Horse.…shoes!

Close doesn't count as the Tribe comes up short by one run tonight, losing to the Royals by a score of 4-3. Cleveland starter Paul Byrd gave up all 4 Royals runs in his 6 innings pitched. The Tribe bats were once again all but silent until late in the game when they almost….shoulda pulled the game out. With the score 4-2 with 2 outs and bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Casey Blake was hit by a pitch with two strikes. That was unfortunate. Casey increased his hitting streak to 15 games earlier in the game with a single. He is batting .275 vs. right-handed pitching. Instead, he gets plunked, goes to first base, and the third run crosses the plate. That brought up Tuesday night’s hero, Franklin Gutierrez who pinch ran for Travis Hafner in the eight inning. Franklin is batting .200 vs. righties.

Baaaaaaaah!

Gutierrez hits a chopper to short to end the game on a fielder’s choice to second.
Here is hoping that a game like this is not remembered as, “If only we just could have won one more game, like the one against the Royals at the Jake in early June, we might have won the division.”
You have to beat the bums and split with the good teams as Lou Boudreau designed and laid out back in ’48. In that case, Thursday afternoon’s get-away game vs. the Royals is a must win!
We face lefty Odalis Perez with his 5.74 ERA Thursday at High Noon vs. Fausto Carmona. Wedgie, gun down Perez with your hot hitting righties (they'll be there again) and let’s start pulling away from the rest of the division!