Tampa Tops Tribe, Takes Two

That's some serious alliteration in the title huh? Unfortunately it's not in the Indians favour as the Tribe lost the rubber game yesterday afternoon, losing the series to Tampa Bay two-to-one. It began on Friday night in a bizarre rain-delayed game which the Tribe couldn't muster enough energy for, losing 9-2 in the early hours of Saturday morning. Cleveland didn't let the lack of sleep bother them Saturday afternoon though, shutting down the Rays offense in a 5-0 win to even the series. Despite getting plenty of hits yesterday, the Indians couldn't turn them into runs and lost the game 11-3 after McAllister ran into some early trouble, and lost the series overall. Luckily the Tigers haven't taken advantage and we are still just a 0.5 game behind them in the AL Central. Let's have a look at what I liked and didn't like against the Rays:

A Sunny Saturday With Ubaldo

Ubaldo Jimenez took to the mound Saturday afternoon and pitched an absolute gem, one of his best games in an Indians jersey. I got home from work in time to catch it all and was overjoyed to see Jimenez pitching so well. He was dominant against the Rays offense, pitching 8 shutout innings, giving up just 4 hits and walking only 1, whilst striking out 7. What impressed me most was his level of control, his ability to get ahead in the count, and the way he made the Rays swing and miss so often. Ubaldo doesn't have overpowering stuff anymore but he's using what he's got left to outsmart the opposition and nowhere was that more evident than Saturday. Tampa Bay just couldn't figure him out. It was an almost perfect day for Ubaldo and it was great to see him go 8 innings, the first time he's lasted that long since his second game as an Indian, on August 10 2011 against Detroit. The win takes his overall record to 4-3 and gives him a much healthier looking 4.83 ERA, with 60 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched.

Jimenez has really turned his season around and I for one could not be happier. Credit must go to pitching coach Mickey Callaway as well, who has worked wonders fixing Ubaldo's herky-jerky mechanics and getting his head straight. Only a month ago we were debating whether to cut our losses with the Dominican pitcher, since he looked totally lost on the mound and there was no hope in sight. But Callaway and the Indians staff have performed a miracle on a Biblical scale and Jimenez looks like a new man, pitching with confidence and getting his command under control. He's a joy to watch now (most of the time, he's still a pitcher after all) and gives the Indians a legitimate chance to win every day he pitches, something you couldn't say with a straight face only a few weeks ago. I'm not ready to proclaim that Ubaldo is back, because we'll never see the dominant Jimenez of 2010 again, but at the very least I can say he's on the right path now and will have a successful future in Cleveland if he can maintain this level of performance.

Over The Hill?

Poor Rich Hill. Life as a major league relief pitcher is never easy, and is always full of inconsistencies but the 33 year-old left-hander is struggling mightily in 2013. After getting off to a decent start in Cleveland, getting us through some tough jams and pitching well in the clutch, Hill's form has nosedived off a cliff of late and he's become somewhat of a liability out of the pen now. Hill sits with a bloated 8.44 ERA, giving up 20 hits in 16 innings, with a 1.88 WHIP. He had a really tough series against the Rays; Hill got pounded Friday night after the rain delays, giving up 5 hits for 3 runs in just an inning of work. Then yesterday he came into the ballgame and gave up 3 hits for 3 runs in 2/3 of an inning, effectively putting the game out of reach for the Indians.

I know Francona levied hard to get Hill to Cleveland in the winter, and he earned his spot on the team out of Spring Training, but I think it's time the manager had a serious look at whether keeping Hill on the team is really in the Tribe's best interests right now. At the moment Hill is doing more harm than good, to himself and the team, and might benefit from a stint in Columbus to try and fix his problems on the mound. Watch this space...

Player Of The Series

I've already spoken at length about Ubaldo and I have a habit of choosing starting pitchers for this award. It would be easy to give it to Jimenez again and he's very deserving. But he wouldn't have gotten that win if it wasn't for a certain designated hitter and his big day at the plate. Our grizzled veteran Jason Giambi powered the Tribe offense on Saturday and provided the run support for Jimenez. Giambi has been red hot at the plate lately, and had a fantastic Saturday. He smashed a 2 run homer, his 5th of the year, in the second inning to give the Tribe the lead and then added an RBI single in the third to pad the lead a little bit more. Giambi now has a .203 batting average (it was a lot worse last week) with 5 HR and a pretty impressive 19 RBI in 69 at-bats. The 42 year-old has been really productive in that DH role lately and long may it continue. He's Player of the Series against the Rays, congrats old man.

The schedule doesn't relent for the Indians now, in fact it gets worse. Cleveland travel to New York today to face the Yankees and Justin Masterson (8-3, 3.07 ERA) will face-off against Andy Pettitte (4-3, 3.83 ERA), whose returning from injury. This is the start of a long and testing road-trip for the Tribe and I'm not expecting miracles; a clean split would suit me just fine. As long as we get back to Cleveland still in touch with the Tigers at the top of the division, I'll be happy.

Thanks for reading.