It's Tribe time in Game 1!!

How could it have been any better? So many contributions from people all over the lineup.

And while the Tribe's talent and their resolve to play their game was a key factor in the win tonight, there was one other - kind of old and sort of fat -factor that set up a roadblock for both teams - at least their pitchers.

For those of you who were at the stadium or listening on the radio you can't appreciate what Bruce Froemming was offering up as a strike zone. It was smaller than George Castanza after a dip in the pool.

The difference is CC Sabathia, though clearly frustrated, was able to cope and get himself out of the mini-stike-zone-induced jams he found himself in. Chien-Ming Wang wasn't able to ride it out with Froemming long enough.

I mean, when was the last time you saw CC walk six batters? But he only gve up four hits and three runs.

Most importantly, CC came up huge when he had to, getting out of jams in the first and the fifth. He was particularly gritty in the fifth, when - after already giving up one run to cut the Tribe's lead to 4-3 - CC got Jorge Posada to strike out and Hideki Matsui to pop to short. He was already over 100 pitches, huffing and puffing, and still managed to get off the mound with the lead. Were those last two batters faced by Sabathia the momentum sealer?

Or was it Victor Martinez' two-run bomb in the bottom of the fifth to answer the Yankees uprising. In all Victor was 3 for 5, including that big two-run shot.

Maybe the credit should go to Kenny Lofton, who had three two-out hits with runners in scoring position to knock in four runs, two coming in the bottom of the first to give the Tribe a 3-1 lead and grab the momentum for the first time in the game.

How about Ryan Garko with three hits of his own, including an RBI single to tie the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first. That was an imprtant moment, more important than his eighth inning homer with the game in the bag.

Asdrubal Cabrera had only one hit, but it was a third inning dinger that gave the Tribe it's widest lead to that point at 4-1. He also walked to start the key five-run fifth inning.

They all played a key role in a huge Tribe win.

We'll talk about tomorrow tomorrow. For now, lets pump our fist one last time and get a good night's sleep. I can't wait to get up and read the New York tabloids in the morning!!!

(Photo credits: The Associated Press)