Steve Koobs's Cleveland Indians fan blog

MLB.com has reported that Rafael Betancourt has been traded to the Rockies for Connor Graham, a minor leauge pitcher who will play in Akron. Betancourt has been with the Tribe since 2003 having a breakout year in 2007 with the division champs. In 68 games he posted a 1.47 ERA with 80 k in 79.1 IP. However last year he didn't do so hot. In 69 games he posted a 5.07 ERA in 71 IP with only 64 k's. He also had an opponent's average of .276 the highest in his career. This year he battled injuries only pitching in 29 games to this point. There is no doubt that he would have stayed with the Tribe if he could have been the same dominant reliever like he was in 2007. Sadly, he couldn't recreate those numbers, either could the rest of the team. Although he will be missed, change is needed in the str

Continue reading "Betancourt traded"

A rare thing happened today. A pitcher other than Cliff Lee pitched and WON the game. The pitcher, David Huff, had one of the best outings a pitcher besides Lee had all year. He went 7.2 innings with 8 hits, 4ER, and 4 k's. Sure he let the Jays come within 1 when he gave up a homerun to Millar in the eighth but he did great. And do did the bullpen. Joe Smith came in and did his job by getting the last out in the eighth. Then came in Kerry Wood. He had to shut down the Jays lineup with only a 1 run lead. After he hit the first batter Rios in the head things weren't looking good. Then Rios stole second putting the tying run in scoring position. Wood then shut down the Jays. He got 2 quick flyouts leaving him only 1 batter away from his 13th save. The Jays brought in Overbay to face Wood. He threw nothing but fastballs the whole at bat. During the at bat Rios stole third but Gimenez, who made his first career start at catcher, knew the runner didn't matter. Wood struck out Overbay looking giving the Indians the win in a close game, something that doesn't happen very often.

Continue reading "A Solid Win Tribe 5 Jays 4"

Once again the Indians pitching has cost them a win. Everything seemed good through the first 4 innings. The Jays were up 2-1 with two solo home runs. Those were their only two hits to that point and came on two bad pitches. Besides that Pavano was doing a good job. It was also good to see that the Tribe scored early after last night's game. Then the fifth inning came around. It started off with a home run by Wells. Then after two outs another home run was hit. Even though Pavano had given up four home runs he was only down 4-1. Then he fell apart. He walked a hitter then the Jays bats' woke up. They ended up driving in five runs in the inning bringing eight batters to the plate. In the sixth Valbuena brought the Tribe back in the game with a 3 run home run making it 7-4. In the

Continue reading "Indians pitching loses game once again"

Somehow, someway the Indians won a baseball game tonight. After leaving 11 guys on base through eight innings im sure that most people changed the channel. However, since Cliff Lee is the only player on the Indians that is earning their salary, (besides maybe V Mart), he found a way to win with no help. Sure Martinez got the gamewinning hit in the ninth but Choo had two chances early to drive in guys in scoring position and couldn't. I thought he was suppossed to be one of our key players this year. I don't think it has anything to do with Wedge that the team can't hit but i do think he needs to handle the pitching better. If he would have taken out Cliff in the ninth, he should have been fired on the spot.

Continue reading "Tribe barely wins"