A Quest Called Tribe

Matty was a little off on this swing.

The Tribe was outscored 9-1 by the Blue Jays from the 5th inning on.  Josh Tomlin exited having allowed six runs over six innings.  Only Frank Herrmann and Vinnie Pestano (Nasty!) were able to pitch clean innings out of the 'pen.  The Jays crushed back-to-back-to-back triples in the 5th (the first time since the '81 Expos) and their 7-8-9 hitters delivered a combined six hits, four runs scored and five RBI.  Sheesh.

Good thing this all happened following the Indians taking a 12-0 lead and knocking Kyle Drabek out after he allowed six of the first 8 men he faced to reach base.   Did you know that 18 of Grady Sizmore's (2-for-5, 3 RBI) 25 hits have been for extra bases?  How about that Asdrubal Cabrera (4-for-6, 3 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI) now has 18 multi-hit games this season and the Tribe has won 15 of those?  Or that they are 6-1 when Matt LaPorta (3-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI) homers?  I mean, everyone is aware that, despite his .224 average, Carlos Santana (3 BB, 2 R) is 3rd in the league with 38 free passes, right?  Well, ya do now.  Get on the ball, kids!

It's so easy to joke when your team is winning again.  After all of the turmoil, the Indians head home for a four game set with Texas having completed a 3-3 road swing.  That is what we call a successful trip.  As the talking heads mentioned, everybody else has to play catch-up now.

One thing that is for sure is that Adam Everett has to go.  No disrespect to the man on the day that he knocked in his first run of the season (Is it June?), but he made an error at second and looked downright foolish on at least one other play.  His fielding percentages at second and third both now hover right around .900.  Not good.  I know that fielding percentage is not an accurate gauge of defensive ability.  Still, when coupled with the good ol' "eye test," it goes leagues further.  Super 2 worries are gone.  Let us see Cord Phelps.  In fact, I am going to start banging my mug on the table and chanting.  Where is my tankard of mead?

Before I hit the old dusty trail, I will make a pitch to you.  During STO's broadcast of the game tonight, there was a little pop-up advertisement urging us all to vote AzCab for All-Star.  Great idea.  Better idea?  We should also vote for Jason Donald.  How awesome would it be if someone both without an MLB game played in 2011 and currently residing on the minor league disabled list got voted in?  Maybe the league would refine its method of selection to the ballot.  You can actually vote 25 times per e-mail address.  I have like 10, so I can punch out that little paper circle 250 times.  That is, at least, 250 votes for JD.  We need a lot more.

Cheers.