Fourth Place Feels So Goood

This team is such a mystery. Playing without its center fielder, shortstop, and starters 3-5, the Tribe continues to grind away and now has escaped out of last place in the worst division MLB has ever seen. The RWAB buck the odds last night and score 8 unanswered to beat the fledgling Royals 8-4. Let us not forget that they really don't have an everyday second baseman, nor do they have a full DH (it is sort of a half of a DH). Its best set-up man is also on the DL. Somehow this club is only seven back and credit must go to the manager and the bullpen, which has really done a nice job the last few weeks. Pitching is still the name of the game and the crew in Chuck Hernandez's 'pen picked up Cliff Lee last night. The "Ultimate Redass" Lee did not get help from the umps last night (Teahan was out on the Choo throw to third.. not even debateable), yet he kept the team in the game long enough for the boys to rally.

A shout-out to Billy Butler of the Royals. Thank you very much for your gifts to us in the 6th inning. Two poor throws allowed the Wahoos to rally for 4 runs and tie the game. KC is now in last place, a half game behind the Tribe, and they have dropped 22 of their last 28.

I don't know what to think of Mark DeRosa. He seems like a very cool dude, who is just a baseball player. Every team needs a DeRosa, a jack-of-all-trades, who is given an assignment by the skipper and usually completes it. He goes granny last night to lift the boys to a win and for the most part, has really been thee most clutch hitter on this squad. "He's had a lot of big hits this year," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "He's done everything we've asked him to do. He's played a lot of different positions and filled different spots in the order. He's a baseball player in every sense of the word." It was truly a "Grind Slam" for DeRo, who has not played well defensively and at times has looked bad at the plate against breaking pitches. But to his credit, he has been pretty consistent and has been a quality addition.

Look, this team has a run differential of just -5. This division is abysmal. I have watched the first three games of Tigers/White Sox this week and it is bad baseball at its finest. Detroit has two stud pitchers in Verlander and Jackson and two huge holes in their rotation. Sound familiar? The Tigers closer walked three batters in a row last night with a three run lead and had to be taken out of the game. This division is still winnable.