And hey, how about that Valbuena?

As soon as the ball came off Luis Valbuena's bat in the bottom of the 11th of last night's game against the Mariners, I knew it was gone. The only question was whether it would stay fair. Of course, it did, giving the Indians a 4-3 walk-off win. It was the first walk-off home run Valbuena had ever hit as a pro, and you could see how excited he was as he tossed aside his helmet between third and home so his jubilant teammates could beat him up once he touched the plate.

Valbuena's long ball was the lead story, but the secondary story was another impressive start from Aaron Laffey. Laffey gave up three runs in the top of the first, and then settled down to put up zeroes the rest of the way. I've said it before, but Laffey is an ace in the making. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find him in the 2010 All-Star Game, and maybe making a run at a Cy Young in a couple of years.

And the bullpen came through too, as Chris Perez, Kerry Wood, Tony Sipp, Joe Smith and Rafael Perez put up four more zeroes to hold the Mariners off long enough for Valbuena to end it. Rafael Perez, in particular, has been pitching much better lately, after getting off to a terrible start this season. He had a couple of bad outings after being recalled from Columbus in early April, but has been rock-solid since then, giving up nothing over his last five outings, and getting the win last night.

Pitching pandemonium

There's plenty of blame to go around for the Indians' ugly 14-12 loss to the Brewers yesterday. Carl Pavano was never sharp, and gave up six runs on nine hits, including a Ryan Braun home run, in struggling through five innings. And the bullpen was even worse. Greg Aquino, Luis Vizcaino, Matt Herges and Rafael Perez each gave up two runs — though it should be pointed out that Herges' runs didn't score until Perez was on the mound. Perez gave up the Prince Fielder grand slam that put the Brew Crew ahead 13-12, and gave up two other hits and a walk. He never did record an out.

Perez was once one of the better set-up men in the majors, but he sure doesn't fit that description these days. He's been about as good at pitching as George Armstrong Custer was at battlefield planning. In 17 1/3 innings this year, Perez has given up 23 runs, all earned, for an 11.94 ERA. He's struck out 14, which is pretty good; but also walked 14, which is very, very bad. He spent most of May in Columbus, and I hope he liked that city, because he'll be back soon.

The Tribe offense seems to be humming along pretty well, I'm glad to report. Their 12 runs came with the help of four homers, and I just read that Grady Sizemore will be back in a week to 10 days. If they can just get the bullpen straightened out ...

Aw, let's face it. That's not going to happen this year. Too bad.