Morning Update: Cliff Lee Shines on the Biggest Stage

With ice in his veins, Cliff Lee took the mound to throw out the first pitch in the last All-Star Game in Yankee Stadium.

His final line: Two Innings, One Hit, No Walks, Three Strikeouts

Very Cliff Lee like.. So there was nothing different about what Cliff did tonight, other than the fact that it was on the second biggest stage you could pitch on, aside from the World Series.

Cliff Lee got the job done.

“I’ll take it,” Lee said. “Especially in an All-Star Game. The hitters they’ve got over there are some serious power threats. I’m pretty pleased to keep them from scoring.” (Indians.com)

Cliff’s performance might not mean much to many, but to us Indian fans, it was special to watch. Only we know what the man has been through and to get that opportunity is real special.

“I just took it as another start,” Lee said. “I may have been more amped because of the hitters I was facing. I was just hoping for good things to happen and they did. I told [catcher] Joe Mauer, ‘I’ll throw whatever you call.’ I shook him off once. That was the fastball to Chase Utley. I threw it on the black and struck him out.”(Plain Dealer)

Cliff did get a Hall of Famers attention.

“It was surreal seeing all those Hall of Famers before the game, looking them in the eye and shaking their hands,” Lee said. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget. They told me good luck and stuff like that. Don Sutton came over and told me afterward that he liked watching me.” (Plain Dealer)

If you ask me, this means a lot to me in a season that is so bad. Last year, seeing Victor hit the big home run was nice. But, this is special. Lee has been the best pitcher so far and he earned the opportunity to go out an do what he did. He did not disappoint either.

I was a little disappointed in Grady Sizemore and his little ground-out with the bases loaded. That would have truly been the icing on the cake if he could have came through at any point in time.

Overall though, the game should be considered a success for the Cleveland Indians. Grady did score the game-tying run in the 8th inning after getting a hit and stealing second. He had plenty of chances to bat though. In the end Grady went 1-5 with a run and a stolen base.

“I got a full day’s work in,” he said with a smile. (Indians.com)

Grady had the chance with the bases loaded and less than two outs to basically end the game with anything. But he grounded out to the pulled-in infield that got the runner at home.

The AL squandered a lot of opportunities, but they ended up coming away in the end. That overall was a very fun game to watch and follow and the fact that Grady was in it till the end made more exciting.

I was personally rooting for it to go longer, because I wanted to see some position players on the mound. Grady wouldn’t have been the first choice though.

“I’d probably be last on the mound,” he said, “when it comes to position players in relief.” (Indians.com)

What a fun night. Thanks to Cliff and Grady for giving us something to care about in a very bad season. It was a fresh thing to watch.

Minor League Update: Rich Rundles in Triple-A All Star Game Tonight

Don’t forget the Triple-A All-Star Game is happening in Louisville tonight. Buffalo is represented by Rich Rundles. The Game starts at 7:00 P.M. and is on ESPN2.

Winston Salem beat up on Kinston last night. Jason Denham hit his fifth home run, but Sung-Wei Tseng, Neil Wagner, and Vinnie Pestano got knocked around. Niuman Romero was able to extend his hit-streak to 20 games though.

Romero was named Carolina League Player of the Week.

Brendan Donnelly made his first rehab apperance though and pitched a scoreless inning.

Overall a very sleepy day for the Minor League Teams.. If they weren’t on break they had an off-day. Not sure if that is by design or not.