2021 Series #28 | Indians @ A's | July 16-18

[Randolphkeys]

Homecoming game for Daniel Johnson and Zimmer, both blew up in front of family in attendance. Good game, and my kids finally attended a Tribe winner.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

A series win in Oakland for the first time in years!

Zimmer goes 5-for-12 with 4 RBI's. He is swinging the bat a lot more aggressively and driving the ball. He's attacking the first pitch if it's in the zone. Even when he screwed up and missed the cutoff man it resulted in an out. The question now is whether he can keep it going once he leaves his home stomping grounds. Is this real or just a whiff of Bay area air that temporarily snapped him out of his stupor?

Fellow NoCal homeboy Daniel Johnson had a huge day with a HR, single, and great catch. He went 3-for-6 with a walk this series.

This was easily the best defensive outfield I've ever seen an Indians team put on the field for a single game. Mercado, Zimmer, and Johnson. Amazing range not to mention great arms in center and right. And guess what - they drove in all four runs!

With two out and the bases loaded in the 8th and the Tribe up 3-2 I expected Tito to pinch hit Harold for Berto. Hedges could have caught the 8th and 9th. A base hit there would have iced the game and Berto wasn't going to get a hit off Romo's slop. I don't get why he didn't make that move.

The Tribe bullpen was awesome; 3 innings, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 runs, 5 K's. Plesac was outstanding. He should have been charged with one earned run because of the Clement error, but they charged him with two for some reason.

I thought this series would be close and low scoring and that's exactly how it turned out. For the three games the Tribe's 8 and 9 hitters went 7-for-21 with five runs scored and two RBI's. Small sample but very impressive.

Shaw was great in the 9th but I still say we could use a left-handed reliever in that situation with Olson, Lowrie, and Moreland due up - three lefty power hitters. Just like on Saturday when Olson was up with the bases loaded, two out, and facing Quantrill for the third time. I'd love to see Antonetti get an Oliver Perez type for the second half.

Maton has eight consecutive scoreless appearances covering 8.1 innings with 3 hits and 10 K's. He's on a roll.

Great weekend, now on to Houston.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Homecoming game for Daniel Johnson and Zimmer, both blew up in front of family in attendance. Good game, and my kids finally attended a Tribe winner.

And I was sure you were going to make them lose.

 

[CATS44]

Too little, too late. No chance of catching Chisox. Wild card a very slim chance at best.

We've discussed this in a different thread, but the WC is not as far fetched as you think.

We have by far the easiest schedule of the #2 WC contenders. Oakland, the leader who we just beat two out of three, has by far the most difficult.

It's difficult to paint a 3.5 game deficit as a stretch to overcome when the schedule favors us.

 

[Randolphkeys]

And I was sure you were going to make them lose.

We were all wearing Indians hats. After Zimmer's lead off dinger, we were the only people clapping and got some sideways looks.

I quickly said, "I've been taking them to As / Tribe games for years and we never win. You got nothin' to worry about."

To be honest, As fans are great people to visiting fans. They are just glad somebody filled a seat.

 

[PIP]

Keys with a big FU Rob Manfred sign…

 

[DCTribefan]

We've discussed this in a different thread, but the WC is not as far fetched as you think.

We have by far the easiest schedule of the #2 WC contenders. Oakland, the leader who we just beat two out of three, has by far the most difficult.

It's difficult to paint a 3.5 game deficit as a stretch to overcome when the schedule favors us.

Except Tribe has a losing record against bottom feeders (e.g., Pirates, Twins). So the schedule may not be as favorable as at first glance.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

We were all wearing Indians hats. After Zimmer's lead off dinger, we were the only people clapping and got some sideways looks.

I quickly said, "I've been taking them to As / Tribe games for years and we never win. You got nothin' to worry about."

To be honest, As fans are great people to visiting fans. They are just glad somebody filled a seat.

Only 8,500 today on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in July with school out. Just 32,000 for the three-game series. And they have a good team that is in the thick of the wild card race.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I really love the speed this team puts on the field when Zimmer, Johnson, and Mercado are in the lineup along with Josie and Amed. Harold has well above average speed as well although his routes are so bad it doesn't help him much. But he can motor around the bases really well.

I don't know what they're going to do when Luplow and Eddie Rosario get back.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Only 8,500 today on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in July with school out. Just 32,000 for the three-game series. And they have a good team that is in the thick of the wild card race.

The franchise is openly trying to leave Oakland. They pissed off their fan base.

 

[CATS44]

Except Tribe has a losing record against bottom feeders (e.g., Pirates, Twins). So the schedule may not be as favorable as at first glance.

If you thinks it's to our disadvantage to play ten game vs Minnesota while Oakland plays the Padres, Giants, and three extra games vs Houston, that's certainly you're prerogative.

 

[Gson]

I believe it was Mr. Loaf who said "two outta three aint bad".

That was Mr. M. Loaf...

 

[buzzdog]

I really love the speed this team puts on the field when Zimmer, Johnson, and Mercado are in the lineup along with Josie and Amed. Harold has well above average speed as well although his routes are so bad it doesn't help him much. But he can motor around the bases really well.

I don't know what they're going to do when Luplow and Eddie Rosario get back.

I'm old enough to remember when Zimmer was considered to be at least intriguing as an offensive prospect. It's nice to see him making solid contact after being pretty much written off.

 

[Lee]

Yeah but you should try his mini corn dogs

That’s what we call in the business a @Lee joke….

Honestly, I enjoyed that joke way more than i should have, lol

 

[xmasbuck]

The franchise is openly trying to leave Oakland. They pissed off their fan base.

oakland city council has a vote on tuesday i think regarding a suggested new stadium - seems pretty clear that whatever the vote, the a's will try to move to vegas