It's Tribe Time | A Cleveland Indians Franchise

[Vinsane]

Injury Update:


Kelly Shoppach hits the ball well.

AP - Cleveland, OH - News out of Cleveland reports that Kelly Shoppach's return to the team could be anywhere from 1-6 days. He has been out since near the beginning of the season with a fractured shin. With his loss and the addition of Grady Sizemore's injury the Indians bench has been left pretty empty, forcing the players to play a lot of games in their absence.

Shoppach is a key piece to the Indians organization as his youth and expertise behind the plate are sorely needed. An aging Victor Martinez might not be able to take as many games from the plate as Shoppach can in the grueling summer months. Shoppach's return to the team also provides a solid bat off of the bench, filling in for DH duties or just pinch hitting. His return would be welcomed by not only the team, but Manager Eric Wedge who fought for Shoppach to keep his job in the off-season instead of trading him for prospects.

His DL time is listed at 24 days, the doctors are reporting he may be able to return to the team within a week to two weeks time.

[LC AAU]

Just caught up, this is looking pretty good man.

[T.Dot]

Nice minor league updates, still loving this and the detailed reviews.
Heres to a good June

[goDawgs1433]

Love, love the in-depth writeups and such. Good to know about your minor leagues and that kinda stuff. Hopefully you can keep gaining ground on the Sox.

[Vinsane]

Nice minor league updates, still loving this and the detailed reviews.
Heres to a good June

Thanks T.Dot, glad your liking it. And thank you for following.

Just caught up, this is looking pretty good man.

Glad to have you caught up LC, I understand you've been busy with the Heat.

Love, love the in-depth writeups and such. Good to know about your minor leagues and that kinda stuff. Hopefully you can keep gaining ground on the Sox.

Thanks, Yeah I'm hoping to catch them off-guard in the month of June. Inter-league play coming up, should be good baseball.

[Vinsane]

Lee Gets It Done, Indians Will Win Season Series.


Cliff Lee breaks out of his slump tonight.

AP - Cleveland, OH - "He doesn't like getting hit?" asked Kerry Wood. "Really? Then get the (explicit) out of the way next time, it's that simple." Wood's replied to New York reporters when Alex Rodriguez was drilled in the neck in the 9th inning by wood. Rodriguez earlier in the game hit a homer to tie the ball game 5-5, his two run shot was a deep blast to left field. Rodriguez came into the game in the bottom of the ninth, his team down one, and two outs. Wood drilled him with a fastball.

"Two of our guys get hit and you guys don't want to report that, your Yankees are sucking up the joint and you want to blame everyone but those no talent (explicit) holes?" Joked Wood. "This interview is done, ask Rodriguez why your team lost today." So the reporters did and Rodriguez had this to say. "It's unclassy if anything, pitch around me, don't throw the ball at me. The option is there. Try to take my head off cause I hit a home run? Ridiculous, that's not baseball. It's disgusting."

New comer Nick Johnson quickly jumped to Wood's defense. "Disgusting? He called it Disgusting? What's disgusting? I'll tell you what. A-Roid is, that's what. That whole teams attitude is disgusting, they lose, they whine. Simple as that. We'll see you tomorrow to close out this series, tell them that." Johnson walked off.

What people were not talking about was the performance from Cliff Lee. Lee has been sub par the past couple of starts and today he finally broke the mold. Even though he gave up five runs in seven and a third inning of work, the Indians still won. This rivalry of sorts has reached it's boiling point after Joba Chamberlain nailed Jaime Carroll and Josh Willingham earlier in the game, Wood decided it was time to answer back, against the man that tied it at 5 a piece earlier. The Indians pull out the win however, and will at least hold the victory in the season series, which concludes tomorrow night.

Lineup:

SS Jeter 1-5 | 1K
LF Damon 2-5 | 2K
3B Rodriguez 2-4 |
1B Teixeira 1-4 |
C Posada 1-3 |
RF Nady 1-4 | 1K
DH Matsui 2-4 |
PR Gardner
2B Cano 3-4 | 1K
CF Cabrera 1-4 |

Batting:

2B: R. Cano (13), M. Cabrera (10)
3B: M. Teixeira (1), H. Matsui (2), X. Nady (1)
HR: A. Rodriguez (16)
RBI: A. Rodriguez 2 (46), H. Matsui (30), J. Posada 2 (18), M. Cabrera (7)
HBP: A. Rodriguez
SF: J. Posada
GIDP: M. Cabrera

Fielding:

E: D. Jeter (5)
PB: J. Posada (1)

Pitching:

Chamberlain | 6.2IP | 13H | 7R | 5ER | 5SO | 3.92 ERA |
Veras | 1.1IP | 1H | 1SO | 6.26 ERA |



Lineup:

CF Francisco 3-4 |
RF Pena 1-4 | 2K
2B Barfield 1-4 |
C Martinez 3-4 |
LF Willingham 2-3 |
1B Johnson 2-4 | 1K
3B DeRosa 2-4 | 2K
1B Carroll 0-3 |
SS Peralta 0-4 | 1K

Batting:

2B: J. Willingham 2 (12), N. Johnson (7), W. Pena (1)
3B: B. Francisco (1), J. Barfield (2)
RBI: V. Martinez 2 (26), N. Johnson (22), M. DeRosa (27), W. Pena (4), J. Barfield (2)
HBP: J. Willingham, J. Carroll
GIDP: J. Peralta (2)

Pitching:

Lee (W, 5-2) | 7.1IP | 12H | 6R | 6ER | 1BB | 3SO | 4.85 ERA |
Lewis (H, 2) | 1.0IP | 2H | 1SO | 8.56 ERA |
Wood (S, 18) | 2.1IP | 2H | 4.50 ERA |

Player of the Game:


J. Willingham

2 for 3 - 2 Doubles

Next Game:
June 1st, 2009

(30-22) @ (29-23)

[Vinsane]

Too Much To Overcome, Indians Fall To The Empire.


Pavano left scratching his head, shelled by his former team.

AP - Cleveland, OH - The Yankees finished the series the only way they knew how, hitting the crap out of the ball. The Yanks have been embarrassed by this Cleveland ball club for five games, tonight the Yankees didn't want to make it six. "They were hitting the ball well, we wern't until late." Said Carl Pavano, who had his worst outing of the year. "Nothing was going right, control was off, my stuff wasn't hitting the spots and they were hitting it out of the park."

The Indians made a sad attempt at the rally in the ninth and even forced the Yankees to bring out Mariano Rivera for the save. It started with Wily Mo Pena who blasted his second shot of the season, after that the bats woke up for a two out rally to push four runs across the plate, until Rivera came in and Francisco grounded out and the Yankees got the final out, and pushed the season series to 5-3, in favor of the Indians.

"You know, when you think about it." Said Eric Wedge. "We did what we were supposed to do, split this series with an amazing ball club, they're loaded with All-Star talent. We're still on pace with them and the AL Central. We just need a break out month and we'll lead the Central, the Tigers had one, the White Sox had one, now it's our turn I think. We'll turn this around in June." Hopefully Wedge is right, because the start so far hasn't been good.

The Indians get a couple of AL Central opponents to start off June, on the road versus the Minny Twins, and the White Sox of Chicago. This month inter-league play dominates, the Indians will have to do well on the road if they want that AL Central lead and hope that the Tigers and White Sox slip up over the next month leading to the All-Star break, in July. Six weeks away from the All-Star game and the Indians are ready to put this series behind them and make a move.

Lineup:

SS Jeter 1-5 | 1K
LF Damon 3-5 |
3B Rodriguez 2-5 |
1B Teixeira 1-5 | 1K
RF Nady 2-5 |
DH Matsui 4-5 |
2B Cano 1-5 | 1K
CF Cabrera 3-4 |
C Molina 2-4 |

Batting:

2B: J. Damon 2 (13), A. Rodriguez (9), H. Matsui (12), X. Nady (5), R. Cano (14), M. Cabrera (11).
3B: X. Nady (2)
HR: J. Damon (6), H. Matsui (10), M. Cabrera (1)
RBI: J. Damon (26), M. Teixeira (43), A. Rodriguez (47), H. Matsui (31), R. Cano (26), M. Cabrera 3 (10)
GIDP: R. Cano, M. Cabrera

Pitching:

Burnett (W, 4-3) | 8.0IP | 8H | 2R | 2ER | 4SO | 2.91 ERA |
Marte | 0.2IP | 5H | 3R | 3ER | 3.63 ERA |
Rivera (S, 18) | 0.1IP | 1.20 ERA |



Lineup:

CF Francisco 1-5 | 1K
RF Pena 2-4 |
2B Cabrera 1-4 | 1K
C Martinez 0-4 |
LF Willingham 1-4 | 1K
1B Johnson 3-4 |
3B Carroll 1-4 |
1B Garko 3-4 |
SS Peralta 1-4 | 1K

Batting:

2B: J. Willingham (13), N. Johnson (8), B. Francisco (11)
HR: W. Pena (2)
RBI: N. Johnson (23), J. Peralta (32), W. Pena (5), J. Carroll (18)
GIDP: V. Martinez, J. Peralta, J. Carroll

Pitching:

Pavano (L, 2-2) | 4.0IP | 11H | 5R | 5ER | 1SO | 5.37 ERA |
Meloan | 5.0IP | 8H | 4R | 4ER | 2SO | 3.94 ERA |

Player of the Game:


J. Damon

3 for 5 - HR, 2 Doubles

Next Game:
June 2nd, 2009

(29-24) @ (19-33)

[Vinsane]

Series Preview:

(29-24) @ (19-33)

Cleveland leads the series 2-1.

Division Standings:

Probable Starters:

Game 1:

J. Westbrook (1-1, 4.50 ERA)|K. Slowey (2-6, 7.16 ERA)

Game 2:
A. Laffey (5-3, 3.72 ERA)|N. Blackburn (2-4, 2.97 ERA)

Game 3:

F. Carmona (6-1, 2.42 ERA)|G. Perkins (5-4, 5.33 ERA)


Key Bank's "Keys to Succes"

1.) Road Wins - Indians haven't traveled well, they can improve their record as they go against the last place team in the Central. Road wins here are key for the Indians to improve that record and stay on pace with the White Sox, with a three game series against Chicago after this one, they could gain some serious ground on the Sox.

2.) Think Sweep - Teams love to be in control of their own destiny. No one team, more so, than the Indians. With a sweep of Minnesota the Indians could set themselves up for taking over the Central if they could also sweep the Sox. It's a long shot, but even a 2-1 series against the Sox would give them a half game lead.

3.) Don't Watch The Scoreboard - While it's too early in the season to scoreboard watch the Indians are in the best position to overtake the central in the first half of June, this series, the sox series, and a royals series are their next nine games. That accompanied with Detroit playing the Red Sox, Angels, and White Sox, and, The White Sox playing Oakland, Cleveland and Detroit means the Indians if they can string together the wins will be the leaders heading into Inter-league play.

[Vinsane]

Ben Leads Tribe over Twins.


Big day from Big Ben leads Indians to win.

AP - Minneapolis, MN - "It should of been a blow out, the hits we got." Said Eric Wedge of the Indians win in Minneapolis. "You can't let these teams hang, especially division rivals like the Twins. I mean come on, we're looking at making a charge, they're a cellar team, can't let them hang around like we did, not good for business." What is good for business in Cleveland is Big Ben, who has stepped up in the outfield while Grady Sizemore nurses his broken arm.

Ben has been a factor for a couple of Indians wins, and today his batting led the Tribe the the victory. Francisco scored two runs, drove in two more, on three hits. And has played flawless defense in the outfield, it's too bad he wasn't a house hold name or he'd be on the ballot for the All-Star game that is looming in the distance next month. "I don't think about it." Said Ben of the All-Star game. "It's not really a break, its a couple of days that we get to have fun, we'll go and watch whichever one of us make it. I'm not worried about a spot on that roster as I am getting this team to the post-season." And to do that the Indians will need to continue their winning ways.

"We've got the focus to get where we need to be in the division." Commented one Victor Martinez. "Today proved that, we struggled, we fought, we overcame and we won. That's what you do as a team looking to the top. You overcome whatever other teams throw at you and you run with it. The guys we have on this ball club are amazing individuals with one goal in mind, October."

As the season continues into the Summer months, the fall still seems so far away, however, the Indians are closing the book on another game and this series will come down to being another Chapter, tomorrow Aaron Laffey will take the mound to push this three game series 2-0 in favor of the Tribe.

Lineup:

CF Francisco 3-5 |
RF Pena 3-5 | 2K
2B Cabrera 2-4 | 1K
C Martinez 3-4 |
LF Willingham 2-4 |
1B Johnson 1-4 |
3B DeRosa 1-4 |
1B Garko 1-4 |
SS Peralta 1-4 |

Batting:

2B: J. Willingham (14), N. Johnson (9), W. Pena 2 (3), J. Carroll (6)
3B: B. Francisco (2)
RBI: N. Johnson (24), W. Pena 2 (7), B. Francisco 2 (21)
GIDP: J. Willingham, A. Cabrera, R. Garko

Fielding:

E: A. Cabrera (5)

Pitching:

Westbrook (W, 2-1) | 6.1IP | 6H | 3R | 1ER | 1BB | 6SO | 3.54 ERA |
Betancourt (H, 5) | 1.2IP | 3H | 1R | 1ER | 1SO | 3.75 ERA |
Wood (S, 19) | 1.0IP | 1SO | 2.08 ERA |



Lineup:

RF Span 0-5 |
DH Buscher 3-4 |
C Mauer 2-4 | 1K
1B Morneau 2-3 |
3B Crede 0-4 | 2K
LF Young 0-4 | 1K
CF Cuddyer 1-4 |
2B Casilla 1-4 | 1K
SS Harris 0-4 | 3K

Batting:

2B: A. Casilla (6), J. Mauer (14), B. Buscher 2 (7)
RBI: J. Mauer 2 (21), J. Morneau (24), B. Buscher (13)

Pitching:

Slowey | 6.0IP | 16H | 5R | 5ER | 2SO | 7.20 ERA |
Mijares | 3.0IP | 2H | 1SO | 4.28 ERA |

Player of the Game:


B. Francisco

3 for 5 - Triple, 2 RBI

Next Game:
June 3rd, 2009

(30-24) @ (19-34)

[The Messenger]

Your lineup seems kinda messed up. I can't see Wily Mo hitting second.

[Vinsane]

Twins are though in this game.

They're hard, no easy games that's for sure.

Your lineup seems kinda messed up. I can't see Wily Mo hitting second.

I'm using him and Ben as speed, if these guys can get on and the middle of the order can get extra base hits, good run production.

[Vinsane]

Your lineup seems kinda messed up. I can't see Wily Mo hitting second.

westbrook is pitching well

Him and Laffey have stepped it up, which is good. Got some prospects I want to look at, but if I don't need them it's a good thing.

[Vinsane]

Peralta's Homer Not Enough, Twins Win in Walk Off Fashion.


Peralta's Homer, the only run scored, is not enough.

AP - Minneapolis, MN - "It's a tough loss to swallow." Said Victor Martinez. "You take away that call at first, we win this game, I have no doubt about it." Martinez of course referring to the call made by first base umpire, Mitch Day. "He was safe, he was safe, he was safe." Said Eric Wedge. "Anybody could see it, I look at the Twins they all seen it, to pause like that, and then make an out call, it it's questionable, you give it to the runner, that's the way it works."

Had Martinez had reached first and the call had been safe, the Indians would of held a 2-1 advantage heading into the ninth. However, the Tribe didn't get the call and with two outs the Twins answered back with a double and a base hit by Delvin Young to secure the win for the Twins, to avoid the sweep and to push this series to a rubber match. It's the hardest pill to swalow for Aaron Laffey who stuck it out for nine innings and didn't get the win, his team failed to produce runs.

"I don't blame the guys." Said Aaron after the game, the hottest pitcher in the Indians rotation suffered his fourth loss of the season. "I failed too keep runs off the board the same they failed to put runs on, we win and lose as a team, that's the way this one goes down in the book. I'll be ready to bounce back against Kansas City." Kansas City being Laffey's next start.

Fausto Carmona is on the mound for the Indians. "Oh, I'm ready." Said Carmona. "I'm ready to deliver the kind of game Aaron did, just with a different out come, when your playing for the AL Central lead in early June, we can't drop games like this one. We'll get em' back."

Lineup:

CF Francisco 2-4 |
RF Pena 1-4 |
2B Cabrera 3-4 |
C Martinez 0-4 | 1K
LF Willingham 1-4 |
1B Johnson 2-4 |
3B DeRosa 0-4 | 1K
1B Garko 2-4 |
SS Peralta 1-4 |

Batting:

2B: W. Pena (4)
HR: J. Peralta (7)
RBI: J. Peralta (33)
GIDP: V. Martinez, M. DeRosa

Pitching:

Laffey (L, 5-4) | 8.2IP | 8H | 2R | 2ER | 5SO | 3.53 ERA |



Lineup:

LF Span 0-4 | 2K
3B Buscher 0-4 |
C Mauer 0-4 | 1K
1B Morneau 1-4 |
RF Cuddyer 2-3 | 1K
DH Redmond 1-4 | 1K
2B Casilla 2-3 |
PH Young 1-1 |
CF Gomez 0-3 |
SS Punto 1-3 | 1K

Batting:

2B: M. Redmond (6), M. Cuddyer 2 (13)
RBI: D. Young (19), M. Redmond (13)
SAC: M. Cuddyer

Pitching:

Blackburn | 7.1IP | 10H | 1R | 1ER | 1SO | 2.78 ERA |
Breslow (W, 3-1) | 1.2IP | 2H | 1SO | 3.65 ERA |

Player of the Game:


M. Cuddyer

2 for 3 - 2 Doubles

Next Game:
June 4th, 2009

(30-25) @ (20-34)

[mfbmike]

You're picking up speed here. Keep it up!

[Vinsane]

You're picking up speed here. Keep it up!

Thanks Mike, it's grueling man. I'm focused though, got a couple side updates before I finish with the Twins series.

tough loss. laffey pitched well tho

I know, very disappointing in not getting him the Win, Laffey has stepped it up, hope that can continue and this loss doesn't make his confidence suffer.