Deep Left Field | A Cleveland Indians Blog

Joe-Bo Outdoes Himself Yet Again

I may have been speaking too soon when I mentioned that Joe Borowski managed to not implode out West.  It was also a mistake going to bed early, assuming that the 4-2 lead would hold up.  Something in the back of mind was saying, “You’re going to wake up in the morning and be disappointed.  Just wait and see.”  With the offense struggling to score runs, giving up a walk-off grand slam to new Angel Torii Hunter is no way to build any sense of confidence.  There is hardly any solution to this either; we are all going to have to put up with this insanity the entire season, realizing that the bullpen roles are pretty much set in stone unless this happens for about two weeks straight.

The Indians were able to recover from Borowski’s early mistakes last season, but nothing is ever a sure thing in this great, albeit sometimes emotionally devastating, game.  The 2008 season is all ready shaping up to be eerily similar to 2007; in that regard, let’s hope the Tribe can find a groove and get back on track to 96 or so wins.

I was ready to write something about the vaunted return of Victor Martinez - he went 2-4 with a double that tied the game in the top of the ninth.  I could have mentioned the gutsy performance of Fausto Carmona - holding the Angels to one unearned run despite giving up five walks in six innings.  These are the kinds of games that are hard to forget, especially when the division races start heating up.  The Tigers aren’t going winless forever (although that would make me smile for eternity), and any game that could separate the Tribe from the Motown Kitties is a blessing at this point.

“I told you so, idiot,” my mind said as I looked up the box score early this morning.