Let's take a look at some talking points from the series:
Ubaldo Still A Mystery
If you were told Ubaldo Jimenez would flirt with a no-hitter in 2013, you'd probably laugh in that person's face. But believe it or not he did, shutting out the A's for 5 innings on Saturday night during the Indians' 7-1 victory. It was quite a remarkable outing for Jimenez and, like the majority of his starts, wasn't everything it seemed at first glance. Yes, Ubaldo did keep Oakland from getting a hit through 5 innings, but he also walked 5 guys, so he hardly kept the A's off the bases. It came back to bite Ubaldo in the end, as his pitch count escalated (like usual) and he was pulled after just 5 and 2/3 innings.
But there was a lot to love about Ubaldo's recent outing. The right-hander struck out 8 batters, his highest strikeout total in a game since June 29th. He also got the invaluable run support that has been sorely lacking for our pitchers at times this month. Before Ubaldo even took the mound he had been gifted a 2-0 lead; that's got to be comforting from a mental aspect and I expect it helped Jimenez settle in a bit better.
With Saturday's win in the books, Ubaldo's season stats look like this: He's sitting on a respectable 4.00 ERA with 123 strikeouts in 128.1 innings, good enough for a 8.63 K/9 ratio. He has a 9-7 win/loss record, matching the 9 victories he earned last season, so he stands a good chance to beat that and achieve double-digit wins as an Indian for the first time (he had 10 wins in 2011 but 6 of them were in Colorado).
So all in all, it hasn't been the dreadful season from Jimenez many of us expected. He hasn't been great for sure, and he's only been good a handful of times, but he's been a massive improvement from 2012 Ubaldo. With just under a month and a half left of the season, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Jimenez can produce more outings like those of the Saturday night variety. Now if only he could make it through 6 full innings...
Player Of The Series
There were some good contributions throughout this series: Justin Masterson pitched a solid game on Friday night, lasting 7 and 2/3 innings, giving up 3 runs and keeping the Tribe in the game. Unfortunately the Indians couldn't support the big man and he ended up with the loss but it was a decent performance from Masterson nonetheless. Nick Swisher has been pretty good at the plate lately and his form continued in his old stomping ground in Oakland: Swish had 5 hits in the series for 3 RBI, including a home run on Saturday, his 13th of the year. But the Player of the Series for me was Jason Kipnis, who continued to pace the offense like he has all season. Kipnis had 4 hits, 3 RBI, and stole his 22nd base of the year in the series. He now sits with a .294 average, a .374 OBP, 15 home runs and 72 RBI for the season, pretty much leading every offensive category on the team. Well done Mr Kipnis, keep it up.
So the Indians remain out west for a bit longer, travelling to Anaheim today to take on the Angels in a three game series. Rookie pitcher Danny Salazar (1-1, 4.08 ERA) will toe the mound for us, facing off against Jered Weaver (7-6, 3.49 ERA). Salazar made an impressive start to his career in the majors but faltered a bit in his last start against the Twins. He'll be looking to rebound in style against the Angels tonight, and can hopefully put the Indians back on track.
*EDIT* Salazar has been scratched from tonight's start, and Zach McAllister is set to pitch instead. Something to do with the Indians keeping an eye on his innings limit.
Thanks for reading.
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