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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!

Cleveland is a very strong city when it comes to supporting professional sports, but even the die hard cities have some issues with how teams are managed. The Cleveland Indians and their ownership are still attempting to renew the fan base they had in the mid 90’s. The Tribe was averaging around 3 million fans a year.
Terry Pluto gives an interesting perspective on why Cleveland is still struggling to raise the attendance numbers. I personally think the Dolan’s are still too “cheap” on the salaries and Mark Shapiro has done an excellent PR job with the fans and players. The Indians organization needs to understand that big money players bring fans. We recently signed some young talented players to long term deals. The benefits to this won’t be seen for at least a couple years.