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Victor Martinez Finally Goes Deep

The world was a lot different back on September 25th of 2007. The Cleveland Indians had already clinched the AL Central division, and teams like the White Sox and Rays were sitting at the bottom of their divisions. Outside of baseball, kids across the country were discovering the latest craze that was the Soulja Boy.

All in all, the world was a magical place where anything could happen. September 25th was also the day that Indians catcher Victor Martinez hit his 25th homer of the season. Little did he know at the time that it would be nearly a year before he hit his next one.
Victor Martinez hugged teammates and danced in the dugout as if he had just won the World Series.

It was a special moment for Cleveland's switch-hitter, who hit his first home run in nearly a year to help the Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 9-3 last night.

"It felt great to see one finally go out," Martinez said. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about (the drought)."
The return of Martinez's power was also a good sign for the Indians as they start to turn their eyes to the 2009 season. It's pretty safe to say that the cause of Martinez's power drought was the elbow injury that caused him to miss most of this season. Now that he's had surgery on the elbow to correct the problem, it appears as though he's getting his power back.

Pierzynski Is Wind Beneath Cliff Lee's Wings

On Monday night Cliff Lee became the first Cleveland Indians pitcher to win 20 games in a season since Gaylord Perry did it back in 1974. Lee accomplished the feat the exact way a pitcher would want to do it, too. Pitching a complete game shutout against the Chicago White Sox, and at one point retiring 20 straight hitters.

Now obviously Cliff has been fantastic all season, you kind of have to be to win 20 games, but last night he seemed to have a bit of extra motivation. It was as though his intensity level had risen, and after the game Lee admitted it was a bit higher. The reason for this? Well, A.J. Pierzynski of course.
"He slammed his bat down and stared me down[ after popping out]," Lee said. "I stared back. He was chirping in the dugout. It gave me a little extra energy. Actually, I appreciate him doing that."
Of course, Pierzynski had a different story to tell afterwards.
"I rounded first, and he said something else and I looked at him like, 'What?'" Pierzynski said. "I didn't say anything. I was mad because I missed a 3-2 pitch and popped up. It wasn't meant anything toward him. You miss a pitch, you pop up against a guy that good, you can't miss pitches to hit. Oh well."
Now it's hard to believe Pierzynski when it comes to this kind of stuff, as it follows him around constantly, but I'm kind of leaning more towards his side of the story here. Why on earth would A.J. be talking crap to Lee after popping up? "You see how high I hit that? You suck!" That makes no sense.

Eye Toward October: Sept. 2


With the playoff chase coming down to the wire, our MLB editor rounds up the five biggest pennant race stories in Eye Toward October.


- Arizona Aces Faltering:
One of the reasons I, and several other pundits, think the Diamondbacks will be a very dangerous team in October is because of the Brandon Webb-Dan Haren-Randy Johnson trio at the top of their rotation. It has the potential to be devastating in the postseason, but if they don't get their collective acts together, it might be a moot point.

Haren, Webb and Johnson have started the last three games for the Snakes, putting up this cumulative line: 13 IP, 24 H, 16 ER. All three are seasoned pros, and if this were June or July, this streak would barely be worth batting an eyelash over.

It's September, though. Time is short and the Diamondbacks' edge in the NL West is slim. Arizona can't afford another stretch like this from the top three pitchers on its staff.

The Flip Side of Surprise Is Disappointment


If you're a baseball fan who likes surprises, then the 2008 season has been a special treat. The Rays are the most notable team that has exceeded expectations, but the Twins, White Sox and Marlins are also surprise contenders.

Of course, those pleasant surprises have come at the expense of several clubs expected to be much better this season. Whether because of a big free-agent signing last winter, a deep October run last season or the (hint, hint) crushing burden of a massive payroll, the baseball landscape is littered with flops as August comes to a close.

The following is a countdown of the seven most disappointing teams this season.

7. Padres: Mired in last place in the abysmal NL West, it's easy to forget that this team won 89 games last year and was a (phantom?) Matt Holliday slide away from a playoff spot. Even when they were winning division titles, the Padres operated on a thin margin. Injuries and underperformance are at the root of their struggles.

Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Brian Giles are the only offensive regulars who have played more than 100 games. Ace Jake Peavy spent a month on the disabled list, while No. 2 starter Chris Young has made only 13 starts. Veteran closer Trevor Hoffman has also been extremely shaky.

The Dugout: Grady Sizemore Joins the Club

Grady Sizemore, this is your year. You have hit 30 home runs and stolen 30 bases in a single season, joining an exclusive club that boasts Hall of Fame five-tool legends such as Dante Bichette and Raul Mondesi. You have achieved a statistical milestone celebrated not in the spirit of objective productivity, but of numerical romance. Oh, baseball, what frivolity can't you worship?

Today's Dugout is after the jump.

Grady Sizemore Joins 30-30 Club

For a lot of fans out there whose teams don't have any chance of making the playoffs this season, the final weeks of the schedule can be tough to deal with. On the one hand you don't want to get labeled some kind of fair weather fan if you just give up on caring about the team. On the other hand you wonder what the point of wasting three hours of your day on a team going nowhere is.

Which is why you have to take solace in the small things your team can still accomplish. If you're a Cleveland Indians fan, you can spend the rest of the season hoping the Tribe catches the Detroit Tigers in the standings, and if that doesn't happen, you can enjoy the individual performances. Like the fact that Cliff Lee is probably going to win 20 games and the AL Cy Young on a bad team, or the fact Grady Sizemore made some history last night.

Grady became the second player in Indians history to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season last night. Joe Carter was the first player to do it in a Cleveland uniform back in 1987.

Sizemore actually homered twice on Monday night, so he now has 31 homers and 34 stolen bases on the season. Which means that Indians fans still have something to strive for over the final five weeks. And that would be Sizemore becoming the first Indian to reach the 40-40 club.

The Dugout: Every Day-Rod

So the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Yankees are in the news today. Have you seen this? Have you heard about this?

Wait a minute. This is an ANGELS Dugout? The hell is an Angels Dugout?

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California By Way of the Western Coast of the United States of America a Country Via Great Britain of Europe are on top of the world, but in the world of sports you've got to have something other than your ridiculously long name to complain about, so here it is: Francisco Rodriguez should probably not be pitching as much as he is. But it's Mike Scioscia's job to coach the team, and coach he must. If there's a late inning save situation, who ELSE do you want in there to pitch? Ah, there's the rub.

Tonight's Dugout is after the jump. And after every other jump this week (just in case).

Call The Cy Young Races Off

You never know what's gonna happen when you're a pitcher. You could go on a two-month slump out of nowhere. Steve Blass disease could rear its ugly head. You could suddenly become close personal friends with Dr. James Andrews. There are no sure things, really, but if you're Cliff Lee or Brandon Webb, you can probably start making space on your shelf for a Cy Young Award.

Webb gave up one run on six hits against the Braves yesterday, boosting his record to 17-4 and lowering his ERA to 2.88. He's head and shoulders above everyone in the NL in wins and at the moment trails only Tim Lincecum, Jake Peavy, and Johan Santana in the ERA race. But not by much, and more important to the win-crazy BBWAA writers, none of those guys are going to match his win totals when it's all said and done. What's more, two of those three are certain to be watching the playoffs from home this October, and Santana's Mets stand a worse chance of playing in the postseason right now than Webb's Diamondbacks. Out of all of the challengers I think Linceucm poses the biggest threat in that two stellar months for him might have older voters reminiscing about Steve Carlton wining 27 games for a pathetic Phillies team in 1972, but this is really Webb's award to lose at this point.

Cliff Lee was even more impressive yesterday, shutting out the Blue Jays over eight innings. Lee is leading the AL in wins and ERA, and none of the three guys trailing him in the latter category -- Justin Duchscherer, Roy Halladay, or Felix Hernandez -- are playing for winning teams, ensuring that only Lee truly has a shot at both titles. Yet somehow Lee seems less of a lock for a Cy Young than Webb does, for the simple reason that Francisco Rodriguez is likely to break the saves record for the best team in baseball. AL voters haven't given a Cy Young to a closer since Dennis Eckersley got it in 1992 -- and the early season K-Rod buzz is certainly dying down -- but the save, she is a seductive stat, and to the extent Lee falters down the stretch, the writers have a fallback option in Rodriguez.

But it's not a smart option, because Lee, as Webb, have been dominant this year. And though it's only August 11th, we haven't had a a clearer choice for Cy Young this early in recent memory.

On Deck: Brewers Brawling and Falling

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On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Do you remember last year when the Milwaukee Brewers jumped out to a big lead in the NL Central, but then began fading as the season wore on? A lot of the blame for this collapse was placed on the front office not making any moves at the trade deadline by the team's fans. So as a response to such criticism last season, the Brewers went out and made a couple of moves this season.

The biggest one (both literally and figuratively) of course being the addition of CC Sabathia to the starting rotation.

Well, they may have a new philosophy, but unfortunately for the citizens of Milwaukee, they're still the same old Brewers. After climbing to within a game of the Chicago Cubs last week, the Brew Crew had a pivotal four-game series with their divison rivals in their home park. Instead of taking advantage of the opportunity, the Brewers collapsed under the pressure and before they knew it, they were being swept out of their own park.

Now Milwaukee has lost eight of it's last eleven games, and have fallen five games back of Chicago. Instead of working together to fight through this slump and beat the other team, they've begun fighting amongst themselves.

Can the Brewers get their act together tonight, or are they doomed to another late season fade? Find out after the jump.

CC Sabathia Is One Classy Dude

There are lots of bad things to be said about lots of professional athletes. Most of them deserve the bad things said about them. Some athletes don't deserved to be lumped in, though. CC Sabathia is one of those guys. Less than a month after being traded by the Indians to the Milwaukee Brewers, CC took out a full page ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer today thanking his teammates, the Indians' front office, and the Cleveland fans for his time there. The text of the ad:
To the great fans of Cleveland, my fellow teammates and coaches, the Cleveland Indians executive front office, the Dolan family, the City of Cleveland ... Thank you for ten great years

You've touched our lives with your kindness, love, and generosity. We are forever greatful! It's been a privilege and an honor!

CC and Amber Sabathia and Family
Honestly, I think that the whole thing is so touching that I won't even make a joke about "Time to Dine" being one of the several sponsors he thanks. CC's a California native, but after spending his entire career in the Cleveland organization and area (with several of the Tribe's affiliates being based in Eastern Ohio) he was obviously sorry to leave. Lots of athletes say stuff like that, but not many mean it. It's pretty clear that Sabathia does.

Fist-bump: Warning Track Power
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