I've converted another one. And no, I'm not talking about my newly-minted wife - she's been a Tribe fan for what seems like years now. But during my wedding weekend, I got to talking sports with one of my wife's friends from Calgary. Great dude, aside from the fact that he's a Red Sox fan. Well, at least he was. The poor guy missed out on two Tribe games while he was in town for the wedding, but still managed to fall in love with the city. Because of that new-found, beer-induced love, he vowed to follow and root for the Indians along with me this year. So far, he's watched/listened to every game since then, and it seems to be paying dividends early...
Indians 6, Rays 0
Danny Salazar spun a gem against opposing ace Chris Archer, aided by an outburst of power from his offense. Just to spite Mr. Lukehart, Marlon Byrd and Rajai Davis both went deep, and the Angry Hamster joined them later in the game. Tyler Naquin also had himself a hell of a game, and the Indians ran wild on poor Hank Conger.
Indians news & notes
Indians outfielder Michael Brantley says shoulder feels good | Cleveland.com - Dr. Smooth is still working on his playing every other day schedule, but his self diagnosis is good. The cold weather hasn't affected him, and he seems to be on the right path. No set return date as of yet, though.
Veteran Byrd puts power, defense on display | Indians.com - Marlon Byrd has had a rough start to the season, as chronicled by Jason in the article linked above. But Thursday was a day for Marlon, going 2-3 with a homer and making a hell of a catch on a hank Conger line drive.
A simple formula for the Indians, a few hits for Tyler Naquin, and an old Chris Archer tale | Cleveland.com - Zack Meisel muses about yesterday's happenings, including a heartwarming story about Chris Archer's host family during his time with the lake County Captains.
News from around MLB
- Joe Coblitz over at Burning River Baseball breaks down Win Expectancy and its implications for baseball fan moods
- Fangraphs examines what the early season faceplants by the Braves and the Twins mean for potential playoff chances
- The Phillies' Vincent Velasquez threw a ridiculous complete game yesterday, complete with 16 strikeouts
- The Pablo Sandoval situation is getting uglier in Boston, and Craig Calcaterra thinks it's going to be pretty hard for the Sox to work their way out of it
- Bryce Harper's 100th career homer was a grand slam, in perfect Harper style
- In the choir boy meetup of the century, Mike Trout shakes hands with Steph Curry