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The Indians evened their record at 2-2 with a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Many Tribe fans were ready to panic after Wickman blew a save in game 2 vs. the White Sox, but Wickman rebounded nicely with a clean ninth inning against the Tigers to earn his first save of the season. Newcomer Aaron Boone delivered the game-winning hit with a two-run bomb off of Urbina in the eighth.

Payback is sweet. After blowing the lead yesterday in the 9th, the Tribe returned the favor by scoring three runs in the 9th to tie today’s game against the White Sox. The Tribe hitters then exploded for six runs in the 11th to complete the 11-6 victory. Cliff Lee had a disappointing start, but the bullpen rebounded from yesterday’s meltdown and the offense woke up to finish off Chicago. Grady Sizemore is off to a good start, so Juan Gone may not be able to reclaim his starting job.

I am so incredibly disgusted with new Cavaliers’ owner Dennis Gilbert. This guy obviously has some of the best QUICKEN P.R. people in the world…all we heard about when he first bought the Cavs was how great he was – Quicken was “the best place to work”…Gilbert’s people rolled out Quicken executives who talked of Gilbert’s supposed brilliance…yet here we are, and in a season that started with so much promise, Gilbert has basically snatched defeat from the jaws of victory (PLAYOFFS). First, this ass-clown fires Paul Silas, now there are grumblings about Paxson’s imminent firing. Why can’t he wait until the end of the season? He kind of reminds me of a guy who played fantasy sports his whole life and now that he’s been given a team, he’s managing it the same way he would his fantasy team. If this team doesn’t make the playoffs, the blame falls on one person – Gilbert.

Despite the ninth-inning collapse, let’s not lose sight of one very important indicator today:

Kevin Millwood
6 IP, 4 hits, 2 BB, 0 ER, 88 pitches

I would’ve liked to see more than one strikeout, but Millwood was really throwing the ball well today. He consistently hit 92-93 with his fastball and he made some great pitches throughout.

First Westbrook, now Millwood. Sure, the Tribe is 0-2 but there have been some very good early signs in those two losses.

Bob Wickman has always scared me. ALWAYS. His meltdown this afternoon (4 hits, 4 ER, 1 out, 1 blown save) will not be the last of the season. I mean, the Sox were teeing off on Wickman in the ninth — Paul Konerko crushed his homer and Jermaine Dye sent his shot into orbit. Even Juan Uribe sent Casey Blake to the track in right with the bases loaded.

The good news is, Arthur Rhodes mowed down Chicago’s hitters in his 1.1 innings of work, striking out two and giving up just one hit in an efficient 19 pitches. There are several good arms in the bullpen, but if Arthur Rhodes can start pitching like he was with Seattle a couple years ago, he’ll be the best of the lot.

One thing’s for certain — Wickman better recover quickly or he’ll find himself demoted. There are too many talented guys behind him that could take over the ninth inning if he’s ineffective for long.