Baseball Cards: More Allen & Ginter

Howdy y'all, apologies for not posting the White Sox and Royals recaps recently. Current events (GTA V) have kept the majority of my free time occupied and I just never got around to getting online to write. Since my last post, the good news has been the Indians have managed to battle their way into one of the wild card spots.Now the hope is that they can stay there. As I'm writing this they're closing in on a sweep of the lowly Astros, getting one step closer to the post-season in the process.

Regardless of what happens, I'm pleased for the team and more pleased at the fact we'll have posted our first winning season since 2007. So really, it's my first year as a Tribe fan where we've ended the year above .500 (I only started following the team properly in 2008). That's a cause for celebration in my book.

Anyway, I received some new baseball cards in the post over the past few days so I thought I'd share my new pick-ups here. They're all from the beautiful set that is 2013 Allen & Ginter. Let's begin:

Another Justin Masterson card to add to my PC I'm working on. Here we have a 2013 Allen & Ginter jersey relic that I got for just $1. A bargain and a really nice card (although I would have preferred the jersey patch to be from the home whites).

Up next is a mini jersey relic of Tribe right fielder Drew Stubbs. He hasn't had the best debut season in Cleveland and has really struggled with the bat all year but I've been impressed with his defense in right field. Despite his troubles, I couldn't resist bidding for this card. I really like it's design and Drew comes across as a pretty likeable guy, with that Texas drawl of his. For $1.49 I wasn't going to say no.

Here we have a jersey relic of former Indians ace and 2008 AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee. I know, it's not  a Tribe card but come on, he used to play for us. And he's still tearing it up at the age of 35. I was a big fan of Cliff and will never forget his super-heroic 2008 season. All for just over $2 as well. Not bad.

Ok, from here on all connections to the Indians disappear I'm afraid. Why did I pick up this Carlos Gonzalez card? Well the star outfielder for the Rockies has been the heart and soul of my fantasy team this year and for the grand sum of $1 I thought why the hell not. It's a pretty nice card too, although I wish the pinstripe on the patch was slightly more centered. 

Last but not least is this delightful card of the reigning AL Cy Young winner (for just a tiny bit longer) Mr David Price. For just $2 I wasn't going to pass on getting a mini jersey relic of a Cy Young winner and it's a beautiful looking card too. Plus the patch is home-white too, so it's win-win for me. 

So there you have it, my latest additions to my fledgling card collection. As you can probably tell I really love those jersey patch cards, particularly the framed mini's. I expect I'll be looking to add some more before the year is out, maybe in the off-season when the prices drop slightly. We'll see...

Thanks for reading.

Tribe Miss Out On Mets Sweep

The Indians took two out of three from this series against the visiting New York Mets and should really have completed the sweep. Behind a dominant Scott Kazmir the Tribe easily won Friday's opener 8-1, then took game two convincingly, winning 9-4 on Saturday. Sunday's contest was a closely fought battle and was tied 1-1 until Chris Perez blew the game in the 9th inning, and the Mets emerged victorious 2-1 to salvage some pride.

Right, I have next to no time this morning to wrap up this series so unfortunately you guys are going to get my series recap in bullet points. Here we go:

• Scott Kazmir. So much for that arm fatigue huh? He looked amazing on Friday, practically untouchable. Kaz pitched 6 strong innings, scattering 4 hits, didn't allow a run and didn't walk a single batter. To top it all off he had 12 strikeouts. 12! Scott was dialled in and it was easily the best game he's pitched this year, and probably one of his best games ever. 
• Nick Swisher. Dude picked a good weekend to get hot. Swisher had 5 hits in the series, including 2 home runs for a total of 6 RBI. His grand slam in the 8th inning of Friday's game was a thing of beauty, he absolutely launched that ball into the stands. I'm really hoping this was a sign of things to come from Swisher in September. Lately he's been playing like the player we all hoped he would be when we signed him. Keep it up Swish, and take home the Player of the Series award whilst you're at it.
• Congratulations must go to Jason Giambi, who recorded the 2,000th hit of his major league career late in Sunday's game. He blooped one into left field to reach the milestone and it's quite an achievement. Well done big guy! I was really happy to see him get it done, in what will almost certainly be his last season as a professional. He was replaced by pinch-runner Mike Aviles, who then proceeded to ruin the occasion by getting caught trying to steal second base, a totally unnecessary and frustrating move that late in the game.
• Drew Stubbs had a pretty awful weekend and continues to be the black hole in this lineup. He had 7 strikeouts over the course of this Mets series, including 4 in Sunday's game (the ol' Golden Sombrero). There are times he looks completely hopeless at the plate, like he is already consigned to defeat. I love what Stubbs brings to right field as a defender, he covers a lot of ground out there, but he has been a huge disappointment with his bat in 2013. This Mets series was yet another example.
• Speaking of disappointments, nothing can go right for Asdrubal Cabrera right now. Don't get me wrong, it's all his fault. Apart from smashing a welcome 3-run homer during Saturday night's win, Cabrera had an awful series. He got the only RBI of the game on Sunday, but that was only because he was hit by a pitch in his calf with the bases loaded. He had so many chances to bring runners home during this series and failed nearly every time. His worst moment was during the 8th inning rally on Sunday, when with 1 out and the bases loaded, he swung twice at a pitcher with known location problems, connecting the second time to result in an inning-ending double play. It was a complete joke and a perfect moment to sum up what an awful 2013 Cabrera has had.

Anyway that'll do it for me this morning, I gotta run. The Indians face the Royals tonight to start a three game series. The resurrected Ubaldo Jimenez (10-9, 3.79 ERA) takes the mound for the hometown team and will face KC's Ervin Santana (8-8, 3.33 ERA), who I always think looks like Snoop from The Wire.

Thanks for reading.

Indians Just Heavenly Against Angels

The Tribe come home from their West coast road-trip with a well earned series sweep against the Angels, and a sense of renewed optimism as well. The highlight of the series was undoubtedly Drew Stubbs' 14th inning 2-run homer on Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning (just after 8am here in the UK!) to cement the series win. It was another memorable moment for the Tribe and a just reward for all the fans who had stuck with the team Tuesday night. The Indians have now surpassed their win total from last year and we still have over a month of baseball left to play.

Let's take a look at some talking points from the last few days:

Guys Stepping Up When It Matters

This series certainly helped restore some faith and optimism in this Tribe team. And that was largely thanks to a few key guys who we expected to perform this year but haven't really delivered yet, stepping up in the big moments.

Lonnie Chisenhall, our young third baseman, played an exceptional series. He's had his fair share of troubles this season, at the plate and with the glove, but he was brilliant in Anaheim. Chiz's 2 run homer on Monday fuelled the Indians offense in their 5-2 victory, getting the series off to a hot start. He made some impressive plays at third base as well, snagging a sharp Josh Hamilton grounder in Wednesday's game to get Rich Hill out of the inning unscathed. I'm a big fan of Lonnie, he comes across as such a likeable guy, so I'm extra eager for him to have success with the Tribe.

Nick Swisher has also been on form of late, and it looks as if he's starting to turn the corner a bit. It's safe to say many fans and critics have labelled Swisher's debut season in Cleveland as disappointing. He hasn't produced at the level most of us expected. However he had a fine series in Anaheim, hitting 2 home runs in the series to take his season tally to a respectable 15. They're not amazing numbers by any means but it does now at least appear that Swisher has gotten some heat into his bat finally. Long may it continue.

But the most important man for the Indians during the series was probably Drew Stubbs. The right fielder was the hero of the series thanks to his extra-innings heroics on Tuesday night. His 14th inning 2-run homer nudged the Indians ahead and ended up earning the series win, an invaluable victory in our late season push for the post-season. It was past 3 am for the Indians fans watching in Cleveland and the East, and just after midnight for those very vocal supporters left in the stadium in Anaheim. I actually woke up just before 8 am here in England to start getting ready for work. I did my usual routine of turning on MLB TV and I saw to my disbelief the Indians were still playing. Luckily for me I had awoken just in time to see Chisenhall reach base with a line drive single into centre field, and then Stubbs smashed that 2-run shot off LA's poor Joe Blanton. It was a euphoric moment and I was jumping around the room like a lunatic, possibly the most active and energetic I've ever been at 8 am. A great moment and I'm happy for Drew that he could contribute with his bat. We all know he's a quality defensive player but too often he fails to impress at the plate, so it was great to see him come through in a clutch situation, and in style too.

Dice-K Released

So last week I entertained the idea of Daisuke Matsuzaka being promoted from AAA to fill out a spot in the rotation, should the opportunity arise. He's been very solid in Columbus over the last couple of months and I thought he could possibly contribute something to the Indians pitching staff, bring a veteran presence if you will.

Well that concept was put to bed pretty quickly, with the news on Tuesday that Matsuzaka has been released by the Indians. Apparently he spoke to the front office, who made it quite clear to him that his chances of making the big league club were limited between now and the end of the season, and so he requested his immediate release and the club granted his wish. Daisuke's goal now will be to sign on with a different team and hope his efforts in Columbus since the All Star break were enough to sway a team to take him on. I wish him luck in his search to find work elsewhere and just hope he doesn't sign on with a team that could directly harm us in our push for the post-season. Mike Axisa at CBS has written an interesting article pondering where Dice-K could end up.

I was really excited when I first heard the news he had signed with us in the winter, since I was an admirer of his during his hey-day in Boston in 2007 and 2008. So I was looking forward to his first start in an Indians uniform. But it just wasn't to be obviously, and thankfully the Indians should have sufficient cover for starting pitching even with Matsuzaka leaving. Josh Tomlin has been progressing nicely in his rehab outings and is set to make his first start for Columbus on Thursday, almost a year to the day since his Tommy John surgery. With that in mind, I'm sure Chris Antonetti felt pretty comfortable allowing Dice-K to go.

Player Of The Series

It's got to be Drew Stubbs for the reasons I've previously stated. Honourable mentions must go to Nick Swisher, Lonnie Chisenhall, Zach McAllister and my boy Justin Masterson, for picking up his 14th win of the year.

The Indians return home now for a quick three game series against the Twins before jetting off on another road trip (a difficult one too, facing Atlanta and Detroit). The Indians have today to rest before Ubaldo Jimenez (9-7, 4.00 ERA) faces off against Minnesota's Samuel Deduno (7-7, 3.82 ERA) on Friday. Let's hope we can keep the momentum going and build on this hot streak.

Thanks for reading.

First Half Season Review: Position Players

The Indians enter the All Star break with a 51-44 record, good enough for 2nd place in the AL Central, just 1.5 games behind Detroit. It's been quite a journey so far and we've seen a good deal of ups and downs along the way. Here is my season review for the position players up to this point, based on my expectations of what we expected out of Spring Training, as well as my feelings about how they can go forward into the second half of 2013. Enjoy:

Catchers

Carlos Santana B+

Despite a slump here and there, Santana has been one of the Tribe's more consistent hitters so far and a constant threat in the middle of the lineup. He's only just behind Kipnis in terms of OBP (.382), amazing for a catcher. He narrowly missed out on being an All Star this year and arguably deserved it more than the Royals' Salvador Perez. Santana has become one of the best catchers in the American League, albeit with some concerns about his defensive abilities behind the plate. Still, he's had a very good first half all in all.

Room for Improvement: Work on preventing so many passed balls. Keep getting on base.

Yan Gomes C+

A revelation behind the plate and effective with the bat as well, Gomes made a considerable impact on the fans in the first half. I'd like to see Francona try and fit him into the lineup more often in the second half, slide Santana to first base and let Gomes catch. He's probably a better catcher than Sanrana defensively, so it will be interesting to see how much playing time Gomes sees from here on. Hopefully a lot.

Room for Improvement: Keep doing what you're doing.

Lou Marson N/A

Limited to just 3 games before getting hurt and is now on the 60 day DL for a shoulder issue that's kept him away from the club since April. Surely considered the 3rd choice catcher now since Gomes has done so well in his absence.

Room for Improvement: Get healthy, fight for your spot when the opportunity arises.

Infielders

Nick Swisher C

The face of the franchise has struggled to play like the star he was expected to be. That might be unfair on Swisher, he's never been a true star player at any stage in his career, but the Indians paid him a lot of money to perform like one in Cleveland. Had a terrible June when he played through injury but has started to turn things around a bit lately. His positive attitude and enthusiasm in the clubhouse has undeniably had an impact on the team though. He's a big reason why this team has been so fun to watch.

Room for Improvement: Get that batting average up. Play like a guy who deserves to be hitting 4th/5th.

Mark Reynolds C-

Reynolds got off to a blistering start, crushing every ball in sight in April, before declining rapidly in May and he hasn't been able to turn things around since. The grade I've given him might seem a bit harsh for a guy who has hit 15 home runs (still leads the team) but he's been such a liability at the plate since April that its easy to forget how good he was earlier in the season. Maybe now we're seeing why Arizona and Baltimore were happy to let him leave, despite his impressive home run totals. When he's slumping, he's a black hole in the lineup. Reynolds need to take the All Star break as an opportunity to re-focus and re-energise.

Room for Improvement: Improve on the woeful .218 batting average. Bring the power back.

Jason Giambi C

The veteran has had his critics all year but he's been better than I thought he would be up to this point. The .200 batting average is painful to look at but considering he's effectively a 42 year-old cheerleader on this team, he's not doing too badly. And I mean no disrespect with that cheerleader remark (just being a wise-ass) because the job he's been doing as a leader in the clubhouse has obviously had a positive effect on the team so far. Francona loves him and he's met my expectations so far in his limited opportunities.

Room for Improvement: Make the most of your time left in The Show. Get to 10 HR's by end of year.

Jason Kipnis A

Quickly becoming the heart and soul of this team and now an All Star, deservedly so too. Hard to find many faults in his game, especially since he got hot with the bat in June, winning the AL Player of the Month award for his efforts. Got off to a slow start in April but he was playing hurt in his defense. Has more than made up for it since though, and now leads the team in batting average (.301), RBI (57), stolen bases (21), hits (96), runs (53) and OBP (.383). Nearly every offensive category actually. I've even seen him mentioned in some AL MVP conversations (way down the ladder in 8th/9th but still, just to be part of the conversation is incredible). An amazing first half for the JK Kid.

Room for Improvement: Cut down the strikeouts. Stay consistent with the bat in second half.

Mike Aviles B

The invaluable utility man would likely be starting every day for a lot of other teams, such is his quality. He's been a great addition to the team and his versatility off the bench has been put to use by Francona in a variety of ways. We've seen him at SS, 2B, 3B, even LF once or twice, and he's been solid at every position. His production dipped slightly when he was thrust into the role of starter, when Cabrera went on the DL, but overall he's been a reliable and effective option off the bench in the first half. I'm a big fan of Aviles.

Room for Improvement: Try and get those power numbers up, otherwise just continue as before.

Asdrubal Cabrera B-

Injury has hindered his season a bit but he's still one of the best shortstops in the AL and remains a wizard with the glove, pulling off some spectacular plays in the field and making it look routine. Seems to be finding his groove a bit lately, hopefully an encouraging sign heading into the second half. He's still our premier trade chip, with the Cardinals and Yankees very keen, but I'd be sad to see him go this month. I'd prefer the Indians to keep hold of him for as long as possible, at least until the end of the year, but his days are likely numbered since Lindor is progressing so well. Time will tell just how much longer Cabrera will remain in Cleveland...

Room for improvement: Get the .255 batting average up. Stop chasing so many pitches outside the zone.

Lonnie Chisenhall C

After an impressive Spring Training, Lonnie struggled to start the campaign and was soon sent to Columbus to fix his swing and reset himself. His stint at AAA did wonders for him and he's been remarkably solid since his return. Looks a lot more comfortable now at the major league level than he did previously. See my KC re-cap yesterday for more on Chiz's encouraging performances.

Room for Improvement: Be more disciplined at the plate and the .243 batting average will grow in time.

Outfielders

Michael Brantley A-

Brantley is quietly having a great 2013, some might even say a breakout year for the outfielder. He's starting to look like the talent we hoped we'd get in the CC Sabathia trade of 2009. Brantley has successfully hit in nearly every spot in the lineup and has become an invaluable part of the offense, especially adept at scoring runners in clutch situations (48 total RBI, second on the team behind Kipnis). He's been equally good in the field as well, a crucial part of the outfield trio that has helped make us much better defensively. Brantley is one to watch in the second half, so long as he keeps up this level of performance.

Room for Improvement: Not a lot since his power is progressing nicely of late. Keep up the first half pace.

Michael Bourn B

A finger injury on April 14th kept him out for nearly a month and prevented him from finding his groove early on but he's been everything we expected since his return. Fantastic defensively and near-unstoppable running down the first base line, he's proving his worth since we poached him late in the off-season.

Room for Improvement: I expect to see more stolen bases. Produce more RBI's in the second half.

Drew Stubbs C+

A terrific outfielder and natural defender, and practically impossible to catch in a double-play, Stubbs' speed is deadly both defensively and offensively. But the guy strikes out too much, even for a number 9 guy (he's second on the team behind Reynolds, with 93 strikeouts in 287 at-bats). It's hard to knock his effort and he comes across as a very likeable guy, but he has to be more disciplined at the plate. Too often he's an easy out.

Room for Improvement: Cut down the strikeouts. Other than that, keep doing what you're doing.

Ryan Raburn C+

Versatile like Aviles, Raburn has seen the majority of time in right field and has been an important figure in the Indians' first half success. His power threat has been a big bonus off the bench, with an impressive 10 home runs before the All Star break. Raburn even earned the AL Player of the Week award for April 29th -May 5th. Hopefully Raburn can maintain this pace in the second half and Francona can find a way to maximise his bat when he's at his best.

Room for Improvement: Get hot with the bat again like you did in late April/ early May.

Ezequiel Carrera N/A

Began 2013 with the club but was among the unlucky few cut before the end of Spring Training. He managed to get picked up by the Phillies though, before they eventually released him and the Tribe re-acquired him once again in early May. Has only played in 2 games so far, both in May, and hasn't featured for the Indians since. Carrera could still prove to be useful though; the Indians could put his impressive speed to good use late during a playoff-push or he could become a useful trade chip if the club decide to make any moves in the near future.

Room for Improvement: Make yourself useful, via performance on the field or as a potential player to trade.

Not applicable for grading: Omir Santos, Cord Phelps, John McDonald

McDonald and Phelps had more at-bats than Carrera and Marson combined in the first half but their influence on the team was negligible at best. McDonald has been traded and Phelps doesn't really figure into the Indians future, not yet anyway. Santos is strictly a depth player in case of injury.

Overall, despite their ups and downs, the offense has been impressive as a unit and the biggest reason for the Tribe's success in the first half. The good news is there is still room for improvement. Provided Cabrera doesn't get traded, he has the ability to produce more. Reynolds can hopefully break out of his slump and Swisher can revert back his career-norm in terms of offense. There's a lot more to look forward to from this offense. They aren't finished yet.

Thanks for reading. Pitchers review coming shortly.

Sloppy Tribe Drop Series In KC

Yesterday's 10-7 loss in Kansas City was agonising. As we all know, baseball can be a cruel mistress; it doesn't get any worse than being on the receiving end of a blown save, followed by a walk-off winner. But the Indians got pretty close to that feeling yesterday, surrendering a 5-0 lead and then a 7-5 lead to lose the game 10-7. At the time it felt worse than a blown save. It was frustrating, embarrassing, and worst of all, inevitable. You could see it coming a mile away. Why you ask? Because our bullpen is terrible and delivered a perfect example of that yesterday.

The loss was Cleveland's second in a row, resulting in the first series loss for the Tribe since we got swept by the Tigers just under a month ago. The series started well for the Indians, winning on Tuesday 6-5, but they couldn't come through in another close game on Wednesday, losing 6-5 instead. Then disaster struck on Thursday.

It started off pretty well. The Indians had a 3-0 lead after 2 innings, thanks to a Michael Brantley RBI single in the 1st and a 2 run homer from Drew Stubbs in the 2nd. The Tribe did a good job of working the count on Royals ace James Shields, who only lasted 5 1/3 innings. But Ubaldo Jimenez, despite keeping the Royals off the board for 5 innings, had control problems all afternoon and was struggling to keep his pitch count down. It was pretty clear by the 5th inning that Ubaldo wasn't going to last much longer. So it was no surprise that Ubaldo walked the first two batters he faced to begin the 6th inning.

By now the Indians were up 5-0 with a healthy lead to protect, thanks to Stubbs coming good again, plating 2 more runners to give him 4 RBI on the day. But Kansas City had got two runners on base with no outs and it was clear to everybody that Ubaldo was done. Clear to everyone but manager Terry Francona, who decided to leave Jimenez in a while longer. Big mistake. After Ubaldo induced a grounder to first base, Mark Reynolds and Ubaldo fudged the play and our pitcher ended up dropping the ball. All the runners safe, bases loaded, no outs. Surely Francona would come in now and get Ubaldo? Nope.

What happened next was so obvious, you had to laugh. Ubaldo got behind in the count again and on 3-1, grooved a pitch to Lorenzo Cain, who proceeded to send the ball over the centre field fence for a grand slam. We went from 5-0 to 5-4 just like that. Francona finally came to yank the crestfallen Ubaldo out of there, but the damage was done. I blame both men equally. Ubaldo has to do better, he cannot afford to keep walking so many guys and not have it come back to haunt him (like it did). And Francona should know better. What the hell was he doing leaving Jimenez in that long? Ubaldo should have been gone after he walked the first Royal, definitely after he walked the second.

However, we still had the lead. Naturally it didn't last for long. Cody Allen came in to relieve Ubaldo and proceeded to give up a home run to Royals backup catcher George Kottaras (who?). Tie ballgame. It was the second home run in as many days that Allen had given up, and it looked pretty clear he was being overworked. That's what happens when you have a crappy bullpen, your best guys have to work harder to pick up the slack for your awful guys.

The Tribe came back though and regained the lead instantly in the top of the 7th. Jason Kipnis and Brantley managed to get on base to start the inning before Carlos Santana ripped a huge double over KC centre-fielder Jarrod Dyson's head to score both guys. 7-5 Tribe and we were back in business. We just needed the bullpen to get through a couple of innings unscathed.

It didn't happen obviously. A combination of awful pitching from Joe Smith, Bryan Shaw, Rich Hill and Matt Albers let the Royals score 5 more runs, giving KC the win and overall series victory. It was a bullpen meltdown of the highest order. I've never seen such ineptitude from a collective group before. Each new pitcher looked as clueless as the one before, nobody could get the Royals out. Rich Hill came in, walked a batter on 4 straight pitches, then Francona came out and pulled him from the game. Honestly, what the hell was the point in bringing him in the first place?

It was a pretty miserable 4th of July for Indians fans, a real gut-punch of a loss. Thankfully the Tribe return home now and don't go back on the road until the 19th July, after the All Star break. They need to put this loss behind them quickly and focus on the massive task ahead; the Tigers come to town today to begin a four-game series. It's obviously a very important series and we have to earn a split at the very least. Until next time...

Thanks for reading.

Unstoppable Tribe Sweep White Sox

The Indians made a bit of history last night, defeating the White Sox 4-0 to achieve a four-game series sweep in Chicago for the first time since 1948. Why is this important? Every Tribe fan knows why but I'll elaborate nonetheless: 1948 was the last time the Cleveland Indians won the World Series, led by Tribe heroes like Bob Feller and Bob Lemon. A good omen? We hope so.

The Indians could not have picked a better time to get hot, as our AL Central foes in Detroit have slipped somewhat of late. Their loss to the Rays last night coupled with the Indians fourth win in Chicago means your 2013 Tribe have vaulted back into first place (we're tied, but hey it's still first). I did not think we would get back on top this quickly after the dreadful start the Indians made to the month of June, but there you go, that's baseball and credit to the team for putting together this wonderful run lately.

Here's a quick re-cap of the series in Chi-Town:

Offensive Explosion Powers Tribe

The Indians kicked off the series with a double-header on Friday which became the longest 18 inning double-header in major league history. And it was oh so sweet for the Indians, who won both games thanks to our powerful offense putting the White Sox pitching staff to the torch.

Cleveland took the first win by a score of 19-10, with every Indians batter getting at least one RBI except for Asdrubal Cabrera (who still collected 3 hits and 3 runs). It looked like the Tribe were in for a long night after Trevor Bauer, making a spot-start from Columbus, got absolutely annihilated in just 2/3 of an inning, giving up 6 hits, 2 of which were home runs, for 5 earned runs before he was pulled. It was the worst possible way to start a double-header, where the preservation of your bullpen is key. Luckily it didn't bother the Indians in the slightest, as guys like Ryan Raburn (4 RBI), Drew Stubbs (3 RBI) and the King of June Jason Kipnis (2 RBI) fuelled the offense and carried the Indians to a dominating victory.

After that marathon opener, the Tribe had another game to win and they delivered in dramatic style. Carlos Carrasco took the mound for us and managed to save the bullpen a bit better than Bauer did. Carrasco wasn't very good but ground his way through 5 and 2/3 innings, surrendering 10 hits for 6 runs. He wasn't doing too bad, until a 4-run 6th inning proved to be his undoing. Chicago tacked on 2 more runs in the 8th inning off reliever Matt Langwell, leaving the Indians trailing 8-5 and with a considerable hole to climb out of in the 9th. It didn't faze the Indians one bit as they roared back to tie the game on a Kipnis sac-fly before Nick Swisher redeemed himself for his recent batting woes with a monster solo home run to right field off White Sox closer Addison Reed. That made it 9-8 to the Tribe and they never looked back, Vinnie Pestano getting his 6th save of the season.

Swisher was enjoying his return to Chicago, where he spent a pretty miserable season in 2008, and wasn't finished with his Friday night heroics. Swish was torturing White Sox fans again Saturday night, getting the game winning hit in the 8th inning to bring home Cabrera to put the Tribe on top 4-3. Chris Perez made his return to the closer's role and pitched a clean 9th inning (do not adjust your screen, it is true) for his 7th save of the season, cementing the Tribe's series win.

The cherry on top of this delightful series was delivered by Justin Masterson on a sunny Sunday afternoon. In a battle of the team's aces, Masterson out-duelled Chicago's Chris Sale in a 4-0 complete game shutout to seal the series sweep. Sale was very good as usual, giving up 3 runs over 8 innings with 10 strikeouts, but Masterson was in a different class altogether. Facing just 3 batters over the minimum, our tall right-hander cruised through 9 innings, giving up 6 hits and a single walk, to go along with 8 strikeouts on his way to his 10th win of the season. It's the third time in Masterson's career he's reached double digit wins with the Indians and he's just 2 away from equalling his career best 12 wins (in 2011). He still has half a season to achieve that and just 3 more wins to break his career high. If he continues to pitch like this in the second half of the campaign, we could be looking at Masterson becoming a 20 game winner. It'll be a very difficult task for Justin but he's half way there already and as long as he stays healthy, there's always the possibility. With Masterson's fantastic outing yesterday, he surely has cemented his spot on this year's All Star team and he fully deserves it. It was the perfect way to end what was a wildly successful series for the Indians, putting us right back in contention in the AL Central.

Player Of The Series

This is a difficult one since there were so many outstanding contributors over the last four games. But my gut feeling has to give it to Nick Swisher. After my last post about his recent struggles in the Orioles re-cap, Swisher answered his critics in style in Chicago. Despite being rested for yesterday's game, Swisher collected 4 hits in the series, including a double and his game winning solo home run on Friday, for 4 total RBI, as well as scoring 4 runs and earning 4 walks. A very successful series altogether, with two memorable game-deciding hits produced from his bat. As impressed as I am with his performance, I'm almost more impressed with his mental fortitude to get out there and keep plugging away. It would be easy for a player to let his recent woes at the plate get him down but Swisher shook that off during this series and got a measure of redemption against the White Sox. Honourable mentions must go to Jason Kipnis, who is still on fire at the plate and had a terrific series, and Justin Masterson of course, whose complete game shutout was his third of the season, currently leading the league. But the way Swisher responded to adversity earns him the award for this series. Those game winning hits helped too. Congrats Nick.

The Indians ended June victorious and begin July with an off-day before travelling to Kansas City for a three-game series beginning on Tuesday. Corey Kluber (6-5, 4.16 ERA) will take the mound for us, looking to rebound from his disappointing start in Baltimore, and will face the Royals' Luis Mendoza (2-4, 4.16 ERA). I'm starting to enjoy this winning thing, let's just hope we can keep it up and ride this great form into the All Star break. Until next time...

Thanks for reading.

Indians Just Capital, Defeat Washington

I returned home this evening from watching the Man of Steel to catch the last couple of innings from today's 2-0 win over the Nationals, sealing the series win on Father's Day. An Indians victory for all the Dads out there, nothing better. Let's take a peak at how we fared in the series:

Pitching Good...

Justin Masterson went toe-to-toe with Washington's Gio Gonzalez in the first game of the series on Friday and came out victorious, although he didn't officially earn the win. Masterson pitched a very solid 7 innings, only getting into trouble once in the 3rd inning, when his control let him down and he allowed the Nationals' only run on a wild pitch. Besides that he was almost lights out, allowing just 2 hits and 1 run to go along with 10 strikeouts, the most he's gotten since his 11 strikeout game against Seattle on May 19th. Unfortunately Justin wasn't eligible for the win, exiting with the game tied, but the Indians emerged victorious eventually with a walk-off infield single by Jason Kipnis. With 1 out in the bottom of the 9th and Drew Stubbs at third, Kipnis got good contact and Stubbs was running for home the second the ball left the bat. Drew's speedy legs carried him home to beat Washington first baseman Adam LaRoche's throw to score the winning run, carrying the Indians to a 2-1 win to kick off the series.

Corey Kluber was sublime for the second start in a row this afternoon, pitching an absolute beauty in the Cleveland sunshine to earn his 5th win in 2013. Kluber went 8 innings again, this time allowing 7 hits to the Nats but he didn't walk anybody and got 8 strikeouts. More importantly, he didn't allow a single run, lowering his ERA to a very respectable 3.58 to go along with a 5-4 record. I'm almost lost for words to describe Kluber these days. He's become something of a revelation and has really carried the torch recently, especially since Zach McAllister went on the DL. Kluber was backed by Carlos Santana's 30th RBI of the season in the 4th inning and then got an extra run in the bottom of the 8th thanks to a sac-fly from Kipnis. Vinnie Pestano finished things off for his first save of the season to earn the Tribe the 2-0 victory and series win overall.

Pitching Bad...

I hate to be a negative Nancy after this successful series win but I feel this needs to be addressed, at the very least mentioned:

Is it time to start worrying about Scott Kazmir?

Kazmir hasn't been very good lately and hasn't pitched well this month at all. He hasn't had a win since May 30th, a 7 inning beauty against the Reds. But looking at his starts recently, that victory looks to be a bit of a blip on what's turned into a sub-par couple of months for Kazmir. Since that W against Cincinnati, Scott has given up 4+ runs in his last three starts and his game against the Nationals on Saturday was probably his worst of the season so far. Kazmir lasted only 2 2/3 innings, giving up 4 hits and 5 earned runs, walking 4 Nats and surrendering 3 home runs in that short space of time. Ghastly numbers, that leave him with a 3-4 record and a 5.89 ERA, not pretty to look at I know. In 55 innings he's allowed 68 hits, 12 for home runs, 23 walks and 55 strikeouts. I'm a bit worried about Scott, his inconsistency is causing me some concern. I hoped he would overcome his struggles adapting to life in the major leagues after his time away, getting progressively better as the season wore on but that hasn't happened yet. There's still time I know, and he's hardly been a disaster, but there's just something off with him that I can't put my finger on, only to point out the obvious and says he's not been very good. I've been a big fan of his comeback this season and want him to do well; Here's hoping he can.

Kazmir departed Saturday's game leaving the Indians to dig out of a 5-0 hole, which they duly did, taking a 6-5 lead into the 8th inning, before the heart of the bullpen took over. Ah yes, the bullpen...

Joe Smith entered the 8th inning and gave up a home run with 2 outs to make it a tie-game. The Nationals didn't stop there, hitting another home run, this time off Pestano in the 9th, and again with 2 outs, to take a 7-6 lead and eventually win the game. It was a demoralising loss, after battling back so impressively, only to throw away all that hard work. It hurt even more to see our best relief pitchers get crushed, wasting away what looked like a hard-fought win (and what could have earned the sweep). Looks like our bullpen problems haven't been fixed after all, although Pestano went some way towards making amends with his series-winning save today. Anyway, that's all the negativity for today, we still won overall and that should be celebrated.

Player Of The Series

Two in a row for Mr Corey Kluber! I didn't think he could pitch any better than he did against Texas on June 11th (8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) but he proved me wrong. Even without Bryce Harper the Nationals are still a force offensively, despite their other injuries as well. Kluber stifled the Washington lineup today, keeping them off the scoreboard and out-duelling their ace Stephen Strasburg (returned from the DL today, and lasted 5 innings). I'd argue that Kluber has elevated himself to become our number 2 starter in the wake of McAllister's injury and he deserves all the praises he gets. Congrats again Corey.

Cleveland remain at home to welcome the Royals tomorrow evening to begin a three game series against our division rivals. Kansas City have their big winter free-agent acquisition James Shields toeing the rubber tomorrow, who is quietly having a good season in KC despite his 2-6 record (he has a 2.79 ERA). The Indians send Carlos Carrasco (0-2, 15.26 ERA) to the mound, a man who hasn't gotten into any rhythm yet in 2013, due to his suspensions and demotions. He really needs a quality start to get his season under way and must put behind him all of his early season problems if he's to stand any chance at remaining with the club and not at AAA Columbus.

Thanks for reading.

Tribe Tops Twins, Streak Over Though

I'll have to make this a quick re-cap because I've got to run for work soon, so let's dive right in and have a look at what I thought about this recent Twins series:

The Streak Is Over

I really thought for a second there we'd sweep Minnesota but it wasn't to be. Nevertheless, Saturday's 7-3 win took the Tribe's winning streak to 6 games, but they couldn't make it to 7, falling to the Twins 4-2 last night. It was a lot of fun to watch this team the past week. They've been hitting the absolute crap out of the ball and have got some very good performances from the starters. Despite not sweeping the Twins, it's still a series win over a division rival and that's all you can really ask for from this Tribe team. The loss last night leaves us at 14-14, but hey, at least we're still at .500.

Rotation Settling

Like I previously said, the starting rotation looked very impressive as a unit during the 6 game winning streak and that carried into this Twins series. Nothing amazing, no dominant performances, but still some solid efforts and quality outings from a group of guys we still don't quite know if they're for real or not. Masterson pitched Friday night, going 6 2/3 innings giving up 8 hits for 5 runs with 5 strikeouts, and ultimately wasn't eligible for the win. It wasn't vintage Masterson by any means but it was alright, and he kept the team in a position to win, which they eventually did in the 10th inning, Drew Stubbs walking off with a double in a 7-6 victory.

Scott Kazmir put in a very impressive outing on Saturday, lasting 6 innings whilst surrendering 5 hits and 2 runs with 7 strikeouts. He really had his pitches moving well and managed to avoid trouble in a couple of tight spots. Kazmir picked up his first win of the season and it's actually his first victory since September 19th 2010. "It feels good to get that monkey off my back," said Scott after the game. I bet it does, that's a long time to wait between wins! I'm really pleased Kazmir's comeback with us is progressing nicely, he's looking better every time he goes out there. If he can pitch like this every 5 days then the Indians got themselves some serious value for money from his acquisition.

Finally, Corey Kluber went to the mound yesterday trying to make it 7 wins in a row for the Tribe but it couldn't be done unfortunately. Kluber actually pitched pretty well, going 5 2/3 innings with 5 hits and 3 runs and 5 strikeouts. Not incredible numbers I know but considering he's not even supposed to be at this level and would normally be down in Columbus, that's not a bad effort from Kluber. He kept the Tribe in the game, battled out of some problematic jams, but just didn't get the run support, as our bats finally slowed down a bit after such a blistering week at the plate.

Overall I like how our rotation is settling down now. The last week has seen our starters pitch most of their games and not rinse and abuse the bullpen, which is all I can ask for from what is still a rather suspect group at the moment. We need to keep up this level of consistency if we're to have any chance at contending for a playoff spot this season.

Player Of The Series

I'm gonna go for the resurgent Jason Kipnis this time. He finally looks to be breaking out of his early season slump and he ignited the offense in this Twins series. Despite going hitless yesterday Kipnis still had 6 RBI over this series with 2 triples and a home run. He looks so much happier out there now he's swinging the bat well again and hopefully he's shaken off the rust for good and can go back to being the dynamic hitter and excellent base runner we all know him to be. Congrats Kip.

Up next we have the 18-14 Oakland A's coming into town for a four game series at Progressive Field. They're a pretty good team again this year and I'll be happy if we can split the series to be honest, though I'd take a series win obviously! Ubaldo (1-2, 7.13 ERA) takes the mound tonight for game 1 and he's up against the struggling Jarrod Parker (1-4, 7.36 ERA). I'm praying for another miracle start from Ubaldo, anything similar to his previous start against the Royals will do.

Thanks for reading.