Tribe take two of three of four

If anyone was actually paying attention to my last series post, you would have noticed that I only posted the probable pitchers for three of four pitching matchups of this four-game series in the Bronx against the Yankees. The interesting thing here is that tomorrow I will be flying to Miami, so I'll be a little busy to write up the series wrapup. So I'm taking this chance to write up the first three games and properly preview the Pavano-Burnett duel I know you're all excited about.

Thursday's game one represented the first game at the Yankees' new Yankee Stadium. It also represented Cliff Lee's first win this year, the first grand slam at the new stadium by Grady Sizemore and the first of many, many embarrassing losses by the overpriced, overhyped, and underperforming Yankees. Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia, the last two American League Cy Young winners, was the pitching matchup, which isn't too shabby. CC held the Tribe to only one run in five and two thirds innings of work, but the Indians made CC work for it. CC threw 122 pitches, walking five and striking out four while surrendering five hits for that lone Indians run. Not to be outdone, Lee posted a similar line of one earned run on six innings while walking three and striking out four. The lone Yankees run off Lee was a Jorge Posada solo shot in the bottom of the fifth. Cliff Lee's performance was a real improvement over his first two starts. Offensively the Tribe opened up a can on the Yankees in the top of the seventh, scoring nine runs, four of them from the previously mentioned Sizemore grand slam. The Rafaels finished the game out, as Perez worked two innings and Betancourt pitched the ninth. Tribe (3-7) win 10-2. Perez's two innings of work in a blowout could be questioned, but with an ERA of 14.14 (after Thursday's work) Perez hasn't yet been his usual lights-out self. As Perez worked he seemed to find his slider a little more so hopefully he's on the road back to the setup man we need.

Friday's game two saw Anthony Reyes on the mound for the Tribe. Reyes was a pseudo-savior in his previous start, and he did OK Friday as well. After five innings of work, Reyes had given up three solo home runs and allowed only those three runs - hey, maybe new Yankee Stadium is a hitter's park. Reyes gets the no decision and the likes of Jackson, Smith, Chulk, and Jensen Lewis were asked to hold the line. Jackson and Smith pitched the sixth, with Jackson giving up a run. Chulk picked up his first blown save of the season, thanks to an unearned run in the seventh courtesy of his own error. Lewis gets the loss, giving up the decisive run in the eighth on a Derek Jeter home run. Offensively, this was a rather quiet game for the Tribe, as they only scored five runs. Joba "No Decision" Chamberlain only lasted four and two thirds after giving up five runs. Mark DeRosa hit his second home run in as many days - this park can't hold a baseball! Poor bullpen work gets the real blame on this one. Sure, there was some controversy with two men on in the ninth and DeRosa called out on questionable strikes. Tribe (3-8) lose 5-6.

Today was a long day, mainly because the Indians took 37 minutes to bat in the top of the second. The final tally was 14 runs, an outburst that started with a check-swing 60-ft single by Travis Hafner to the left side of the shifted infield. After that we were treated to:

- Single by Peralta
- Choo homerun, Peralta and Hafner score (Score: 3-2)
- Garko pops out
- Francisco doubles
- Asdrubal single scoring Francisco (Score: 4-2)
- Sizemore doubles, Asbrubal to third
- DeRosa doubles scoring Asdrubal and Sizemore (Score: 6-2)
- Victor singles, DeRosa scores thanks to a wild pitch (Score: 7-2)
- Pitching change Wang out Claggett in
- Hafner doubles, Victor to third
- Peralta doubles, Victor and Hafner score (Score: 9-2)
- Choo walks
- Garko singles no one scores bases loaded
- Francisco strikes out
- Cabrera grand slam everyone scores! (Score: 13-2)
- Grady homers (Score: 14-2)
- DeRosa strikes out inning finally over

I'm going to just skip ahead to the end and give you the gaudy offensive numbers. There were seven doubles and six home runs by the Indians alone. In seven at bats, DeRosa had seven runs batted in. All of Cabrera's five runs batted in came in the second. Of the starters, the only one without multiple hits was Choo, who walked twice on top of his home run. The Indians scored 22 runs on 25 hits. Wang, who started for the Yankees, now has a ERA of 34.50 in three starts spanning all of five and two thirds innings. Have I mentioned this new stadium could see a few home runs this year? Pitching-wise, Carmona went six innings and accounted for all four of the Yankee runs. Six innings for this staff is as close to a complete game as we've had this season. Indians (4-8) win 22-4, as Eric Wedge wins number 500.

In the first three games new Yankee Stadium has seen 17 home runs. Yeah that's a few. At this point you have to feel bad that Kerry Wood has been called on just once for a save in these first twelve games. Overall you have to be happy with the Tribe's offense in this series so far.

Game 4: Carl Pavano, RHP (0-2, 16.71) vs. A.J. Burnett, RHP (2-0, 2.70)

The return to the Bronx of the much-hated Pavano going up against the best pitcher the Yankees have right now. Before the series started, and I still thought it was a three-game series, I thought the Indians had a good shot at taking the series. Burnett is going to be a tough one for these Indians, and having Pavano toe the rubber isn't making me feel any better. Luckily the Indians have an off day Monday before heading home to face the . . . Royals, again.

Go Tribe!

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)