Morning Update: Holy Comeback, The Aftermath

Last night's little game, that was kinda cool, didn't really give me a good opportunity for analysis, did it?

It was the ultimate of lows and the ultimate of highs in one night. Ryan Garko even said it on Baseball Tonight as a guest, "I've never seen this team lower than we were earlier in that game." And then they turn it around into an ultimate high.

Amazing. Garko said it to reporters as well.

"It was a strange game," Ryan Garko said. "We were as low as you can get there [early on]. We felt as bad as you can feel as a team. And then we got to the highest of highs."

One of Wedge's favorite words last night was extreme, because everything was extreme. Both with the comeback and the early collapse.

"There was extreme fight," manager Eric Wedge said, "and that's what puts you in a position to win a game like this."

"It was extreme with Fausto today," Wedge said. "He's been pitching for a while now. He has to be better than that."

After Balfour looked like he was unraveling with the Garko home run, Cabrera actually took the approach of not swinging at all and so did the rest of the lineup once Jason Isringhausen got in.

"I wanted to make [Balfour] throw a strike," Cabrera said. "When he threw the first two pitches for balls, I said, 'I'm not going to do anything.'"

Balfour said that the Rays should have won that game, hands down, and they should have. Could imagine how they feel this morning? How this will impact them negatively for the rest of the season if they take this loss to heart and feel like they should have won Monday. That will kill them and help boost this team.

This was a win that the Indians needed. It was ridiculously crazy and impossible, but this season has been ridiculously crazy, so maybe they needed something of equal ridiculousness to get on the right track and balance out the universe.

Or whatever..

Victor simply said that this was a big win, and it is and was. But they need to channel that emotion into the rest of the series at first, win a few games, and move on from there. This is their last chance. This is the point where you say, okay, if this huge win doesn't turn this team around, then nothing else will. This is the final test for this team to rise up and say, yes the first two months of this season was a wreck, but we're better than that and we're competing.

If not.. This team is dead in the water.. If so, we've got ourselves a season to watch.

And after making the first out of the inning, Victor wasn't about to do it twice and he wasn't about to get walked either, unless Isringhausen didn't throw his pitch.

"I definitely wasn't going to be an easy out for him, especially when he's having trouble throwing strikes," he said. "I went up with a plan and I executed it. He gave me a pitch I was looking for."

I was watching the celebration last night and something sort of jumped out at me.

Was Ryan Garko punching Choo in the ribs? That's what their celebration looked like.. It was as if Garko had Choo in a headlock and was punching him in the ribs.

Oh well.

I had to dig to find this quote, and Garko was right on BBTN when he said, what's gone unlooked about this game was what Jermey Sowers did.

We'll snark on it, but Jeremy really saved the bullpen. Sure, it put us in a position to make a move to get another starter for Wednesday or Thursday, but thankfully.

"Jeremy gave us a chance to get back in the game," Wedge said. "He pitched very well."

Yeah... That's all Jeremy, congrats, that's all you get, one line. But he did, he gave us a chane to get back into the game and he did that and even got the win.

As for who's starting on Wednesday and Thursday, still an unknown.

"The way our bullpen's been taxed, we need to keep our options open," he said.

Still keeping money on David Huff being one of those starts, who else would you use? Kirk Saarloos pitched last night, so he's out of the equation, they'll definitely have to make a roster move. Options include Zach Jackson, which would be easy since he's on the 40 man roster and probably Jack Cassel. Tomo Ohka just pitched on Sunday, so he's out for Wednesday, and Thursday woulkd be three days rest and that isn't happening either.

So it has to be Huff and a toss up between Zach Jackson and Jack Cassel. I'm going with Jackson and Huff to start the games. I just don't see any other options at this point.

Briefly we've gone over the injuries yesterday, but let's revisit them a little more in-depth with some words.

Starting with Travis Hafner, who's eager to get back with the Indians and show his swing is feeling good.

"Everything's been feeling good," Hafner said. "I think they want to see me play a certain number of games in a row to make sure I'm ready to play five or six games a week."

"I wasn't expecting any problems at all," he said. "I definitely wasn't expecting it when it happened."

"I feel I can go out now and be comfortable playing," Hafner said. "My swing's feeling really good. I'll be excited to get up here and play."

If anything... I'm glad this setback had nothing to do with the shoulder and that this back thing is something that has occurred with him before. It sets my mind a little more at ease, especially when you hear the words setback.

Also let's clear this up on Anthony Reyes. The recovery time for his surgery that he would have is 4-6 months. He'd be back next year for sure, but would miss the rest of the year in all likelihood. This surgery is not Tommy John, it is a different procedure on the elbow.

Moving on... I called the Kelly Shoppach regression a mile away. His swing isn't suited for erratic playing time to begin with, but pitchers have also figured out he will swing wildly at the off speed stuff.

"When you're not playing every day, you have to grind out many, many more at-bats," Shoppach said. "The bad games stick with you until the next one, and you might not get to play in a while. When you are playing every day, you get a chance to learn every day and get feedback every day."

And this is why Ryan Garko needs the majority of the playing time. He's more suited to handle himself in at-bats, while Kelly Shoppach is not.

"My mind-set has to be different," he said. "I have to be more patient, because the timing and the feeling are not there. I'm trying to throttle [the big-swing mentality] back a little bit and have better at-bats."

That isn't the type of hitter Kelly Shoppach is though. He is at his best when he is just sitting back and trying to hack something into the upper-decks. That may not be the best thing for the team, but that's the only way Kelly Shoppach can be successful because that's the way Kelly Shoppach hits.

Finally... My mission is to see Orlando and Denver ruin the Ryan Garko and Jensen Lewis basketball rivalry. Jensen, take it from here.. Brian Anderson also chimed in.

"I'm actually happy the Cavs are in this situation, so they can learn to take a punch and get up off the mat. If you want to beat a team like the Lakers, you need to be tested first."

"I'm going to go against my gut and say the Cavs in seven -- but only because it's not all the time we get to believe in anything relating to Cleveland sports," Anderson said.

Brian should know being down in Tampa just how awesome Orlando is.. His gut tells him the Magic rock and that his Cavs are in trouble. Jensen is just talking as if the series is already set. I guess he didn't watch the first three games, come on J-Rod.

Ryan probably knows Kobe is just going to like rise up and smack someone soon.