RETURN!

Okay, so I've been gone for a while, so long, in fact, that I doubt anyone is still reading this thing. As it's wont to do, the real world got in the way of my blogging.

And what a time to stop! It's always the guys we love to complain about that get hot and come through big for us. Yes, Jhonny, everyone wants Cabrera at short and you should have made that play, but those two home runs make it easy to look past those things -- for now. And while those home runs worked out for everyone, you still need to stop trying to hit them every time up.

Hey, I had Gomez starting at third by now! Again, that's not to say we wouldn't be winning these games, but clearly it wouldn't have been as dramatic.

Last night's game was a big one. Aside from the fact that it gives us a little bit of breathing room (the worst that can happen now is that the series ends with us up by 3.5 games with only ten remaining), but we basically STOLE the game from Detroit. The Tribe might as well as had ski masks on. Between the errors and the lack of big hit for most of the game, there was no reason for us to win it -- aside from the fact that we never, ever give up.

Let's not overlook the bullpen last night, either. I was positive Fultz would walk someone. I was beside myself when Borowski came in. But both of them did a great job (Fultz aided by a questionable decision by Leyland). And, of course, Betancourt was exactly was we expect him to be, lights out.

Sure, it's worrying that we seem to live and die by the homerun on certain nights, but with Cabrera in the two spot and Lofton in the line-up, I feel like we can manufacture runs far better than in the first half of the season. And, hey, Shoppach laid down a great sac bunt last night (although ultimately to no avail).

Byrd was actually pretty good last night, minus the unearned run. I worry about him against tough line-ups, though; picture him against the Yankees. Still, you can't say enough about his performance this season and it's probably a safe bet that they Tribe will pick up his option for next season.

Speaking of which, the battle for the #5 spot in spring training should be fantastic, between Lee, Sowers, Laffey, and Miller.

At this point, I'd almost prefer that the Tribe NOT pass the Angels for second best record. With the way the Red Sox have been pitching lately, I'd much rather face them than anyone else. They just seem to have more glaring holes. That, and the Angels have owned the Yankees this year, so let them take on NY in the first round.

Yet another big game tonight. A win tonight should all but clinch the division.