Indians Walkoff Win

(AP)

Cleveland - Jason Kipnis had made a habit of hitting first-inning home runs this season. On Friday night, he tried something different.

Kipnis hit a three run homer with two outs in the 10th inning off Lucas Leutge to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 6-3 win over the Seattle Mariners.

The home run was the seventh of the season for Kipnis. The first five came in the first inning before he homered in the eighth in Wednesday's win over Philadelphia. His walkoff shot Friday came on an 0-1 pitch and capped out a two-out rally that began with a walk and an infield hit.

"This was outstanding," said Kipnis, who was mobbed by his teammates at home plate. "This was one of the more fun nights I've had on a baseball field."

The Indians have won 15 of 19 and are 10-2 at Progressive Field since April 30. Vinnie Pestano (1-0), activated from the disabled list before the game, worked around a one-out walk in the 10th.

The game drew a crowd of 34,282, a total boosted by a postgame fireworks show and $1 hot dog promotion. The Indians are last in the majors in attendance despite being 18-7 since April 20. The biggest crowd of the season since the home opener was not lost on Cleveland's players.

"That was awesome," Kipnis said. "I was just as amped up as they were rounding first base. You never want to put too much emphasis on different wins, but we knew we had a big crowd. To get a win in front of them and to get it like this in front of them, hopefully it brings some back, because we had a lot of fun tonight."

The Indians posted their third walk-off win of the season and are 4-0 in extra innings.

"There were no words coming out when I was rounding (the bases) and screaming," Kipnis said. "It was just sounds, just gibberish screams."

Added Indians manager Terry Francona: "Watching the guys jumping all over each other is fun."

Drew Stubbs, who homered in the fifth, drew a walk off Luetge (0-1). Stubbs broke for second with a 1-2 count on Michael Bourn, and Leutge threw to first baseman Justin Smoak, but Stubbs beat the throw to shortstop Brendan Ryan. Bourn hit a slow roller past the mound and second baseman Dustin Ackley's throw to first was late.

"That was the matchup we wanted, lefty-on-lefty there, but he (Luetge) just spun one up there and they took advantage of it," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "Speed got us there in the 10th. The kid (Stubbs) did a heck of a job getting to second base, and Bourn is just so fast."

The Mariners fell short of reaching the .500 mark for the first time since they were 4-4 on April 8. Raul Ibanez's two-run homer in the sixth tied the game, and the bullpens on both sides took over.

Chris Perez retired the side in order in the ninth. Perez, who has been nursing a stiff shoulder, was pitching for the first time since May 11. Pestano had been on the DL since May 1 with a sore right elbow.

Mariners relievers Charlie Furbush and Carter Capps combined to pitch 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Capps struck out Mark Reynolds to start the 10th. Luetge got Michael Brantley to ground out before running into trouble. Seattle lost for just the seventh time in 19 games.

Ubaldo Jimenez allowed two runs and struck out a season-high nine in five innings. He was pulled after Smoak led off the sixth with a single. Rich Hill was brought in to face Ibanez, who homered to right on an 0-1 pitch to tie the game. Jimenez, who had won three consecutive starts, struck out five of the first seven batters he faced. Seattle rookie Brandon Maurer allowed three runs in six innings. The right-hander matched a career high with six strikeouts.

Jason Giambi's sacrifice fly gave Cleveland the lead in the second. Maurer's wild pitch allowed another run to score. Kendry Morales' solo homer into the second deck in right field cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth. Stubbs homered in the fifth to give Cleveland a two-run lead.

Nick Swisher drew a leadoff walk in the second and took third on a double by Carlos Santana. Swisher scored on Giambi's fly ball to right, which also move Santana to third. Santana scored when Maurer bounced a pitch in front of the plate with Brantley batting.

Morales, who flirted with an extra-base hit down the right line before lining out to Jimenez in the first, homered on a 2-0 pitch with one out in the fourth.

Stubbs' drive to right with one out in the fifth landed in Seattle's bullpen, barely clearing the wall.

Kipnis and Ryan collided in the third. Kipnis banged his head into the right leg of Ryan as he dove into second on a failed steal attempt. Ryan applied the tag, but both players were down for a couple of moments after the play as the two managers and trainers ran on the field. Kipnis and Ryan remained in the game.

Mariners outfielder Michael Morse was a late scratch with an irritated eye. Endy Chavez took his spot in right field and batted eighth.

Browns ink Backup Hoyer

Former Michigan State Spartan Brian Hoyer is headed home to Northeast Ohio on a two-year deal with the Browns. The Saint Ignatius Alum was released by the Arizona Cardinals earlier this week.

Hoyer is expected to compete with Jason Campbell for 2nd string on the Browns' depth chart. The move signals the end for another Shurmur-era player, as Thad Lewis is likely done in the Orange and Brown.

Hoyer started one game in Arizona last season. The Browns are Hoyer's fourth NFL team, as he has played in New England and Pittsburgh in addition to his brief stint in with the Cardinals. On his career, he's got a 59.4 completion percentage, 616 passing yards, 2 TD's and 3 interceptions.

Draft Combine Buzz: Day One

A few quick rumors from Day One that may be important for the Cavs.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was given a First Round promise by one team, per ESPN's Chad Ford. The Cavs are one possibility as Antetokounmpo is projected as a mid/last first round selection. The Cavs are rumored to have high interest in him with the 19th pick.

Rudy Gobert might be a freak. The French big man reportedly measured in over 7', but more impressive was the 7'9 wingspan that was blowing up Twitter yesterday. He also looked solid in some of the drills, as one analyst noted Gobert seemed to disrupt every shot in his vicinity. Look for the Euro to creep up draft boards as we inch closer to June 27th.

Victor Oladipo reported measured in at 6'4 in shoes, which has experts backing away from early projections of him as a SF.  Official measurements are not released until the end of the combine.

Shabazz Muhammed's stock continues to drop. Many rated Muhammed as the #1 prospect in the country coming out of high school, but after a less than stellar season at UCLA and a bizarre scandal involving his age, Muhammed's draft stock has taken quite a hit. After struggling in the shooting drills yesterday, many analysts were questioning whether he will even be chosen in the lottery.

Otto Porter told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix yesterday three teams which he believes are his best fit. He listed Cleveland, Phoenix and Orlando as desired destinations. Although the Cavs will not be meeting with Porter at the combine, many see Porter as a likely candidate for the Wine and Gold next season.

Prospects to Watch at the NBA Draft Combine

Coverage of the 2013 NBA Draft Combine gets underway tomorrow morning in Chicago, Ill. The annual event probably will not play much of a role in Chris Grant's decision with the Cavs' early first round draft pick. However, there will be several guys the Cavs may be eyeing for one of their three picks later in the draft. Here are some highlights of a few guys to keep an eye on:

Steven Adams - C - Pittsburgh

Reggie Bullock - SF - North Carolina

Gorgui Dieng - C - Louisville

Archie Goodwin - SG - Kentucky

Glen Rice Jr. - SF - Rio Grande Valley (NBADL)

Jeff Withey - C - Kansas

(All videos via DraftExpress)

16 Team Playoff

This Playoff system would be very simple and straight forward. The same 6 automatic qualifying conferences in the BCS system would carry over into this system. Additionally, the two highest ranked non-AQ schools would be granted access into the playoffs. These 8 teams would host their first round playoff games. The next 8 teams would simply be the next 8 highest ranked teams. This year, the bracket would look something like this:

1: LSU
16: Michigan

8: West Virginia
9: Alabama

4: Boise State
13: South Carolina

5: Wisconsin
12: Kansas State

2: Oklahoma State
15: Baylor

7: TCU
10: Stanford

3: Oregon
14: Virginia Tech

6: Clemson
11: Arkansas

24 Team Regionalized Playoff

This model is most similar to the format used at the Division II level. My proposal breaks the 120 team FBS division into four regions using geography as the primary factor as to which region a team falls into. I've also done my best to keep the regions as balanced as possible in terms of competition. At the end of the year each conference champion is admitted into the playoffs and along with 3 wild cards per region. That makes 6 playoff berths per regions with a total of 24 teams playing for a national title. Every conference will have representation. A computer based ranking system will continue to be used to calculate the wild card teams and seed the playoff teams. The top two teams from each region are given a first round bye. But enough talking, I'll skip to the point and show you what such a system could look like at the FBS level.

Region 1 consists of the 12 ACC teams, the 8 Big East teams and the 4 currently Independent schools. These schools could keep their Independent status, but they would be grouped into Region 1 for playoff purposes.

Region 2 consists of the 12 SEC teams, the 12 Conference-USA teams and the 9 Sun Belt teams.

Region 3 consists of the 12 Big Ten teams, the 10 Big 12 teams and the 13 MAC teams.

Region 4 consists of the 12 PAC-12 teams, the 8 Mountain West teams and the 8 WAC teams.

This year, a playoff bracket would look similar to this:
Region 1
#1 Clemson plays the winner of the first round matchup between #4 BYU and #5 Notre Dame.
#2 Virginia Tech plays the winner of the first round matchup between #3 West Virginia and #6 Georgia Tech
Region 2
#1 LSU plays the winner of the first round matchup between #4 Southern Miss and #5 Houston
#2 Alabama plays the winner of the first round matchup between #3 Arkansas and #6 Arkansas State
Region 3
#1 Oklahoma State plays the winner of the first round matchup between #4 Baylor and #5 Michigan
#2 Kansas State plays the winner of the first round matchup between #3 Wisconsin and #6 Northern Illinois
Region 4
#1 Stanford plays the winner of the first round matchup between #4 TCU and #5 Utah
#2 Oregon plays the winner of the first round matchup between #3 Boise State and #6 Louisiana Tech.

The winners of region 1 and 2 would face in the national semifinal with the region 3 and 4 winners on the opposite side of the bracket. The National Semifinal games and National Championship game would be held at predetermined neutral sites.

BCS Mess

LSU and Alabama will square off in what is almost certainly the most debated BCS Championship Game matchup since the system's inception. This year more than ever, the general public is sick of the BCS process. People have grown tired of a system they don't understand. This year Notre Dame is going to recieve 1.8 million dollars from BCS earnings despite not participating in a BCS bowl. However, instead of pointing out every individual flaw in the system, I'm going to go ahead and present two different possible playoff formats.