It's Tribe Time | A Cleveland Indians Franchise

[Vinsane]

Comeback City!


Eric Wedge, and his staff can only watch as the Royals complete the comeback, winning in the bottom of the ninth.

AP - Kansas City, MO - From the start of this one, there were fireworks. With the benching of Martinez, Hafner, and Garko, Kansas City might of felt a little disrespected. It was a high offensive game as the Indians and the Royals battled it out, Kansas City trying to avoid the sweep, the Indians, trying to get their first of the season before heading to New York to meet the Bronx bombers.

"It was a fight right down to the end". Said CF Grady Sizemore of the game. "There are things on the field you can't control, Gordon comes out, legs out a triple, then, DeJesus brings him home, and Teahen brings DeJesus home. It's odd, it's something you can't believe, but they wanted this game more than us tonight and they got it, unfortunantly for us."

Eric Wedge who recieved some heat from the media prior to the game due to his benching of Hafner, Martinez, and Garko, faced the firing squad after the game. When asked about his decision he gave us this comment. "I stand by my decision, these guys needed rest, right up until the end it payed off. If we win no one says anything about this loss, we go into New York and play the next four game series. We lost however, so now I'm the goat." Wedge took a few more questions, one that got him thinking was the state of the rotation and the bullpen. "It's poor right now, our play out of the bullpen, our starters have put us in position to win, our bullpen needs to close out the game."

Wedge was then questioned about the second blown save by closer, Kerry Wood. "When it's early in the season, you get the benifit of the doubt, not being in shape, getting the rust off, whatever the excuse can be. Stuff like this happens in late May, June, or July? No excuse, we won't have room on this orginization's roster if you can't come in and do what you're supposed to."

The Indians move on to play the New York Yankees in a four game series in New York.

Lineup:

CF Sizemore 2-5 |
2B Carroll** 3-5 |
C Shoppach 2-5 |
DH Dellucci 0-5 | 1K
1B Carroll 1-5 |
SS Peralta 1-4 |
3B DeRosa 1-4 | 2K
RF Choo 3-4 |
LF Francisco 2-4 |

Batting:

2B: G. Sizemore (2), A. Cabrera (1), M. DeRosa (4)
RBI: G. Sizemore 2 (7), A. Cabrera (4), S. Choo (3), D. Dellucci (1)

Pitching:

Reyes | 6.0IP | 9H | 4R | 4ER | 7SO | 4.97 ERA |
Betancourt (H, 1) | 2.0IP | 2H | 1SO | 4.15
Wood | (L, 0-1) | 0.1IP | 3H | 2R | 2ER | 4.50 ERA |

Lineup:

LF DeJesus 3-5 | 1K
RF Teahen 2-4 | 1K
CF Butler 3-4 |
1B Jacobs 0-4 | 4K
DH Guillen 3-4 | 1K
PR Crisp 0-0 |
C Olivo 0-4 | 1K
2B Callaspo 1-4 | 1K
SS Bloomquist 0-4 | 1K
3B Pena Jr. 1-3 |
PH Gordon 1-1 |

Batting:

2B: B. Butler (1)
3B: J. Guillen 2 (2), A. Gordon (1), B. Butler (1)
RBI: D. DeJesus (3), J. Guillen (9), A. Gordon (2), B. Butler 2 (2), M. Olivo (3)
GIDP: J. Guilen, M. Olivo

Fielding:

E: W. Bloomquist (3)

Pitching:

Hochevar | 4.0IP | 10H | 4R | 4ER | 3.48 ERA |
Gobble | 5.0IP | 5H | 1R | 1 ER | 3SO | 2.13 ERA |

Player of the Game:


J. Guillen

3 for 4 - 2 Triples, RBI

[mfbmike]

Ouch. that fucking sucks.

[Vinsane]

Series Preview:

(3-6) @ (5-4)

Game 1:

C. Pavano (0-1, 13.50 ERA) | A. Pettitte (1-0, 1.69 ERA)

Game 2:

C. Lee (0-1, 8.10 ERA) | C.C. Sabathia (1-1, 3.38 ERA)

Game 3:

F. Carmona (1-1, 3.75 ERA) | J. Chamberlain (0-1, 2.77 ERA)

Game: 4

A. Laffey (1-1, 6.43 ERA) | A. J. Burnett (0-1, 9.00 ERA)


Key Bank's "Keys to Succes"

1.) Avoid the media hype - Papers have been eating this up since the schedule was released. A lot of story going on here, The Indians who sent the Yankees packing in 07', The Yankees not making the playoffs last year, C.C. Sabathia vs. Cliff Lee. Avoid the media hype and focus on baseball.

2.) Get what you can - Let's be realistic a 4-0, 3-1, series outcome in our favor is HIGHLY unlikely. If we can push 2-2 or even 1-3, it's going to be a victory against this Yankees line-up that could really just be called "The A.L. Allstars". Win what we can and head back to Cleveland.

3.) Stay conditioned - First four game series of the year, each game a night game, luckily we have a day off at the end. Stay focused, stay in shape and don't push it too hard, too early in the season to get injuries. Stay focused on the games one at a time, it'll be over before we know it.

[Vinsane]

Ouch. that fucking sucks.

My thoughts, exactly!

[mfbmike]

The yanks. This could be painful. 2-2 would be nice.

[Vinsane]

UNBELIEVABLE!


Alex Rodriguez caps off a six run bottom of the ninth with this walk off grand-slam.

AP - New York City, NY - As the pitch was delivered, the sound of the bat was cracked and the Yankees pulled off new magic, in their new ball park. Alex Rodriguez who has struggled all year, finally broke out the big stick and gave the Indians a surprising loss in New York. Cleveland led by as many as 9 after their half of the seventh inning. Another bullpen collapse and another loss chalked up to late comeback heroics, for the second night in a row the Indians leave a game heartbroken.

Alex Rodriguez's walk off grand-slam put an end to a fantastic story to the Indians who for 7 innings made the New York Yankees look silly. After i was all said and done the Yankees made the Indians look silly and no one was more upset about it than Grady Sizemore, who had some harsh words about his team after the game. "This is (explicit) ridiculous, we go out there night after night, we get the leads and our (explicit) bullpen blows it for us. Those guys need to get their heads out of their collective (explicit) and realise we're not here to (explicit) around, we're here to get back to the World Series, I want a ring, not just for myself but for everyone else on this squad and we got bums like Kobayashi giving up seven runs in two and two thirds inning of work?!"

Kobayashi was contacted after what Sizemore said. "I came into a pressure situation, delivered the best I could, yeah, seven runs is too much, I didn't lose the game though, Joe did!" Joe Smith was the pitcher on the mound when A-Rod's blast cleared the wall, he too was reached for comment. "That guy said what? My fault? (Explicit) him. " As the finger pointing continues the series will go on tommorow night featuring the last two Cy Young winners in C.C. Sabathia for the Yankees and Cliff Lee for the Indians. All of this overshadows what was the best performance of the night from Travis Hafner who went 4 for 5, with 2 HR and 6 RBI.

Lineup:

CF Sizemore 1-5 | 1K
2B Cabrera 2-5 |
C Martinez 4-5 |
DH Hafner 4-5 |
1B Garko 1-5 |
SS Peralta 2-4 |
3B DeRosa 2-4 |
RF Choo 2-4 |
LF Dellucci 1-4 | 1K

Batting:

2B: V. Martinez (3), M. DeRosa (6)
3B: V. Martinez (1)
HR: G.Sizemore (2), T. Hafner 2 (3)
RBI: G. Sizemore (8), V. Martinez (1), T. Hafner 6 (12), J. Peralta (7), M. DeRosa (4), S. Choo (4)
GIDP: G. Sizemore, M. DeRosa

Pitching:

Pavano | 6.0IP | 5H | 3R | 3ER | 5SO | 8.10 ERA |
Betancourt (H, 1) | 2.2IP | 7H | 7R | 7ER | 4SO | 15.00 ERA |
Smith (L, 1-1) | 0.0IP | 1H | 2R | 2ER | 1BB | 3.00 ERA |

Lineup:

SS Jeter 1-5 |
LF Damon 3-4 | 1K
3B Rodriguez 2-5 | 1K
1B Teixeira 1-4 | 1K
C Posada 1-4 | 2K
RF Nady 3-4 | 1K
2B Cano 1-4 | 1K
CF Cabrera 0-4 | 1K
DH Swisher 1-4 | 1K

Batting:

2B: J. Posada (2), N. Swisher (2)
3B: J. Damon (1)
HR: J. Damon 2 (2), A. Rodriguez (3), X. Nady (1)
RBI: J. Damon 3 (5), D. Jeter (6), A. Rodriguez 5 (12), X. Nady 3 (6)
GIDP: J Posada

Pitching:

Pettitte | 5.0IP | 10H | 5R | 5ER | 5.23 ERA |
Veras | 1.0IP | 5H | 3R | 3ER | 1SO | 13.50 ERA |
Marte | 0.0IP | 3H | 3R | 3ER | 6.00ERA |
Bruney (W, 1-1) | 3.0IP | 1H | 1SO | 1.35ERA |

Player of the Game:


J. Damon

3 for 4 - 2HR, Triple

[Vinsane]

I did everything right, everything. Kobayashi comes out and I don't get it no matter the inning, the runners, his stuff is all over the joint, first a shot down the line to right, then a shot down the right to left. Then a pop up scores the runner from third, one out, man on second, base hit, second and first, one out. Get another pop out, second and third, got two outs...

Johnny Damon came up, already blasted two so I figured, walk Johnny, bring in Joe. First fucking pitch gets taken yard by A-Rod. My dissapointment continues with my franchise and my hatred for the Yankees grows. All of this shit before the actual season starts...FML.

[T.Dot]

6 in the nineth :| :|

Against the Yanks too, shiit dude.
That sucks.

That dwarfs mine in moments that make you want to throw your controller out the window.

Good stuff tho

[Justo]

i woulda had to go to somewhere and get a new tv after that

[Vinsane]

6 in the nineth :| :|

Against the Yanks too, shiit dude.
That sucks.

That dwarfs mine in moments that make you want to throw your controller out the window.

Good stuff tho

i woulda had to go to somewhere and get a new tv after that

I sat there and threw the pitch and as soon as it showed the Homerun animation I was yelling "You gotta be fucking kidding me!!" I spiked the controller on the ground stood up, walked towards the wall, thought about punching it. Remebered that it's an apartment and I'll have to fix that shit so the controller spike would suffice. Watched A-Rod round the bases, get mugged then sat down and did the write-up to cool off.

I think back to my temper ten years ago and there would of been broken controllers, holes in walls, and possibly a broken game. Got a bit of relief though...update soon.

[Vinsane]

The Pitcher's Duel


Cliff Lee gets fired up on the mound against the Yankees.

AP - New York City, NY - It was the ultimate match-up. It was Kirk vs. Spock, Anakin vs. Obi Wan, the showdown of good vs. evil. It was Cliff Lee the '08 Cy Young winner against C.C. Sabathia the '07 Cy Young winner. Coming into the game the Indians still felt the sting from the collapse a night before. Cliff Lee came to the ball park early to find a C.C. Sabathia waiting for him according to sources. Cliff spoke on the incident in detail to local reporters.

"Yeah, I got here early, went out to get a job on the field, and there C.C. was doing the same thing". Then what? "We jogged a couple laps around the bases, got warmed up, played catch, nobody else was here, except the media of course." The two starting pitchers jogged together? What kind of rivalry is this, this is Cleveland vs. New York these are games that are knock down fights and matches, their rivals only joined by the bitter hate of their fans, who does Cliff Lee think he is?

"I'm a laid back guy, C.C. is a laid back guy. In Cleveland we got along just fine, 1 and 2 in the rotation, we didn't see the numbers, we considered ourselves that two punch knockout, nothing but respect to C.C. I know he wanted to get out, didn't like it here, thought he was worth more, obviously New York believes that. He's happy where he's at, I'm happy where I'm at. That's all there is to it, I don't hate the guy for the jersey he puts on." If the game had gone a different way I think Cliff would be more attuned to a fight.

It was not as intense as the night before, the bats were silent, the runs were scored on base hits and this time a bullpen was able to come through when called upon. The Indians got away with a 2-1 victory on the night. A big turn-around from the imploding fighting that was only twenty-four hours prior. Eric Wedge was asked about the comments back and forth and he spoke on it. "When you drop a game like we did last night, it's frustrating, everybody was mad. I believe we should be 2-0 against them. We're not, we're 1-1 with two to play. You can't linger on what could have been. You gotta focus on what is."

The last bit of information Wedge gave was on the possible action against Kobayashi, Smith, and Sizemore. "It was a heat of the moment, tempers flaring thing, I'm not going to punish these guys, nor is anyone in this orginization. We've moved past it and are looking forward to Saturday and Sunday."

The current series is one game a piece with two to play.

Lineup:

CF Sizemore 1-4 |
2B Cabrera 1-4 | 1K
C Martinez 2-4 |
DH Hafner 1-4 | 1K
1B Garko 1-3 |
SS Peralta 2-4 |
3B DeRosa 1-3 |
3B Barfield ** 1-1 |
RF Choo 2-4 | 1K
LF Dellucci 2-4 |

** Substituted for DeRosa in the 7th

Batting:

3B: T. Hafner (1)
RBI: R. Garko (3), J. Peralta (8)
SF: R. Garko
GIDP: B. Francisco

Fielding:

E: J. Barfield (1)

Pitching:

Lee (W, 1-1) | 7.2IP | 6H | 1R | 0ER | 7SO | 4.58 ERA |
Lewis (S, 1) | 1.1IP | 2SO | 3.38 ERA |

Lineup:

SS Jeter 1-4 | 1K
LF Damon 2-4 |
3B Rodriguez 1-4 | 2K
1B Teixeira 1-4 | 2K
C Posada 0-4 | 1K
DH Matsui 1-4 | 1K
2B Cano 0-3 |
CF Cabrera 0-3 | 1K
RF Swisher 0-2 | 1K
PH-RF Ndy 0-1 |

Batting:

2B: M. Teixeira (2)
3B: J. Damon (2), H. Matsui (1)
RBI: H. Matsui (9)

Pitching:

Sabathia (L, 1-2) | 6.2IP | 11H | 2R | 2ER | 3SO | 3.18 ERA |
Marte | 2.1IP | 3H | 4.32 ERA |


Player of the Game:


C. Lee

7.2 Innings 6 Hits 7 Strikeots

[mfbmike]

Way to get back at those fuckers.

[Vinsane]

wow that 12-11 loss has to be the hardest ever for you

By far the worst I've felt playing a video game in a long time.

Way to get back at those fuckers.

Yes, indeed. Series finale will be put up later today, got some errands to run first.

[Vinsane]

M-M-M-My Carmona!


Carmona fanned 9 in his shut out victory.

AP - New York City, NY - All the fire works in game 1, the pitching duel in game 2. Then came the performance from Fausto Carmona. In nine innings of work and over 100 pitches thrown Fausto sent the Yankees fans home without them getting to see a single run. Fausto like Aaron Laffey only days earlier worked a no-hitter into the fifth when he gave up his first hit on a dribbled ball down the third base line, he was unable to get Matsui on the throw, and the no-hitter was gone.

"I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't thinking about the no-hitter. I was thinking about it from the start of the game. After once through the line-up I was thinking about it and getting nervous. When Matsui finally got on base I felt a sense of dissapointment and euphoria at the same time. The pressure of the no-hitter was gone, now it was time to close the door on these guys."

The Indians did just that. Without Asdrubal Cabrera or Shin-Soo-Choo, both given the day off. Josh Barfield filled in for Asdrubal at second and David Dellucci took care of right field in Choo's absense. The Indians were able to push across the only two runs of the night, but with Fausto's pitching that's all they needed.

The series finale is next, the Indians leading the series 2-1.

Lineup:

CF Sizemore 0-3 |
2B Cabrera 0-4 |
C Martinez 0-4 |
DH Hafner 0-4 |
1B Garko 0-3 | 1K
SS Peralta 1-3 | 1K
3B DeRosa 2-3 |
RF Dellucci 1-3 |
LF Francisco 1-3 |

Batting:

RBI: G. Sizemore (9), B. Francisco (4)
SF: G. Sizemore
GIDP: D. Dellucci

Pitching:

Carmona (W, 2-1) | 9.0IP | 3H | 9SO | 2.14 ERA |

Lineup:

SS Jeter 1-3 | 1K
LF Damon 0-3 | 1K
3B Rodriguez 0-3 | 1K
1B Teixeira 0-3 | 1K
C Posada 1-3 |
RF Nady 0-3 | 1K
DH Matsui 1-3 | 1K
2B Cano 0-3 | 1K
CF Cabrera 0-3 | 2K

Batting:

GIDP: A. Rodriguez,X. Nady, R. Cano

Fielding:

E: R. Cano (1)

Pitching:

Chamberlain (L, 0-2) | 8.0IP | 5H | 2R | 1ER | 2SO | 2.14 ERA |
Marte | 1.0IP | 3.86 ERA |

Player of the Game:


F. Carmona

9.0 Innings 3 Hits 9 Strikeots

[mfbmike]

Shutting out the bombers.

Good shit vinnie.