See No Losing

The Good News:  WoManny finally relented and allowed Travis Hafner to be placed on the disabled list.  The Bad News:  Pronk will need to have his right knee scoped to remove scar tissue and will miss 4-6 weeks.  Ouch.  Just hours before the decision was made, woManny once again showcased his character and shirked all responsibility, “I can't guess on any of that stuff.  We won't know until he's either cleared or we have to make a decision. I stayed at home last night, not at a Holiday Inn Express."  Did you hear him?  He referenced a TV commercial in his stupid Dominican stammer!  He so funny, I no even remember what we talk about!

That's Scottie Barnes in the picture, recalled to take Hafner's spot and round the bullpen back to 7.  The Tribe has absolutely no need for 3 lefties, so Tony Sipp had better bring it.  One would think that if Barnes shows that he is Major League capable and Sipp continues to struggle, we very well might see Frank Herrmann in exchange for the latter.  To both of their credit, Barnes loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter, but escaped the 6th unscathed; while Sipp tossed a clean 7th to lower his ERA to 6.27.

So, with Lou Marson still bleeding from his lady parts after getting busted in the myth, the Tribe once again played two men down.  Oh, the other one is Juan Diaz, who, with Asdrubal Cabrera back at short, will only play again if AzCab gets mauled by a bear between innings.  How did this affect today's untelevised catastrophe?  Pinch-hitters, my friends, or should I say the lack thereof?  The 9th inning rally that never was could have been aided substantially if woManny had had the cojones and personnel to pinch hit for Luke Carlin leading off the frame.  Let's skip Jose Lopez and his game ending double play for a second and recognize that unless he clears the bases, it's a non-factor because then Slater has to bat.  Game over anyway.  Matt LaPorta, Jared Goedert and, oh I don't know, Felix Pie would all be better options.  You can point at the pitching all you want, but it's no coincidence that the Tribe has dropped 5 of 6 while playing with half of a roster.

And back to Lopez, is he really going to be your clean-up hitter until Carlos Santana comes back?  What has he done in this life, or the last, to earn that kind of respect?  Sure, he put together that 10-game hit streak, but since then he's batting .192!  His career slugging percentage is under .400!  With only one bat left to join the ranks (when Diaz is mercifully demoted), it seems high time for woManny to reshuffle that line-up, get Michael Brantley back at the top (.429 over the past 3 series) and at least pause this Choo lead-off experiment until more middle of the order bats are healthy.  Heck, I don't care, slide Kip and Cabrera down and bat Brantlley 2nd, just get Lopez out of the 4 hole.  C'mon, man!

Y'know, I don't like it any more than you do, but, until the Tribe's starting pitchers start pitching, this number will continue to grow.  With Jeanmar Gomez's second straight bum start in the books, Indians' starters have failed to complete six innings for the sixth straight outing.  In those games, they are 1-5 with an 11.89 ERA and a .357 OBA.  If ever Derek Lowe has needed to be a stopper, it's Friday against the Twins.

Enjoy your off day, boys.  Come Friday, you'd best have your heads successfully excavated from your asses.

Roll Tribe.

Cheers.