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