Time to hit the Panic Button?

Some of you may recognize the style of the image to the right from the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster England used right before WWII broke out. I've seen people wearing shirts that have that phrase on it in college to try to promote mental health and stability, and the Dodgers Twitter account has been using a modified version of the phrase when the team starts losing.

But because of the slogan's history (seeing as how there really was no reason whatsoever to "Keep Calm and Carry On" in England in 1939... Seriously, how are you going to tell me to keep calm and carry on when the country is about to get the crap bombed out of it? But I digress...), I find "Now Panic and Freak Out" to be both funny, and probably more appropriate to the original situation.

But since you're not here to read my thoughts on historical posters, I'll get right to the point—I know it's baseball, I know teams go through rough stretches, especially when there are injuries, but I'm just going to say it:

When you lose four of six games to the bottom two teams in the division, and seven of your last nine games overall, it just might be time to panic and freak out—at least a little bit.

Consider the fact that even when you factor in the injuries, it's really been the pitching that's killed the Indians in their last nine games. In the seven losses, the pitching staff has given up run totals of 9, 14, 12, 8, 6, 7, and 6.

Have the Indians been world beaters on offense in those losses? Absolutely not. But if you have a game like last night, where the team is scratching and clawing back and ties the game, the pitching must go out and keep the score where it is. Josh Tomlin battled all night in yesterday's 7-4 loss, but once the offense tied the game he went out there and gave up a solo shot, and then Tony Sipp gave up a 2-run jack to Mauer to kill any and all momentum for a comeback.

It nearly seemed like a carbon copy in today's game. Justin Masterson yet again didn't have good control and gave up three runs in the first four innings. I was watching it, and I'll tell you, it could've been much worse. Masterson, however, did go six innings and gave the Tribe a chance to get back in the game. But Nick Hagadone came in with the score 3-2 in the seventh, and by the time Manny Acta took him out of the game with two outs in the same inning, it was 5-2.

Those are the types of things that just kill your team.

Now, the Indians are going on what's going to be a "show me what you're made of" 10-game road trip to Detroit, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. Yes, the Fat Cats are also reeling having lost five of their last seven, but if the Indians continue to pitch poorly, they'll wake up the perhaps 600 lb. two-headed monster of Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder.

And it won't get easier from there—the Cardiñals and Reds have been battling it out all season for first place in the NL Central.

So here's the deal—Carlos Santana should be back for Tuesday's game in Detroit. Lonnie Chisenhall has hit well so far since being called up and should continue to do so. Matt LaPorta has a fantastic opportunity for the next few games to show that he, in fact, can be the productive right handed hitter everyone expected he'd be when the Indians traded for him in 2008.

When the starting pitching rights itself, the Indians can beat any team any day of the week. But if that doesn't happen soon, it might be time to panic and freak out.

~MAS