It's the Bullpen, Stupid

In my last post (two weeks ago...yikes), I talked about the Indians hitters and their inability to produce so far this season. I also said the bullpen was the other major problem with Cleveland's 2008 team. Today, I'll take a closer look at where and why this part of the team has struggled.

Bullpens are the most volatile group of players on a team from year to year. A bullpen can be ineffective one season and bounce back to be quite good the next, despite few changes. A good example of this is the 2005 Chicago White Sox who won the World Series thanks to ridiculously dominating relief pitching that a year earlier (with the almost the same staff) was average at best.

Much like the 2005 White Sox, the 2007 Indians bullpen was outstanding last season led by setup man Rafael Betancourt. Betancourt's numbers in '07 might have been the best ever for a relief pitcher. He finished with 79.1 innings pitched, 80 strikeouts, nine walks, a 1.47 ERA, a 0.76 WHIP and a 5-1 record.

This season Betancourt is a major reason the Tribe bullpen is statistically the worst in the American League. Betancourt has a 2-3 record with a 6.23 ERA, a 1.55 WHIP and a 33/9 strikeout to walk ratio. His Value Over Replacement Player is -3.3.

Cleveland shouldn't have expected Betancourt to reproduce his 2007 season again this year. But nobody thought anything close to this collapse was even a remote possibility.

Betancourt isn't the only reliever who's regressed this season. Rafael Perez had a 1.78 ERA last season as the primary lefty setup man. This year his ERA has climbed to 3.62 and he's allowing more than one hit per inning. Opponents hit a paltry .187 against Perez in '07, but are now batting .270 against him this season. While Perez does have a VORP of 5.2, he hasn't been nearly as effective in '08.

Besides the Rafael's struggles, the Indians sorely missed closer Joe Borowski for much of the season with an arm injury. While many Cleveland fans (including me) thought the injury would be a blessing in disguise because Betancourt would get to close, it turned out to be a disaster. Not only did Betancourt implode as the closer, the Indians had no other solid options to pitch the ninth. Now that Borowski is back in his closer's role, the Tribe should actually feel more comfortable. This is ironic since Borowski has a -3.7 VORP so far this season.

For the Indians to have a chance in the Central Division, they obviously need the bullpen to improve. It doesn't have to be as good as last year's version. That's not realistic. But the relief corps must be an effective unit and so far in 2008 they've been sub par. With the bats still struggling (although showing some life the past 10 days), Cleveland can't afford to give away leads late in the game. They simply don't have enough offensive firepower to overcome the bullpen's mistakes.

The next three to six weeks will be telling for Cleveland. They must decide whether to be buyers or sellers at the all star break, and specifically whether it's more beneficial to trade C.C. Sabathia or keep him for the remainder of the season in hopes he leads the team to the playoffs. If the bullpen continues to falter, it's likely Cleveland will be selling come July 31st.

Offensive Struggles

The Cleveland Indians starting rotation posts the Major League's lowest ERA and highest SNLVAR (SNLVAR is a Baseball Prospectus stat that tells us the wins above replacement pitcher, or in this case staff, with offensive and defensive factors eliminated).

Yet the Tribe is just 25-29, five games behind Chicago and losers of seven of their last 10 games. Despite the starting pitching giving the Indians not just a chance, but a great opportunity to win each night, Cleveland finds itself struggling in the middle of the Central Division.

The problem is two-fold -- a struggling bullpen and an anemic offense. I'm going to discuss the latter today because it appears to be the most serious and potentially long-term problem for the 2008 season.

Cleveland's offense is ranked 23rd in runs scored, 25th in on-base percentage and an embarrassing 29th in team batting average, which at .234 is one point above dead-last Washington. It has just two players, Grady Sizemore and Ben Francisco, with EqBA (equivalent batting average) above .252.

Victor Martinez is hitting .294, but has yet to hit a home run. Travis Hafner (.217), Jamey Carroll (.231), Jhonny Peralta (.233), David Dellucci (.229), Casey Blake (.218) and Ryan Garko (.228) are among the worst collection of hitters in the league right now, at least according to batting average. Blake hits ninth in the order most nights and is tied for the team lead in RBI with 29.

How is Cleveland's offense this bad? For starters, the better hitters in the lineup have underperformed thus far. Martinez and his lack of power has been the primary reason Cleveland is the only team in the Major Leagues without a home run from the cleanup spot. Hafner is making last season look like the new norm instead of an aberration. Even Sizemore is struggling to keep his average about .260 and just recently began showing his power stroke.

With those three struggling, the Indians need the remaining guys to pick up the slack. Unfortunately, the other six hitters plus the bench guys are bringing the Cleveland offense down even more. Specifically, the biggest problem is that Cleveland gets very little production from first base and both corner outfield positions. These three spots in any team's lineup are almost always held down by very solid, productive, power hitters. In the Cleveland lineup, those positions are currently filled with Garko (.228, 4 HR, 20 RBI), and a combination of Franklin Gutierrez (.236, 3 HR, 18 RBI), Dellucci (.229, 5 HR, 16 RBI) and the semi-productive Francisco (.310, 2 HR, 12 RBI).

While opponents trot out first basemen and corner outfielders with high averages or good power or a combination of both, the Indians' bats barely register as above Triple-A level. Those are three huge holes in a lineup where the best three hitters aren't hitting. And that's how you get an offense that's minutely better than the Washington Nationals.

For the Tribe to contend this season, they almost certainly have to grab another bat. Colorado's Garrett Aktins name has surfaced as a potential offensive piece as has Pittsburgh's Jason Bay. Both would be a wonderful addition to the middle of the current order.

But beyond trading for another bat, Cleveland also needs everyone -- someone -- to simply start hitting. The Indians have already wasted far too many outstanding pitching performances because the offense couldn't muster three runs. While it's likely Sizemore and Martinez will find their stroke, other guys like Dellucci and Garko are closer to platoon players than starters on most teams. How much can we really expect offensively from Carroll or Gutierrez? Perhaps hitting coach Derek Shelton needs to try a different approach with his hitters. It's obvious that something needs to change soon.

We're about 1/3 through the season and Cleveland has two glaring weaknesses in its bullpen and offense. While the starting pitching continues to be amazing, this team can't consistently win with no relief pitching and no hitting. I'm not as concerned about the bullpen now that Joe Borowski is back as the closer and the relievers can settle into their normal roles.

But when I look at this offense, I struggle to see where the runs will come from. Besides Sizemore and Martinez, the Indians have a bunch of hitters who have never really been outstanding on a consistent basis. If the bats can't get better soon, Cleveland will continue to find itself in deep trouble in the Central Division.

Pronkless

From 2004 to 2006, Travis Hafner absolutely mashed the ball. He got on base. He drove in runs. He hit for power. He scared the crap out of opposing pitchers.

He was one of the most dominant hitters in the game.

But things changed in 2007. Hafner scuffled most of the year, but still finished with 24 home runs, 100 RBIs and a very good .385 on-base percentage. Many people thought 2007 was simply a mirage.

It might be a new reality.

Heading into Tuesday's game against the White Sox, Hafner has fewer home runs than Rickie Weeks. He's driven in just 20 runs. He's only scored 17 runs and is batting a measly .228. Worse yet, Hafner's not even drawing walks as his on-base percentage is an ugly .335.

What's happened to the Travis Hafner that used to punish the baseball on a nightly basis?

Travis Hafner stats:

Year							H	2B		HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2005							148	42		33	108	79	123	.305	.408	.595	1003
2006							140	31		42	117	85	111	.308	.423	.659	1082
2007							145	25		24	100	102	115	.266	.385	.451	836
2008							31	8		4	20	20	36	.228	.335	.375	710

Look at the contrast between Hafner's power numbers in '05 and '06 compared to '07 and the start of this season. His on-base plus slugging went from among the league leaders to a very mundane 836 last season and a downright awful 710 this season. His average hit the tank and his slugging dropped off. Scary trends for anyone, especially a DH.

Year						ISOP	BB%	K%	BABIP	GB%	LD%
2005						.290	13.7%	21.3%	.348
2006						.351	17.8%	19.7%	.326	40%	20%
2007						.185	17.6%	17.0%	.298	48%	19%
2008						.147	14.0%	22.0%	.281	44%	21%

Perhaps part of the reason for Hafner's decline is that when he's hitting the ball, it's not going for hits near as much as in past seasons. Some of this BABIP regression could be that Hafner isn't driving the ball to the gaps as much. Or maybe the shift that opposing defense use (putting three infielders on the right side) has stopped a few hits from going through. This theory seems unlikely as teams have played the shift on Hafner for several seasons.

I thought that Hafner would be striking out at a greater rate than previous seasons, and he has so far in 2008 (22.0%). But surprisingly, Hafner actually posted his best strikeout/walk ratio of his career in 2007 by walking more than he struck out.

One difference I do see is Hafner's ground ball ratios. Last season he continued hitting line drives at about a 20% clip which was in step with his career marks. But he hit a lot more ground balls last season (48% in '07 from 40% in '06) and has continued to do so this season (44%). With Hafner's lack of speed, most ground balls are going to become outs. If his line drives are staying the same and he's increasing his ground balls, it's apparent Hafner is failing to elevate the ball. This might explain the power drop as it's hard to hit a home run when you don't hit the ball in the air as much.

The good news for Hafner is that he's had a much better May than April. He's got the OBP up to .422 this month and he's hitting .268 compared to .208 in April. So there's certainly hope Hafner will turn it around. But as for explaining what Hafner is doing different mechanically, not even the Cleveland coaches know. From watching him fairly often this season, he seems to fall behind quite a bit in counts which would force him to swing at less than optimal pitches later in at-bats. This in turn could lead to more choppers on the infield and less power to the gaps. Still, it's hard to tell exactly what's bothering Pronk.

It's still early, so it'll be interesting to look back on Hafner's stats in July or August and see the difference. For now, I'm like every other Cleveland fan and have no idea why Pronk has slumped so hard and fast. I just hope he finds his swing sooner than later.

The Indians offense has struggled all season and Hafner has been a big part of the problem. If Cleveland is going to seriously contend for the World Series, the team needs to improve the offense. With few other consistent power options in the lineup, the pressure falls on Pronk to find his old self.

Seriously, What's Going On With Cliff Lee?

Cliff Lee didn't get the win against Toronto Monday night, but he did go nine innings, striking out five and allowing zero runs. The outing lowered Lee's WHIP and ERA to 0.67 each. Lee has now thrown up a goose egg in 50 of his 53 innings pitched this season and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is 44/4.

All this from a guy who had to earn his spot in the rotation in spring training.

So, after a seventh straight quality start, Lee's performances beg the question, how exactly is he doing it?

Let's look at some numbers and then attempt to find any reasons for Lee's success.

First, Lee is throwing more strikes than ever before, but not by a huge amount. He's thrown 68% of his pitches for strikes, compared to a previous high of 66% in 2005 and a career average of just under 65%.

Lee's BABIP has always been around the league of .300 with a career low of .282 in 2005. It was .300 in 2006 and .304 in 2007. This season it's a measly .226. That means the Indians defense has been playing very well behind Lee and he's also been lucky. This was certainly the case Monday when Asdrubal Cabrera turned the 14th unassisted triple play in Major League history, Victor Martinez made a shoestring jumping catch on a line shot in the ninth and Franklin Guiterrez pulled down a ball in the gap.

To be blunt, Lee's certainly been fortunate so far this season and this luck won't continue forever. That BABIP should creep its way toward the .300 line and put Lee in more difficult pitching situations, which in turn should lead to more runs allowed.

A more obvious reason for Lee's exceptional start is his low walk totals. After yielding two on Monday, Lee now has given up all of four free passes. Keeping in mind that Lee has always had decent control, he's still walking 4% fewer batters per plate appearance than his career-best 6.2% in 2005. Right now, his BB/PA stands at an incredible 2.1%. Meanwhile Lee's strikeouts per plate appearance has skyrocketed to 23%. His previous career high is 17%.

What's all this mean? Well, if you were keeping track Lee's previous best strike percentage, BABIP, BB/PA and K/BB were all in 2005 -- the same year Lee went 18-5. The difference between 2005 and '06 and '07 was that Lee threw more strikes, walked fewer and had a lower BABIP. The same is true this season, except in a much more drastic manner.

As we saw, Lee's not just beating his career-best on the ratios above, he's destroying each one. It's easy to conclude that Lee won't be able to keep up these numbers. No one could. But it's not unreasonable to believe Lee will be a very effective and successful pitcher throughout the entire season.

We saw what Lee can do when he slightly raises his strike percentage and strike out totals while lowering his walks. If Lee continues to throw more strikes and fewer balls, even if not to this extent, he should still be a good pitcher, much like he was in '05. The biggest unknown is how high that BABIP stat will rise, especially when Lee stops striking out as many hitters and allows more balls in play.

Remember in 2005 his BABIP dropped by about 18 points below his career average. With an improved Indians defense, Lee has a chance to be around that number by season's end. If he is, then Lee will have matched or bested his 2005 numbers on all the aforementioned statistics.

By improving on these stats in 2005, Lee posted career-best numbers. Doing it again in 2007 could mean an even better season for Lee.

Cliff Lee is F*%^ing Amazing

For the sixth straight start Cliff Lee was absolutely awesome.

Lee, who won A.L. Pitcher of the Month award in April, completely confused and dominated the New York Yankees Wednesday night leading Cleveland to a 3-0 victory. Lee finished throwing 104 pitches in seven innings, allowed zero runs on six hits, struck out seven and walked none.

Lee now leads the Majors with a 6-0 record and he's walked just two batters in 44 innings. That's one batter every 22 innings. Simply unreal.

Once again Lee used his fastball to set up his big hooking curveball. Lee spotted the fastball all over the plate -- high, low, inside, outside. He put it wherever he wanted at a consistent 91, 92 or 93 miles per hour. Then Lee would put the batter away with a 76 mile per hour curve and it'd be lights out.

Even the balls hit off Lee were dinky. Morgan Ensberg hit a dribbler that traveled about 7 feet down the third base side. Bobby Abreu hit a slow chopper to first which he barely beat out for an infield single. The Yankees just couldn't put good wood on the ball all night.

With the victory, the Indians guarantee a season series win over New York. After losing all six regular season games last season, it's nice to get a little payback with four wins in six games.

As for Lee, he's on cruise control at this point. His ERA dropped from 0.96 to 0.81. He had a 27 straight scoreless inning streak snapped last start against Seattle but started a new streak tonight. While the Indians continue to struggle, Lee has been the stopper all season. He's give the team a huge lift and it's keeping them right in the middle of the A.L. Central.

Right now, without a doubt, Lee is simply the best pitcher in baseball.

5-0

Cliff Lee is 5-0. He took another shutout into the 7th before yielding a three-run homer to rookie Wladimir Balentien as the Indians snapped a three-game skid with an 8-3 victory over Seattle.

The home run makes the final line look a little less impressive than Lee's previous wins, but this game was really just more of the same from the lefty. After a shaky first inning, where he allowed two singles, Lee settled down and had an 8-0 lead entering the 7th. His ERA "jumped" to 0.96 and he's now thrown five straight quality starts. Lee finished with six innings, three earned runs, zero walks, three strikeouts and 97 pitches thrown.

What else can you say about Lee that hasn't already been said? He continues to be the comeback story of the year and save the Indians from having an even worse start to the season. Lee's control continues to be excellent and he's keeping the ball in the yard (tonight excluded) much better than in past seasons. It's safe to say he's easily become the best fifth starter in baseball.

With the win Cleveland improves to 13-15 and keeps pace with Detroit who roughed up the Yankees 6-2.

Game Wrap and Box Score 4/30

Live Blogging

Aaron Laffey took a no-hitter into the sixth but gave up two dinky infield hits, a line drive single to left, a hit batter and two choppy ground outs. Then he left and Jensen Lewis gave up a single to Morgan Ensberg that didn't reach halfway to the mound. Needless to say, it was an unfortunate series of events that turned Laffey's outing from a shutout or one allowed to a final line of 5 2/3 innings, four earned, three hits and one strikeout.

The good news is that Laffey looked really strong in his outing, despite the likelihood he's going to take the loss. Before the game, manager Eric Wedge announced Laffey would get at least one more start in the rotation. That seems well deserved and should give the 23-year old more confidence as he develops into a quality starting pitcher.

Onto the blogging:

(8:40 CT) Johnny Damon is pinching hitting for Alex Rodriguez., which can't be good news for Yankee fans. Rodriguez has struggled a little this season and has driven in just 10 RBIs. He'll come around sooner than later, but that touchy hamstring might be playing a factor in A-Rod's swing.

(8:42 CT) Damon walked to bring up Jason Giambi, who's at first base again tonight. Giambi hit two monster home runs off Paul Byrd in the first game of this series. Jensen Lewis needs to be careful here and hopefully induce a ground ball.

(8:44 CT) BREAKING NEWS on the bottom of ESPN's broadcast. The Giants have moved Barry Zito to the bullpen. Is it more shocking the Giants took Zito out of the rotation or that they haven't cut him yet? He's 0-6 this season, making him the third pitcher in major league baseball history to lose six games in April. Yikes. That's easily the worst signing of all time. And we're only at the beginning of year two of the contract.

(8:45 CT) Giambi flied out to right center, bringing up porn-loving Hideki Matsui. Apparently, it's been reported that Matsui has an extensive porn collection of which he's quite proud. I guess we're all proud of something.

(8:46 CT) Jason Michaels has two hits tonight and a great diving catch. But he just took an awful angle at Matsui's gap shot. Instead of cutting the ball off and saving a run, Michaels allows the ball to roll all the way to the wall and Damon easily scores from first. It's 5-2 with Joba and Rivera coming pitching the 8th and 9th. Crap.

(8:48 CT) Pitching change. You know the Tribe is losing when Jorge Julio is summoned from the bullpen. He's not very good. In fact, I'll be surprised if he's on the team by season's end.

(8:49 CT) Julio induces Morgan Ensberg into a pop out. We're headed to bottom of the 8th with Joba coming in. Chances of ESPN showing footage of the Bug Game from last year's playoffs? 1,000,000%.

(8:52 CT) Now the announcers are obsessively talking about the bugs and how the game might have been stopped and how the series could have been changed. It's annoying. Everyone talks about Joba's struggles with the bugs, but people forget Fausto Carmona had just as many bugs all around him in the top of the 8th and he pitched just fine. Joba blew it. It's over. Let's move on.

(8:55 CT) And that was a quick inning. Joba takes the Tribe down 1-2-3 and we're headed to the 9th.

(8:56 CT) I'm disappointed if the Tribe ends up splitting this series, since they did win the first two games. But overall Cleveland is playing much better. The starting pitching is coming around, the bullpen is better and the bats are slowly waking up. Both Detroit and Cleveland are going to recover from slow starts to fight for the Central Division title.

(9:01 CT) Jorge Julio does his best Joba impression and mows down the Yankees in order. Now the Indians just need three runs off Mariano Rivera to tie the game. This should be easy.

(9:02 CT) Franklin Gutierrez steps in. Rivera looked awesome getting the save yesterday with his cutter moving hard and sharp. Gutierrez looks overmatched and falls behind 1-2.

(9:03 CT) Predictably Gutierrez strikes out on a high fastball. He really needs to cut down on his strikeouts.

(9:04 CT) Michaels is up and looking for his third hit. With Grady Sizemore missing the past two games with an injury, Michaels has faced some righties which he's not used to doing. Usually Wedge uses Michaels primarily for lefthanders.

(9:05 CT) Michaels battles but flies out to deep right. It's up to David Dellucci. Not good.

(9:06 CT) Dellucci grounds out to second and the Tribe drops to 12-14. Poor Laffey gets a hard-luck loss to drop to 0-1. Seattle comes into Cleveland tomorrow for a three-game set.

Pitcher's Duel

C.C. Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang both pitched absolutely brillant Sunday in the Yankees' 1-0 win against the Tribe. The difference was one pitch to Melky Cabrera, who clobbered a home run to left in the fifth inning.

After the worst three-game stretch since 2002, Sabathia strung together his second consecutive impressive outing. One could attribute some of the success Sabathia had last week against the Royals (six innings, 11 strikeouts) to facing a light-hitting club. But Sabathia had a very similar game Sunday when he controlled the talented Yankee lineup all day. Sabathia's outing is an excellent sign that he's figured out what was wrong during his first three starts.

Cleveland looks to take three of four tomorrow when Aaron Laffey takes the mound.

Game Wrap and Box Score 4/25
Game Wrap and Box Score 4/26
Game Wrap and Box Score 4/27

Random Ramblings

*Cliff Lee has made four starts this season. Here's his stat line:

Innings pitched: 31.2
Earned Runs Allowed: 1
Strikeouts: 29
Walks: 2
ERA: 0.28
ERA+: 1561 (100 is average)
WHIP: 0.41
Wins: 4

Lee hasn't been an effective pitcher since his 18-5 2005 campaign. But even then he wasn't putting up strikeout totals like he has so far in 2008. I'm not terribly surprised Lee bounced back this season, but I am completely shocked by his strikeout and walk numbers. Obviously, he will eventually regress closer to his career averages but it's still amazing that he's suddenly become a strikeout pitcher.

In 2005, Lee worked 200 innings and recorded a career-best 2.75 K/BB ratio. The season before his K/BB was just 2.o and the season after it was 2.25. So Lee struck out more batters and walked fewer in 2005 and that played a major factor into his success.

This season, his K/BB ratio is an absurd 14.5. Jesus couldn't keep that type of ratio up, but the point stands. If Lee can have a K/BB ratio at or above 2.5 this season, he should be productive.

As for how he's striking out so many batters, I don't have a concrete answer. But I do have a theory. Watching Lee pitch against the Twins and Royals, I noticed his fastball was in the 91 to 93 mile per hour range. More importantly, he was placing it wherever he wanted. It appears he's getting lots of movement with the pitch, especially against righties. He's also challenging batters with the fastball more than I've seen him do in the past. There was a sequence in the Royals game that really jumped out at me.

Jose Guillen knocked a double to leadoff the sixth inning. Lee then faced Billy Butler, Alex Gordon and Miguel Olivo. Instead of nibbling around the corners or throwing a bunch of off-speed pitches, Lee went right after each batter with his fastball. He worked both corners, got ahead in the count and struck out all three. I don't remember Lee being so aggressive the past two season. Perhaps confidence also plays a part in Lee's success this season.

I am intrigued to see where Lee goes from here. He will regress, but the interesting question is "By how much?"

Better Bullpen?

With Joe Borowski out with an arm injury, the Indians have reshifted their bullpen moving Rafael Betancourt to closer and Rafael Perez and Masa Kobayashi to set-up roles.

So far , so good as Betancourt has nailed down two saves with ease and Perez and Kobayashi have pitched well in their roles.

There's little chance Borowski regains his closer role once he's back which means the Indians could have an even better bullpen this season than last, when they led the American League in ERA.

Beating New York...finally

Entering last night's game, in which the Tribe won 6-4, Cleveland had been outscored by an average of 8-3 in its last eight regular season games against the Yankees. But as they did in last year's postseason, Cleveland won in large part by limiting Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Neither recorded a hit last night.

And, just like in the playoffs, the Tribe recorded the big two out hit. Jhonny Peralta hit a three-run homer off Andy Pettitte with two outs in the fifth to flip a 3-1 Yankee lead into a 4-3 Tribe advantage.

Call-up Weekend

With Jake Westbrook on the DL and a four-game wrap-around series against New York this weekend, Cleveland called up both Jeremy Sowers and Aaron Laffey to start Saturday and Monday's games. Both have pitched for extended periods of time in the majors, so they shouldn't be in awe of the atmosphere or opposing team. Still, it would have been nice to throw Fausto Carmona and Lee against an excellent hitting New York club, rather than two younger, inexperienced pitchers.

Movin' On Up

With Friday's win, Cleveland is now 11-12 and in the midst of a modest four-game winning streak. The team is second in the A.L. Central, two games behind Chicago.

Let's Play Two

After being rained out Wednesday night, Cleveland and Kansas City have two games scheduled tonight. The Tribe batted Brett Tomko around in the first game en route to a 9-6 win. In the ninth, instead of Joe Borowski coming out of the bullpen, it was Rafael Betancourt. I must admit, it's a lot easier on the nerves when you have Betancourt finishing a game rather than Borowski.

After scoring 15 runs Tuesday, the Indians bats picked up where they left off. Grady Sizemore had four hits a home run while Victor Martinez added three hits.

In game two, Cliff Lee and Brian Bannister are engaged in a pitchers' duel. In the bottom of the 5th, it's 0-0.

It'd be nice to win this nightcap before heading home for a three-game series against the Yankees.

It's Official: Cleveland Can Hit

One day after I complained that the Tribe couldn't hit, they put up 12 runs (and still counting) against Kansas City. Casey Blake broke out of his early-season slump by collecting four hits -- including a grand slam -- and driving in six RBIs. David Dellucci went 2-for-4 with a home run, Jhonny Peralta had three hits and a homer and the Tribe has 14 base knocks through seven innings.

If that wasn't enough good news, C.C. Sabathia finally registered a positive outing striking out 11 Royals in just six innings. He allowed zero runs on four measly hits and walked two. With Jake Westbrook headed to the DL, it's a big relief that Sabathia might be finally coming around.

As mentioned previously in this blog, Cleveland's bats have been silent for most of the season. Tonight, the Tribe players had much better approaches, worked counts and put together some nice hits off Kansas City starter Gil Meche. All in all, this is the type of game Cleveland can use to get a little momentum and hopefully string together some victories.

Tomorrow the Tribe sends Fausto Carmona to face Brett Tomko before Cliff Lee takes on Brian Bannister in the series finale on Thursday. With Bannister being a much, much better pitcher than Tomko, Cleveland should take advantage of this favorable matchup.

It's Official: Cleveland Can't Hit

The Indians pitchers combined to allow five runs in the final two games of last weekend's series against Minnesota. One would assume that the Tribe likely won both games or at least earned a split.

But the Tribe plated just one run and fell by scores of 3-0 and 2-1.

Besides C.C. Sabathia, Cleveland's starters are doing an awesome job. It's the Tribe's bats that are leading them to a 7-12 record.

Eventually the sticks will come around, but until then, Cleveland's going to have some very frustrated pitchers and a poor record.

4/19 Game Wrap and Box Score
4/20 Game Wrap and Box Score

Cliff Lee = Cy Young?

After two disappointing and unproductive seasons in 2006 and 2007, Cliff Lee was just hoping to make the Cleveland rotation during spring training. He recorded a nice spring and managed to beat out Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers for the No. 5 spot. Still, expectations were low for a guy who won 18 games with a 3.79 ERA in 2005.

But through his first three starts, Lee has been magnificent. He's shown excellent command by walking just two in 22 innings. He's struck out 20 and allowed just one earned run. Lee leads the league with a 0.40 ERA and his 0.44 WHIP isn't bad either.

With C.C. Sabathia struggling and the Indians bats mostly silent through the first 17 games, Lee has been the most pleasant of surprises. He's provided the Tribe with almost half of its wins.

After his outstanding 2005 campaign, when he finished 18-5 with the sub-4.00 ERA, Lee posted ERAs of 4.40 in 2006 and 6.29 in 2007. His WHIPs were 1.40 and 1.52 respectively, and his adjusted ERA+ was 73 in '06 and a dreadful 1108 last year. (An ERA+ score of 100 is league average.)

But we should remember that Lee dealt with injuries during the past two seasons, including an abdominal strain that sidelined him for a big chunk of 2007. Now that's he's healthy, Lee looks like the type of pitcher Cleveland saw two years ago.

Still, nothing was guaranteed for Lee heading into 2008. With Fauso Carmona's resurgent 2007 season, Sabathia's Cy Young season and Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd's slots in the rotation already secured, Lee looked like the odd man out for this season. But he turned it around in spring training and hasn't looked back.

With the addition of a productive Lee, Cleveland's rotation looks better by the day. Carmona threw a gem earlier this week against Detroit, Westbrook continues to pitch well, Byrd had a nice outing his last time on the mound and Lee is completely baffling opposing hitters. If Sabathia can find anything close to his 2007 self, the Tribe should have a very strong starting rotation.

Game Wrap and Box Score

That's More Like It

I didn't see any of tonight's game because I was at dinner with my mother. However, apparently Fausto Carmona went 6 2/3 strong, allowed just one run and one walk while Ryan Garko and Travis Hafner homered to lead Cleveland to an 11-1 blowout of Detroit.

This is exactly what the Tribe needed after struggling the past three games. They received good starting pitching and timely hitting.

Now they just need to string a few wins together.

With mom in town, I probably won't post until Sunday. Go Tribe.

Game Wrap and Box Score

Maybe C.C. Should Have Signed That Big Contract

C.C. Sabathia turned down a lot of money this offseason. He might be wishing he hadn't after four terrible starts to begin 2008.

On Wednesday Sabathia allowed nine earned runs for the second straight start, giving up six in the 5th, and Cleveland stumbled against Detroit 13-2. The Tribe dropped to just 5-10. C.C.'s ERA climbed to 13.50.

I only saw C.C. in the 5th and it wasn't pretty. He walked the first three batters before getting ahead of Miguel Cabrera 0-2. But Sabathia couldn't put Cabrera away and the new Tiger ripped a two-run single. Two batters later, Edgar Renteria crushed a grand slam that extended the Detroit lead to 9-1.

It seems like I've posted the same thing the past few nights, but it still rings true. Yes, it's early. But the Indians are not playing good baseball. They are not hitting well (tonight, the Tigers threw a rookie in his second career start and the youngster completely fooled Cleveland's hitters.) They are not receiving good pitching from their ace or their bullpen. And they are falling into a deeper hole with each passing loss.

Since there haven't been any major injuries (I don't count Borowski), you can't say the Tribe's facing its worst-case scenario to begin 2008.

But it's close.

At Least the Byrdman's Back

Paul Byrd found his command and fired an impressive game against Boston Tuesday night, allowing just one unearned run in six innings while striking out six and walking zero. Unfortunately, Jorge Julio promptly came into the game and threw eight of nine pitches for balls, walked the first two batters and royally screwed the Tribe bullpen. Rafael Perez was able to limit the damage and allow just two runs to score, but the point remains -- Cleveland's bullpen blew it for a second straight night.

At least Byrd pitched well. He really struggled with his command in his first two starts, but completely controlled Boston's offense tonight. The Tribe needs the Byrdman to eat innings this yearvand keep his ERA in the mid-4s.

While I'm typing this, Julio Lugo grounds into a base-loaded, inning-ending double play. So we're headed to the bottom of the 8th tied 3-3. Hooray.

To finish my thought on the game to this point: I know it's early and we only have limited information, but the Cleveland bullpen is resembling the 2006 version (which basically kept the team from making the playoffs) much more than the 2007 version (which was crucial in the Tribe's playoff run.) At the least, Cleveland's fans should keep a careful eye on whether the bullpen improves during the next few weeks.

Onto the live blogging:

8:58 CT -- 1-1 count to Franklin Gutierrez. Next pitch is driven to deep left field, but Manny Ramirez pulls it in for the easy out. Gutierrez continues to struggle after an outstanding spring. Ben Francisco is eagerly awaiting his turn in Buffalo.

9:00 CT -- Another struggling Indian, Casey Blake, comes to the plate and gets ahead 2-0. Boston has Manny Delcarmen on the hill. He was wild in the 7th and yielded the tying run.

9:01 CT --2-2 to Blake. Kevin Cash goes through the signs before Blake fouls off the pitch to stay alive.

9:02 CT -- Blake lays off an outside fastball and we're full. Tribe really could use Blake to get on before turning the lineup over.

9:03 CT -- I really like Casey Blake by the way. He doesn't do anything particularly wonderful, but he can play different positions, has some pop in the bat and is an overall decent hitter.

9:04 CT -- Blake check swings and takes his walk to first. Grady Sizemore up next with one on and one out.

9:05 CT -- Delcarmen is all over the place. The Tribe needs to stay patient and wait for the young righthander to make a mistake.

9:06 CT -- Weird play. Sizemore grounds to first on what appears to be a foul ball. But the first base ump ruled it fair and Kevin Youkilis touches first for the out but can't get Blake at second. The replay shows it was fair. Blake on second with two outs and a pitching change.

9:08 CT -- David Aardsma enters the game. After last night, it'd be real nice for Cleveland to steal a late win.

9:08 CT -- Jason Michaels up. He kills left-handed pitching. Unfortunately, Aardsma is a righty.

9:09 CT -- On the second pitch, Aardsma induces a shallow fly ball to end the threat. We head to the 9th tied up.

9:10 CT -- I really can't think of a team I detest more than Boston. They've even jumped the Yankees at this point. Especially after last year's playoffs.

9:10 CT -- So who's pitching the 9th? Jensen Lewis will stay in to face Jed Lowrie. It's Lowrie's major league debut and he has a two run single to his credit. He's a highly-touted prospect in a very talent rich Red Sox farm system.

9:11 CT -- 2-0 to Lowrie. I'd prefer we not start the 9th with a walk to a rookie playing in his first game.

9:12 CT --Full count pitch coming. If Lewis doesn't challenge Lowrie here, he's an idiot.

9:13 CT -- And Lewis does challenge the rook, and fires a fastball right by Lowrie on the outside corner. One out with Grandfather Time Jason Varitek pinch hitting next.

9:14 CT -- Varitek has a long swing at this point in his career. I'm not sure he can hit anything fast that's above the waist. He just looks old and slow. Of course, he is old and slow so that makes sense.

9:15 CT -- And as I say that, Varitek hits a low fastball out of the park for a go-ahead home run. You gotta be kidding me. How can you throw him a low fastball? Varitek can only hit low pitches. Cripes, I just typed that Varitek can't hit anything above the waist. How can that happen? And it was a 1-2 pitch! I just threw up in my mouth. That is unbelievable. Jensen Lewis just gave in to Jason Varitek on a 1-2 pitch. Disgusting.

9:18 CT -- While I'm ranting, Coco Crisp rips a single. Then Dustin Pedroia dinks a double to right center and there's two on and just one out. The bullpen is an absolute disaster so far this season. They are really struggling.

9:19 CT -- Now Fatty is up. That would be David Ortiz. I've never hated any player on my fantasy team like I hate Ortiz.

9:20 CT -- Ortiz couldn't hit the air if he tried at this point. He pops up for the second out. Intentional walk to Ramirez (one night too late, if you ask me). Now it's the Greek God of Walks, Youkilis. Disadvantage: Jensen Lewis.

9:22 CT -- Youk rips an RBI single, but Michaels throws Pedroia out at the plate. Headed to bottom of the 9th, Tribe down 5-3.

9:23 CT -- The Tribe is staring 5-9 in the face, a second straight night where the bullpen blew the game and yet another game in this early season where the bats simply could not get a key hit with runners in scoring position. This trend is very alarming, even if it is just the second week of April.

9:25 CT -- Hideki Okajima enters instead of Jonathan Papelbon. I guess this means we have a chance. The Tribe has 3-4-5 up, starting with Pronk.

9:26 CT -- 1-1 to Travis Hafner. Pronk needs to lay off Okajima's change up and wait for something fast.

9:27 CT -- Change up paints the inside corner, 1-2. Crap.

9:27 CT -- Hafner just watched three strikes. The last one was right over the plate. What the hell kind of at bat was that?

9:28 CT -- I'm depressed.

9:28 CT -- 0-2 to Victor Martinez. This doesn't look promising.

9:29 CT -- Just heard that Cleveland's left a man on base to end every inning except for the first. That's just terrible.

9:30 CT -- Change up, swing and a miss. Two out. This all because Jason Varitek hit a home run on a 1-2 pitch. Just amazing.

9:31 CT -- Jhonny Peralta up and trying to give Ryan Garko a chance to bat.

9:32 CT -- Jacoby Ellsbury reaches into the stands and snags Peralta's foul ball to end the game. The Tribe has lost nine of its last 12 and I can't even remember the lyrics to "Indians Fever" anymore.

Game Wrap and Box Score

Live Blogging with Joe Borowski

9:28 CT -- Joe Borowski falls behind 1-0 before allowing .222 hitting Julio "I beat my wife in the offseason" Lugo to rip a double.

9:31 CT -- Coco Crisp surprises no one and lays down a nice bunt to advance the runner to third with one out. Dread fills my stomach.

9:33 CT -- Dustin Pedroia nearly hits a go-ahead homer, but settles for a game-tying sac fly to the left field warning track.

9:34 CT -- David Ortiz is swinging the bat so well he fakes a bunt on the first pitch from Borowski. I hate that guy a lot.

9:35 CT -- Ortiz defines "Texas Leaguer" with a bloop job that falls in between Jhonny Peralta and David Dellucci to put the potential winning run on first.

9:36 CT -- My thought: this can't end well.

9:37 CT -- And on cue Borowski floats an 82 mph batting practice fastball directly down the middle and Manny Ramirez crushes it to the left field bleachers. Fewer than 10 minutes ago, the Tribe was looking at an impressive win over Boston. Now they're facing Jonathan Papelbon down at least two runs. I'm so ticked I can't think. (I honestly typed the previous post before the home run. Scout's honor.)

9:40 CT -- My biggest problem with this blown save is that Borowski gave in to Ramirez. How can you throw Manny a pitch right down the pipe when the winning run is on base? How is this possible? Why not throw him some junk and then face Youkilis? If you're Borowski, you cannot get beat by throwing a low 80 mph pitch down the middle of the plate to Manny freakin' Ramirez. Totally unacceptable.

9:42 CT -- Rafael Perez strikes out J.D. Drew to end the inning. Good grief.

9:44 CT -- Tribe has top of the order up. At least we have a fighting chance.

9:45 CT -- On a side note, there's few people I hate more than Papelbon. The guy wears skirts in the dugout and does a queer dance after recording a save. I hope Grady Sizemore drills a pitch into his face.

9:47 CT -- Coupled with Detroit's come-from-behind victory, this could be a very depressing loss.

9:48 CT -- Sizemore swings and misses at the first pitch -- a 94 mph fastball.

9:49 CT -- Papelbon just misses on his second pitch. It's 1-1 and I feel sick.

9:49 CT -- Same pitch, an inch or two higher, and it's 1-2.

9:50 CT -- Swing and a foul tip -- caught by Varitek and there's one quick out.

9:50 CT -- This was a great game until 15 minutes ago. Unbelievable.

9:51 CT -- Asdrubal Cabrera up. He gets ahead 2-1.

9:51 CT -- Papelbon's fastball looks unhittable. He just flung it by Cabrera for strike two. Smells like a strikeout's coming.

9:52 CT -- And same pitch, swing and a miss for strike three. Two outs. I really, really hate everything Boston.

9:53 CT -- Travis Hafner drills one to deep center but Crisp is there for the catch. Game over.

9:54 CT -- 5-8 record for the Tribe. Just blew a game against the Red Sox. This sucks.

Game Wrap and Box Score

At Least Cliff Lee Is Good

The Indians struggled with Oakland this past weekend for the second time this season, losing two of three to drop to a paltry 5-7 on the year. The only positive was that Cliff Lee recorded his second straight dominant outing.

Lee beat the A's on Sunday for the second time in as many starts, going eight innings and allowing one earned run on just two hits while striking out eight. The start lowered Lee's season ERA and WHIP to 0.61 and 0.48, respectively.

So far, Cleveland's pitching staff has seen C.C. Sabathia string together his worst three game stretch since 2002, Fausto Carmona struggle with control to the tune of a 8:17 strikeout-to-walk ratio, Paul Byrd look awful and Jake Westbrook and Lee throw gems in each of their starts.

While Byrd's struggles are worrisome because of his age and lack of strikeout potential and Sabathia and Carmona should be fine after a couple more outings, it's very encouraging that the No. 3 and No. 5 starters are pitching so well early on this season.

If Westbrook and Lee continue to have anywhere close to this kind of success, the Tribe will have a very formidable, perhaps the best, rotation in the A.L. Obviously that's a big 'if,' but Westbrook and Lee both have the potential to be very effective back end of the rotation guys.

4/11 Game Wrap and Box Score
4/12 Game Wrap and Box Score
4/13 Game Wrap and Box Score

Work Over Baseball? Yuck.

Didn't see today's game because I was working and couldn't get away to watch any of it. I did see that Mike Napoli hit a grand slam (good for my fantasy team, bad for the Tribe), Paul Byrd had his second poor outing in a row (worries me a little bit), Cleveland cut a 6-0 lead to 6-4 in the 6th only to fall behind 9-4, Casey Kotchman homered (again, good for fantasy, bad for Indians) and the Tribe lost 9-5 to drop to 4-5 on the season.

A 2-4 West Coast trip is ugly, but at least it's over. I'll be in Alabama starting tomorrow night, so I probably won't be able to post much until early next week.

Game Wrap and Box Score

Travis Hafner Likes First Pitch Fastballs

From watching Cleveland the past two years, it appears pitchers like to try and get ahead of Travis Hafner with a first pitch fastball before throwing all kinds of offspeed junk out of the zone in hopes he'll foul it off or miss. To a certain extent, it worked in 2007 as Hafner hit just .266 with 24 home runs and 100 RBI.

This season, in the at-bats I've seen, pitchers have a similar philosophy. It backfired Tuesday night on Justin Speier.

Speier, pitching for the injured Francisco Rodriguez, recorded the first two outs of the ninth to protect the Angels' 3-2 lead. Speier then committed a baseball mortal sin by walking a guy who rarely hits home runs (Asdrubal Cabrera) to face a guy that hits lots of home runs (Hafner). Worse yet, the home run hitter was up as the potential winning run.

Speier promptly got what he deserved on the next pitch as Hafner deposited the ball about 415 feet into the right field bullpen. The Indians got a win -- and a little revenge from Monday's debacle.

Game Wrap and Box Score

You Knew It Was Coming

Every once in awhile Joe Borowski does this, and gives Cleveland fans ulcers.

What a heart-wrenching loss. You get three runs off one of the best closers in baseball only to see it vanish with one swing from nemesis Torii Hunter. Crap.

Game Wrap and Box Score

Just Get the Heck Out of Oakland

For whatever reason the Cleveland Indians do not play well in Oakland. Entering today's matinée against the A's, the Indians had dropped 21 of their last 27 in the Coliseum. I don't know why the Tribe struggles so much, but it always makes traveling to Oakland an unappealing affair.

This series was much like the past nine. Oakland took the first two games before Cleveland sneaked out of town with a 2-1 victory. The victory snapped the Tribe's three game losing streak and evened their record at 3-3.

Cliff Lee, who beat out Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers in spring training to win the no. 5 job in the rotation, was exceptionally sharp during his 6 2/3 innings of work. Lee allowed just one unearned run, four hits, one walk and struck out four. The familiar bullpen tandem of Rafael Perez, Rafael Betancourt and Joe Borowski pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings to seal the win.

Cleveland's bats were mostly silent for the fourth straight game. Both runs came in the seventh on a fielder's choice and bases loaded walk. Otherwise, Joe Blanton shut down the Tribe for 6 2/3 innings.

I'm not worried about the bats coming around sooner than later. Starting pitching is my biggest concern. There are some obvious questions that need to be answered before anyone can judge the potential of the 2008 Tribe.

Will Paul Byrd be effective as the No. 4 starter, much like in 2007? In Byrd's first start he threw an uncharacteristic number of balls and took the loss.

Will Jake Westbrook struggle like he did in the first half of 2007? Or will he continue to be a very solid no. 3 starter as he was in the last two months of last season? Westbrook cruised through his first start, yielding just two earned runs in 7-plus innings.

Finally, will Cliff Lee pitch closer to his 2005 form when he won 18 games? Or will he struggle like he did last year and be booted from the rotation? Lee wrote chapter one of that answer with today's stellar performance.

The Tribe needs Byrd, Westbrook and Lee to be an effective back end of the rotation trio. As good as Sabathia and Carmona were last year, it's likely both will slightly regress toward their mean performance. If that happens, Cleveland will rely more on its 3, 4 and 5 starters. Through the season's first week, two of three pitched exceptionally well while the third struggled. It will be interesting to watch how these three fare during the next five months. Much of the Tribe season will be determined by their collective performances.

Game Wrap and Box Score 4/4
Game Wrap and Box Score 4/5
Game Wrap and Box Score 4/6

Kansas City, Get Out Your Broomsticks

Nobody saw this coming.

Fresh off a 69-93 2007 season, the Kansas City Royals were expected to modestly improve with a new manager and some young talent in 2008. But few thought they'd open the season by owning Detroit on the road en route to a three-game sweep.

The Royals received decent to outstanding starts from their top three starters in Gil Meche (6 IP, 3 ER), Brian Bannister (7 IP, 0 ER) and Zach Greinke (7 IP, 1 ER) and had clutch hitting to collect victories of 5-4, 4-0 and 4-1.

While it might seem like a fluke that Kansas City is 3-0 (they likely still will finish no better than fourth in the A.L. Central Division), it's not a fluke that Meche, Bannister and Greinke threw so well against the Tigers. All three guys are good pitchers. Meche was signed a year ago from Seattle and compiled a very productive 2007 campaign, finishing the year 9-13 but with a 3.67 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 0.9 HR/9 IP ratio. He also averaged a respectable 6.0/Ks per nine innings.

Bannister also had a nice 2007, although some analysts question how lucky he was a year ago. Bannister had the lowest BABIP (batting average of balls in play) of any starting pitcher in baseball. The league average is around .300. Bannister finished at .264. That means that many more of his batted balls went for outs than the average MLB starter. The low BABIP contributed to Bannister posting a 1.21 WHIP and 3.87 ERA despite striking out just under four batters per nine innings.

But the low BABIP doesn't explain all the reasons Bannister was effective in 'o7. He had low walk totals (2.1/9 IP), allowed few home runs (0.8 HR/9 IP) and recorded a low peripheral ERA (3.36). Additionally, he spent most of the offseason trying to devise ways to strike more batters out, and ultimately avoid his overall numbers slipping if his BABIP reverts more to the norm in 2008. So far, so good.

And then there's Greinke. The 24-year-old began his career with high expectations as the future ace of the Kansas City staff. But he missed time in 2006 with psychological problems and pitched in just three games. In 2007 Greinke bounced back to throw 122 quality innings, yielding a 1.30 WHIP and 3.69 ERA. Greinke has always had the stuff to be a very good major league pitcher, and now it appears he might have turned the corner with his personal problems. With his ability, it would not be surprising to see him post 13-15 wins in 2008.

It was certainly unlikely that Kansas City took the field in Detroit Monday and proceeded to beat the Tigers in three straight games. But if you look at their starting pitchers in those three games, it makes more sense. All three guys are very capable players who have the potential, based on past performance, to have productive and successful 2008 seasons.

Tribe falls 2-1 to Danks, White Sox

The Indians failed to sweep the White Sox Thursday afternoon, dropping the finale of the three game series 2-1. Chicago's John Danks fired a gem, allowing just two hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings. His counterpart, Jake Westbrook, nearly pitched as well in giving up just two runs in 7 1/3 innings.

Juan Uribe, who seems to strike out or hit a home run every time up, belted a roundtripper to start the 6th inning. After Ryan Garko smashed an RBI double in the bottom of the 7th, Westbrook made his second mistake of the game against Joe Crede, who pounded a home run to lead off the 8th. The Indians bats were silent the rest of the way as Bobby Jenks (who curiously grew a blonde goatee and probably gained 20 pounds this offseason) retired the Tribe hitters 1-2-3 in the ninth.

Cleveland travels to the West Coast tonight before opening up play against Oakland (1-3) tomorrow at 10:05. Paul Byrd will toe the rubber for the Indians while former reliever Justin Duchscherer gets the ball for the Athletics.

Game Wrap and Box Score

Tribe 2-0

Fausto Carmona survived early wildness to pitch seven strong innings and the Tribe got timely hits from the top two hitters in their lineup to beat the White Sox 7-2 Wednesday for the second straight game.

Carmona walked four in the first four innings while struggling to consistently locate his sinker. Several times his pitch hit three or four feet in front of the plate. But despite the wild streak, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound right hander induced Chicago's hitters into three double play balls and stayed clear of any more trouble.

Grady Sizemore and Asdrubal Cabrera provided all the offense the Tribe needed as the two combined for six hits and five RBIs. Travis Hafner also collected two hits and Ryan Garko had an RBI.

Early on, it appeared Carmona might be in for a tough evening. He walked the second hitter of the game, Orlando Cabrera, on four pitches. But Carmona fired a hard sinker that Chicago's Jim Thome pounded into the ground toward Casey Blake at third, who started the 5-4-3 inning-ending double play.

In the second, Carmona walked leadoff batter Paul Konerko and yielded a single to Jermaine Dye. After A.J. Pierzynski nearly hit into a double play, Carmona threw a first pitch sinker that rookie Alexei Rameirez slapped to Jhonny Peralta, who promptly scooped up the ball and turned a 6-4-3 double play.

Carmona's final double play came after another walk to Cabrera. For a second time Thome grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. Carmona's key stat of the game: 16 ground ball outs, one fly ball out.

The Tribe plays a noon game tomorrow and will look for a season-opening sweep. Cleveland sends Jake Westbrook to the hill against Chicago's John Danks. For what it's worth, Westbrook
pitched 18 scoreless innings in spring training and looks to build off of last season's 6-9 record and 4.32 ERA.

Game Wrap and Box Score

Opening Day

Baseball is back, and it couldn't arrive soon enough.

The Tribe started the season off with a ridiculous game against the hated Chicago White Sox. C.C. Sabathia didn't look overly impressive, the bullpen wasn't particularly sharp and the Tribe blew a 7-2 lead before nearly allowing the go-ahead run to score in the 7th and 8th innings.

But, when it mattered, the Indians got key outs and a clutch 3-run double from Casey Blake to hold off Chicago 10-8. Joe Borowski had a typical Joe-Blow outing, allowing a home run and the tying run to reach the plate before recording the final out to nail down a save.

Tuesday is a day off before Fausto Carmona faces Javier Vazquez in game two Wednesday evening.

Game Wrap and Box Score here

Wazzu'd

Since I was in Phoenix last weekend, I didn't get a chance to write about Notre Dame's 61-41 season-ending loss to Washington State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. While I wasn't surprised the Irish fell to the Cougars, I was very disappointed in the way they were defeated. In all my years watching Notre Dame basketball, I can't remember the Irish looking worse than they did last Saturday. Washington State completely and totally dominated the game, starting on the defensive end. Notre Dame shot less than 25% from the field for the game and took far too many contested shots.

If you looked at the computer numbers before the matchup, it was clear Washington State was the better team. This game was a contrast between how the computers saw our team and how the analysts show our team. Most computers downgraded Notre Dame for its average defensive statistics while rewarding Washington State for its defensive efficiency. In contrast, analysts focused more on Notre Dame's ability to score and ignored its defensive ability. Obviously, we saw which party was correct. You must play good to great defense in the Tournament, and Washington State did. Additionally, Pomeroy's rankings had Washington State a 68% favorite based on the numbers.

Anyways, since I was very late in posting about the game, there's really not much else to say that hasn't already been said. Notre Dame stunk and finished a very successful season on a down note. With only Rob Kurz graduating, the Irish have the opportunity next season to be very talented and successful in the Big East and hopefully the NCAAs.

Meet George Mason

After a disappointing early exit in the Big East Tournament, East Region No. 5 seed Notre Dame looks to rebound in its NCAA Tournament first round matchup against No. 12 George Mason. If the Irish can win this first game, they will face the winner of No. 4 Washington State and No. 13 Winthrop.

And if the Irish advance to the Sweet 16, they potentially face overall No. 1 North Carolina in Charlotte.

Big East Tournament Bracket

No. 8 Villanova vs. No. 9 Syracuse

No. 5 West Virginia vs. No. 12 Providence

No. 7 Pittsburgh vs. No. 10 Cincinnati

No. 6 Marquette vs. No. 11 Seton Hall



No. 1 Georgetown vs. Winner No. 8 vs. No. 9

No. 2 Louisville vs. Winner No. 7 vs. No. 10

No. 3 Notre Dame vs. Winner No. 6 vs. No 11

No. 4 Connecticut vs. Winner No. 5 vs. No. 12

Outperforming Expectations
Picked 9th in preseason poll, Irish finish tied for 2nd place with 14-4 Big East record

At the beginning of the 2007-08 basketball season, Notre Dame faced the daunting task of replacing its top two scorers in Colin Falls and Russell Carter. The Irish had a cast of young, fairly inexperienced players and a lone senior. They were starting four sophomores, including a guard that had played in just 12 non-conference games the year before. And they had the challenge of facing stiff competition every week in one of the country's most difficult conferences.

So, it's no wonder the Big East coaches looked at Notre Dame and slotted the Irish 9th in the preseason poll.

After two close losses to Baylor and Georgia Tech in the Virgin Islands, Notre Dame appeared in trouble for the much more strenuous Big East schedule. But a win over Kansas State and two strong showings against West Virginia and Connecticut to begin conference play catapulted the Irish to an all-time best 8-2 start. From there Notre Dame never looked back.

In an earlier post I talked about the importance of winning your conference home games and stealing a victory on the road. Accomplish those two objectives and you should be in great shape come tournament time.

The Irish certainly held serve at the Joyce Center, becoming the first Big East team to ever finish back-to-back season undefeated at home. However, they fell short of stealing a big road game by losing all four of their marquee matchups -- Marquette, Georgetown, Connecticut and Louisville -- away from the JACC.

But Notre Dame made up for those losses by taking care of business against lesser opponents on the road. That enabled the Irish to finish 5-4 in conference road games and avoid embarrassing, RPI-killer upsets.

The most exciting part of this very success season is that the top eight players all significantly improved. Coach Mike Brey has been criticized (whether justified or not) in the past for not developing his players on a consistent basis. But this year Brey got the most out of everyone.

Obviously, Luke Harangody made an incredible leap from solid freshman to likely Big East Player of the Year. Kyle McAlarney has evolved into one of the best 3-point shooters in the conference. Ryan Ayers and Zach Hillesland continue to get better and play more minutes. Tory Jackson was the team MVP for a good chunk of conference play, while Luke Zeller finally emerged as contributor with his 3-point shooting ability and rebounding. And Rob Kurz had a very good senior season to cap off a solid collegiate career.

No matter what happens from here on out, the Irish certainly enjoyed one of the best seasons in their basketball history.

Now Notre Dame focuses on the Big East Tournament and a chance to improve its seeding in the NCAA bracket. As of today, Notre Dame should be solidly slotted as a No. 5 or No. 4 seed. Ideally, the team will move up to a No. 3 by having a strong showing in the conference tournament. If the Irish lock down a 3-seed, they will face an easier first round opponent, and more importantly, avoid a No. 1 seed until the Elite Eight.

As the Big East No. 3 seed, Notre Dame will play the winner of the No. 6 vs. No. 11 matchup between Marquette and Seton Hall. The Irish split the regular season with Marquette and beat Seton Hall in their own game against the Pirates. As long as they keep winning, the Irish will play each night around 9 p.m. EST.

After three years of coming close but just missing the NCAA Tournament in 2003, 2004 and 2005, Notre Dame finds itself in a position to focus on earning a better seed, rather than sweating out the Selection Committee's choices next Sunday.

For a team picked in the lower half of its own conference, that's got to be a pretty sweet feeling.