Saturday, August 4, 2007

Back in the saddle - if only by a half game

It took a 9 of 11 losing skein by Detroit but the Tribe has clawed its way back into first place in the A.L. Central - by half a game.

They are there on the strenght of a hard-fought victory over Twins ace Johan Santana. And it's not like a win over Santana is something new for the Tribe - at least this year.

The Indians are 3-0 in four games against the elite lefty. Santana's ERA against Cleveland this year is 3.67, which is not at all bad, but more than a half run higher than his overall ERA of 2.98. While Santana is winless against the Tribe in '07, he's 11-6 against the rest of the league.

Give Grady Sizemore credit for most of the offense tonight. The Tribe's centerfielder went 3-for-5 with four RBI and put the Tribe ahead initially with a two-run home off Santana in the third.

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Troubles continue to mount for the Tigers.

Gary Sheffield is being shelved at least for a while with a sore shoulder. He plans to try to play through it after giving it some rest, but there is major concern about the slugger in Motown.

Meantime, Andrew Miller left his start for the Tigers tonight after four innings with a strained hamstring. He had already given up 6 runs before leaving. He's also said to be day-to-day.

Then there's backup infielder Neifi Perez, who will miss the rest of the season serving an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a banned stimulant - for the third time.

And, reliever Fernando Rodney, who was expected to come off the DL this weekend, is now looking at some time next week after his latest rehad outing didn't go so well.

Sleep well tonight my friends we'll be in first place when you wake up in the morning.

5 comments:

moose said...

FIRST PLACE CLEVELAND INDIANS - Boy that has a nice ring too it !!! Beating Santana for the third time is good also - especially when I see all the Santana fantasy owners crumbling. Last night was a good game everybody did what they were suppose to do except for matbe Fultz. Doesn't Gutierrez looks like a guy who should play everyday. Hit, run and defense. Give Garko credit not a bad first baseman. Really surprised by the Tiger downfall with all that veteran leadership. Could they be odd team out. Maybe the tribe will just do better on the road. I was hoping 2-2 in Minnesota and last night was a good start. Lets see how Laffey does today. Id he does good I will be ready to hit the ACCEPT button in Yahoo fantasy. Have a great day and stay cool

Ron Vallo said...

It sure couldn't hurt to try Gutierrez every day. It's not like he'd be displacing Reggie Jackson.

I think he's ready.

moose said...

NIXON has GOT TO GO - 10 runners LOB - terrible

moose said...

watching our offense or the imitation of an offense gives me a headasche - detroit 2-11 lat 13 games

do we have a 4 team race

moose said...

yankees tied with indians