Just a small, yet I feel important update regarding the tribe folks. With both Seattle (Win over Detroit 7-4) and Oakland (2-0 Over the White Sox) wins yesterday, the Indians moved into a tie for 1st place in the Central Division. I believe this marks the first time in the 2012 season that Cleveland has held a share of the division lead, and let’s hope that they continue to stay on top.
A couple of quick facts you may want to know before tuning in this evening:
First Pitch: 7:05 from Progressive Field
Kansas City 3-14 (Hochevar) vs. Cleveland 9-6 (Jimenez- Keep in mind, Tomlin was scheduled to throw this game, but Acta decided to switch the two starts to keep Ubaldo on normal rest.)
1.) Pronk…is…Patient?- Travis Hafner has seen 225 pitches so far this season, and has only decided to swing 68 times (thats a 30.2% clip), LEAST in the league. This has allowed him to tie Carlos Santana for the team lead in walks with 14. Personally, I am glad to see Pronk be a tad more patient at the plate. I do expect him to strike out more than he walks over the course of the season, but his ability to “get his pitch” so far has gone a long way to Cleveland’s early success.
2.) Hoch is Toast- Well, I don’t know know about you guys, but I am hoping for an offensive explosion this evening. During Hochevar’s career, he has given up 68 home runs. Of those 68, 11 of them have came off of the bats of tribe hitters, tied for most from any team. In addition, Cleveland has stolen the most bases off of Hochevar during his career (10), so look for them to be burning on the basepaths.
3.) The Royals Pitchers Must Hate Carlos Santana – Anyone who is a true tribe fan knows that Carlos Santana loves to take pitches. If you were watching last nights game, you may have noticed that he worked the Royals staff pretty hard last night. In all, Santana battled through 36 pitches last night, the most he has faced in any game of his entire career. His previous high? 34…against the Royals as well.
4.) The Indians Pitchers Must Hate Billy Butler– How much might you ask? Well, despite coming into last night’s game in a 0-14 slump, Butler was able to roll a 1st inning single up the middle off of Derek Lowe. Since the 2011 season, Butler has at least 1 hit in 19 of the last 20 meetings versus the tribe. (courtesy of espn trumedia)
5.) Lowery is back!- Well, after two plus weeks of research papers and presentations, Thiel College’s Biology department has finally allowed me to breathe enough to start writing again. Let’s just say that I am ready for Tribe Time!
I will be back later this evening for the game’s recap!
Feel free to follow all things Brenden on Twitter: @BrendenLowery
I’ll be at the game.Look for me down the third base line ,I’ll be the big guy in an Indians cap.
We have no shot at staying there if Jimenez and especially Masterson don’t pitch better