the silent treatment."

Anyone have any insight? On the surface, it appears Hoynes is saying Cunningham will win no popularity contests with his teammates.

[Prosecutor]

I was unable to see the game, but saw this rather strange line from Hoynes:

"Aaron Cunningham opened the third with another homer, his first of the season. When he got to the bench, his teammates gave him the silent treatment."

Anyone have any insight? On the surface, it appears Hoynes is saying Cunningham will win no popularity contests with his teammates.

It's a common joke in baseball. When a guy who rarely hits a home run (like a pitcher, for example) hits one, instead of going nuts his teammates act like it happens every day and just ignore it. This goes on for a short time until they finally break down and congratulate him. Hoynes should have explained it's kind of a tradition and doesn't mean anything negative.

[Prosecutor]

Another game with double digit hits. Hope they didn't use them all up this series.

Atta' boys to Masterson, Acab and Duncan. Great series for a lot of guys.

Just read the game story. The Indians hit .327 against Baltimore left-handed pitching despite coming in hitting .216. Wow. Not to mention going 3-0 against the O's lefties.

The offense is vastly improved with Marson in for Santana. He hit .383 in June! And then he got a couple more hits today. Incredible. Combine that with Kotchman and Damon starting to hit in the .270 range over the last month and suddenly three offensive black holes have been filled. Meanwhile, Choo, Droobs, Kipnis, and Brantley have been consistent. And Duncan had a great series as he's finally starting to hit.

And now we get Hafner back tomorrow along with Santana, who should have benefited from the chance to take some days off and let his back heal.

Everybody wants to make a trade for a big name bat, but if the guys who haven't been hitting at all start hitting at their career norms, the offense will be OK. It's the starting pitching that concerns me, specifically Tomlin and Lowe.

It's back to the all left-handed lineup with the Angels coming in with three right-handed starters. The Halos are on a roll so the Tribe needs to keep the good mojo from Baltimore going.

[TribeinLA]

Hey guys. That was me on the mound today in Baltimore.

[Pabo]

Jason Donald hasn't changed. He still can hit left-handed pitching and he still can't play shortstop.

Young Mr. Donald is now hitting .136 against lefties this year. You're right about the other thing, though.

[Prosecutor]

Jason Donald hasn't changed. He still can hit left-handed pitching and he still can't play shortstop.

Young Mr. Donald is now hitting .136 against lefties this year. You're right about the other thing, though.

Right, in 23 AB's. Small sample size. In 2010 and 2011 he's 43-for-131 against lefties, or .328.

[leadpipe]

Jason Donald hasn't changed. He still can hit left-handed pitching and he still can't play shortstop.

Young Mr. Donald is now hitting .136 against lefties this year. You're right about the other thing, though.

Right, in 23 AB's. Small sample size. In 2010 and 2011 he's 43-for-131 against lefties, or .328.

Not too small to be run through The Duncanator.

If anyone should know that, it's you.

[Bigfist]

I was unable to see the game, but saw this rather strange line from Hoynes:

"Aaron Cunningham opened the third with another homer, his first of the season. When he got to the bench, his teammates gave him the silent treatment."

Anyone have any insight? On the surface, it appears Hoynes is saying Cunningham will win no popularity contests with his teammates.

It's a common joke in baseball. When a guy who rarely hits a home run (like a pitcher, for example) hits one, instead of going nuts his teammates act like it happens every day and just ignore it. This goes on for a short time until they finally break down and congratulate him. Hoynes should have explained it's kind of a tradition and doesn't mean anything negative.

Thanks for the explanation. Funny, I have watched baseball for about 50 years, and never knew this.