The Tribe is in Maryvale ready to take on the Brewers.  It’s already approaching 90 degrees, with an expected high of 94. The game doesn’t even start for another 15 minutes or so, and I’m already sweating like Fausto Carmona out here. Brett Myers is on the hill for the Indians, and the lineup is a mix of regulars and guys trying to win a spot, like Yan Gomes, Ryan Raburn, and Cord Phelps.  I’ll try to keep this going as long as I can, but I may need to take frequent water and shade breaks.

Top 1st: Bourn and Brantley both singled, so there’s 2 on and one out. Terry Francona is down in front of me and he’s wearing a sweatshirt. He’s a tougher dude than me. He and Bourn have both tossed some baseballs to kids.  There’s only one kid left in our section before I get to pretend to be a kid. While I was yammering, Swisher singled in a run. This pitcher doesn’t look so great…they need to be patient and not help him out at all. Phelps just sort of stood there on a little tapper at the plate, but there was a late foul call. The Brewers fans weren’t pleased with the call. Phelps strikes out, but the Indians plate 2 this inning. (My phone just tried to change “this” to “Arthurian.” So I apologize for any autocorrects I may miss.)

Bottom 1st: There’s a good crowd here today. It’a a fairly small park, but most of the seats are filled. Still room on the lawn though. With Aoki off on the pitch, he’s able to get to third on the Weeks single. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t even think Aramis Ramirez was still playing. Anyway, he grounds into a double play and gets Myers out of trouble.

2nd: Yan Gomes singled, but the Indians were not able to score in the top of the inning. Ugh…Myers gives up an RBI triple. Sac squeeze play brings in the runner at third, and they’re honestly lucky to even get the out at first. Appeared to be caught by surprise. Someone behind me grabs the foul ball, but spills their beer. Guy nearby loudly points out to his friends that he once caught a foul one-handed without spilling a drop of beer.

3rd: Brantley got hit by a pitch on the shoulder/upper back. He’s okay and down at first. Swisher knocks another single…he’s looked good today. Pickoff attempt at Brantley on second, and he just barely got back. Reynolds grounds into a double play…he literally had to reach down and golf that out to the left side of infield. In the bottom half, Myers is lucky for the great throw in; otherwise he gives up his second triple. It just missed a home run too. Fantastic diving stop by Raburn at third on the next batter…not able to get the throw to first. Doesn’t matter because he gets caught in a rundown anyway. Myers has made a number of mistake pitches, but he (with assists from the defense) has been good at weaseling out of them.

4th: Brian Jeroloman in to run for Yan Gomes…a trainer pulled him doubleheader doubled. It looked like he scored on a Juan Diaz single, but I guess he missed 3rd. They appealed and he was called out for missing third. Myers had been less than good…he’s already given up 2 runs. Swisher made a nice stretch at first, but that’s the bright spot for the bottom of this inning. Maybe it’s the heat stroke talking, but I feel like Myers looks worse than his line. He keeps getting out of trouble and minimizing damage, but he hasn’t looked great. I’ll cut him some slack, because it has to be miserable to pitch in this heat.

5th: While on deck, someone yelled congratulations for his good stretch at first last inning. Called it a “cirque de soliel” move. Swisher said something in response that made everyone laugh, but I couldn’t hear it. That was the most exciting thing to happen in that half inning. This announcer is lazy…he keeps having kids announce everything for him. In the bottom of the 5th Jerry Gil is in to pitch. Good, because I’m sick of Brett Myers today. Thank you Gil, for a clean inning. I don’t really think he’s in the running for anything this spring, but he’s looked good when I’ve seen him.

6th: Raburn was not happy with the called 3rd strike to end the top half of the inning. Thought it was ball 4, stood and stared at the umpire. They raced the sausages in between innings and the bratwurst won by a lot. Joe Smith is in to pitch now.

8th: My battery is running low, and my internal battery also needed a break! Still 4-2 Milwaukee; good performance from Joe Smith, and a great inning from Scott Barnes.

Wrap up:

The Indians made a bit of noise in the top of the 9th, once it was mostly guys with numbers that were about 80+.  Mark Reynolds was still in the game and he hit a home run that probably hasn’t landed yet. It almost left the park…it was absolutely crushed.

The bullpen looked fantastic, but I was less than impressed with Brett Myers. I hope that he was either working on something, or it was the heat, or it was just an off day.  His line wasn’t that ugly, but it’s one of those games that felt like it should be about 20-3.  He got lucky with a few hit right to people, and managed to work his way out of jams after things were about to get really ugly.

The last Indians game I’m hitting (I’ll be at Salt River Fields on Saturday) is the Indians and Reds at Goodyear on Sunday.  Since it will be televised (finally!) I may not bother with the live blog, since you can see it with your own eyes.  Or would that make it better, because we could discuss in real time?  I’ll probably at least put up an open thread.

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