After a superb first two outings in which he allowed only three runs combined, Jake Westbrook had an uncharacteristically rough start Friday night, giving up five runs in six innings as the Tribe lost to the Tigers 5-1. Conversely, Tiger starter Kenny Rogers was very sharp, giving up only one run through eight. The lone Indians run came in the sixth when Eduardo Perez grounded into a double play, scoring Hafner.

Being a sinkerball pitcher, it’s unlike Westbrook to give up three home runs in a game. He missed his spots over the plate and Detroit made him and and the Tribe pay.

“I just got carried away with trying to throw the ball too hard,” he said. “You can’t make bad pitches against that team.”

The Cleveland Indians and Mr. Dolan, as I stated consistently for the past few weeks, will suffer from trying to find that “steal” when signing pitchers. The never got a true number one starter. C.C. Sabathia is a solid number two pitcher and may be a number one a couple years down the road.
The lose of Bob Howry and still using Bob Wickman as our closer will hurt the Tribe as this long season continues. Howry was “automatic” for two innings and Wicky did have luck and talent on his side last year. Cleveland has a very good offense, but I don’t believe they can continually out score their opponents to win games.
It’s still early in the season, but I think our magician GM Mark Shapiro needs to start making some calls and shore up this very mediocre pitching staff.

. . . but he has some serious praise for LeBron as well, who he puts at #2:

The intriguing subplot: LeBron is figuring out how to take over down the stretch, personified by what happened on Saturday in New Jersey (17 in the final quarter). At least once a game, he does something so explosive, so athletic, so incredible, you can’t even believe it happened. The last time I remember feeling this way about a professional athlete was Bo Jackson, who wasn’t just great … he stood out. I attended a spring training game once when Bo scored from third base on a 180-foot pop fly — standing up. It was awesome to watch.

Well, LeBron reminds me of Bo. On those plays when he says, “Screw it, I’m scoring” and heads toward the basket like a runaway freight train. He’s like a young Barkley crossed with a young Shawn Kemp crossed with young Magic, but with a little Bo thrown in. Out of anyone in the league, he’s the only player who can cripple the other team with one monster play.

That’s the first time I’ve heard the Bo Jackson reference, bit Simmons makes a great point.