Cliff Lee was cruising through the first six innings until the seventh when he ran into trouble. He gave up three in the inning as the Tribe fell again, this time to the Detroit Tigers 5-4 at the Jake. With the game tied at two, Craig Monroe put the Tigers up with a two-run homer in the seventh. The Tribe battled back but it once again wasn’t enough as they lose their fourth straight. Casey Blake homered twice in the game for the Indians, giving him six on the season.

We are really pressing right now. As Wedge mentioned after the game, the players may be putting too much on their shoulders and think they have to get the job done themselves.

“We’re in one of those stretches right now and have to work our way out,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “Some guys are trying to do a bit too much. If they just do what they are capable of individually, it will work out as a team.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers battle to win there first home game with the Detroit Pistons just got little harder. The unexpected death of Larry Hughes’s brother has forced the Cavs to face the Pistons without their defensive star. LeBron James and the Cavs don’t expect Hughes to return for the Saturday afternoon game.

Coach Mike Brown has stated numerous times that Hughes was very close to his family and fully expects him to stay with them through this tragedy.

The Cavs have won without Larry Hughes in the line-up before as he missed 45 regular season games with a finger injury. Let’s hope with or without Hughes the Cavs can win this one and make this a series.

Nor should he be. The Tribe’s pitching has been a disaster. Paul Byrd and Jason Johnson have been pretty bad, and stiffs like Mota and Graves in the bullpen have been even worse. Shapiro didn’t hide his displeasure in a conference call with reporters:

“In general, I’m disappointed and concerned,'’ Shapiro said. “And not just because of the last three days. All that did was bring to a head things we were evaluating for a period of time.'’

Things need to be fixed in the bullpen, and Shapiro is looking at a number of options. Mota has already lost his set-up job, and Graves is probably the most vulnerable regarding his spot on the roster.

Many of us thought Shipiro did a great job in the offseason in filling some of the holes left by Kevin Millwood and Bob Howry. I still think he made the right call not resigning those guys because the price was way too high, but the other moves have not worked well so far. Paying $14 for Paul Byrd appears to be the biggest mistake so far. Let’s hope that changes.

Fortunately, this team is loaded with young arms, and it looks like Shapiro might be willing to give them a chance.