Whose bright idea is a pair of midweek two-game series? Where the hell is the closure in that? Otherwise, the game had some of the classic elements you want: a Hafner homer, a Sabathia win, a Buehrle loss, and wet White Sox. By the way, send any Eric Wedge Haiku to buff@swerbsblurbs.com. To give you an idea of the groundswell this contest is creating, if you submitted the following haiku:
Eric Wedge, Eric
Wedge, Eric Wedge, Eric Wedge,
Eric Wedge, feh. Feh!
You would be in fourth place.
1) The prodigal son returns
Well, it's not like he was gone for any Biblical stretch, but C.C. Sabathia's return to the mound couldn't have reasonably been expected to go much better than it did. The only run he gave up in 5 innings was the result of mind-wandering defense: no extra-base hits, better than 2/3rds of his pitches were strikes, and he was only in trouble in the 5th. 89 pitches were prudent, especially given the weather. He got a couple unexpected defensive plays (see below), and he did walk almost a guy an inning while striking out only two, but it was a welcome performance nonetheless. (How does a guy walk four batters with a 60:29 strike-to-ball ratio?)
2) And in other news, a freak ice storm incapacitated Hell this afternoon
Victor Martinez threw out Pablo Ozuna stealing second! Huzzah!
I never thought it would be Sabathia being held up as the shining example of keeping guys close and delivering quickly.
3) The mud broke my fall
Simply a preposterous diving catch by Sizemore in deep center. How many diving catches are going directly away from home plate? When you think "diving catch," you think coming in or maybe running laterally. Nobody dives toward the wall on the track. That's just sick.
In the grand scheme of things, it was an out to lead off the fourth: it wasn't like the bases were loaded and it saved a bunch of runs, but it was still flabbering.
4) Hit this!
It could be argued that one of the real turning points last summer was when Mark Buehrle beaned Travis Hafner, causing him to miss games, come back slowly, and generally make the Indians look like the Price-Daugherty Cavs. So it was nice to see Hafner bomb a three-run jack off Buehrle in the bottom of the first to give the Tribe a 3-0 lead they never gave up. I imagine had Buehrle thrown at Hafner after that, in Jacobs Field, he would have needed a police escort.
5) Nice outing, Moon Head
13 hits, 3 walks, 3 Ks, 7 runs in 5 2/3 for Buehrle. As a sort of Indians Bugbear, it's nice to have an offensive outing like that against the titular White Sox Ace.
6) Providing interest in the late innings is our speciality
I like Jason Davis. I really do. And he did pitch two scoreless innings, throwing 24 of 30 pitches for strikes. This is a good sign, because with a 5-1 lead, I would literally go insane (temporarily) if Davis tried to nibble against a lineup featuring Alex Cintron at DH, Juan Uribe (.173), Chris Widger (.211), and Brian Anderson (.141). Ross Gload pinch-hit, and he's batting .167. This is the best team in the American League?
But he gave up 4 hits in two innings, including a double to Widger! Then Danny the Mullet comes in and pitches two more innings, giving up two more hits! They strike out a combined one guy! The White Sox left six guys on in the last four innings, four in scoring position. This is no way to preserve my stomach lining. Will someone tell these guys that Bob Wickman is not the perfect role model? Before I die as stomach acid leaks through my ulcer and dissolves my pancreas?
By the way, by way of contrast, all four of the Indians' runs after the first came with two outs. Neener neener!
7) Who the &@#^ is this guy?!
I have officially had enough Boone Logan to last me until 2011. Last year, it was Cotts and Pollitte. Now it's a guy from AA who strikes out five guys in 2 1/3 hitless innings of relief, including Martinez with guys on first and third. At least I'd heard of guys like McCarthy and Liriano, this guy literally came from nowhere. His picture makes him look fourteen. A nasty, knife-hiding, juvenile delinquent fourteen, but fourteen nonetheless.
No more Boone Logan for me, I'm driving.
8) Inertia Man faked me out!
Jason Michaels is right back in the two slot, while Blake bats ninth. Michaels did an admirable job yesterday, drawing two walks, getting a hit, and scoring twice. Yes, that's his skill set. Yes, I appreciate continuity. Meanwhile my man Casey gets two more hits (2-for-4) which are largely wasted because Belliard and Boone bat a combined 1-for-7 in front of him. Sigh. (Boone's hit was a double, and he did score, so he has that going for him, which is nice.)
9) Eduardo Perez: the free-agent signing of 2006
Perez' 2-for-4 day (with a rib) raises his average back up to .333. If we can attribute some of Broussard's hot start to not having to worry about facing lefties (which we certainly can, because logic plays no role in made-up analysis), we have turned a below-average first baseman into an All-Star platoon. He's no Ben "Eight Ribs" Broussard, but then, who is? Heck, it took Travis Hafner TWO games to reach eight RBI.
10) Ho Hum Dept.
Victor Martinez reached base for the four thousand thirty seventh consecutive game, going back to his career with the St. Louis Browns.
May 02, 2006 7:00 PM