First of all, tough ballgame tonight.  I missed most of it but when I got into my car I was greeted with something along the lines of this:

“…a high popup to shallow center, Ichiro settles under it and the carnage is over.”

Thanks to Dave Neihaus for that one.  That, of course, was referring to the bottom of the fifth when the Indians scored five.

Also, where the hell did Cliff Lee come from?  I considered picking him up in the BBT Fantasy Baseball League after his first couple starts, but convinced myself that he wouldn’t keep it up.  He keeps putting up great starts though, and tonight’s win against the Mariners was his worst one of the year.  Amazing…

Ok, just a quick word on how Wlad Balentien and Jeff Clement will be used by Seattle.  I’m pretty swamped today, so I won’t bother with the direct quotes, but basically manager John McLaren told the media that Wlad will not be part of a platoon in right field and should start everyday.  Jeff Clement, on the other hand, will get most of his at bats at DH but will find himself occasionally behind the plate and even at first base.  As far as I can tell, Clement has never played first base in the minor leagues, big leagues or Winter ball, but perhaps he’s been working on it on the side.  He’ll get the start at catcher tomorrow since Jose Vidro has had a ton of success against Paul Byrd.

Mac also mentioned that Vidro will start stealing some at bats from Richie Sexson at first and play some second base against tough righties.