Raffy Betancourt: 11 pitches, 8 strikes, 5 outs, no baserunners. One inherited run allowed, but hardly a problem.
Gil Mota: 10 pitches, 6 strikes, 3 outs, no baserunners. Could have looked sharper, maybe, oh, keep the ball in the bloody infield next time?
Now THAT'S a bullpen. In fact, the last four Indians relievers have thrown at least one full perfect inning. Sweet.
6) Quiet brilliance
It's hard to look good hitting a double in a blowout loss, or stand out much hitting a homer in a blowout win and not having a profanity as a middle name, but Victor Martinez is looking very sharp with an extra-base hit in each game. He might even have more than two RBI if ...
7) The incredible inverted batting order!
Best hitter: 9 hole
Second-best hitter: 8 hole
Worst hitter: leadoff
Second-worst hitter: 4 slot
Obviously "best" and "worst" don't mean talent or likelihood of future success or anything. It just looks funny in the box score. Any lobbying to move Blake and Boone up in the order now is seriously misguided. But it would be okay for a runner to be on base when Victor bats.
8) Beep beep! Comin' through!
After Boone stole second, Blake patiently took a strike, then singled to left. With A. J. Pierzynski in front of the plate, Aaron Boone (the new hero of many a Cleveland fan) rammed his shoulder into Pierzynski's chest, bowling him over, and scoring the run. Is there any catcher in baseball you'd rather see run over than A. J. Pierzynski? Anyone? Maybe if John Elway, Kim Jong Il, or Myron Cope learned to catch? Nah, it's Pierzynski.
9) This is your dominant rotation?
Let's hope Contreras is as impressive as Buehrle and Garcia before him.