The Indians have now lost their last seven series openers dating back to mid-May. Chien-Ming Wang shut out the Tribe as the Yankees were victorious in a 1-0 pitchers duel Tuesday night. Indians starter Paul Byrd was almost equally as effective, giving up only one run in seven innings. For the first time this season, Byrd’s ERA dropped below 5.00. Unfortunately for the Tribe, it was the sixth inning that turned out to be their undoing in the ballgame. In the top of the inning after Grady Sizemore led off with a double, they stranded runners on first and third with only one out when Victor Martinez grounded into a double play to end the Tribe’s only threat of the game.

“It worked out perfect for them,” Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. “That kid has a real heavy sinker, too. It has some run on it as well as some down to it.”

Then in the bottom half, Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano homered off Byrd for the go-ahead and eventual winning run. With the Cleveland loss and Detroit win, the Indians continue their fall in the standings. They now sit 11 games behind the Tigers in the Central.

Byrd followed up his previous strong start against the A’s and pitched another stellar game. For the first month of the season Byrd was getting the best run support of any pitcher in the league. The offense was averaging somewhere around a ridiculous 12 or 13 runs per game every time Byrd took the mound. They couldn’t have saved a few of those runs for Tuesday night?

Another bullpen shakeup took place Tuesday as Jason Davis was sent down to Buffalo and Jeremy Guthrie was brought up. In eight starts in AAA this season, Guthire was 3-1 with a 2.78 ERA. Davis continues to be a mystery. With his electric stuff, he has all the makings of a dominant pitcher but just has never been able to settle into any role, whether it be in the rotation or in the pen. He’s not getting the job done up in Cleveland so Shapiro had no choice but to give Guthrie a shot.

Kenny Roda will be writing a weekly blog on Cleveland Scores covering the entire Cleveland sports universe. Check back often for his updates!

HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE

If professional athletes really wanted to clean up their sport and even the playing field, they would allow their players union to agree to any form of testing for steroids or any type of drugs. The problem is they really don’t want to rid the sport of those drugs. They’re attitude is that it is a level playing field. Those who want to take the drugs can and those who don’t “Just Say No!” What a great message these so-called heroes are sending to today’s youth!

I say way to go to Jason Grimsley. Name names. Let the cat out of the bag. That seems to be the only way athletes will react to cheating. Look what Jose Canseco started. Without Jose’s book we wouldn’t have made the improvements we have so far on steroids. So if Jason Grimsley turning rat helps the sport of baseball and maybe the other professional sports, then I’m all for it.

TIGER RETURNING

Tiger Woods is coming off a nine week layoff and the death of his father to participate in this week’s U.S Open. One of the things Earl Woods taught his son was mental toughness. Earl Woods would purposely jingle his keys or make noises while Tiger was in his back swing. He wanted to teach Tiger to stay focused no matter what he heard or what the situation was. Well, if Tiger Woods is able to win this year’s U.S Open, it would be his greatest Major victory in my opinion. To be able to overcome that physical layoff and then focus mentally while still trying to deal with the death of his father on Father’s Day weekend would be quite a feat. A win like that would put the biggest smile ever on Earl Woods’ face!

WORLD CUP

This just in…the United States sucks at soccer. In its first game of the over hyped World Cup, the United States lost to a country known for hockey, the Czech Republic, 3-0. In soccer, from what I’ve been told, that’s a butt whoopin’. Now maybe the World Cup will die a fast death and I won’t have to hear about it in this country from Drew Carey or anyone else for another four or eight years or however long it is until this event happens again.

BIG BEN CRASHES

Why do athletes feel like they are invincible? Players these days are of the mindset that they can take any drug and not be affected. They can drink and drive and they’ll beat the rap if they get caught. They can ride a motorcycle with or without a helmet and nothing could ever happen to them physically because of who they are. This just baffles me beyond belief. Did Ben Roethlisberger not see what happened to Browns tight end Kellen Winslow, Jr. last May when he crashed doing wheelies? He lived, but missed the entire 2005 season. What about former Chicago Bulls point guard Jay Williams and his horrific motorcycle crash that nearly killed him and has him trying to make it back into the NBA three years later? This just in…riding a motorcycle is career-threatening and, more importantly, life-threatening no matter how good of a driver you think you are.

For Big Ben, to have been aware of these two previous bike accidents and still not wear a helmet is just plain stupid! With the money athletes make and considering how important they are to their franchises, GMs everywhere should create each contract with a no motorcycle riding clause in it. If the player doesn’t like it, they don’t play and can go try to make millions of dollars elsewhere, like maybe McDonalds or K-Mart. For an athlete, their body is their tool for their trade and you would think they would want to take care of it as best as possible. Take as few risks as possible. But the “God” complex they have makes them feel like they can do anything they want and nothing will happen to them and even if by chance something bad does occur, they will overcome it.

Winslow and Williams say they looked back on their accidents and realized how dumb their choices were and have learned from them. Winslow hopes to return this season for the Browns, but he may never be the same player he was coming out of the University of Miami because of the knee injury he suffered. Same with Williams, as he’s received a couple of tryouts from NBA teams so far. The Steelers are hoping that Roethlisberger’s injuries to his face, head and other body parts will not be career-threatening and they’ll have him back under center, maybe as early as this year. That is yet to be determined. If anything, you hope Big Ben has learned a valuable lesson about risk versus reward and the consequences that may come from the choices you make. Ben, let me help you with one choice. If you and Tom Cruise’s character Mavrick in “Top Gun” still feel the need for speed and must ride a motorcycle, do all Steeler fans a favor. Do all youngsters who look up to you as a hero a favor and pretend you’re at work and wear a damn helmet!