The Indians were on T.V. last night, and a little about the Diamondbacks

And I actually got to see them.  It was good to see the Indians hit a little bit, even if it was John Lackey (good luck with the next three years of that contract).  The game included my girlfriends second favorite thing in baseball, "back to back jacks," which she only likes because it rhymes.  She even refers to back to back strikeouts the same way.  Josh Tomlin remained hit-able, and make me nervous as he put 10 base runners on in his 6 innings, although I do think the umpire had a tight strike zone for both teams. Vinnie Pestono looked untouchable in his inning of work, while Chris Perez continues to frighten me at the back end of games, with his current xFIP of around 5.  Perez struckout two last night, without walking anyone, but his K/BB rate on the season is a meager 1.32.  David huff goes tonight against josh beckett in a start that Ubaldo Jiminez could have made if Jim Tracy didn't have him throw that inning on Saturday.  The Indians have a fair track record against beckett in the past, he has a 4-5 record, and an ERA of 5.

Around the League:
Arizona defeated San Francisco last night, as Ian Kennedy out dueled Matt Cain.  Ian Kennedy is having a wonderful year that isn't getting much publicity.  He's one of the most under appreciated players in the game this year, and along with Daniel Hudson, may be the second coming of Dan Haren and Brandon Webb, who were the second coming of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling.

Arizona would be an interesting team if they were to make the playoffs this year because of all the teams that are in position to make the playoffs right now, Philadelphia/Milwaukee/San Francisco/Atlanta (wildcard), Arizona has by far the best offense, while the other teams are mostly built on pitching.

The only other scary offense still in the playoff race in my opinion is St. Louis, but they continue to disappoint.  I think that they are the most talented team in the central, and have the best run differential, but just can't seem to put it all together.  Maybe with the bullpen upgrades they made prior to the deadline, they'll be able to win a few more close games and challenge the Brewers for the division.

The Astros won an extra inning game last night, but the immediate future for that team is not pretty. They could still trade Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers, and  53 games left, look well on their way to 100 losses as the only need to lose 27 more.

A Little About the Browns:
As football season looms closer, I once again am curious to see what the Browns will be like.  Not that I have anything resembling high expectations for a 5-11 team that is changing their defensive front from a 3-4 to a 4-3.  With Holmgrem as the GM/President/Dictator of the team, I can only assume that the change to a 4-3 was coming.  Following this train of thought, why did re release Shaun Rogers?  We are well below the salary cap, and could use an upfield interior pass rusher as we overhaul the system.  Once the dust settles from free agency and the roster begins to finalize, I'll start to write a little more about the Browns, but I still think it's too early to go in depth about them.