I hate to sound like an apologist, but we are 6 games into a 10 game stretch against first place powerful hitting machines and are 3 and 3, and the 3 we lost could have gone either way. Sure we have problems, but we are playing pretty darn competitive.

Indians closer throws every pitch very close to the same speed.

You mean, like Mariano Rivera and Papelbon?



He is going through a tough spell, like everyone does, simple as that IMO.

And I do think Acta is working that bullpen awfully hard.

It definitely could be why he lets his starters maybe go the extra mile at this point.

I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say 'it's great living and dying with every inning of an Indians game again. It's been a long time since these games mattered this much. We are the youngest team in the division and kids like Santana, Kipnis, Chisnehaul, Brantley, Cabrera not to mention excellent pitching bodes very well.

Of all the things that could be imporved I most wish for LaPorta figuring it out and being a 30 HR guy in the big leagues. It's easy to see Choo fitting back in but I wonder what we can get out of Sizemore. You don't pay these guys in the off season so maybe we pick up Sizemore's option with the intent of trading him.

One thing is for sure, our new GM wants to win and win now!!!! Dolan seems to be willing to spend some $$$. We have the rest of this season and a couple more to really look forward to! Let's see what we get done before the Aug 15th signing deadline for draft picks. Lindor and Dillon are musts after the Jimenez trade....

I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say 'it's great living and dying with every inning of an Indians game again. It's been a long time since these games mattered this much. We are the youngest team in the division and kids like Santana, Kipnis, Chisenhal, Brantley, Cabrera not to mention excellent pitching bodes very well.

Amen, Frank.

Did you guys notice on the Texas broadcast yesterday that catcher Yorvit Torrealba was talking about Ubaldo? (he caught for him in Colorado)

He said he could tell early on that Ubaldo would not be effective because he was USING HIS breaking pitches too much. He's fallen in love with them.

He said that he needs to simply ride his fastball a lot more. The announcers added that he needs to command the fastball more.

If his issue is pitch selection and command, then it is fixable. He still has the golden arm. I trust Belcher to work with him and turn it around - if so, then this could be a steal of a deal.

I said this before - if an ace is at the top of his game, there is no way you can trade for him. The price is too high.

You want to buy low. We did that. Now let's reap the benefit of his recovery!

I admit I haven't got to see the last couple games, followed most of it via play by play on the internet. So maybe that's why I'm not as mad as some of you but I am also willing to cut Perez some slack. Even through his troubles in recent weeks he's still 23 of 26 in save chances, which is pretty good. He may have just lost an arm angle or something with his mechanics. I'm willing to let him go for a while longer and hopefully it's something he and Belcher can work out. He was damn near automatic the first half of the season.

Who else would you use? You can't just put a guy out there, and say he is the closer. Takes a certain mental makeup, not just ability. And I don't think "closer by committee" has worked very well for any team.

Pestano has better stuff than Perez right now.

But Pestano had a couple of rough outings recently. This is not the time to audition closers.

Changing out closers is not something you do lightly, and knee-jerk roster changes are never a good idea in baseball.

When I read the comments of a certain percentage of the posters here I could swear this team is at the bottom of the division instead of being in easy striking range of a division title with 2 of our best outfielders injured, a new ace to compliment an already good pitching staff, and 2 talented young infielders just making their major league debut.

Sometimes the negativity around here just kills me.

fkreutz wrote:I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say 'it's great living and dying with every inning of an Indians game again. It's been a long time since these games mattered this much. We are the youngest team in the division and kids like Santana, Kipnis, Chisnehaul, Brantley, Cabrera not to mention excellent pitching bodes very well.

Of all the things that could be imporved I most wish for LaPorta figuring it out and being a 30 HR guy in the big leagues. It's easy to see Choo fitting back in but I wonder what we can get out of Sizemore. You don't pay these guys in the off season so maybe we pick up Sizemore's option with the intent of trading him.

One thing is for sure, our new GM wants to win and win now!!!! Dolan seems to be willing to spend some $$$. We have the rest of this season and a couple more to really look forward to! Let's see what we get done before the Aug 15th signing deadline for draft picks. Lindor and Dillon are musts after the Jimenez trade....

Where do you see any evidence that dolan is willing to spend? We got this Ubaldo character because he came cheap. As I have posted before this is like getting a tired old pedro but also on a rookie contract. For a cheap team like the tribe maybe that is as good as we can hope. I think our payroll is bottom 6 in the mlb. As for perez posters wouldnt be feeling so charitable to him if they were the watercooler that he is throwing around like an idiot when he just blew the game for everyone else. These athletes and their tweets are something else. All is great when they are going ok but heaven forbid they get critical tweets when they are playing like crap their "patrons" the public are a bunch of "haters."

I watched the game to the middle of the 8th and gave up. Was quite surprised to see that the Tribe pulled it ou.

KC beats the Tigers, 4-3.

BTW try to give Acta at least 4 years as I did Wedge before you ask for his firing.

Sorry, but Acta is the worst in game decision maker I have ever seen. This pitching staff has saved him from some pretty senseless moves.

For someone that did not like Eric Wedge you sure bring his name up a lot. Time to move on.

pgammo Peter Gammons

It is remarkable that it is August and the only team in the AL Central and NL West with a positive run differential is Arizona

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Indians grab the early lead. 1-0 in the 2nd so far...