Additional data point!

Mere hours after my previous post about the Tribe's poor work in easy run-scoring situations, we're given the gift of the Top of the 2nd in Tampa Bay. Andy Gonzalez walks, Sal Fasano doubles, and we've got 2nd and 3rd, one out.

Cabrera strikeout, Gutierrez groundout. Zero runs.


Exciting in-game update!
The Tribe, apparently tired of my criticism, righted the ship in the 5th. After Peralta's double pushed Jamey Carroll to 3rd (I love walks) with one out, los Indios capitalized with a Choo RBI single and a Marte two-run double to take a 5-3 lead.

Granted, Sal Fasano didn't get the memo, going down on strikes with runners on 1st and 3rd and one out, but he has an awesome mustache and is somehow OPS-ing like .850, so I'll let it slide. For now.

And, to JHH's point about Garko: Wedgie rightfully benched him for not even leaving the batter's box on a fair ball; Marte replaced him in the lineup and has only gone 2-2 with a two-run double that put the Tribe up 5-3.


Soul-destroying in-game update!
Edward Mujica somehow assumed the role of closer for the day today, as the Tribe headed into the 9th with a three-run lead, poised to take a road series from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Mujica is, of course, not far removed from appearing in the last Indians game I went to, where he quickly turned an 11-7 Indians lead into an 11-11 tie, needing only 28 pitches and two outs to do so.

Today, Mujica set new personal standards for efficiency, requiring no more than nine pitches and roughly 13 seconds to transform a 7-4 lead into a 7-7 tie, without worrying about the pesky details of actually getting a batter out. Well done!

But erstwhile Tribe closer Masa Kobayashi was not to be outdone. Kobayashi bested his bullpen mate in allowing three runs on EIGHT pitches (including a clever four-pitch walk) without retiring a batter, as Tampa Bay won 10-7. This appearance went by so fast that it actually took -5 seconds; along this particular space-time continuum, Kobayashi's appearance was so fast that it actually ended before he even threw the first pitch. This, as far as I know, is a Major League record.

Seriously, though, that inning was horrible, awful, terrible, disgusting, unacceptable. After two innings of Relief Ace Rafael Perez sawing through the Devil Ray lineup, these guys gave up SIX runs on SEVENTEEN pitches. Did you happen to watch the Home Run Derby this year? It's not trivial, even throwing intentional batting practice pitches to the game's best sluggers, to give up that many runs that quickly. Tampa Bay might not have been that good had their players been hitting off of a tee. I rarely get to say this, but I'm confident I could have outperformed these guys today. The worst game of a very bad year.