B & G's #85 7/2/08

Cleveland Indians (37-47) Vs Chicago White Sox (48-35)
At US Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois
Wednesday July 2Nd, 2008

C.C. Sabathia (6-8, 3.75) Vs Jose Contreras (7-6, 3.99)
Final Score: Chicago 6, Cleveland 5, in 10 innings
W- Adam Russell (2-0)
L- Masahide Kobayashi (4-4)

 8 IP, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5's                           3-4, 2 HRs, 2 RBIs, 1 SB, 4 R

Baseballs:

**A.J. Pierzynski- The only thing I like about the guy is that he likes wrestling, that is about it. Having said that, he hit 2 Home Runs, and the one killed the ball club, walk off style. He now has 7 Home Runs and 32 RBIs. A.J. is also hitting .300 on the season.

**Jose Contreras- He gave the Sox the chance to win, 6 innings, gave up 4 runs (3 earned), he did walk 4 and struck out 6. Jose has a 4.02 ERA.

**Jermaine Dye- Jermaine connected his 19Th Home Run, finishing 1-3 and now has 51 RBIs. With a walk to add, he is hitting .301.

**Brian Anderson- Hit a big double to give the White Sox what was then a 5-4 lead. Brian went 1-3 and has 15 RBIs. He is hitting .232 on the season.

**Adam Russell- Earned his 2Nd win in consecutive nights. Adam pitched a scoreless 10Th inning, and now has a 1.69 ERA.

**Octavio Dotel- Pitched a scoreless 8Th inning, earning his 11Th hold of the season. Dotel has a 3.03 ERA.

**Nick Masset- Pitched a scoreless 7Th inning and now has a 3.22 ERA.

**Grady Sizemore- Imagine how many RBIs Grady would have if he was the number 3 hitter. We would have won with his 2 Home Runs because I am certain at least one man would have been on base. But as is, Grady finished the evening 3-4 with a walk, scored 4 runs, hit 2 Home Runs, drove in 2 runs, stole a base (His 20Th of the season). Grady became the first AL hitter to have a 20/20 season with 21 Homers and 20 Stolen Bases. Eric truly needs to consider moving Grady to the 3 spot because at this point, he has nothing to lose and we are desperate. Grady is hitting .267 on the season.

**Jamey Carroll- Hit a big shot of the evening and at the time tied the game at 3-3 when Jamey tripled to right field, he has 4 triples on the season and he drove in 2, giving him 18 RBIs. Jamey is hitting .285 on the season.

**Casey Blake- Walked twice tonight.

1/2 Baseball, 1/2 Goofball:

**C.C. Sabathia- It's ashame that the Indians are going to get rid of the best pitcher the Indians have had since I became a fan for 25 years. Underwood was full of excuses tonight, one of them saying that C.C. has his mind on where he could be pitching next. Gee, that's funny because he can solve that by extending his contract, say 5 or 6 years at $20 million? The Indians can afford it because they have STO, which now showcases HDTV 24/7. Their ratings are also helping their revenue, so there is no question a deal can be worked out. Tonight, he threw 8 innings, grinding it out, gave up 5 runs (4 earned), walked 2 and struck out 5. C.C. now has a 3.83 ERA.

Goofballs:

**Ben Francisco- Ben finished the evening 1-5 but he struck out 3 times. Ben needs to get it going again, he has been struggling of late. He is hitting .278 on the season.

**Sin-Soo Choo- Choo performed the hat trick with 3 strikeouts.

**Masahide Kobayashi- Threw a perfect 9Th inning, but all it took was one pitch and A.J. Pierzynski ended the game with that swing. Kobayashi has a 3.29 ERA.

**Kelly Shoppach- Kelly committed his 6Th passed ball and he struck out 3 times. The Indians had another game where they struck out 11 times again. Very bad.

**Casey Blake- Committed his 12Th error of the season.

**Scott Linebrink- The Indians finally got to him through a Home Run, he blew the save opportunity. I was surprised to see Bobby Jenks wasn't pitching, but I guess he has lost some velocity and Ozzie is being cautious.

**Pablo Ozuna- Committed his 5Th error of the season.

Indians record after 85 games in 2008: 37-47
Indians record after 85 games in 2007: 51-34
Indians record in one run games in 2008: 5-9
Indians Quality Starts in 2008: 47

On Deck:

Well, this has been a disappointing series and honestly I am tired of seeing the White Sox beat us. So now word goes out even stronger that the Indians trade C.C. Sabathia sooner than later. To me, this team is responsible for that, he is the best pitcher I have seen in my lifetime, and it just won't be the same not seeing number 52 on the mound. Off tomorrow, another game on Friday in Minneapolis, a 3 game series. Friday's game starts at 7:10 PM, will air on STO, with Indians On Deck starting at 6:30 PM. Paul Byrd (3-9, 5.26) will take on Livan Hernandez (8-5, 5.22). The game is on the radio on WTAM 1100-AM. We can certainly say this team has been in the games, but they need to find more consistency in the approach to their bats. Let's go Tribe.

B & G's #84 7/1/08

Cleveland Indians (37-46) Vs Chicago White Sox (46-35)
At US Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois
Tuesday July 1st, 2008

Cliff Lee (11-1, 2.34) Vs John Danks (5-4, 2.62)
Final Score: Chicago 3, Cleveland 2, in 10 innings
W- Adam Russell (1-0)
L- Joe Borowski (1-3)

 8 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's                    3-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 2B            2-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Baseballs:

**Alexei Ramirez- Had 1 hit, but that hit was huge, hitting his 6Th Home Run of the season, driving in 2 runs. Ramirez is up to .295 and has 26 RBIs.

**John Danks- In his previous start against the Indians, he dominated them and that was when the hitting woes started for the Indians. That was game 3 of the season. 8 innings, gave up 1 run (1 earned), walked 1 and struck out 8. He didn't get the decision, but his team won. Danks now has a 2.50 ERA.

**Dwayne Wise- Came in and pinch hit with a single, then stole a base in the 10Th inning. He scored the walk off run and is now hitting .323 on the season.

**Orlando Cabrera- Earned the base hit and drove in the winning run. Cabrera has 33 RBIs and is now hitting .273 on the year.

**Scott Linebrink- Threw a scoreless 9Th inning again, and now has a 1.32 ERA.

**A.J. Pierzynski- A.J. finished the evening 2-4 and is now hitting .299 on the year.

**Adam Russell- Earned his 1st win of the season and has a 2.08 ERA.

**Cliff Lee- 8 strong innings, keeping the Sox from scoring more runs. He gave up 1 run (1 earned), walked 1 and struck out 3. Cliff lowered his ERA to 2.26 and he should have 14 wins about now.

**Casey Blake- Casey had the hot hand tonight, finishing off 3-4, including hitting his 8Th Home Run and at the time, it gave the Indians a 2-1 lead. Casey is up to .287 on the year.

**Kelly Shoppach- Kelly finished 2-4 at the plate and hit his 6Th Home Run of the season, giving him 18 RBIs and is hitting .255 on the year.

**Rafael Betancourt & Rafael Perez- Both pitchers did their jobs by preventing the Sox from scoring and sending the game into extra innings. Betancourt has a 6.03 ERA and Perez has a 3.44 ERA.

Goofballs:

**Indians Offense- The first four hitters finished 0-15. We were lucky the game was as close as it was.

**Joe Borowski- Joe not only blew the save, but he allowed a career minor league player like Dewayne Wise get a hit, steal a base, and score the winning run. He only has himself to be blamed. After giving up 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning, Joe has a 7.56 ERA.

**Jhonny Peralta- After having such a fantastic game yesterday, he goes 0-4 and strikes out 3 times tonight.

Indians record after 84 games in 2008: 37-47
Indians record after 84 games in 2007: 51-33
Indians record in one run games in 2008: 5-8
Indians Quality Starts in 2008: 47

On Deck:

What is it going to take for this team to say enough is enough and start hitting consistently? At some points, you credit the starter for stopping the hitters, but not anymore. The offense is downright pathetic and because of that Wedge needs to make sure C.C. and Cliff pitch every 5Th day regardless. Start Cliff on Sunday and do not start Jeremy Sowers until Saturday July 12th because he is the 5Th starter. So tomorrow, we try and avoid to get swept by Chicago again. Game starts at 8:11 PM and will air on STO. C.C. Sabathia (6-8, 3.75) and will take on Jose Contreras (7-6, 3.99). Indians On Deck starts at 7:30 PM and will air on WTAM 1100-AM on the radio. It's time to start getting some bounces going our way, they say everything equals out in baseball, but we haven't had many bounces go our way yet.