Fans Salute Cliff And He Salutes Them Back!

Well, that was special! Cliff Lee gives up 7 earned runs in 5 innings. As if he were not in there long enough, when Wedge finally "relieves" Lee, he takes his hat off to a booing crowd in another immature gesture. At least he didn't throw the hat and his mitt into the crowd as he did last year vs. Toronto.

To some extent, maybe Cliff doesn't understand that his performance is unacceptable, at least to the fans. Obviously his performance is acceptable to Eric Wedge, otherwise why would he be allowed to stay long enough to dig such a deep hole that is nearly impossible for the team to climb out of?

Before he is allowed to take the mound again for the Indians, Lee needs two things; mechanical help on his pitching because he is still a good pitcher who should be able to return to winning form and psychiatric help on his temper and emotions before he becomes another Milton Bradley or Albert Belle.

Westbrook and Lee have got to get back to winning pitching if the Indians are to contend. C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona, and Paul Byrd cannot be expected to win all of their remaining starts while Westbrook and Lee find themselves. At the same time, the bullpen needs to be held accountable as well. The performances of Stanford and Cabrera are just as unacceptable.

The good news is that Detroit, who could have begun to run away with the division, has been playing just as badly. Both Detroit and Cleveland are 5-5 in their last 10 games.

Here is where we are at in the "Indians' Summer" plan:

Games in July

Plan ...Actual
2 of 3 from KC...Yes, we won 2 of 3!
2 of 3 from CWS...Only took 1 of 3!
2 of 4 from TEX...Yes, we took 3 of 4!
2 of 4 from BOS...Only 1 of 4!
2 of 3 from MIN
1 of 1 from TEX

11 of 18...currently 7 of 14

Must win all 4 remaining games in July to get back on track with the plan!

It starts tonight with Paul Byrd (8-4 4.43 ERA) going against Boof Bonser (4-5 4.53 ERA).

I will be there, with high expectations. Let's hope Eric Wedge has the same expectations.