Month: April 2006 (Page 15 of 17)

Michaels, bullpen help Tribe win second straight

April 5, 2006 / John Blake

In a tight extra inning affair, the Indians came out on top in the rubber match to beat the White Sox 4-3 in 11 innings. Jason Michaels delivered the game-winning double for the Tribe and Bob Wickman came in and got the save. Indians starter Cliff Lee went 5 1/3 innings and gave up three runs before turning it over to the bullpen, which did a superb job keeping the Sox scoreless the rest of the way.

Michaels and Mota were awesome today. Jason is a tough and gritty ballplayer who gives it his all in the outfield and in the batter�s box. Whether he gets a hit or not, he seems to be a very difficult out who will always give himself a chance to get on base. Mota has great movement on his pitches and really showed me something today with his performance. Great win and just like last season, Eric Wedge knows the focus of this team is on winning series.

“Our goal is to win each series and it’s nice to get this first one,” Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said after Wednesday’s 4-3, 11-inning victory over the defending World Series champions.

Cleveland Indians

Cavs keep news positive

April 5, 2006 / Bob

The Cleveland Cavaliers are winning games and Larry Hughes has returned to the team with a clean bill of health. This gives all of us Cleveland fans reason to smile. In recent years, Cleveland fans would expect to hear some bad news and feel something negative was going to happen.

Not this time. Damon Jones, as he predicted, was cleared of any crimes or wrong doings and according to police reports fully cooperated during the investigation. It�s good for the team to move past this situation and concentrate on the playoffs.
Also, the news on Zydrunas Ilgaukas is positive. The MRI and X-rays both came back negative and the Cavaliers are going to rest him for tonight�s game in New York. I don�t believe Z would be playing full time whether he got hurt or not. The more rest Z and LeBron James can have before the playoffs, the better.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Browns continue to make moves

April 5, 2006 / Bob

The Cleveland Browns quietly re-signed another local player. The state of Ohio has always been rich in football talent. I�m glad to finally see the Buckeyes and Browns taking advantage of this by keeping guys at home to play football.
The defensive line needs to be deep in talent and special teams is something that Coach Crennel has always felt is important to win games.

Cleveland Browns

Z goes out, but Cavs rout

April 5, 2006 / John Blake

The Cavaliers laid an old fashioned whipping to the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night, demolishing them 124-91 at the Q and winning their ninth straight. LeBron scored 37 before he and the rest of the starters were taken out of the game early in the fourth quarter. The Cavs scored 69 points in the first half and never looked back. They were on fire from three-point range, finishing 11 of 22 from beyond the arc. LeBron, as always, treated the home crowd to quite a show, including an absolutely ridiculous alley-oop dunk from Flip Murray in the second quarter. Almost everyone had a hand in the action. Varejao finished with a double-double, Drew Gooden added 23 points, and Larry Hughes had 10 in his first game back. There was some bad news in that Zydrunas Ilgauskas left the game early in the first quarter with an ankle sprain, but X-rays were negative.

This would be a killer if Z is out for a long period of time. He was able to walk off the court under his own power so let�s hope he was held out for the rest of the game strictly as a precautionary measure. As could be expected, Hughes started slow but got more comfortable as the game progressed. It�s going to take him some time to work his way back into the starting lineup bit it�s great to finally have him back.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Indians rebound from poor opener, dispose of Sox

April 4, 2006 / John Blake

Maybe it�s the weather. On a sunny afternoon in Chicago, the Indians� bats came alive as they beat Freddy Garcia and the White Sox handily 8-2 for their first win of the season. They got much of their offensive punch from third baseman Aaron Boone, who went 4 for 5 with a homer and 4 RBI. Starter Jake Westbrook pitched a solid game for the Tribe, giving up two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. As far as C.C is concerned, Jason Davis will take his spot in the rotation until he returns.

After a dreary opening night, we obviously needed a game like this. Boone is carrying over his tremendous spring to the regular season, a far cry from 2005 when he had an atrocious first couple months. Granted it�s early but Boonie really seems to be focused and locked in at the plate.

“Without having to worry about his leg and having a year under his belt versus not having played for a year and a half, he’s been a different guy from day one this spring,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said.