| 27 April 2009
We just trounced the Yankees to win our 10th straight game.
It wasn't always pretty, but the bats have come alive and the bullpen has been amazing.
Bowden and Hunter gave our big guns (Paps, MDC and Ram Ram) a rest yesterday... but with Tim "Complete Game" Wakefield on the mound tonight, the guys in the pen might spend more time working on their drum techniques than they will pitching.
Wake is 10-8 with a 4.50 ERA in 20 starts against the Tribe and is coming off a rain-shortened victory over the Twins in which he allowed just one run on five hits and one walk. Grady Sizemore might be the Indians' biggest weapon, but he's just 1 for 7 agains Wake... Victor Martinez could be trouble. He's 5 for 11 with a homer against Wakefield and he's hitting .397 on the season.
The Tribe will counter with Cliff Lee. Lee won 22 games last year, but he got off to a slow start in 2009, allowing 11 runs in 10 innings in his first two starts. He turned things around in his last two outings and says he's throwing too many fastballs in those early starts.
Lee only lost three games last year and one of them was to the Red Sox. We tagged him for five runs through seven innings in September... and Wakefield, coincidentally, earned the win as the opposing starter.
Youkilis is red hot right now and took Lee deep in that September game... Drew is 2 for 4 with two doubles against the Lee and is hitting .316 against lefties this year... and Ortiz is quietly riding a 6-game hitting streak - he's just 4 for 18 against Lee, but you can almost sense that a big game is just around the corner for the Large Father.
Bottom Line: It's always a toss-up when Wake takes the mound, but when he get rolling he can be dangerous. If the offense keeps clicing we should take this one.
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