A Series Win, I'll Take It

Ah, the lowly Mariners. Yes, another one of the teams usually thought of at this point as a disappointment. Well we showed them! Strange - among the three starters Laffey, Sowers, and Lee if I would have had to pick the one who would lose I definitely would have went with Sowers. No doubt, having not pitched an Indians win since May 2007 Sowers while occasionally a hard-luck pitcher hasn't shown anything exceptional this year. However, this series was not to be the case. Laffey, my dear readers, was the only starter to give up a loss to the Mariners and watch out, because Sowers is on a roll, picking up his first victory of the year.

Laffey (5-6, 3.61) went only 3.2 innings, giving up 3 earned runs. But one costly mistake by Peralta means Laffey's box score line says he had given up 8 runs. Now I don't want to get into how you give up 8 runs while only 3 are earned, just believe me when I say it usually isn't pretty. The Tribe offense only mustered two runs off of Felix Hernandez who with a 7-6 record must be the shining light in what is a mostly dismal rotation (you'll see here soon). The rest of the game was pitched by Lewis (2.1) and Rincon (2.0) who both left without alowing an earned run.

Saturday's game saw the previously-mentioned Sowers toeing the rubber against Miguel Batista who came into the game with a 4-10 record and left with one more loss. Sowers , on the other hand, now sports a shiny new 1-5 record after going six innings and giving up 4 runs. Not a great performance, but against Batista it was all the Indians needed. Choo had an almost career night against his former team with three RBI on as many hits. The gang of Blake, Peralta, Guiterrez, and Carroll each had two RBI a piece. Toss in a RBI from Francisco and you have the Tribe's 9 runs which was just enough to win 9-6 after Masa gave up two more in the ninth. Who cares? - Tribe wins and so does Sowers! You could argue Sowers' win was because of those awesome retro jerseys.

Today's rubber match between these two teams saw the Mariners draw Cliff Lee four days removed from two scoreless All-Star Game innings while the Tribe's offense would be facing Carlos Silva, he of the 4-11 record coming in to the game. Needless to say Lee pitched a complete game giving up 2 runs, while Silva left after four innings having given up 4. Silva left after giving up a three run shot to Kelly Shoppach who ended the day with four RBI. Dellucci and Blake tacked on a few more runs and 6 was easy enough for the ace of the staff.

The left coast fun continues with a three game series in LA angainst the Angels before the Tribe head home to take on the Twins next weekend.

Game 1: Paul Byrd, RHP (3-10, 5.47) vs. Ervin Santana, RHP (11-3, 3.34)
Game 2: Matt Ginter, RHP (1-0, 0.00) vs. Jered Weaver, RHP (8-8, 4.03)
Game 3: Aaron Laffey, LHP (5-6, 3.61) vs. John Lackey, RHP (7-2, 2.58)

Game 1 will certainly be a test with the Indians facing All-Star Santana while wheeling out 3-10 Byrd. Let's hope a car crash that I can't look away from does not ensue. Game 2 will be interesting just to see Ginter pitch again. And finally let's hope Laffey's previous outing was just a case of too much downtime. This series definitely isn't against the best part of our rotation. Who am I kidding - our rotation is Lee at this point. So to take a few from the Angels would be nice. For those of you hard-working fellows, Wednesday's game is a scheduled day game so if you want to catch it on the East coast tune in at 3:30.

Fausto Carmona will join the team Monday to throw a little Monday and be evaluated, much like a horse would I suppose except he may be asked "how do you feel?" which a horse could never answer, to see when he can be placed back in the rotation. The obvious answer would be "as soon as possible please" but that is easier said then done. A healthy Fausto is the Tribe's number one priority.

Let's hope this road trip ends on a happier note than the last one. Go Tribe!

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)