Author: John Blake (Page 62 of 68)

They just keep on rolling. The Indians continue to rake the ball around the park, putting up 13 hits in their 9-5 win over the Seattle Mariners Tuesday night in the first game of the series. The middle of the Tribe’s lineup went 8 for 10 including two homers and five RBI. Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralta hit back to back jacks in the fifth and Victor Martinez went 3 for 3 in the game to propel the Tribe’s offense. Cliff Lee got his first win of the season, surrendering only two runs and recording eight punchouts through six innings. Even the slumping Ronnie Belliard got in the action with a two-RBI single in the 7th, giving him just his third hit of the season.

“We’re all confident right now,” said Lee, who retired 14 straight after a leadoff walk in the first. “Everybody is pitching well. Everybody is hitting well. We keep swinging like this, and I don’t see a whole lot changing.”

Ronnie has struggled at the plate in the early going and his injury didn’t help. Perhaps his base hit late in the ballgame will give him some relief and boost his confidence. As for the others in the lineup, just keep mashing!

Jake Westbrook pitched another fantastic ballgame, allowing only one run on two hits in 7 1/3 innings as the Indians won their fifth straight, beating the Twins 3-2. The Tribe earned their first sweep of the season and beat one of the game’s best pitchers, Johan Santana, in the process. Eduardo Perez took Santana deep in the fourth and Aaron Boone delivered a two-run double in the sixth.

“We’re six games into the season,” cautioned Perez. “But we’re getting good pitching, good fielding and guys like Travis Hafner are really hitting well.”

The Indians sure are doing a good job of putting the past behind them. They know they can’t have a repeat of the last two Aprils when they struggled out of the gate. They are really clicking in every facet of the game, it’s just too bad they have a day off. Hopefully that won’t affect our momentum going into the Seattle series.

The Tribe beat the Minnesota Twins 3-0 Saturday, extending their win streak to four. Jason Johnson was superb in his first outing as an Indian, giving up only four base hits in seven innings. Travis Hafner continued his hot streak, going 3 for 3 while hitting his fourth homer of the season. Wickman shut the door in the bottom of the ninth to get his second save of the season.

What a great performance by Johnson. I didn’t really know what to expect from him but he came in and pitched an excellent ballgame. At least for one day, Shapiro looks like a genius for signing Jason in the offseason.