Ace in the Hole

An ace in the hole is usually a good thing. Tonight, not so much as the Tribe lost to Tampa Bay 10-3.

Winners of 6 of the last 8, the Tribe had ace Justin Masterson on the mound with a streak of his own (1.93 ERA his last 6 starts) but the hole came early.

Desmond Jennings singled on Masterson’s first pitch and one batter later Ben Zobrist homered for a 2-0 lead. The Indians tied it in the bottom of the 1st on a DP grounder and balk but the Rays took the lead for good in the 3rd and then buried Masterson in the hole with a 6-run 5th inning. Justin was erratic throughout with 102 pitches (only 57 strikes) in just 4.1 IP.

Of note, Tampa’s Luke Scott ended an 0 for 41 skid with a 2-run bomb that Michael Brantley almost snagged over the wall. Scott is now off the suicide watch.

Good Stuff

— Choo continued his hot spell with 2 hits and an RBI
— Brantley singled and now has hits in 38 of the last 41 games
— The Indians renamed Eagle Avenue outside the stadium Larry Doby Way

— Shelley Duncan and his wife welcomed twin boys into the gene pool (William and Walker)

Not So Good

— Hafner had a miserable night

– bases loaded, 0 out          DP
– leading off                       K
– 2 on, 0 out                       DP
– 2 on, 0 out                       K