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The Indians were finally able to get to Kenny Rogers for once. The Tribe scored five runs off the lefty in 4 1/3 innings as the Indians avoided the sweep and pounded the Tigers 9-0. Travis Hafner homered in the first to put the Indians on top and Jason Michaels displayed some rare power as he hit a grand slam in the eighth to seal the deal. Aaron Boone also had a solid game, going 3 for 5 and scoring two runs. Tribe starter Jason Johnson bounced back with a suprisingly fantastic outing, throwing six innings of shutout ball. His side work with pitching coach Carl Willis must have temporarily paid off. Johnson was able to keep the ball down in the strike zone and might have saved his job with this performance. Granted, it’s only one start but hopefully he can build on this and pitch like he did his first few starts of the season.

As for the Indians as a team, I still don’t really understand this ballclub. They play horrible games for a stretch and then throw in the occasional 11-0 or 9-0 blowout of the opponent. What’s up with that? This team is so inconsistent it’s unbelievable. But great win nonetheless and Wedge seemed very pleased with the effort.

“This was a big win for us today. With the way we played the last couple of nights, playing the team leading our division that we had lost a bunch in a row to [five straight],” said Indians’ manager Eric Wedge. “Certain points in time during the season when wins mean a little more and I think that was one of them.”

The feud between Jose Mesa and Omar Vizquel has been going on for the past eight years and Omar doesn’t believe it will end soon. Mesa and Vizquel have never been close friends and didn’t hide it when playing together on the Cleveland Indians.

After losing the 7th game in the World Series, Vizquel wrote a book. In the book, he wrote that he could see in Mesa’s eyes that he wasn’t ready to save a big game. The Indians lost the game and since then Omar and Jose have never been friends.

Mesa had promised to throw at Vizquel every time he faced him at the plate. He carried out his promise for the third time this year, earning him a 4 game suspension. If Jose had this much determination and accuracy during game 7, the Cleveland Indians would be wearing a World Series ring.

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.