Clearly I neglect this blog more than I write on it, but I just wanted to do a quick check in and just say that the Indians have won six games in a row after the All-Star Break. How about that?!
It certainly seems like the infusion of young talent (namely The Supernatural: Carlos Santana) has come on strong. I also think that it has to be Manny Acta's positive influence and coaching on this team. When you see him in interviews, read or hear his soundbites he gives to the media, I think that it's really clear that he is a great presence in the clubhouse that knows baseball. He does all kinds of work with statistics, but I think he also is a great people-person. The "people-person" thing is pure speculation, but it's something I've gathered from reading Indians beat writer Anthony Castrovince's articles and blogs on indians.com. If you're an Indians fan and aren't a loyal follower of his blog, you really should be.
In any case, pitching has clearly been the difference for the Tribe. In their six-straight-wins, they have held the opposition to 4 runs or less in all six games, and have only given up 2 runs or less in three of them. That translates into good, quality starts and some darn good pitching by the relief corps. The starters ERA is 2.25, and the bullpen is 1.35. For those of you who like the numbers to be more specific, that's only 3 runs in 20.0 innings of work for the bullpen. I just thought those numbers were so good that they deserved to be in italics.
I just hope the Indians can keep up the good work they're doing, because it would be really nice to have some good baseball to watch to tide me over until the Brownies kick it up into gear for the regular season in September. (Honestly, I love football a lot but I'm not that interested in watching the 3rd string defense try to stop a 4th string quarterback...)
~MAS
i like the post! go tribe!
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