Cleveland Indians vs. Kansas City Royals
Cliff Lee vs. Brian Bannister
Tuesday June 9, 2009
Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
The Indians are looking to win their second straight series vs. a divisional opponent tonight. With a win tonight, the Indians can also leap frog KC and climb into 4th place in the A.L. Central and climb out of the basement, hopefully for good. Some things that I kept my “I” on:
-I’m liking the navy alternate jerseys at home.
-Jamey Carroll’s hit streak sits at seven, we’ll see if he can make it eight tonight.
-Well that was quick, it’s now at eight, not too shabby for a utility guy.
-Before I forget, I would like to send my condolences out to Matt Underwood and his family for the loss of his mother.
-am/pm went from a bad commercial to possibly a worse one with this guy asking for a cart in what looks like a Randall Cunningham throwback Eagles jersey minus the name and logo.
-I’m feeling a 7-2 homestand coming up, with a sweep over the Royals, and then taking 2 out of 3 from the Cardinals and Brewers.
-Miguel Olivo gives the Royals a 1-0 nothing lead with a solo shot in the top of the 3rd.
-KC adds another run on a single then stolen base by Willie Bloomquist, who would later score on an RBI triple from David DeJesus.
-Cliff Lee pitches an important scoreless fourth after giving up two in the 3rd, now it’s time for some run support.
-This might mark the first time in my 32 years that I’ve seen a pitcher take their shoe off and put it back on in the mound during the game. Cliff Lee had on black socks by the way…a fab five fan possibly? Nah, I would have to say the Razorbacks for sure, at least from the mid 90s.
-The next thing that followed after Matt Underwood said Cliff Lee was looking for his first 1-2-3 inning of the game: a base hit by Mark Teahen in the top of the 6th (cue creepy organ music for what is to follow).
-Royals go ahead 3-0 with the help of a bad safe call at third on a throw by Shin-Soo Choo trying to nail Mark Teahen on Miguel Olivo’s single.
-2: the number of times I’ve said the name Miguel Olivo in my lifetime, both of which happened in this recap.
-Willie Bloomquist’s infield single brings in Teahen, Olivo goes to second then Olivo scores on a throwing error by Kelly Shoppach on a double steal, Royals 4, Indians 0.
-Two runs have now scored since the mention of the first 1-2-3 inning after two outs.
-End of the top of the 6th, finally.
-Indians get runners on the corners with no outs in the bottom of the 6th due to a leadoff walk to Jamey Carroll and a single by Victor Martinez.
-A key error at first by Billy Butler trying to throw to second to start a double play. The end result, the Indians get their first run and now have runners at first and second with no one out still. Royals 4, Indians 1.
-This could be an important inning for my sweeping the Royals prediction to come true! Haha
-Mark DeRosa somehow channeled my blog and delivered a base hit to load the bases with no outs, Brian Bannister exit’s the game for the Royals, John Bale enters.
-I smell a grand slam for Pronk.
-The real Pronk result: ground ball to first that Billy Butler decides to go home with, the throw forces Olivo to come off the plate just enough for Victor Martinez to be safe at home, Royals 4, Indians 2.
-Shoppach hit’s a sacrafice fly to right scoring Choo. Shaving the beard was the best thing Shoppach has done this season. Royals 4, Indians 3, still in the bottom of the 6th. This game has suddenly become fun to watch/write about.
-Jhonny Peralta’s pinch hit fielder’s choice scores Mark DeRosa. The runs haven’t come in a super entertaining fashion, but they count just the same. Indians 4, Royals 4.
-Josh Barfield returns to being Josh Barfield and not the two hit having Barfield from last Friday and strikes out to end the big inning.
-Ironically, Luis Vizcaino and Rafael Perez combine to get the first 1-2-3 inning for the Indians in the top of the 7th.
-Oh, and another thing before I forget. I apologize for any grammatical errors in my past blog entries. I write my original post in a word processor document and then copy and paste them into my blog software and it seems to decode words a little weird. I try to catch them the best I can but thanks for dealing with the occasional glitch.
-Infield single, walk, and hit batter load the bases for the Tribe with one out in the 7th.
-I want to see Eric Wedge grow out a mustache only til the next time the Indians play Kansas City and challenge Trey Hillman to a draw.
-Mark DeRosa says I’ll take four of those rib-eyes with a king of all home runs grand slam, Indians 8, Royals 4. That’s now 8 unanswered runs. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say this will be enough to win this game and preserve for at least one more day my prediction.
-Indians relievers tonight have given up only one hit, while striking out three with Kerry Wood coming into the 9th.
-Kerry Wood makes the bullpen total four strikeouts on the night while only allowing one hit, nicely done.
Overall not a great performance by Cliff, but heck, the Indians still owe him run support for plenty of games this year that they haven’t scored enough for him to get multiple wins he’s lost out on. A great way to start the home stand and now Kansas City is in our rear-view mirror. Next, time to put the White Sox there too and keep the collective foot on the accelerator.
Keywords: Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals
