Written by Brian McPeek

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It’s funny how one game changes perspective. The Indians 7-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field turned a lost weekend into just a pretty crummy one that may have a silver lining.  And the 2006 Cliff Lee appears like he may be back, a comforting thought given the starts C.C. and Paul Byrd are off too.  Peeks hits on the Tribe and Cavs salvaging the weekend on Sunday, amongst other things, in The Weekend Wrap.

Thank God for Sunday

It’s funny how one game changes perspective.

The Indians 7-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field turned a lost weekend into just a pretty crummy one that may have a silver lining.

Cliff Lee went out Sunday and did what 2007 Cy Young Winner CC Sabathia and 2007 Cy Young 4^th place finisher Fausto Carmona could not do. Lee actually pitched past the 4^th inning and got the Indians a win on a day better suited for sitting in a duck blind than for baseball.

That means the pendulum swings back toward optimism in Northeast Ohio. After Saturday night’s beat down administered by a young and, no offense intended, rotten Oakland team, fans of the Indians were in full-blown wrist slitting mode with comparisons being made to the 2006 team and other poor Indians teams of the past that were unable to live up to expectations.

Lee was dominant on Sunday afternoon. The lean lefty pitched 8 innings and gave up one run on just two hits. He struck out eight and walked nobody. And after Carmona’s 8-walk performance on Saturday in which Fausto lasted just 3.1 innings, Lee’s command of the strike zone was a sight for sore eyes. Lee’s ERA now stands at 0.61 on the season and after nearly 15 innings pitched he’s walked just one hitter while striking out 12. That’s a pretty solid K/BB ratio for those keeping track.

The Tribe’s 5-7 start after the first two weeks of the ’08 campaign has been disappointing. Callers into sports talk shows and those who follow the club online have been on the warpath all weekend. The basic is argument is that everyone blows. Casey Blake blows, Sabathia blows and is consumed by his impending free agent status, Jason Michaels blows, Davis Dellucci blows, Travis Hafner blows and is clearly finished as a premium hitter, etc., etc. But because baseball induces bi-polar disease everyone blows a little bit less today than they did Saturday night. They’ll still blow again after each of the likely 60 or so more losses but today we eat cake.

This is a good ball club. Barring injuries they’re going to be in the mix for a pennant until the very end. They’re struggling mightily right now in nearly every aspect of the game but there’s too much talent, especially pitching talent, for it to continue indefinitely. It’s understandable that as fans we dwell on the record and those we deem responsible for it. But I’d have to believe the rest of the clubs in the American League are more likely looking at the performances thus far of Lee and Jake Westbrook and are arching their collective eyebrows at the prospects of the Indians with quality depth in the rotation and a lineup that sorts itself out over the next 30 games or so.

It could always be worse. You could be a Tiger fan or a Detroit sports talk show host.

Thank God For Sunday Part II

The Cavs game against the Miami Heat Sunday had much the same on affect on Cavs fans psyches as the Indians win against the A’s had for Tribe fans. It’s just another win and another step closer to clinching the 4^th seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. It also came on the heels of a horrible loss Friday to the Chicago Bulls.

I’m not so sure though.

This game should have been a lay up for the Cavaliers. Instead it was entirely too close (with the Cavs actually trailing 59-57 after 3 quarters) and did nothing to remove the lingering doubts fans have about the state of this team as it heads toward a playoff reunion with the Washington Wizards.

Ben Wallace has shown no sign that he’s ready to be an intimidating defensive presence come playoff time. Wally Szczerbiak has been as inconsistent as the April weather. LeBron James is clearly struggling with his own back and fatigue issues and everyone can agree that without a healthy, dominant James the Cavs are stick-a-fork-in-‘em done.

I hope as much as anyone out there that this team has been plodding along and waiting for the playoffs to come so we can see them play with renewed passion and intensity. But lackadaisical play, uneven efforts and the fact this team clearly has not been able to gel since the deadline about 6 weeks ago makes it tough to be optimistic that the Cavs will just wake up the day of Game 1 against the Wizards and be the team we hope they can be. If that’s just typical Cleveland pessimism creeping in to ruin the day, well, it’s well earned.

Etcetera

• I’m a proponent of the Indians methodology of getting young players major league-ready. Though I take some hits for agreeing with the philosophy of bringing the kids along slowly while veterans hold down the fort, once those kids reach the major league level all bets on veterans go out the window. I bring this up because Friday night we were treated to David Dellucci and Jason Michaels in the same lineup against a right handed pitcher while Franklin Gutierrez sat and watched. The reason for Michaels playing ahead of Gutierrez was later given as being because Gutierrez was “under the weather”.

No problem. Sick is sick. But if there was anything other than illness as the root cause of that move then there are issues that need to be addressed. Gutierrez has earned the right to play that RF position through thick and thin at this point. He’s a terrific defensive outfielder and a solid offensive player currently struggling at the plate presently (like numerous other Indians). Young players don’t develop offensively or mentally by being sat down for long stretches of time. Especially when the guy replacing them is hitting half what they are and contributing in no other way. If he’s well, Gutierrez needs to be out there in all but the most extremely difficult matchups.

All the soft toss, video study and coaching isn’t going to develop Gutierrez or any other young player as much as getting in the box against major league pitching and figuring things out for himself in real time.

• Something happened on the way to invincibility. The Detroit Tigers currently sit with a record of 2-10 and buried in last place in the AL Central division. Their pitching was a question mark going in and it’s been bad. Really bad. But it wasn’t supposed to be the starters who were God-awful. Justin Verlander is currently anchoring the staff with an 0-2 record and a 6.52 ERA. Fellow starters Nate Robertson and Dontrelle Willis sport ERAs over 7.00.

The offense has been equally inept. The Tigers have a team batting average of .235. For comparison’s sake, the Indians, who have been horrific offensively for the better part of their first 12 games, are hitting .241 as a team. Miguel Cabrera is hitting well below his weight at .167. Gary Sheffield is right there with him. Ivan Rodriguez leads the threesome of Tiger stars with an average also below Cabrera’s weight (.195). Like the key members of the Indian offense those guys will eventually hit. But they’ve dug themselves a wee bit of a hole to get out of. You don’t win pennants in April. But you can lose them then. Here’s hoping that when the Tiger bats do warm up that the bullpen implodes as expected.

Here’s also hoping they’re still struggling when they’re here in Cleveland on Wednesday and Thursday. They’re a veteran ball club with a fine manager capable of putting together some wins so it would be wise to step on them while they’re down and continue their downward spiral.