Have the Indians finally hit rockbottom? I don't know why, but my eyeballs seem to be finding their games a lot lately. I guess because when a team is going bad, you have to look beyond the box score and game summaries to see how bad things are going by actually watching the games.

Last night should have been a win. Instead it was another wasted performance by Cliff Lee. He had strong 7th and 8th innings and then Wedgie turned it over to Kerry Wood to finish off the Royals in the 9th. I decided there was not much of a fine line between using Lee or Wood in the 9th. Lee had thrown only 101 pitches, his least amount of pitches in a game since he got hammered in the Opener. Letting him finish or at least trying to finish may have stopped the current skid.

Going to Wood is probably the normal move. But these are not normal times. No, no. Wedge has to quit saving Wood for non-save situations and maybe let him work 2 innings once in a while. Giving Wood much needed work last night would have been a moot point had Wedge used him in the tie game at Tampa last Friday. Or more time on Sunday, instead of to come in and hit Upton and get the final out.

But Wood, yikes! There was still only one out after those homers, but walking Olivo is inexcusable under any circumstances. It was only the second time Olivo walked all year. Ugh! I said three weeks ago Wood looked great and if we could only get to him for the 9th inning, things might be OK. I think I'll step aside from that comment for the time being.

Back to the game. After the Olivo walk, David DeJesus comes to bat. He hit a 2-run homer off of Wood in April, so he promptly rips another Wood fastball for a triple. And that was pretty much game over. But this is another issue I have with Wedge. He goes by the book by using Wood and making a lot of these other moves. But, after the DeJesus triple, where were the two intentional walks to load the bases for the possibility of a double play? With Betancourt in the bullpen, he would have had ample time to warm up with Wood delivering those walks. And, yes, Wood was so bad last night, that Betancourt deserved a shot. BTW, I can't believe I just wrote that. Arrrrrrrgh!

I agree with those who say if the players are performing badly, it's mainly their fault. I get that. But we are seeing way too many managerial miscues by Wedge as this season is falling apart. Sizemore resting and Ben Francisco automatically assuming his leadoff spot, dropping Sizemore to only second in the lineup, using Sipp two days in a row, Garko in LF, etc. The beat goes on!

Mark Shapiro doesn't get off the hook either. I'm gonna discount the Lee and Victor Martinez trade rumors. But if Mark DeRosa gets moved and it seems likely that he will, how do they explain that failed experiment? If the decision only 2 months in is Jhonny Peralta at 3B and Asdrubal Cabrera at SS, why even sign DeRosa over the winter?

Jee-zus, I need a drink.

Unbelievably, Wood walked the bases loaded tonight in the 9th, but hung on for the save. Gonna have to keep an eye on that boy.

Meal of Links

You have to be rich to be poor. Life in the inner city.

E! has gone daft. Celebrity Twitter tweets will run on a crawl.

Oh, Canada! The Olympic Torch for Vancouver looks like a joint.

Exercise Yard

First of all, did you see all the towel waving at the Q tonight? I hope to God everyone saw the incident right before the game. Dwight Howard walking off the bench toward the scorer's table and a woman waving her towel, oblivious to the world, hit him right in the face with it. Wouldn't that have been funny if it took his eye out, ending towel distribution forever.

Reminded me of this:

As for the game, a story of two halves. The Cavs really sucked wind in the second half. They are going to need to contest the threes of Orlando a lot better. Too many wide open looks. And not much help from the guards tonight. Terrible shooting.

I can already hear the traffic lining up on the 480 bridge. Cavs lose their first playoff game this year, 106-105.

Oh, forgot one other lament after the first playoff loss for the Cavs. The Sports Illustrated jinx. Add that to the others.

The Cavs could use a dose of...

Hoosiers, Where Amazing Happens



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