His recent meltdown after letting him close and the following appearance leave a lot to be desired after he started to emerge as a capable option. I think there is more talent and potential in guys at other levels and while he is still a little young, the constant up and down up and down the Indians did to him last year makes me think they don’t have THAT much faith in him.

With that.. It will be the last Mujica we probably ever see and this could be the last year we see him.. With that, here is the Last of the Mujicas.

The point? Not sure if there is any.. It just sort of meshes with the name.. The Mohicans. The Mujicas.. Whatever.. I stretched it but it works in my mind.. It also makes a lot more sense than putting Squirrel teeth on him, something no one will get unless I point out the fact that. He used to have squirrel cheeks.

The tandem was at it again on Sunday after doing it in Vanderbilt years and years ago.

“I told him during the anthem, ‘This is your day and I’m going to come in and stop it for you,’ ” Lewis said. (Plain Dealer)

Not only that, but we continue to see these quotes from Jensen to demonstrate that this kid has the GUTS to close out a game.

Lewis said he “kind of went out there and said ‘Over my dead body are we going to give this one up’ ” — a welcome demeanor for a club whose bullpen has blown 15 saves in just 36 chances. (Plain Dealer)

He also understands the role and what it takes and what goes into it.

“This is awesome. When you’re in the bullpen, this is the opportunity you want,” Lewis said. “It’s a lot of fun right now and I’m just enjoying each opportunity they give me.” (Indians.com)

As for Jeremy Sowers, Eric Wedge is pleased with what his young starter has done these past few games.

“Jeremy has been pitching so much better,” said Indians manager Eric Wedge. “He’s been very consistent over his last five or six starts. He’s given us a chance to win most of those games.” (Plain Dealer)

Far be it from me to know what is wrong with Franklin Gutierrez. I really don’t understand or know why a kid with so much promise has fallen off like he has this year. It’s beyond me.

“I know I can hit against righties and lefties,” Gutierrez said. “I think [against right-handers] it has something to do with mechanics and recognizing the pitch. It takes focus and concentration. I have to keep learning. I’m starting to get more playing time. That will help.” (Plain Dealer)

He is hitting .349 in the last 9 games, so maybe he is turning it around. I hope. He has so much promise with that defense and arm and his speed. If he puts the bat in there he could be a dangerous player.

I got all excited about the Travis Hafner return on Tuesday, but I’ve been given a gift. HE RETURNS TONIGHT! With Josh Barfield at his side to play six innings at 2nd tonight, Hafner will DH and get two ABs tonight with Buffalo. Victor Martinez will be with the team tomorrow to catch six innings. He homered last night for Akron.

For all indiciations, they will be there throughout the week and be evaluated towards the end.

Asdrubal Cabrera has been using the bunt more and more since his return and it is a product of working with Derek Shelton and going out before games and practice it endlessly. Not just for sacrafices but in attempt to get on base of course.

“I went down and really worked on my hitting,” Cabrera said through first-base coach and interpreter Luis Rivera. “That gave me some confidence. I was swinging the bat well there. I came back with confidence that I could do the job.” (Indians.com)

It’s another reason Eric Wedge wants him in good shape. So he can run and get down the line quicker and beat the bunt out.

Akron got beat up but that was hardly the story for the Aeros. Victor Martinez DHed and hit all four times. He went 2-4 with his FIRST HOME RUN OF THE YEAR! Yes his first, how nuts is that.

Meanwhile, the Aeros continue to just falter in the standings. Still hopes to the Wild Card but ya gotta pick it up Akron!

Beau Mills.. 2-4, number 20 on the year with 84 RBI, what a man. Kinston lost but they scored and Beau Mills is just awesome. Hector Rondon did go 6 plus but gave up five runs.

So-so start for Eric Berger in Lake County. He pitched 2.1 innings giving up just one run. That was the lone run against Lake County as they scored five to top Rome. Dustin Realini with 2 RBI and a 2-4 night for Matt Brown.

As if we didn’t know it already, Adam Miller‘s season is over. I really think the bullpen is in his future.

Also the Indians didn’t spend as much as the Pirates or Red Sox did in draft pick signings.. Then again they picked 29th and don’t exactly spend a lot of money. But they still spent around $7 million.

I mean first things first.

The no-doubles defense is the worst thing in the world. That would have had much less drama had Eric Wedge not opted to put that silly defense out there. If I ever managed a team, I would never use such a stupid idea like the no-doubles defense The outfielders are placed where they are placed for a reason, that’s how they get to the most fly balls.

With that… You can also see the difference between Mike Scioscia and Eric Wedge. I know what you are going to say, but Tuna, Scioscia’s team has a infinity lead in the division, he can afford to let Kendry Morales hit with the game on the line.

I tell you, Eric Wedge has no chance in hell, yet he he’s bringing in his best option to get a hit, instead of trying to build confidence in a young guy like Marte.

That is what separates Mike Scioscia, one of the best managers in the game, with Eric Wedge, a middle of the road manager.

Now onto the actual game.

Jensen Lewis continues to prove he can close out game for this team and continues to prove me right. J-Lew has no converted all three chances and this was by far his toughest test, against the best team in baseball, with no margin for error and guys on first and second and just one out.

Jeremy Sowers continues to have those early jitters, but he ends up settling down and gets rewarded with his 2nd win of the year. He pitched real good today and just continues to settle in with Fasano guiding him. I tell ya this guy is screaming teacher and leader. The way he guided Jensen through the ninth to pitch to Figgins in that crucial at-bat was phenominal. He knew what he had to do and Jensen got it done.

Something Sal Fasano just said in the post-game interview that really made sense as he drips with sweat like the true Italian he is. Team baseball.. That’s how the offense won this game. It’s what the Angels do so well, that we did in this game.

Sal Fasano lead-off double.. I was getting ready to bust out the mustaches had he gone deep. Asdrubal doing what we’ve seen him do a lot more of and something this team has done a lot lately, sac bunting. Then Grady gets the fly ball to get Fasano in and tht was all she wrote.

Ryan Garko knocks in yet another run, not in a conventional way, with the infield single, but it got the job done. Gutierrez had the big hit in the first to finallllly bust it open for the Indians. They’ve been searching for that two out RISP hit all series and Frankie finally got one. He and Garko combined on the day 5-5, 2 BB, 3 RBI. Really good job on both of their parts today.

Carroll made the most of his on-base chances, scoring twice and Benny Fresh pulled a few into left field today.

All around a good game.. Solid all around effort and the type of game you LOVE to watch and win. They made Saunders work, they pitched well, they executed in the late game situations and just really really positive for this team welcoming in Kansas City in the battle to stay out of the basement on Tuesday.

Anthony Reyes goes on Tuesday against Luke Hochevar. I noticed Jeremy wearing the stirrups today with the Sunday-Unis.. Reyes wore both the stirrups and stripes when he was with the Cardinals. Hopefully we get him in the Sunday Uni soon.

[BOXSCORE]

Guess Who’s Back!? Pronk Is Back! Guess Who’s Back, Guess Who’s Back, Pronk Is Back!

What an odd picture.. It looks like he’s posing for it.

Travis Hafner is moving along and after Victor Martinez plays today in Akron, he’ll be with Hafner onto Buffalo on Tuesday! Pronk is back!!!!!

Josh Barfield went 0-2 last night in Akron.

You will probably see Sal Fasano in there today catching Jeremy Sowers and it’s working out pretty good for Eric Wedge to start Fasano when Sowers pitches. They work well together and Fasano is really having an impact on Jeremy. Here is a not so-surprising quote from Sowers.

“I’m actually one of those guys that is not so much the guy that talks about baseball,” Sowers said. “I’m always trying to find something else to talk about in the dugout.” (Indians.com)

I could have told you that. He looks like he just isn’t all that interested in the game and that he’d rather be somewhere else. He also gets ticked when people pie him in the face.. He really looked steamed last year when that happened to him. Lightin up Jeremy!

Looks like the MLB is cracking down on the international signings thanks to recent discoveries of Miguel Tejada lying about his age. The Indians fell victim to one of the suspended players as Edward Pinales was suspended for a year by MLB. The Indians informed his family that things have changed and if they had anything to say to say it now. The family stayed quiet and it appears they lied about his age.

Eric Wedge was there when Roger Clemens was pitching for Boston. He gets the same sort of vibe from Cliff Lee‘s starts that he did for Clemens’.

“There was always a different vibe,” said Wedge. “The opposition felt it. Our team felt it. The fans felt it. That’s the way it worked.” (Plain Dealer)

You can feel it.. You really can. There’s days you feel good about a game and days you feel bad. I feel the same way.

Andy Marte is playing a good third-base despite the error yesterday. I’ve heard a lot of things about Marte’s glove and how the Indians wanted him to improve. So far I see an above average glove there and he really makes some good plays. They still want his bat to improve of course. I just want him to get over .200

“We still have to get more offensively from him,” said Wedge. “He’s really played well at third base. He’s still not doing what we need him to do with the bat. We’ll continue to look at him and see if we can figure it out.” (Plain Dealer)

Because of the game being on FOX, we didn’t get to see the HOF Ceremony on STO like last year. But, from what I can tell it was really well done as usual.

Mike Hargrove and his wife invited the widow of the late Steve Olin, who died during Spring Training on a boating accident, along with Tim Crews when Grover was managing the team.

Anthony Castrovince gave a full recap of Hargrove’s induction.

The signing of two high school pitchers Trey Haley and TJ House have prompted Paul Hoynes to remember CC Sabathia and how the Indians did it the right way.

Great win for Buffalo last night, as they shutout Pawtucket. John Halama, Tom Mastny, Richie Rundles and Bubbie Buzachero combined on a 3 hitter.

Lucas Montero went 3-5 and Jared Goedert went deep in Kinston‘s loss.

Captains doubled up on Rome last night.

They are the best fielding team in the league according to the stats, but that is two times now that this team has just had some complete meltdowns defensively. I don’t know what it is especially after they did so good with Cliff Lee on the mound. They might have been a little unsettled waiting behind Carmona, a complete opposite of Cliff Lee who threw strikes and went fast. The infielders should be used to Carmona by now though. They know what he’s about throwing the sinker and getting the ground ball. Only two were un-earned but it could have very well been four.

Carmona looked okay for the most part, finally starting to look like he’s feeling good and comfortable out there. The errors really hurt himi and made it worse than it should have been. I’ll take the 7 strong from him though.

Another good outing for Rafael Betancourt going two innings without a hit or walk. I’m starting to think he might be a candidate to bounce back next year, I won’t hold my breath on that one though.

Okay offensively let’s talk.

Kelly Kelly Kelly.. 0-4 with 6 men left on base and three strikeouts. Man… Oh MAN.. Just.. Including a bases loaded noooooooobody out strikeout. He put together a good at-bat after getting down 0-2 but erased everything he did by swinging.. nay.. half swinging at a garbage fastball above the zone.

Whatever…

Just..

Then Garko looks to have not only tied it but put the Indians ahead, and Aybar makes a spectacular catch.

It just flows with the season… It just flows with the season.. Same way the ball he hit agaisnt K-Rod in the ninth went just foul. By the by, love the way K-Rod gets all the close calls, no wonder he has 47 saves.

Garko had the two run shot and Dellucci had a solo.. Just wasted opportunities. 25 runners stranded total.. Just awful.

They deserve to lose the way they didn’t hit and played defense, but they damn well should of. Can’t let a team like the Angels off the hook like this.

Tomorrow, Jeremy Sowers and Joe Saunders. Don’t hold your breath for a series win unless the Salvatore Man can guide Young Sowers to a win. BTW how about Sal doing the lineups.. The guy cracks me up.

[BOXSCORE]

“They have a pretty good offense, especially with the addition of [Mark] Teixeira,” Lee said. “That might be the best lineup I’ve ever faced, to be honest with you.” (Indians.com)

And he held them to two runs!

I forgot to mention the awesome defense last night.. It is sort of becoming redundant like it is about Lee, to talk about Cab’s defense. I mean seriously is he kidding with some of this stuff? Bare handed grab up the middle to throw out Torii Hunter? Omar never played 2nd base but I’m not even sure he could do that. Okay, he probably could.

Cliff also made a great play on the bunt by Figgins.

“Definitely, I’ll take triple plays, too,” said Lee, who was quick to point out his defensive help. “I’d obviously not like to put men on base. But I’ll take two outs on one pitch.” (Plain Dealer)

Take ‘em how you get ‘em Cliff.

Fausto Carmona will look to follow that performance with one of his own. Take into consideration how good Carmona is during the day with a 2.81 ERA and a 12-4 record. Fausto just has to keep building off the previous start, good or bad, to get his form back.

“There are some signs there of what he does and does well,” Willis said. “He needs to get more consistent with that.” (Indians.com)

One guy who isn’t in form is Eddie Squirrels.

“I’ve had a couple bad outings,” Mujica said. “I feel like my focus is a little bit down right now. But I’ll just try to keep it up and help my team.” (Indians.com)

Wedge is going to keep throwin him out there though. He feels Mujics still can be a good pitcher and if he was confident like he was a few weeks ago, he can be there. I don’t see it but more power to him if he does.

Let’s tie up these draft picks real quick.. 30 of them are signed and sealed and soon to be delievered. You can check that out on the Player Index..

Now let’s straighten out the names because it seems like we have a lot of odd nicknames.

Curtis Haley is actually TREY Haley.. Why? I don’t know

Glenn House is actually TJ House.. Why? Well I don’t know where he gets the TJ but I can see why he doesn’t like the name Glenn. Not a ball-players name!

Robert Phelps is actually CORD Phelps.. Why? Who cares, Cord is a cool name.

Stephen Putnam is actually ZACH Putnam.. Why? I have absolutely no clue how you get Zach from Stephen.

Now that that is out of the way.. The Indians gave Trey Haley $1.2 million to sign! Damn sir that’s more than just about our entire team gets per year with the exclusion of guys like Grady, Peralta, Hafner, Vic and Cliff.

You may be asking why Trey Haley gets 1.2 million and TJ House gets $800,000 (1 mill total, 200,000 of that goes to a college education), yet Putnam a 5th rounder gets only 500,000.

Simple.. Haley and House are pitchers in High School. They are much more valuable.. They both fell because of that.

There is no doubt the Indians went signficantly over the budget. But if they got a possible first rounder in Haley, a super talented guy in House who dropped because of signability issues (who knows what round draft pick he’d be after three years in collge), then it is worth it.

Don’t ever EVER EVERRRR say this team doesn’t dole out the cash. They wanted their prospects signed and they got them..

Masa Kobayashi says the reason for his struggles is not fatigue or the switch.

“The pace is faster than in Japan,” said Kobayashi, speaking through interpreter Ryo Shinkawa, a Baldwin-Wallace College senior and member of the Tribe’s media relations staff. “That would be a lie if I said it wasn’t so. But it’s the same for every ballplayer this time of year. That’s not what’s affecting my pitching.” (Plain Dealer)

So Josh Barfield went 0-2 in his Akron rehab apperance on Thursday… How’d Victor Martinez do?

0-2 with a walk.. But hey, he played. That is all that counts.

Bafield and Martinez are both going to make one more start with Akron today and tomorrow and then go from there. Akron goes on the road so they need to go somewhere else to play. Lake County doesn’t get back till Wednesday and Mahoning Valley has break before heading off on the road on the 21st.. Might just have to get in some good old backyard baseball or a simulated game. Travis Hafner is expected to go on rehab sometime next week so he’ll probably go to the Lake. He has another batting practice session today.

Speaking of Pronk.. Pronk won a race… Not Travis Pronk, but a Horse named Pronk.

“They must have seen the way I run the bases and named a horse after me.” (Plain Dealer)

God, I hope not..

So it’s Hall of Fame weekend, that means GROVER is back!

Here is a great piece on him by Bill Livingston.

But what I REALLY want to talk about is this.

He wants to manage again!?

Color me unsuprised. You just had a feeling that wasn’t it when he was managing some independent team or whatever it was he was doing. He loves to manage, he just got burned out by the Mariners. He want’s to win and he want’s to be on a club that is going to win.

I hope someone gives him a shot for one last hurrah. Trust in him and let him do his magic. Take a look at the Mariners this year without him. Disaster! He can make a bad team good and a good team great.

BTW he still isn’t over it.

“I get asked all the time when was it I got over that loss,” Hargrove said. “I always give the same answer: As soon as it happens, I’ll let you know.” (ESPN.com)

Same here guy.

Offensively there is just too much to go over. Michael Aubrey went 4-5 with two runs knocked in. Crowe, Linden, Velandia, and Cannizaro all knocked in two. Brad Snyder went 2-5 with three batted in.

Lost in all of it was Aaron Laffey who gave up just two un-earned runs in his six innings. He gave up just three hits but he did manage to walk four.

Akron got three hit and beat-up. Frank Herrmann gave up three runs in six innings, but took the loss.

Um Yikes.. What was with all the offense for the Indians farm teams last night? Kinston puts up 14 runs on the board and allows just two hits. Carlos Santana and Carlos Rivero with three-run home runs by each. Beau Mills added his 19th in addition to his 3-5 night. Lucas Montero knocks in three. Shawn Nottingham was shining for 7 innings, allowing just two hits, and striking out nine hitters. Josh Judy added on with 2 perfect innings and 4 strikeouts. Yikes! That’s 8 in a row for the Kinston club to pull within 2.5 games of Myrtle Beach.

When in Rome, the Captains lost to the Braves. Matt Brown and Mark Thompson with a pair of hits each, but it isn’t enough to support Ryan Morris’ five innings of one run ball.

The Scrappers had a comfortable 7-2 lead after 7 innings.. Then Jamestown hung a 9 spot on Mahoning Valley. The Scrappers added three in the 8th in response but couldn’t muster up anything else and they lost by one. Tough luck. David Roberts and Mark Rodrigues with the tag-team implosion.

Lonnie Chisenhall went 4-6 with a pair of doubles and three runs batted in. Cord Phelps went 4-5 with three runs scored while Michael Valdez went 3-5.

Tracking the Olympics

Matt LaPorta turned in a much better game than he did the previous night against Cuba. He got hit by a pitch and garnered a four pitch walk from Akron teammate TJ Burton, but he still is pulling everything. His defense also cost the United States at multiple times.

Jeff Stevens was foregone in the 9th of a 1 run game because Brian Duensing was pitching that well. Burton pitched the one inning for Canada and he loaded up the bases, only to get out of it.

Nicky Weglarz got a hit in the game and yes he is very tall.

LaPorta 0-2 with a BB
Weglarz 1-4 with a R

I’m going through the motions..

Cliff Lee does it again!

Cliff Lee is the man!

Clifford the BIG RED RAZORBACK shuts down another explosive offense.

He hovered around that 70% strike mark again this time 80-117 is about 68%.

I mean jebus sir.

8 hits and 2 walks is 10 baserunners.. But it doesn’t matter! 6 sit-downs and the important number is 2 runs.

9 innings, 2 runs.. and the big old 17!

17 wins for Cliff Lee. How often do you see 17-2?

Huh? Do ya see it often? No you don’t.. First guy to go 16-2 since Pedro Martinez, and I can’t wait to see the stats that are gonna unfold from everyone about 17-2.

Big Tex was the lone bug in Cliff’s hair, going 3-4. But he got that big double play ball in the 8th inning to retire the side. So say what you want about the 3 hits, he got Teixeira when it counted.

He held the 4, 5, and 6 hitters, Vlad, Hunter and Anderson to 1-11. That’s fantastic. All three of those guys left 2 guys on base.. That’s how their offense works. Chone Figgins gets on and they are in business.

Cliff Lee said no sir.. You can get on base but you aren’t scoring.

Loved the offense tonight.. The Angels not only have good starters they got a good bullpen and the Tribe got to that combo just enough.

Back to back doubles by Francisco and Jhonny Peralta got the first run in. Then two innings later Mr Garko knocked in yet another RBI.. I do believe he has an RBI in all but one game since last Saturday against Toronto.. He was 1-4 tonight and he is hitting .348 since he returned from his benching with 6 RBI. He did strike out three times tonight but I tell ya what, he is battling deeper into the count lately.

Drubs got the bases loaded walk to push ahead the go-ahead run and it was allllll Cliff Lee from there on out. Choo had another double and went 2-3.. He’s a machine when it comes to those.. Already 21 on the year. Francisco has been here a little longer and just has 25.

Damn.. One hell of a win tonight.. Just one hell of a win..

Tomorrow is the Fausto Man against big bad John Lackey early on FOX. If you are going to the game, enjoy the hall of fame celebration and get there early!

[BOXSCORE]

Here is Asdrubal Cabrera throwing a ball without the aid of ground under him.

Andy Gonzalez probably doesn’t have a Dough boy belly, but this was the first thing I thought of when I saw the picture.

Looks like they are bullying around Shin-Soo Choo after his country’s team beat the United States.

Someone broke Paul Byrd’s toaster

I found the culprit!!!!!

The Ghost of Joba Chamberlain!

For all you arcade ski-ball fans..

Thank you and good night Jhonny.