The Tigers won their eighth straight Saturday night as they beat the Indians 3-1. The Tribe got the pitching they were looking for but more squandered opportunities led to another defeat. Paul Byrd pitched seven innings of solid ball but the Tribe failed on a golden opportunity in the sixth. Aaron Boone led off with a double and Casey Blake was hit by a pitch but they both were stranded as Jhonny Peralta and Travis Hafner both struck out. In the eighth inning, the Indians had a runner on third with one out but could not bring him home. Casey Blake struck out on a fastball right down the middle and Jhonny Peralta grounded out. Magglio Ordonez homered in the first to give the Tigers the early lead, one that they would not relinquish. Hard-throwing Tiger starter Justin Verlander improved to 7-3 on the season, giving up the lone Indians run in seven innings.

And the beat goes on for the Tribe. Nothing can seem to go right for them these days. One day it’s the pitching, the next it’s non-clutch hitting. They now fall to 11.5 games behind the Tigers in the Central. They MUST salvage this series and avoid a sweep Sunday afternoon.

Travis Hafner grew up in one of smallest towns in the country but is emerging into one of the biggest stars in major league baseball. How small you ask? Well, in Hafner’s hometown of Sykeston, North Dakota, the population is 174 and and his graduating class in high school consisted of a mere eight students. Pronk started out hardly knowing anything about baseball but with his athleticism and strength was able to transform himself into one of major league baseball’s most dangerous hitters.

SI.com writer Albert Chen takes a deeper look into the interesting path taken by Hafner from a raw, unknown kid to major league stardom.

Cowley County Community College baseball coach Dave Burroughs read a scouting report on the bulky Hafner and decided to give him a chance when he was playing high school ball.

When Hafner finally took the field in Arkansas City, Burroughs and his staff soon discovered that their new prospect was as raw as a slice of toro. “One of the first days we were going down to the field to take some fungoes, and I asked, ‘What’s a fungo?’” says Hafner. “When [Burroughs] talked about getting a runner from first to third by going the other way, I figured that was some real top-secret information. I had no idea what he was talking about.”

Despite not picking up the game quickly at first, his power and ability to hit at the plate stood out.

Hafner didn’t waste any time making his mark at Cowley. As a freshman he homered in three consecutive at-bats — “the next one went farther than the last,” says Burroughs — and as a sophomore he led Cowley to a Juco World Series title by smashing a game-winning, three-run homer in the championship game.
“Travis just needed at-bats against good pitching,” says Burroughs. “It was only a matter of time before everything came together. And it came together pretty quickly.”

Hafner eventually was drafted in the later rounds by the Texas Rangers and was traded to the Indians in 2002. Replacing Jim Thome was considered a tough task at the time but Pronk is having no problem putting up huge numbers and winning over the fans.

The Cleveland Browns have some bad news to deal with as minicap approaches. Phil Savage, Romeo Crennel and the front office have been dwelling on a solid draft and the recovering of their two stars, Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow. The Browns offense is looking as strong as the Bernie Kosar days, with the improved offense line and talented players at the skilled positions.

As a Cleveland fan, you knew something had to go wrong, everything was going to smooth. We open the paper to see Reuben Droughns accused of beating his wife and throwing her out door of their home.

Droughns is free bail and his wife is trying to get the charges dropped. This type of activity and press is what started William Green on his downward slide as a Cleveland Brown. Savage and Crennel have very little patience for this type of behavior and I’m positive the NFL will have something to say about it. He could receive anything from probation to a suspension. As we look to next season, I hope this offense can stay together through injuries and off the field embarrassments.

The Tribe were once again were victim to the big inning as they lost the first of three to the Detroit Tigers 8-3 Friday night. With the Indians down 4-2, Jason Davis relieved Jake Westbrook in the sixth with the bases loaded but gave up a three-run triple to Curtis Granderson to blow the game wide open. Seven of the runs were charged to Westbrook, who continues to have trouble against the Tigers. In 16 starts against them, he now has a 6.54 ERA. Nate Robertson got his fifth win of the season for Detroit. Jhonny Peralta and Eduardo Perez each had two hits and an RBI for the Tribe.

The sacrifice fly by the Tigers in the seventh really captures the Indians’ season so far in a nutshell. On a deep fly ball to center and Ordonez on second base, Grady Sizemore threw a light toss towards the infield and Jhonny Peralta somehow just missed the ball, enabling Ordonez to score.

“That has nothing to do with Grady,” Wedge said. “No matter what the score is, that can’t happen.”

Even though the game was somewhat out of reach at that point, mental lapses and careless plays like that continue to kill the Tribe and are partially responsible for their sub-par start this season. That’s the second time Peralta has recently made an inexplicable mental error, the first being when he didn’t run out that grounder down the line that ended up being fair.

I don’t know if the Indians have checked the standings lately but it’s time to get serious. This lackluster attitude of “Oh, we’re a good team and everything will work itself out” is getting ridiculous. The players continue to say that they are a better ballclub than what they are showing on the field. Well boys, it’s about time you start playing like the playoff contender that you think you are. Perhaps it’s time for Wedge to step in and kick these guys in the behind.