Jason Giambi Brings Back The Magic

The Indians were left for dead on Tuesday night. They had won four straight games but closer Chris Perez had just given up two solo homers in the top of the ninth to turn a one-run lead into a one-run deficit. Through the boobirds voicing their frustration as Perez was pulled, you could hear the air being deflated out of the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.

The Indians were dead in the water. When you watch enough baseball games, you can feel when a team will make a rally in the ninth. They might not come through but you at least can tell when they will put a little game pressure on the closer. Last night felt like 1-2-3.

And this loss felt like more than that. The Rangers aren't losing to the Astros and a deflating loss in the last week of the season, hello Grady Sizemore, can send you into a quick tailspin that has you making tee times on Monday.

Maybe it was the two pitching changes that Terry Francona made in the inning that allowed his team to rally itself. Maybe it was the hug Jason Giambi made Perez give him as he came into the dugout. Or maybe it was just a little of that old Jacobs Field magic.

It didn't look good as the Indians were down to their last out in the bottom of the ninth. Giambi then came through with the biggest hit of any Cleveland Indians' player this season, crushing the 1-1 curveball deep into the right-field seats.

Play-by-play announcer Tom Hamilton lost his mind. I had goosebumps for like two minutes. Chaos ensued on the diamond and all of a sudden the Indians went from staring at a tie with the Rangers for the last playoff spot into holding serve and staying one back of Tampa Bay and one ahead of Texas.

Pennant races are awesome. They are even more awesome when your teams win games. This season has been one heck of a ride for Tribe fans. The team has been counted out a number of times but they are about as hot as a team can be in the month of September. Teams that get hits like Giambi's late in the season don't see their season end in Game 162.

Francona said it best when he had a man-crush on Giambi. I think there are a lot of male Cleveland Indians fans who would admit to the same thing this morning.

Rocks on the Board

Great game tonight and hopefully a taste of things to come for the rest of the season.  I like seeing the team rebound on the road, come out with solid defense - strong starting pitching and good relief.  Street picks up the save and I love the late inning rally to pad things a bit for the bullpen.

I still miss Holliday, and think that Helton is past his prime - but I have good feelings about this time for this year.

Side note - totally different sport, but the New York Islanders get my WTF Call-Out for the night.  Obviously pretty miserable to be outscored 9-0, but how about outshot 57-12 especially after the shots were only 10-6 in favor of Carolina in the first period???  I do not envy the team drawing Carolina in the first round since they've won 13 of the last 16 and those two loses were shootouts.

WBC - Team USA

So if it's not the Colorado Rockies, I really don't care when it comes to baseball.  I also think that while it could be cool, the WBC is a weak attempt at the World Cup for soccer or the Olympics for bball and hockey.  That being said, it was exciting to see Team USA come back tonight after being destroyed by Puerto Rico last time and stealing a game in the 9th.  What's even better than that are the comments by David Wright:

Wright then lined a 2-1 pitch just inside the right-field line, raising his fist when the ball dropped in. The New York Mets star called the hit the biggest of his career.

"You're talking about representing the United States of America," he said. "You've got that across the front of your chest. To be able to get that hit, that's got to be right up there at the top of the list."

Wright was mobbed by teammates near second base after two runs scored.

"You're celebrating a game," Youkilis said. "You're celebrating a nation."

After all the scandal and problems in MLB, it's just great to see some perspective.  For reference, the quoted article is here.

World Series Anyone?

The first pitch will be thrown soon at Tropicana Field and before the series starts I'm going to share my prediction (thanks to the power of the internet) - Phillies in six.  I had a little concern with this at first because Philly has had a few more days off than the Rays have and after seeing how the Rockies cooled down last year, it can be hard to get going again.

That being said, while the Rays are a great team and they've put up some impressive numbers this year (not just in wins, but at a basic level playing much better defense and getting stronger pitching from their bullpen), it seemed like they were starting to show some cracks against Boston.  I'm not going to lie - watching David Price pitch his way through the vaunted Red Sox hitters was exciting and impressive.  Tampa Bay is a young team with incedible talent, but now their facing another team that has a mixture of youth, talent, experience and hunger.

The difference to me between Philadelphia and Boston is the desire to win.  Winning has become and expectation and a business in Boston recently and the passion doesn't seem to be there like it was when they came back against the Yankees and then won the World Series in 2004.  Philadelphia has not seen a major sports championship since 1983 and while I've never been a fan of any team in that city (Philly fans are mostly the reason for that), I really believe the time is now for their drought to end.

If anyone wants to post their predictions, we can keep a running tally in the comments for this post.