Month: June 2005 (Page 4 of 9)

So who’s the hottest team in baseball? The Indians, of course. Jake Westbrook limited the Diamondbacks to two runs in eight innings while Bob Wickman notched his 20th save in Sunday’s 3-2 win. The Tribe now has ninth straight, the longest current streak in all of baseball, and now find themselves just one game out of the Wild Card at 37-30. Of course, they’re still 8.5 behind the White Sox, who won again Sunday night, and this week’s series against the Red Sox will be a big test, but this is the kind of baseball we all expected when the season began. The bats are hot, the starters are lights-out virtually every night and the ‘pen is one of the best in baseball. Man, does this feel good or what?

The red-hot Tribe made it eight in a row with a 3-1 victory over the Diamondbacks. Scott Elarton has turned into a reliable starter and he delivered another fine outing even after 10 days rest. The bullpen slammed the door again and the offense delivered just enough to give Elarton his fourth win of the year. Unfortunately, the White Sox won again, though the Tribe is serving notice that they are a team to be reckoned with this season.

The offense is officially on a roll. The Indians pounded the Diamondbacks for 10 runs in the third inning on their way to a 13-6 victory. It was their seventh-straight win, and for a change the offense carried the day. Aaron Boone contines his resurgence, and Casey Blake hit another home run as he works to break out of his own slump.

Meanwhile, Grady Sizemore continues to make Shapiro look like a genius. Three years after the Bartolo Colon trade, Sizemore and Cliff Lee have become important components of this team, and Brandon Phillips still has great potential. Not every one of Shapiro’s trades yielded gems like Sizemore and Lee, but it’s hard to argue with the salary dump he initiated once it became clear that the Tribe needed to rebuild. Even the Robbie Alomar deal is paying dividends as Shapiro parlayed Matt Lawton into Arthur Rhodes, transforming the bullpen into a real asset this season. It remains to be seen whether the current roster can make it to the playoffs, but the Indians are certainly better off than they would have been had Shapiro held on to Colon and fading stars like Alomar and Thome. The salary structure is under control, and there is real hope for this season and beyond with guys like Sizemore and Lee leading the way.

The Indians now find themselves four games above .500 and 8.5 behind the White Sox and 3 games behind the Twins after beating the Rockies 2-1 Thursday night. In his first start back from the DL, Kevin Millwood shut Colorado out for five innings to earn his second win of the year and give the Indians their second-straight series sweep. Now sitting at 34-30 on the season and hosting the struggling Diamondbacks this weekend, the Indians have a chance to pad their record and make up even more ground in the Central.