That's More Like It; Indians Sweep Reds

The Indians bounced back from their miserable road-trip in Boston and Cincinnati, beating the Reds twice in  a row at home, snapping the 5 game losing streak they were in. There was even better news in the shape of Pittsburgh doing us a favour, beating the Tigers twice and allowing us to climb back to within a 0.5 game in the AL Central. Let's look at the positives from this mini two-game sweep against our Ohio foes:

Good Pitching = Wins

Both the starters in this series pitched fantastic games these past two days. Justin Masterson started things off on Wednesday, lasting 6 innings and giving up only 4 hits and 1 run, a solo homer by Joey Votto in the 1st inning. He settled into his groove after that mistake and struck out 7 Reds batters, his two-seam fastball breaking down and away from hitters beautifully. He did walk 4 batters but that was a minor blemish on an otherwise perfectly pitched game. Masterson picked up his 8th win of the season in the process, a quite amazing feat considering how hard he struggled last year to earn victories. He's on track to get a career high in wins if he can continue this pace. The bullpen came in after Masterson finished his 6 innings and were relatively incident free for once, Cody Allen and Joe Smith combining well to get the Tribe to the 9th. Vinnie Pestano, newly elected closer, came in and immediately gave up a lead-off homer to Xavier Paul which helped unsettle the Tribe faithful but he dug in and got through the rest of the inning unscathed. The Indians won 5-2 in the end and snapped out of their losing streak in the process. Masterson got his run support from Mark Reynolds and Jason Giambi, the heavy hitters both striking for home runs to fuel the Tribe offense. Reynolds hit his homer, his 13th of the year, in the 3rd inning to tie the game and Giambi smashed a 3 run bomb with 2 outs in the 6th inning for 3 RBI to put the game beyond the Reds.

Scott Kazmir went one better than Masterson last night, lasting 7 innings, surrendering 8 hits and only giving up 1 run. Kazmir also limited his walks, allowing just the 1, and struck out 5 Reds batters to earn his 3rd win of the season. It was a very impressively pitched game by Kazmir, a performance he was due after going through a bit of a rough patch lately in his comeback tour. He got all the run support he needed when the Tribe exploded in the 4th inning for 7 runs, chasing Reds starter Homer Bailey from the game. With 2 outs in the 4th, the Indians were relentless and kept lining hits into the corners to pad their lead. With such a commanding lead, the bullpen could relax when they relieved Kazmir in the 8th and Nick Hagadone and Matt Albers pitched a clean inning each to get the Tribe to the finish line for a 7-1 Indians win and the series sweep.

Player Of The Series

There are many deserving candidates for the award this series, with nearly everybody having a good game. But my award goes to Yan Gomes, who despite playing in just one of the two games, had a fantastic day at the plate yesterday. This award is as much for his great game yesterday as it is for his impressive performance so far in 2013 and I thought it was about time I recognised his greatness here at England Tribe. Gomes got 3 hits yesterday, leading the team, and an RBI as well, which leaves him with a .319 batting average with 5 home runs and 13 RBI in total so far. The 25 year-old Brazilian backstop is impressing every day he plays and has grown into the perfect back-up catcher when Santana needs a day off behind the plate. Keep it up Yan, and congrats!

So the Indians have broken out of their funk just in time, as they begin what is arguably the toughest stretch of the schedule this campaign. The Tribe welcome the resurgent Rays to Cleveland for a three-game series beginning today, before jetting off to New York, Detroit and Texas for a long and season-defining road-trip.

Thanks for reading.

Cincinnati Crush, Tribe In Free Fall

How the mighty have fallen. The Indians are in a bit of a slump at the moment and after losing this short two-games series in Cincinnati, have now lost 5 games in a row. It began on Monday afternoon, when the Indians kept the game close and even tied it late on with a pinch-hit solo home run by Jason Giambi, but it wasn't enough as the Reds came back that very inning to add two more runs, winning the game 4-2. Cleveland looked to split the series last night but got off to a rough start and never recovered, losing 8-2 and with it, the series.

Now we shouldn't be too hard on our Tribe; we are in the midst of a very tough schedule and these recent losses to the Reds and the Red Sox should probably have been expected. They are two great teams, contenders in their respective divisions for sure, whereas we are still very much a work in progress and still trying to find an identity. So despite it being sad to see our boys drop these games, don't be too hard on them, since we're not really supposed to be challenging these teams anyway. The frustration is understandable of course, hopes are much higher this year and the hot start has helped increase expectations but like I said, the Indians are very much a developing ballclub and will have these losing streaks from time to time. The key is to quickly find a way to prevent this drop from turning into a season-ending tailspin like the last two years. That remains to be seen but I still have faith this new group will find a way to stop the bleeding and turn things around.

Suicidal Bullpen

The biggest factor in the Tribe's recent decline in form has been the bullpen's inconsistency and inability to hold onto a lead. We're losing these games because we're shooting ourselves in the foot with these terrible performances from our bullpen. What was considered to be the rock of this team entering 2013, the Indians bullpen has regressed significantly and is costing us games, especially of late. They were the shining light of 2012. We might have sucked on the field and at the plate but we all knew are bullpen was legit and the envy of many major league clubs. How times have changed huh?

I actually like this group on the whole but I feel we are still sorely lacking some experience. We're throwing Bryan Shaw, Cody Allen, Scott Barnes and Nick Hagadone into some pretty tight spots and asking these young guys to perform miracles. It's no surprise when they get destroyed. I'd prefer to see us make a move for a veteran arm for the 'pen, particularly a left-hander since we really lack any talent there. I like Rich Hill, his breaking ball can be a thing of beauty, but if he continues to come into games and walk the first guy he faces I'm going to scream. Matt Albers has hardly been used and has looked mediocre at best when he has. Since Corey Kluber looks better and better after every start, is there anyway we can move Brett Myers into the pen when he comes back from his rehab stint? It's not like he's a stranger to being a relief pitcher and he'd certainly qualify as an experienced arm, something the bullpen desperately needs. I know we're paying him $7 million to be in the rotation but maybe we can use him to address a more glaring need for now. It's an interesting thought and something I hope the Indians are at least considering.

The normally dependable trio of Smith-Pestano-Perez has also seen it's share of failures this year and is perhaps the most worrying trend. Smith I still like a lot and I felt bad for him entering the game on Sunday in Boston, it was an impossible situation for anybody. He'll be ok. Pestano just needs to get healthy and I think he'll be fine in the long-term as well. The news that he is the closer now Perez is on the DL is good, I think this move was going to happen eventually anyway. Despite earning 6 saves this year, Perez has been downright horrible for the Indians and it probably didn't help he missed most of Spring Training. I expect him not getting a proper pre-season has been somewhat responsible for his decline this year but the writing has been on the wall for a while now. Remember the blown home-run call Angel Hernandez made against Oakland a few weeks ago? Yeah, that was Perez's pitch that should have been ruled a homer and a blown save, but luckily for him he escaped. The meltdown he had against the Mariners, giving up back-to-back home runs, was bad enough but his car-crash of a performance at Fenway on Sunday really stole the show. We'll never truly know if his shoulder was hurting before he took the mound but his performance would indicate that was the case.

Where do we go from here? Well I'm honestly losing patience with Perez these days and he is not the elite closer many fans try to make him out to be (his 3.29 career ERA is far too high for that). He's had a really good past two years with us but now I think the Indians need to look to sell as high as possible over the next couple of months. I'd be overjoyed if he returned from the DL and became the second-coming of Mariano Rivera but it's unlikely to happen. I have a feeling a change of location for Mr Perez could be beneficial for all parties.

Player Of The Series

A tough pick in what has been a largely miserable trip to Cincinnati but Ubaldo Jimenez's solid effort on Monday cannot be ignored. He was chased from his last start against Detroit after only 4 innings but he rebounded with style against the Reds on Monday afternoon. Facing one of the National League's toughest lineups, Ubaldo pitched 7 strong innings, giving up 4 hits and 2 runs, walking 4 and striking out 6 batters. If we're nit-picking, the walks could be better but it was a great effort from Ubaldo and it was reassuring to see him bounce back so well after that loss against Detroit. He kept the Indians in the game and that's all you can ask from him. Congrats Ubaldo!

Cincinnati remain our opponents as they travel to Cleveland today for another two-game series. The Tribe send our ace Justin Masterson to the mound, he of the 7-3 record and 3.20 ERA. Justin will face-off against the veteran right-hander Bronson Arroyo, who sits at 5-4 with a 3.39 ERA. We have to put an end to this losing streak as soon as possible and it should start tonight with Masterson. Hopefully our top guy can quieten the Reds' bats and we can get back to winning ways. We need our offense to wake up for that to happen!

Thanks for reading.

Fenway Gut-Punch, Tribe Lose Series

Urrrghh that was sickening, just about the worst finish to a baseball game you can imagine. I've just finished watching the fourth and final game of the Indians' series in Boston and I feel pretty ill now. After a less-than-100% Vinnie Pestano blew a save chance yesterday in a 7-4 loss, Chris Perez not only repeated that feat but went one step better, managing to infuriate and enrage Cleveland fans just a bit more.

God it was so bad I'm even sure I want to re-cap what happened, but here we go. Starting pitcher Corey Kluber had a great game and deserved the victory that eluded him yet again. Kluber's breaking ball was as good as I've ever seen it and he changed the speed on his pitches at the perfectly all day. There was a great moment in the 6th inning when Dustin Pedroia struck out on Kluber's sweeping curve, even though he knew it was coming because that was all Kluber was throwing to him. Kluber lasted a stellar 6 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts, a career high for him. He only gave up 3 hits and 1 run, and left the game in the 7th inning with a 4-1 lead, which the offense increased to 5-1 in the top of the 8th. The Indians were cruising and the Red Sox  had shown very little chance of mounting any meaningful response.

That is until the bullpen took over. Rich Hill and Cody Allen combined to get the Tribe through the rest of the 7th and the 8th inning, only allowing a solitary Boston run, giving Cleveland a comfy 5-2 lead to protect in the 9th inning. But Chris Perez has been excelling himself of late at turning what is usually a routine save opportunity into a baseball nightmare.

The horror! THE HORROR! You just knew right away we were in for an uncomfortable ride. In the 31 agonising pitches Perez threw, he gave up 2 hits and walked 3 Red Sox for 4 runs to turn what was an easy win into a soul-destroying loss. Perez took the mound with zero confidence. Either he was pitching hurt from the start or his mind wasn't focused on the task at hand, but he did not look ready to get the Indians out of that game victorious. It looked destined to end the way it did.

It was just as well the Tribe offense had earned the 5-2 lead for Perez, because he quickly gave 2 runs back to Boston to cut it down to 5-4. Still, there was hope left because Perez had somehow managed to get 2 outs and just needed one more. But no, it was too much for him, and he proceeded to load the bases before facing Red Sox leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury. He then overextended himself and really hurt his arm on a 2-1 pitch to Ellsbury, forcing Francona to come out and check on Perez. The closer tried to dismiss any attempt the manager made to remove him but Tito insisted on Perez having a practice throw to the plate to see how hurt he was. The throw missed Santana by a mile and that was it, Perez was hooked by the skipper and the extent of his injury is yet to be determined. Poor Joe Smith came in with the most pressurised situation a relief pitcher can face and I don't blame him for what happened next: Ellsbury hit Smith's first pitch over Michael Bourn's head and off the base of the Green Monster to score two Boston runners and win it for them 6-5. Devastating.

It's so frustrating because we had this one in the bag and had earned the series split in a ballpark not many road teams get results from. Instead, Perez fluffs his lines again and we go home empty handed once more. The back-end of the bullpen was considered the strongest area of this team last year but they are easily the weakest in 2013 and some serious questions need to be asked from this stage onwards.

I don't have any more time tonight to analyse this situation but I will return to this topic some time this week to debate what steps the Indians can take to resolve these problems the bullpen are creating. It's probably best I stop here now, because if I keep going I'm likely to write something I regreat about Perez and the team, and I don't consider myself to be that kind of fan. Until next time...

Thanks for reading.

Tigers Get Revenge, Win Series

Detroit came to town and won both matchups in this two-game series, cutting the Tribe's lead in the AL Central to a 0.5 game. Max Scherzer silenced the Indians' bats on Tuesday, only giving up 2 hits in his 8 innings of work, the Tribe getting 3 hits total in a 5-1 loss. Cleveland fared much better against Tigers ace Justin Verlander last night but it wasn't enough as they fell 11-7 to lose the series.

There's not a great deal to discuss here and I need to make this post relatively quick anyway. Corey Kluber pitched a solid game on Tuesday to keep the home side in the game but never got the run support. Kluber pitched 6 1/3 quality innings, giving up 8 hits and 3 runs whilst striking out 8. It was the 2 long balls in the 6th inning that condemned Kluber to the loss, but it was a decent outing before that.

Ubaldo Jimenez couldn't summon another miracle start last night, getting hit pretty hard by this powerful Detroit lineup. He lasted 4 innings, giving up 7 hits and 6 runs, walking 3 and striking out 3 before exiting the game early. Not Ubaldo's best effort obviously but I don't think there's cause to panic again, facing this Detroit team is a tough prospect for every pitcher.

The Indians tried to keep things close in both games but unfortunately relief pitcher David Huff couldn't stem the Tigers' tide. He pitched in both contests and couldn't get the job done in either. On Tuesday he surrendered 2 hits for 2 runs in just a 1/3 of an inning's work in the top of the 9th, putting the game beyond Cleveland's reach. Last night Huff came in to relieve Ubaldo and managed to last the entire 5th inning but got shelled. He gave up 4 hits for 3 runs with 2 strikeouts, giving the Tigers an insurmountable lead that Cleveland's subsequent rally couldn't top. It's always frustrating to watch your relief pitchers come in to save the day and get destroyed and it's tough on Huff, a pitcher I've always kind of liked despite not really knowing why. I enjoyed the majority of his 2009 rookie campaign and was really happy when he managed to reach double-digit wins that year (Huff finished 11-8 in 2009, despite possessing a 5.61 ERA). So it saddens me to see him toil away fruitlessly in the bullpen, bouncing between the majors and AAA. His future with the Tribe doesn't look good but I hope he can turn things around, work with Mickey Callaway on his technique and get back to being at least a league-average reliever.

Player Of The Series

It's always difficult to choose a bright spot when your team gets swept in a series but I can't ignore the recent efforts by Michael Brantley. He was consistently good in this short two-game series and got 3 hits for 4 RBI, including the Tribe's only run of the game on Tuesday. He's been hitting well for a while now, batting .319 this month with 1 HR and 12 RBI. His .309 batting average and 51 hits this season now lead the team in both categories. I like how Brantley is developing and progressing in 2013 and he has slotted in well wherever Francona has put him in the lineup. Keep it up Mike, you win the award for this series.

So the Tribe now travel to Fenway Park for a four-game series with the Red Sox, who've cooled off a bit since we last faced them but are still one of the better teams in the American League, with a 28-19 record so far. We'll have to be careful of the superhuman David Ortiz (as always) but I think we can use this Boston series to rebound from this Detroit hiccup and get back to winning ways.

Thanks for reading.

Seattle Swept, Tribe Continue To Roll

Four games against Seattle and three of them end in walk-off wins for the red-hot Cleveland Indians. What are the odds? I'm serious, this team just won't quit. Call it resilience, call it luck, call it whatever you damn like, but this team is winning one way or the other. When you think they've blown it and all hope is lost, they somehow turn it around and get that W. It's crazy, and at times infuriating, but it's also been a lot of fun when things break our way.

So the Tribe managed to sweep the Mariners in this four-game series and now sit at 26-17 atop the AL Central, a full 2.5 games ahead of Detroit. Here's a quick summary of how it all played out:

Quick Re-Cap

It began Friday afternoon with the Indians coming out on top after a 10 inning nail-biter, Jason Kipnis finally ending it with a clutch 3-run homer to snatch the Tribe a 6-3 victory.

The Indians walked off again the next day, winning 5-4 on Saturday, thanks to Mark Reynolds getting good contact on an infield single and Kipnis being fast enough to make it to home-plate and beating the throw home, Seattle catcher Jesus Montero's foot being dragged away from the plate in the process. That came after Chris Perez blew the save opportunity by giving up back-to-back home runs in the top of the 9th, causing the home fans to boo the controversial closer mercilessly. More on that later.

Justin Masterson pitched an absolute gem in game 3, earning the series win and his 7th victory in 2013, helping the Tribe cruise to an easy 6-0 win, as the Indians had a great day against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez.

And then came the series finale, as wild a game as you're likely to see, the Tribe prevailing 10-8 in the bottom of the 10th inning, Yan Gomes smashing his second home run on the day, a 3-run bomb to cement the sweep. The Mariners tied it in the 8th inning, Kyle Seager hitting a homer off Vinnie Pestano, then took the lead in the 9th when Endy Chavez hit a home run off Chris Perez. Seattle took the lead once again in the 10th inning, Justin Smoak going deep off of Joe Smith and each time the Indians responded and showed incredible resolve to tie the game, Gomes finally ending Seattle's hopes with his walk-off homer. Just another day at the office for Yan Gomes, who is quickly attaining serious hero status in Cleveland after another fine performance. That Esmil Rogers trade to Toronto looks better and better every day.

I'm Loving Our Starting Pitching

We all knew the success of this 2013 Indians team depended on the quality of our starting pitching. The offense can only carry you so far. So it's been a cause for celebration that our starters have pitched so well and are not the unsightly blemish we thought they'd be (not yet anyway...). The jewel in our rotation-crown has been Justin Masterson, who Marty McFly'ed it back to 2011 and carried that form and confidence back with him to the present day. He's been filthy on the mound giving opposing batters absolutely nothing (batters are hitting .210 off him). So far he's got a 7-2 record (only Tampa Bay's Matt Moore has more wins, with 8) with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. He's struck out 71 batters in 70 innings, not bad for a groundball specialist like Justin, and he's only walked 26, plus he's only given up 3 home runs. He had another amazing start on Sunday, pitching 7 shutout innings whilst giving up just 3 hits and striking out 11 Mariners. He'd have probably gone on to pitch all 9 innings for the complete-game but his pitch count was already over 100 at the end of the 7th. He hasn't given up a run in his last 2 starts and earned the AL Player of the Week award for his recent efforts as well. It's fair to say Masterson has been superb and his resurrection from the player he was last year has been a revelation for this team.

We got two more good performances this series as well. Ubaldo Jimenez kicked things off on Friday: he only managed to last 5 innings, which isn't bad, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits, walking 2 but striking out an amazing 9. It was another solid start on Ubaldo's road back to recovery and he looked pretty good out there, despite the 7 hits. Zach McAllister pitched really well Saturday afternoon, looking more and more like our legitimate number two guy in the rotation. Zach went 7 1/3 innings, giving up 6 hits whilst walking only 1 and striking out 1 as well. He kept Seattle scoreless until Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan hit a two-run homer off him in the 8th inning, and would have been good for his 4th win of the year if Perez hadn't blown the save later on. Until that point McAllister looked untouchable, pitching to contact and getting the Mariners to fly out regularly with ease. He currently leads the team with an amazing 2.65 ERA. Unfortunately Scott Kazmir could not add the cherry on top of what's been a great effort from our rotation during this series. Kazmir just didn't have it yesterday, getting hit 7 times for 5 runs in just 3 innings, with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Hopefully it's just a blip and he can come back next time and pitch well. It doesn't diminish the fact that this Cleveland Indians rotation is surpassing expectations so far in 2013, and the success of the ball-club will depend on them maintaining this level of performance.

I Hate To Bring Negativity To This Party, But...

Closers blow saves. It's a baseball fact. Not everybody can be Mariano Rivera. Still, the questions surrounding Chris Perez and his role as closer are being asked. A blown save is painful, it hurts and you want to be angry and the closer will be responsible and thus always be the target of that anger. We all know that, and Perez knows that too. It comes with the job. He gets to fist pump and slap high-fives when he gets the job done, but I'm afraid he'll have to put up with some booing when he doesn't.

Now I need to make this clear. I'm not really Chris Perez's biggest fan and never have been. I'll always remember his 2009 Indians debut, coming out of the bullpen with so much hope and then getting absolutely destroyed. I was deflated to say the least. Maybe I've never recovered from that, despite the 2 All Star appearances and the fact he's grown into one of the premier closers in the league.

My trust issues with Perez run deep but I'm not going to join the parade and say he needs to be pulled from being the closer. Not yet anyway. I think over the last few years he's earned himself some breathing room in regards to his position as closer. Last year he earned an astounding 39 saves on a bad team, an impressive feat and one of the few bright spots in a dismal 2012.

But I can't say the home runs he gave up this series didn't hurt. The back-to-back solo homers he surrendered to Raul Ibanez and Justin Smoak on Saturday, with 2 outs in the 9th and the victory practically in the bag, were unbelievable. I had to rub my eyes when Smoak hit that ball deep over the centre field fence. Frickin' Justin Smoak, who hit only his 2nd HR of the year and is well known as being absolute dog-shit most days?! The game looked safe, McAllister was cruising all day and Perez had a 2-run cushion. The fact he got the first 2 outs with ease made the painful events that followed even worse. The team picked him up and won anyway in the bottom half of the 9th but the Tribe faithful still let Perez hear it, raining boos down on our closer. And then he did it again yesterday, albeit not in a save situation, the Mariners taking the lead in the 9th inning when Endy Chavez went yard on only Perez's second pitch thrown. Yes, Pestano had blown the save in the 8th but Perez allowed Seattle the lead. Yet again the offense carried the rest of the team on their back and won regardless, thankfully.

If I'm Francona, Perez is obviously still the number one guy out of the pen with the game on the line. He's the closer and will remain so until he becomes the next Carlos Marmol and can't do it anymore. In which case we have Pestano ready and waiting. Most fans would agree that Pestano is already the better pitcher in terms of talent but Perez earned his role as closer and won't give it up without a fight (as you'd expect from the fiery right-hander). However, if the opportunity to trade Perez for another arm to add to the rotation comes up around deadline time, I won't be shedding any tears. I feel our bullpen is well stocked that we'd cope without Perez and his trade value is unlikely to grow, so selling high this year might be the best option. It may not to come to that if Perez can put this series behind him and get back to closing games without incident. I hope for his sake as a member of this Indians team he can.

Player Of The Series

This is really tough. There were quite a few standout performers during this series. Honourable mentions must go to Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley, Mark Reynolds, Mike Aviles (for that sterling job he did in left field on Saturday), Zach McAllister, and finally Yan Gomes. All of these guys could stake a claim for the award this week. But I can't look any further than Justin Masterson, whose dominating performance in his matchup against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez was sublime. It was the most anticipated pitching duel of the series and Masterson came out and completely shut down the Seattle offense, whereas his opponent King Felix, usually so amazing, wasn't up to his immeasurably high standards. Justin came out on top, dethroning the King for the day and earning my Player of the Series award. Congrats to Justin.

Cleveland welcome our division rivals Detroit into town today for a short two game series. With us ahead in the standings, I'd really appreciate it if the Tribe could get another sweep and put even more distance between them and the Tigers. That'd be pretty much perfect I reckon.

Thanks for reading.

Indians Earn Philly Split

The Indians return home to Cleveland today for a well deserved day off, and they make it back from Philadelphia in relatively good spirits. On Tuesday the Tribe offense stalled in a 6-2 loss, but rebounded yesterday afternoon to pound the Phillies in a 10-4 Tribe victory. The win puts us a 0.5 game back from the Tigers, who still lead the AL Central despite dropping one at home to the lowly Astros. Let's keep it short and take a quick look at this mini two game series in Philadelphia:

Can The Real Corey Kluber Please Stand Up?

The Scott Kazmir Comeback Tour took a slight detour Tuesday night. He managed to last 5 innings, giving up 4 runs including 2 homers, but never got the run support, with only Michael Brantley knocking in 2 RBIs in the 6-2 loss. We were all hoping for another vintage Kazmir performance in this series but it wasn't to be. Instead we got one from Corey Kluber on Wednesday.

The 27 year-old right hander got battered in his last start in Detroit, but he shook that off and pitched a good game in Philadelphia. Kluber lasted 6 innings, scattering 6 hits and giving up 3 runs whilst striking out 5 and walking none. It was a very composed and assured performance from Kluber, who has been somewhat difficult to predict this year. In all honesty, if every pitcher on the Tribe staff were healthy, Kluber would be in the bullpen or down in AAA Columbus. However, Corey has met the challenges of being a major league starter each time he's gone to the mound and he's done pretty well given the circumstances. Given the fact he's not really supposed to be in the situation he's in, I think he's doing a fine job and deserves the correct amount of credit when he pitches like he did yesterday.

The question going forward is can Kluber keep this up? Can he pitch like this every 5 days from here on out and keep the other starters like Brett Myers off his back? Probably not. But he's making the most of his opportunities and if he can carry this form into his next start and remain solid, maybe he'll keep that fifth spot in the rotation for a bit longer. I like Corey and will be rooting for him. Oh, and damn did he look impressive with the bat in his hands. For an AL pitcher taking his first cuts at the plate in his major league career, Kluber looked like a veteran in terms of plate discipline and awareness. His first at-bat in particular was amazing to watch.

Player Of The Series

I'm going with my boy Jason Kipnis. He had a pretty quiet first game of the series on Tuesday, going 0-for-3 but he did draw a walk and steal a base, his 7th of the year so far. His bat woke up on Wednesday though. The dynamic second baseman has been hitting the ball really well of late and nowhere was that more evident than yesterday, where he went 3-for-4 at the plate with a walk, 2 doubles, and a big 3-run homer in the 8th inning that effectively ended the Phillies' resistance. His home run was his 6th of the year and the first big fly that didn't come in the first inning. A very successful day at the office all in all.

The Indians have the day off today before welcoming the Seattle Mariners to town tomorrow for a four-game series. The can't-miss game of the series will be on Sunday, our best guy against their best guy: Justin Masterson (6-2, 3.14 ERA) versus Felix Hernandez (5-2, 1.53 ERA). I can't wait for it, and it starts at 1.05 PM ET so I'll get to watch it as well. Until next time...

Thanks for reading.

Indians Split Double-Header With Yankees

A beautiful sunny Monday in Cleveland saw a rather mixed bag for the Indians in their double-header against the Yankees. Let's take a look:

The Good...

The first game of the day saw an absolutely stunning pitching performance from Justin Masterson. Backed by a 1st inning home run from Jason Kipnis (his fifth homer of the season), Masterson was untouchable. He lasted the entire 9 innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 walks and striking out 9 Yankees in a memorable outing for the 1-0 complete game shutout. Despite only having Kipnis' homer for support, Masterson didn't need anything else and protected the thin lead with ease. Masterson now sits at 6-2 with a 3.14 ERA, joint first in the majors in victories. Francona said, "Masty went out and did exactly what you want your ace to do. From the very first pitch of the game, he had power, he had breaking ball, he attacked hitters." A near perfect performance from our number one guy, a very well pitched game. It'll earn Masterson the Player of the Series award from me as well.

The Bad...

Unfortunately things didn't go quite so well for Trevor Bauer, up from Columbus for the day to make the spot-start in the second game of the double-header. He pitched the best game of his young Indians career so far but he had no help from the offense, who struggled to muster any sort of attack in a 7-0 whitewash by New York. Bauer lasted 6 1/3 innings, surrendering 6 hits for 3 runs, 2 of them earned, whilst he walked 2 and struck out 4 batters. Despite getting the loss, the improvement in Bauer's performance was notable. For one, he kept his walks down to just 2, which is significantly better than his previous two starts where he walked far too many hitters. Bauer now sits at 1-2 for the year, with a 2.76 ERA.

He wasn't helped by his bullpen. Nick Hagadone came in to relieve Bauer and immediately allowed one of Bauer's runners to score. Hagadone is really struggling of late, still adapting to life in the majors and he had a torrid time against the Yankees. He only lasted a third of the 7th inning and was hit 3 times by the Yankees, giving up 4 runs, 3 of them earned, striking out 1 and walking 1. Matt Albers and David Huff pitched the rest of the game and didn't allow any more runs but the damage was done off Hagadone and the Indians never recovered.

It was a frustrating game for the Indians offense, who have been so potent of late but stumbled in this series. The Yankees sent former Indians draft pick Vidal Nuno to the mound and he stifled the Tribe lineup over 5 innings of work to earn his first major league win. He allowed only 3 hits and the Tribe had no answer for him, nor Adam Warren who pitched the final 4 innings for the Yanks, also allowing no runs and only 2 hits, earning the save. It was a very disappointing game for the Indians offense to say the least.

... And The Ugly

I mentioned on Sunday after the 4-3 win in Detroit that the Indians might look at the Lonnie Chisenhall situation sooner rather than later and that's exactly what they did. They made a decision on Chisenhall much sooner than I expected though, sending him down to AAA Columbus on Monday and recalling pitcher David Huff, who pitched in the second game against the Yankees yesterday.

I can understand this move certainly. With Vinnie Pestano still out for a bit, the bullpen needs another arm and Huff can do that job, so I can see why the struggling Chiz is the one who has to make way. Still, I can't help but think sending Lonnie back to AAA after making him the everyday starter at third base could be slightly detrimental to his long term prospects. When he does make it back to Cleveland, and that will certainly be this year, we'll see if the trip back to Columbus did him more harm than good. I don't expect that to be the case, I think mentally this is a good move for Lonnie and he should make it back to the bigs a stronger player.

But Nino over at The Tribe Daily made a good point that Lonnie doesn't have anything more to learn at the AAA level, that he can work out his problems whilst still being part of the Indians team. I agree and I especially agree with Nino that we don't want this to become another Matt LaPorta situation. However I can see why this move will be beneficial for Lonnie. Now he can get away from the limelight of the major leagues and fix his batting mechanics in a more relaxed setting, where the fans and the media aren't dissecting and criticising his every move. He needs to snap out of this funk and get back to what made him successful in Spring Training, because right now Chisenhall is not playing like the guy we know he can be. It's not pretty, but sending him back to Columbus to fix his plate approach is ultimately the right move.

So after two games against the Yankees the Tribe now fly to Philadelphia for two games against the Phillies before getting a day off on Thursday. Scott Kazmir (2-1, 4.87 ERA) will look to continue his good start to the season against the Phillies' Jonathan Pettibone (2-0, 3.63 ERA) tonight, first pitch at 7.05 pm ET. Lets hope the offense can get back on track and put up some big numbers.

Thanks for reading.

Tribe Tame Tigers, Steal Series Win

Wow. I just finished watching what was arguably the biggest win of this young season so far. The Indians just stole a win in Detroit, beating the Tigers 4-3 in extra innings to win the series overall. The victory takes our record to 20-15, the same as Detroit. You know what that means:

Ladies and gentlemen, your first place Cleveland Indians.

Ok so it's joint first place at the moment, but the race in the AL Central is most definitely on. We went into their house, the reigning American League champions, and we beat them two out of three in dramatic fashion, laying down a marker in the process. These Indians mean business, and now Detroit and the rest of the league can take notice. Even when we're not at our best, like today, we still ground out the win and that's a very encouraging sign.

I thought it wasn't going to be our day for a while. McAllister was decent in his 6 innings of work, but he left the ball in the zone a bit too much, Detroit connecting for 8 hits and 2 earned runs. I was impressed with his location though, he nearly always started out with a first-pitch strike, but maybe that came back to bite him since Detroit had few problems making contact off the right-hander. The Tribe offense were trying their best to turn the game around but we couldn't get the big hit, stranding 9 baserunners and always at that crucial moment when we were just a run away from tying things up. A strikeout here and a double play there, the Indians couldn't make anything count and it looked as if Detroit would hold on to their slender 3-2 lead in the 9th inning. The Tribe had other ideas thankfully, as Michael Bourn came off the bench to earn a walk, then immediately stole second base (with ease, Tigers closer Valverde never even looked his way). Michael Brantley came up and lined a single into left field and Bourn didn't hesitate for a second, rounding third base and making it home without even sliding. Tie game at 3-3 and a blown save for Valverde. The Tribe rode that momentum into the 10th inning and stole the win, with Mark Reynolds smashing a single into left field, scoring Carlos Santana to make it 4-3 Indians. Rich Hill and Cody Allen (first MLB save for Mr Allen) combined in the bottom of the 10th to shut down the Tigers and thus ensuring the series victory. It was a real roller-coaster of a game but the Tribe pulled through, grabbing the series win and taking our share of first place in the AL Central, delighting every Indians fan in the meantime. Fantastic win all in all. Let's have a look at some talking points during this series:

The Yan Gomes Experiment Is A Success

With backup catcher Lou Marson spending most of this season on the DL, 25 year-old Yan Gomes has taken his place and has been a revelation. In 14 games this season he's hitting .268, with a .279 OBP, with 2 doubles, 2 triples and 2 home runs for 5 RBI total. Decent enough numbers in only 41 at-bats but Gomes is one of those players where the stats don't truly tell you the whole story. Gomes has tremendous presence defensively, his rocket of an arm gunning down would-be base thieves at will. He's not exactly a black hole at the plate either, having a very successful day in Detroit, going 3 for 4 and being the only Indian in the bottom half of the lineup who actually produced today.

Watching Gomes play this season really makes it difficult to see Lou Marson make it back onto the ballclub at Gomes' expense. I like Lou, he seems to be a great guy, but at this stage, with the way Gomes has been playing in 2013, I think Marson has to stay in AAA once he's healthy. Gomes has earned his spot on the roster and it would be ridiculously unfair to demote him again once Marson is back to full fitness. Yan has been a lot of fun to watch and I hope he can stay on the team for the rest of the year, producing the likes of what we've seen so far. He can be an important contributor down the stretch.

Is It Time We Talked About Lonnie?

Mr Chisenhall is having a rough time of it lately. He's in a deep slump and isn't showing many signs of recovery. So far in May, Lonnie is batting .211 and his April numbers aren't much better, hitting .222 with 16 hits but striking out 18 times. Even more worrying, he only has 2 walks all season, and one of them came today in Detroit. And yet again, he's struggling to hit lefties, a problem he's yet to solve during his time in Cleveland.

He had a costly error today as well, which eventually became the Tigers' third run of the game, putting them 3-2 up at that stage. Luckily the Indians came back and erased the deficit. At the plate Lonnie was even worse, striking out twice with one of them being at a key moment late in the game where runners were stranded again. He's having no luck at all right now.

The question is, how long do we wait until something is done about Lonnie? The short term solution is to bench him for now and play Mike Aviles at third, which at the moment looks like a certain upgrade. Mark Reynolds could also be given the third base job, with somebody like Gomes or Giambi taking the DH spot more regularly. Do we send Lonnie back to Columbus for a while until he can turn things around at the plate? I'm personally hesitant to do that, I think it could be crushing for his already fragile confidence, but maybe it's what he needs to work out his batting problems. Right now, Chisenhall needs to break out of his slump, and he needs to do it quickly before a decision is made about his place on the team. I'm hoping he's just having a hard time getting into a rhythm and this poor start is not indicative of his future potential with the Tribe.

Either way, Chisenhall needs to step it up before Francona takes action. The young third baseman seems to have the manager's support for now but I expect the patience with Chiz will only last so long. And for God's sake Lonnie, shave that horrid thing off your top lip. That is the nastiest 'stache I've seen in some time and is doing you no favours son.

Player Of The Series

There's been some superb solo performances during this series but how about Ubaldo Jimenez out-duelling Justin Verlander? In a nail-biting 7-6 win Saturday night, Jimenez was brilliant, lasting 6 innings, giving up 3 hits and only 1 earned run (a solo HR by Jhonny Peralta). Most impressively, Ubaldo only surrendered 1 walk and he struck out 8 Tigers. He looked so incredibly comfortable on the mound and his mechanics are working in sync for the first time in a long while. He picked up the win, his third of the year, and has had three quality starts in his last three games. The signs are good at the moment. Speak in hush tones and keep it secret, but maybe Ubaldo is finally turning things around and is becoming the player we though we were getting in 2011. He's gets my Player of the Series award for such a well pitched game yesterday. I don't think many of us expected the Indians to not only beat Verlander, but see Ubaldo put in such a fine shift as well.

That's it for this re-cap. Next up is a double header against the Yankees at home on Monday, and we get to see another Trevor Bauer spot-start. Keep those walks down Trev, and you'll be fine. Until next time...

Thanks for reading.

Oakland Swept, Tribe Roll On

The Indians completed their four-game sweep over the visiting Oakland A's last night, beating the Athletics 9-2 to secure their fourth win in a row. When Oakland came into town on Tuesday I did not expect the series to pan out like it did. I said I'd have been happy with a series split but the Tribe went a step above and decided to take all four games. Here's what I thought:

THAT Home Run Call

Yes, it should have been called a home run, anybody who disagrees is being ignorant or needs to book a trip to the opticians. For those who don't know, Oakland's Adam Rosales hit a towering shot off closer Chris Perez in the 9th inning Wednesday night that looked to have either hit the top of the wall for a double or just cleared it for a home run. Initially Rosales was awarded a double by the officials but Oakland skipper Bob Melvin asked for a replay to ensure the correct call was made. With 2 outs and the score at 4-3 to the Indians, if the home run was given it tied the game and awarded a blown save to Perez.

Luckily for the Tribe, the umpire Angel Hernandez blew the call and apparently never saw that Rosales' shot hit the railing above the outfield wall. It stayed 4-3 to the Tribe, Bob Melvin went ballistic and got ejected and Perez got the final out and his 5th save of the season.

Now obviously if I was an A's fan I'd be very upset about this. It came at a crucial point in the game, at a major turning point in the series. The MLB have since come out and said that it was a mistake but the ruling on the field was a "judgement call" and would not be overturned. There you have it; mistake made, mistake acknowledged, but no action will be taken. A's fans are no doubt still furious but as an Indians fan, with a controversial call going our way for once, well I can't honestly say I'm not still happy we won that game. It's really tough deal for the A's but nothing is going to happen now so everybody has to move on. That's all I'm going to say about the matter, it's been discussed to death already.

Keep It Up Kazmir

Last week's winning streak and this Oakland series have really seen the team performing at their best. We're getting great performances from every part of the team and look to be settling into a successful pattern.

But the rotation in particular have been fantastic these past four days. Ubaldo was up first on Monday night and he pitched a good game, lasting 5 2/3 innings with 4 hits, 2 runs and 8 strikeouts. He owes some credit to Nick Hagadone, who got Ubaldo out of a bases loaded jam in the 6th inning, but overall Jimenez looked solid out there, picking up the 1,000 strikeout of his career and his second win of the year as the Tribe ran out 7-3 winners.

Zach McAllister took the mound Tuesday night and put in a superb shift, shutting out the A's for 7 2/3 innings, allowing 5 hits with 4 strikeouts on his way to his third win in 2013. In a tight game where the only Tribe run came from a Yan Gomes sac-fly, McAllister never looked rattled and pitched extremely well in the 1-0 win. The 25 year-old put in arguably the best performance out of all the starters this week.

Justin Masterson pitched 7 strong innings on Wednesday night, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits, striking out 7. He had his fastball and slider working beautifully, and only ran into trouble in the 4th inning when his pitches were just a bit too high and in the zone for the A's batters. His offense bailed him out of the 3-0 hole and Masterson picked up his fifth win of the season.

Finally, Scott Kazmir continued his comeback tour of 2013 Thursday afternoon, pitching his best game of the season. Kazmir lasted 6 innings, scattering 5 hits and only surrendering 1 run, a solo-homer by Josh Donaldson, in the 9-2 victory. Amazingly he struck out 10 Oakland batters in those 6 innings, a season high by a Cleveland pitcher, and didn't give up a single walk. The veteran left-hander looked untouchable out there, pitching like a number 2 guy, not the number 5 man we all hoped be could be when he was bought in the winter. I said in my last post that if Kazmir can keep up this level of performance then we really got ourselves a bargain. At the moment he just keeps getting better and better every time he goes out there, surpassing every expectation. Good work Kaz, keep this up and you'll take home the Comeback Player of the Year award.

Ah what the hell, I know the offense have been fantastic over this series as well (we lead the league in HRs now... yeah, thought I should mention that) but I'm gonna go ahead and give Kazmir the Player Of The Series award. Yesterday's outing was just so brilliant, I think he deserves it.

Detroit Will Be The Real Test

So the Indians now sit pretty with a 18-14 record, just a single game back from the AL Central leading Tigers, who dropped one last night in Washington and have a 19-13 record. We arrive in Detroit today for a three game series and it will be a true test of where this Tribe team stand at the moment. A series win would surely put us above them in the division standings, which should be a nice incentive for the team. Not that they need any more motivation: Jason Kipnis said after the game yesterday, "We're excited to finally see them this year. We definitely want to go up against them. We know they're the team to beat. We're playing well right now, so we have a bunch of confidence and momentum going in our favor. We're ready to see them." I agree with our second baseman, we couldn't be in better shape going into this Detroit series and momentum is definitely on our side.

It gets even better with the news that speedy centre-fielder Michael Bourn has finally been activated off the disabled list and should be ready for action over the weekend. Hopefully his finger has healed completely by now and he can contribute against the Tigers. We'll need everybody at their best and it starts with Corey Kluber (2-1. 3.06 ERA)  up against Max Scherzer (4-0, 3.43 ERA) tonight at 7.08 pm. Go Tribe!

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.

Phillies Fall To Terrific Tribe

The Indians have begun their nine game home-stand with a bang, beating Philadelphia twice in a row to take the mini two-game series. Cleveland's winning streak is up to four games now and the club are a single game from getting back to a .500 record. What a lovely way to begin the month of May. Let's have a look at how it went down:

Offense Clicking Into Gear

April saw the Indians offense take on a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde persona. For a couple of games they wouldn't string any hits together, then 24 hours later they'd explode for double-digit runs and leave opposing fans cowering behind their sofa cushions. The inconsistency on a nightly basis was baffling. How could a team with this much power, this raw ability to crush the ball, be so limp at the plate all of a sudden? Well thankfully the last few games have seen the Tribe offense begin to find their rhythm and no game highlighted that more than Tuesday night. 

The Phillies brought Roy Halladay to the mound, not so long ago one of the best pitchers in the game, a two-time Cy Young winner and proud owner of a perfect game to his résumé. But this is not the same Halladay of yesteryear. Doc is having a rough time of it lately and the Indians only added to his misery. Poor Roy got shelled for 9 brutal hits for 8 earned runs in only 3 2/3 innings.

And that was only the beginning. The Indians hit 7 home runs in total Tuesday night in the 14-2 thrashing, taking it to the Phillies' bullpen after Halladay had left the game. The Tribe got homers from Santana, Reynolds, Chisenhall, Brantley, Stubbs and 2 from Ryan Raburn (more on him later). The offensive outburst somewhat overshadowed Zach McAllister's fine outing: Number 34 went 7 strong innings, scattering 5 hits with 4 strikeouts. Zach did give up 2 home runs to the Phillies but they were solo-shots and really the only mistakes the 6'6 righty made all night. 

The offense carried over their fine performance from Tuesday night into yesterday's game. The Indians' bats stayed alive in the 6-0 victory, ensuring the series win and sweep over the Phillies. Cliff Lee made his first start against his former team since his trade out of Cleveland in 2009 but even he couldn't quiet the Tribe lineup. I have fond memories of Lee's 2008 Cy Young season but I can't say I wasn't pleased to see him get smacked around for 9 hits in 6 innings of work. His opponent for the Tribe was our young pitching stud Trevor Bauer, making a spot-start before going back to Columbus today. Bauer lasted 5 innings, only surrendering 1 solitary hit but he walked 6 Phillies batters. He had a lot of trouble in last start in Tampa Bay when he had too many walks (7!), and again last night his control was just as wild. Nearly every fastball he threw was far too high, and he struggled to keep anything down. One positive though was his breaking ball; he had a mean curveball working, a thing of beauty when he got the Phillies' Ryan Howard to strike out looking in the 1st inning, then catcher Carlos Ruiz to whiff badly in the 2nd. Bauer still needs to work on his control before he can be considered MLB ready, that many walks is unacceptable and infuriating, but the potential talent is obvious. I don't expect it will very long before he becomes a permanent addition to the starting rotation.

The key hit in last night's game was Asdrubal Cabrera's 2 RBI double down the left field line in the bottom of the 3rd inning, scoring Brantley and Kipnis to stake the Indians to a 3-0 lead. They never looked back from there, tacking on 3 more runs over the remaining innings, coasting to the win. Cabrera has really been hitting well over the past week and looks to have put his early slump behind him now. Still, he's not as hot at the plate as this guy...

Player Of The Series

Take a bow Ryan Raburn. The versatile 32 year old has been making the most of his playing time lately, doing his best Joe DiMaggio impression. The guy can't miss, he's hitting everything. Since Bourn went on the disabled list, the speedy Drew Stubbs has shifted over to centre field with Raburn taking his place in right field. He got off to a bit of a rough start and I can remember a few times when Raburn swung at the first pitch to end a crucial rally with a double-play ball. But he's done a great job of late to change his critic's opinions.

It started in the final game of the series in Kansas City this past Monday, when Raburn unloaded for 2 home runs, and it didn't stop when Philadelphia came to town. Tuesday night saw him go 3-for-4 at the plate, with 2 more monster home runs in the 14-2 rout. Then last night he went 4-for-5 with a double and 2 RBI in the 6-0 win. He's been unstoppable at the plate, whether its a bloop single, a double in the gap, or another fence-clearing homer, Raburn has been on fire. So the award goes to Ryan for this Phillies series. What a beast.

So the Indians can enjoy their time off today before the Twins arrive in Cleveland tomorrow to begin a three game series, where we'll see Minnesota's Pedro Hernandez (1-0, 2.35 ERA) face off against our Justin Masterson (4-2, 3.12 ERA). Until next time...

Thanks for reading.