Return to Progressive Field

A win! An actual win! The Tribe broke their 5-game losing streak tonight with a 3-2 victory over the A's, as I attended my first contest since Tribe Weekend. I know, right?

Last night happened to be Dog Night ("Puppypalooza") at the park, which was nothing short of embarrassing. The World Series has taken place at Progressive Field twice, and now we're reduced to having people bring dogs so we can crack the 8,000 fan barrier? How the mighty have fallen. Between the Lake County Captains and Cleveland Indians, I've now inadvertently attended two Faith Nights and two Dog Nights in the 2010 season. It's only a matter of time before I stumble into Peanut Butter Night, Sarah Palin Night, or Celibacy Night at a local ballpark.

In addition to a strong start from Justin Masterson and a surprising two-run home run from Matt LaPorta that elicited the most indifferent response to a go-ahead home run I've ever seen, two impressive performances made last night's win possible:

Mustard
As you can see in the photo at right, a summit of two great athletic champions took place at Progressive Field last night, and I think my message of encouragement inspired Mustard to a big win in the Hot Dog Race, pulling him into a tie with Onion and just two races back of the evil, disgusting cheater known as Ketchup.

Not only did Mustard take the checkered flag, but he also managed to knock Ketchup to the ground AND destroy one of the guys holding the finish line ribbon at the end. Well done, my tangy, delicious friend.


Pure Rage Perez
What more could you possibly want from Chris Perez? He's the best pitcher on the team, has easily the greatest hair in baseball, and even inspired everyone's favorite Twitter feed, . All he did last night was come into a one-run ballgame in the 8th with two of Joe Smith's runners on and get five outs, stranding Smith's friends and striking out four in the process to earn the save. That, my friends, is closing.