Sweet, Sweep Lazy Sunday

Alright troops, bear with me here, as with our fearless leader dominating Sin City, T-Bone is here to throw together your Lazy Sunday.

Having just swept the Blue Jays at the former Skydome, it’s surprising that a trip north of the border is apparently just what the doctor ordered for our Wahoos after what happened in Tampa Wednesday. Surprising in that over the last month, only the Angels have a better record than the Blue Jays. That being said, let’s recap the series, as it was an interesting weekend for the Erie Warriors…

Friday night was a night of firsts. Anthony Reyes made not only his first start as an Indian but also first start in the AL, tossing 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball in picking the win. Outside of a shaky fourth inning which allowed that one run (thanks Johnny Mac for flying out with the bases loaded), Reyes either retired the side in order or allowed just four hitters every other inning pitched. He also featured a flat brimmed hat and knee-high socks. Raffy Left bridged the way to Jensen Lewis, who seemed to take PC’s last entry to heart, throwing a hitless ninth en route to his first major-league save.

If Friday was a night of firsts, then Saturday was a night of redemption. Gark-o-my-goodness-why-didn’t-you-leave-the-box was back in the lineup after being benched for his Wednesday effort, went 2-4 and brought in the first two runs to help rattle the usually-dominant Doc Halladay. While Halladay labored through 6 2/3, throwing 130 pitches, Paul Byrd continued his 2nd half redemption, throwing his first complete game of the year on 94* pitches. Byrd retired the 12 of the last 13 batters, and 20 of the last 22. *It should be noted that PC’s boy Sheldon O decided Byrd threw just 93 pitches, a number I have not seen repeated anywhere else on this planet including the Tribe’s own stats.

Today, the Tribe clubbed 13 hits and we had another case of Cliffy being Cliffy. Mr. Lee threw eight innings of shutout ball and Raffy Left came in to strike out the side in the 9th, sealing both a 4-0 victory and a three-game sweep of the Jays. As Paul Hoynes posts, Cliff is the first AL pitcher to 16 wins (Brandon Webb also has 16 going into his start today). Hoynes also notes with at least 10 starts left, Lee has a great chance to become the Indians’ first 20-game winner since Gaylord Perry’s 21-win campaign in 1974. Also, although it was tough seeing Show Pack going 1-12 this weekend (8 K’s), it was pretty awesome seeing him break his bat over his knee after striking out to end the top of the fourth.

OK, enough rambling about the sweep, let’s have a look around the Worldwide Wahoo Web…

- Byrd is pitching so well, he may actually be pitching himself out of an Indians uniform writes Jim Ingraham. Oddly enough, Byrd credits a shortened windup, new glove, and most importantly a talk with Bert Blyleven which lead to a re-introduction of his curveball as the keys to his turnaround.

- Unfortunately, no words of wisdom from T.Pluto since last Sunday.

- Obligatory Pronk shoulder strength update.

- Anthony Castrovince reports Anthony Reyes is the first Anthony in Tribe history???

- Also brought up on Friday with Reyes was Brandon Donnelly. The Tribe hopes to catch lightning in a bottle with the rehabbed Donnelly (see Bob Howry), although he’s in a unique situation after the season. MLB players are under team control for their first six years in the majors. Donnelly will not yet be at six years of service time (5.097 years leading up to the callup). However, the Tribe signed him to a contract that automatically makes him a free agent after this season. Donnelly requested this “because it gives both sides a chance to see if this is going to be the right fit. Right now, I don't see anything saying it's not going to be a good fit." Donnelly warmed up in the pen late in Friday’s game, but has yet to see action with the Tribe.

- Hoynes’s fluff piece on Peralta from Friday. I’m not linking to his Sunday mailbag because he fields another question about which Indians wear diamond earrings.

- Like Lee today, Laffey tossed eight scoreless in Buffalo last night.

- Tony Lastoria is reporting you wont be seeing Atom Miller in Cleveland this year.

- Jason Dangerously made his first start for the Pirates today and seemed to make a good go of it, unearned runs aside.

- Shout out to Josh Whitman, author of Left Field Lampoon, who was able to convert the entire PC television appearance into one clip, “The DiaTube,” featured about 2/3 down on the right column. Josh compares the 2008 Tribe season to the National Lampoon’s vacation franchise in his latest entry.

- Oh yeah, and just in case you haven’t been following the Hefty Lefty.

Alright, we'll cut it there. Business as usual upon PC's return from Vegas baby, Vegas.