A Quest Called Tribe

I sat.  I sat and I debated.  I could no longer abide by Francisco Liriano's implosions, thus I needed a new starting pitcher on my fantasy team.  Two names stood out on the list of best available: Justin Masterson and Zach Britton.  Yahoo had touted the upside of the young Orioles hurler and, despite Masterson's sweet start, Britton had better numbers.  The deciding factor was my desire to avoid a conflict.  I did not want to root against the Indians for the sake of my fantasy team or vice-versa.  Good decision, this guy.

Both pitchers threw well, running into only one inning of trouble apiece.  The difference was the Justin was able to manage the O's in the 4th while Britton gave up six straight hits to the Tribe in the third.  I will freely admit that I was among the those that doubted Masterson's future as a starter during the off season.  Last season the big right hander lacked command within the strike zone.  That resulted in a lot of hard hits.  This tendency bred the urge to nibble which, in turn, led to a bunch of walks.  So far in 2011, Masterson (1.33 ERA) has been a strike throwing machine.  Against Baltimore, 66 of his 90 pitches were for strikes.  More importantly, he was spotting his pitches where he wanted them.  Ergo weak swings and, for Masterson, ground outs.  Justin lives on ground balls, to the tune of 12 of his 21 outs this evening and 36 of 61 on the season.  Similar to Fausto Carmona, you cannot count on the punch outs, but you do not need to.  Over 7 beautiful innings, Masterson allowed that lone 4th inning run on four hits and a walk.  He struck out three.

As has been the case in many games this season, the Indians offense was opportunistic and several players made nice contributions.  Travis Hafner (.293) cranked a 6th inning long ball into the gale of 20MPH headwind (Did anyone else see the shot of Pronkz Donkz during the IBB?).  Asdrubal Cabrera (.302) now leads the league in RBI.  Still, nothing was better than Michael Brantley (.333) beating out a would be sacrifice in the four run third.  On some nights, like tonight, even Matt LaPorta (.225) looks like a major league hitter.  It is truly a shame that those nights continue to be so few and far between.  Also, Josh Rupe stinks.  No complaints though.

Joe Smith waded through three hits and a run in the ninth.  It was his first game back from rehab.  If his oblique injury lingers, his effectiveness will be severely hampered all season.  Grady Sizemore and Jason Donald both got the night off for Columbus.

Tribe wins, Tribe wins.  That's your 9-4, first place Tribe (the ChiSox are losing).  And all of you successfully dodged my rant on why Jackie Robinson is merely iconic and not a folk hero.

Cheers.

P.S. Has anyone else noticed how quick these games have been (2:26, 12 innings in 3:16, 2:15, 2:25 over the last 4).  That's the mark of good pitching.  Remember 1p start tomorrow.