I honestly propose making Masterson the closer for the rest of the year.  Since he's not 100%, this will allow him to get back into form and provide the Indians a lights out closer.

 

This is what I was thinking this morning.  And/or Salazar.

^I'm guessing Tito won't change his game plan, but I too would probably do things a little differently.  Maybe go with Masterson and Carrasco but have a lefty ready for tough LHBs.

 

Should be a good, loud crowd there tonight.  Hope the team puts on a good show, and I hope Texas and TB lose to give us a little buffer.  This is all very exciting!!

^ I agree 100%.  We will have 6 starters going into the playoff.  Jimenez, Kluber, McCallister, Kazmir, Salazar, Masterson. gotta get stability in the pen.

That's bizarre.

saw it on waiting for next year

I thought it was funny

Tribe's victory officially eliminates the Yankees :)

 

That's bizarre.

I thought it was hilarious.

 

 

So to the guys on the team, I am sorry for everything I said about two weeks ago. I still don't know if you have the raw talent to pull off a deep playoff run but you've played your hearts

Out  and found ways to win down the stretch. Way to turn it around this year. BTW are those NHL style playoff beards a few of you are sporting?

Sincerly

CBC

Great game today....but yesterday was true magic. Oh yeah, I've got the 1990's chills:

 

 

detroit clinched last night

Here's what's left for the wild card series team.

CLE has a 4 game series with Min

TB has one more NYY and then a 3 games series with Tor

Tex has a 4 game series with LAA

 

This race has been crazy, nobody has been losing. Both the Indians and Rays are on an 8 game winning streak and are 8-2 over the last 10 games.

Glad to see Masty pitch a nasty ninth. That was a fun game.

Almost an upper decker for Gomes...good to see the bats alive tonight.

Can Chris Perez blow a 5 run lead?  He's trying.

 

EDIT:  I posted that before the 2 run HR.  But he won't get the opportunity to finish blowing the game.

That better seal the deal for him. Imagine him pitching in the playoffs. Oy.

 

Texas and Tampa win again as well???? Crazy weekend upcoming.

Is this the end of Chris Perez? He's a freaking liability at this point.

Is this the end of Chris Perez? He's a freaking liability at this point.

 

I agree. This is in his head now. He's no longer the unbreakable wild man. He's broken.

This was a blessing in disguise.  I actually think Francona put him in there as a final exam to see if he can pitch in the playoffs or not.  This was the best thing that could have happened because we will got the win.  I dont think we will be seeing him in the playoffs.  Masty?

I'm thinking Joe Smith.  Put Masty in as either the long reliever or set up guy. 

So I'm watching the game last night, lying on the sofa half-asleep and the game is 6-1 in the 7th. That was the last I remember. I wake up after midnight to hear the postgame show and all the discussion going that belied an easy win. So I sift through my personal twitter account that has lots of sports-related accounts I follow. And all of the chatter about Perez was amazing. "What did I miss??" So I hit reverse on my DVR and watch Perez's meltdown. Wow, I'm glad I didn't see that in real time or I would have been upset and wide awake....

 

I think Masty is worth a shot as closer. He certainly has the mindset necessary to be closer -- nothing seems to bother or faze him.

Will definitely be interesting to see what Tito does with the pen.  There's no obvious single best way to shift things.

 

I can't believe this team will likely win 90+ games. What a crazy fun stretch this has been!

It doesn't feel like a victory. I've got that knot in my stomach from when they lose.

 

Thanks CP

Perez just needs something to calm his nerves....

Perez just needs something to calm his nerves....

 

He should consult his dog. I hear Brody Baum gets some good sh*t in the mail from time to time.....

So I'm watching the game last night, lying on the sofa half-asleep and the game is 6-1 in the 7th. That was the last I remember. I wake up after midnight to hear the postgame show and all the discussion going that belied an easy win.

 

The tone of Greg Brinda's voice just about summed up the feelings of every Tribe fan!

 

This is such a strange season. Having your closer lose his mind with four games left somehow fits perfectly into the strangeness of it.

 

Perez just needs something to calm his nerves....

 

He should consult his dog. I hear Brody Baum gets some good sh*t in the mail from time to time.....

 

Best FB post I saw last night was "give Perez either the bong or give him the bench. He's a mess"

^It's his glaucoma medication! He can't even see where he is pitching. Judging by his current girth he needs to slow down on the magic brownies.

RT  ‏@JasonLawhead: Just sent Anthrax to #ChrisPerez 's dog #RollTribe

Second inning and we're up 7-0 already. Awesome.

Second inning and we're up 7-0 already. Awesome.

 

With that kind of cushion we might be ok with Perez closing.  I'd be happier with another touchdown though....

Hello 90 wins. We've missed you

It was funny seeing the audience checking their phones and hearing them talk Tribe (about their big first inning) during the intermission of Richard III at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival last night on Playhouse Square. We used to do the same thing during the mid-90s.

Perez is out as closer.  They're gonna try a Smith/Masterson combo

not unexpected. what else are they gonna do with that goat? you cant put him in there now when its crunch time and hes melting down like that even against crummy opposition. weirdest timing for something like this ive ever seen.

 

 

Great game today....but yesterday was true magic. Oh yeah, I've got the 1990's chills:

 

 

 

Its several days old, but I still listen to it... and get Goosebumps.  If there's a more exciting play-by-play baseball announcer than Tom Hamilton, I haven't heard him (or her). 

Very entertaining pregame interview by Terry Francona: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2013/09/terry_francona_on_riding_scoot.html#incart_big-photo

Tampa lost and Texas won today. A Cleveland win today clinches a share of the play-in game if the season ends in a tie.

 

They are up 4-1 in the 5th. Sorry should be 3-1, Aviles was out at the plate but we got lucky. It's the season of dreams.

I actually really like the idea of using Masterson out of the pen as a "bullpen ace," coming in in tight situations to give the team up two or three innings.  He gives them much more value than your typical closer in that type of a role.

 

This is probably not the time or place to start this discussion, but the traditional, by-the-book closer's role is incredibly overrated and really not getting the most out of a good arm if you have one.  If Francona is going to put Masterson in the bullpen from here on out, then there's no reason why he can't be used as needed before the ninth inning if necessary and for multiple innings if necessary.

i think the texas win today guarantees them a wildcard slot if they win manana.

 

and on a couple side notes, just to try to ease the tension, eric wedge quits or is let go from seattle and sf giants hunter pence gets $90M for 5 more years wow!

I didn't clinch a wild card slot, but we did clinch at least a play-in game for the wild card play-in game.

Yes, this whole system is pretty confusing, but what the Tribe clinched today is a guarantee of playing a 163rd game.

Is game 163, the wildcard runoff, considered the playoffs technically? Or is that regular season?

I'm a little concerned about starting Jimenez today since, at this moment, we've secured a wild card slot.  Yes, today is important to try and secure home field for the WC game, Wednesday, but I see today as somewhat less important than games that come after today … Ubaldo is our ace right now, and I think I'd rather TF pull him and save him for Wednesday ... assuming, of course, we don't lose and have to play a tie-breaker tomorrow night ... in which case, I'd use Jimenez then.

Is game 163, the wildcard runoff, considered the playoffs technically? Or is that regular season?

 

It's technically considered the playoffs, I believe...but as far as I'm concerned the playoffs start Friday in Boston.  I just hope the Indians are there to play the Red Sox.

I'm a little concerned about starting Jimenez today since, at this moment, we've secured a wild card slot.  Yes, today is important to try and secure home field for the WC game, Wednesday, but I see today as somewhat less important than games that come after today … Ubaldo is our ace right now, and I think I'd rather TF pull him and save him for Wednesday ... assuming, of course, we don't lose and have to play a tie-breaker tomorrow night ... in which case, I'd use Jimenez then.

 

Funny, I was kind of thinking the same thing.  Unfortunately because there are so many possible combinations for what might happen it's hard to say what would be the best decision to make without seeing the probabilities.  Maybe if I'm bored later I'll try to figure out.  I think there is roughly a 60-65% chance that Indians will get to host Wednesday's wildcard game without playing any other games in between.  I don't think that starting someone other than Ubaldo today changes that equation much.  The difference is this: Win today and you clinch that scenario and hosting the wildcard game, but lose today and you run the reasonable risk of having to go on the road for that Wednesday game, PLUS possibly having to play another game between then and now.

Scenarios where Indians go straight home to host wildcard game on Wednesday:

-Indians win, Rangers win, Rays win (~12.5%)

-Indians lose, Rangers lose, Rays lose (~12.5%)

-Indians win, Rangers lose, Rays lose (~12.5%)

-Indians win, Rangers win, Rays lose (~12.5%)

-Indians lose, Rangers win, Rays lose (~12.5%)

-Indians win, Rangers lose, Rays win (~12.5%)

 

Three-way tie scenario:

-Indians lose, Rangers win, Rays win (~12.5%)

 

Scenario where Indians head to straight to Tampa for wildcard game on Wednesday:

-Indians lose, Rangers lose, Rays win (~12.5%)

 

 

Obviously I made up those percentages, so they're somewhat meaningless because of differences due to starting pitcher strength, location of game, and actual variations in team strength (i.e. the Rays are truly a better team than the Jays).  However I think these numbers are in the ballpark, especially if you believe like I do that any single MLB game is pretty much a coin-flip.  The situation is this:  Of the 8 possible outcomes in the various win-loss scenarios today, 6 of them (about 75%, assuming the coin-flip principle) lead to the Indians hosting the wildcard game on Wednesday directly without playing any games between now and then.

I'm ok with Salazar/Masterson going in the WC game. If they win that, we would have Ubaldo on full rest for Friday night in Boston.

 

I am so, so excited for all this.

I probably shouldn't mention this because we're all excited now, but Detroit lost today meaning if the Indians beat Minnesota the Tigers will win the AL Central by...1 game.  Maybe Detroit rolled over a bit down the stretch, but either way with how the Tribe have played in the past few weeks it really is a shame that they couldn't have been more competitive in their head-to-head series with the Tigers.

^who cares?  We're in the playoffs!