The Indians have produced two Cy Young winners in a row; pride of the organization. And now, two years in a row, our reigning Cy Young has totally soiled the sheets on Opening Day. (In fact, both of those guys soiled the sheets today.)
Say it with me: It's a long season.
The story of this game is simple. Cliff Lee got nailed above the elbow by a line drive comebacker in the second inning, and though he evidently was not hurt, the Rangers scored four runs on six baserunners that inning. Lee bounced back to shut down the Rangers over the next two frames, striking out four, but he ran out of steam in the 5th, allowing three more runs followed by three flyball outs.
The Indians lineup found our old friend Kevin Millwood evidently in top form and never mounted a serious challenge against him.
Let's look for some silver linings:
- Lee doesn't appear to be hurt.
- Victor's hamstring made it through Opening Day intact, for the first time since 2006.
- A slimmed-down Hafner looks like a threat on the basepaths!
- Barry Larkin picked Carmona to win the 2009 Cy Young — and, presumably, to soil the sheets on Opening Day next year.
- Masa didn't pitch his way off the team.
- No Indians hitter made more than three outs at the plate.
The best way to look it at it, I think, is that three months of deathless spring training got extended by a couple of days. This was just a spring training tuneup for Lee, and for Steel Rafi and Stomp. One more chance to see if Masa can keep it together and break camp without getting DFA'ed. And the lineup? They're just bored, waiting for the season to start.
True, we also spotted our divisional rivals a game in the standings, but more likely than not, we can afford that. We'll try this again on Wednesday.
Say it with me again: It's a long season.