A Kansas Win, or a Memphis Loss?
April 8, 2008LeBron James, Kevin Garnett Playoff Promo
April 9, 2008Hafner’s homer, Jake’s pitching good enough for Tribe win.
First, let’s recognize a streak that came to an end. The Angels had not lost a game in which they led after 8 innings in 163 games. That’s a full season’s worth of victories (spread out since April 19th, 2006.) That is quite an impressive feat. (No wonder they are still selling a ton of those dumb monkeys.)
Westbrook went the distance in this one, and needed just 94 pitches to do it. The only real trouble he got into was in the 6th. After two slap hits and a sacrifice fly, Westbrook left a breaking pitch too high, and right in the middle of the plate for Vlad Guerrero. Vlad hit one well over the 400 foot mark, and the Angels were in the lead 3-2. The Angels bats were quiet the rest of the night. Jake struck out 4, while walking nobody. He induced 3 double plays, including a huge one in the ninth off the bat of Guerrero. Jake evens his record at 1-1 this year with a 2.76 ERA.
Hafner’s blast in the bottom of the ninth was a no doubter. Hafner never gets that chance had Asdrubal Cabrera not worked the count and drawn a walk with 2 down in the inning. When Hafner stepped in the box he was ready, and jumped on the first pitch from Justin Speier. This was one of those games that had the Indians lost it would have been a real shame because of how well Westbrook had pitched. The Tribe stranded 9 base runners, to L.A.’s 1. David Dellucci got his first hit of the season, a double in the 6th. Dellucci is the last Indian to get his first hit. Even Marte and Jeremy Carroll had hits before him.
Here’s hoping that this blast ignites Travis. He certainly looked the part when he hit it. Maybe the Tribe slugger will use this game as a springboard to a hot streak. At the very least he helped the Indians climb back to .500 at 4-4. The Indians look to take the series tomorrow afternoon when they send Paul Byrd to the mound to face off against Dustin Moseley. Moseley is 2-0 in his career against the Indians with a 3.68 ERA. The Indians have hit .293 off the right hander however in the 4 games he has pitched against the Indians.
By the way, the Tigers lost again. They are 0-7. Chicago may be hot right now, but I’m not dismissing Detroit, and I’m happy to put a little distance between us. Especially considering how bad the Indians offense has been.
5 Comments
Hey Rick, how great was that to hear the crack of Hafner’s bat with the HR at 1:00 in the morning! I’ll be glad when our tribe gets home for some “regualr game- times” to celebrate the hits, etc. I won’t complain too much. Only my neighbors wonder why I’m up middle of the night yelling. Way to hard to get to sleep after a 9th inning come from behind win!
Carol,
I walked out of my living room for just a second and then BOOM …the sound of that shot was amazing…I was back in the room before the anouncers were able to say a word …that was a wonderful sound…!!!
I would like to say that STO had the game mic’ed very well ,,,but most of the night I was cussing out the idiot in the crowed who was yelling SOOO loud …..( At first I thought it was a vendor )
well I nice win for the Tribe !!!
Looks like Jake is ready for a career year …and I have been very happy with Cliff Lee spring thru now ….it wouuld have been easy to trade him over the winter…..I hope Cliff not only returns to form , but has his best year….With the possiblity of CC leaving we need every arm.
On Byrd – well if you look at his year over year stats …he has a good year then a bad one …this is a pattern that worries me …one of my favorite Indians ( talk about down to earth and a stand up guy ! ) …he goes today lets hope he bucks his career trend.
Go Tribe
Dang it. I fell asleep again.
I didnt see one full game of the LAA series.
Glad the tribe won. I agree with Carol. Cant wait until they get back to “normal” starting times.
Quick look at the schedule reveals thier next west coast roadie (LAD) with 10PM games isnt until mid -June. Hooray.
B4 the swing = Hafner you bleeping bleep, u better make up for all your weak bleeping grounders to 2nd base with runners in scoring position by wacking this one outta here, all that money wasted on a strikeout old timer who cant even put the ball in the air anymore
8fter the swing = I love u, u are the best player ever, on pace for 40 HRS, money is all worth it, MVP for sure
Gotta love the Tribe
Doesn’t anyone know grammar anymore? Maybe this is Hafners coming out party. Uh… Second coming out party? I just hope he gets into something consistent.