Player of the Game

Yan Gomes won his second Player of the Game with his sixth home run and 17th RBI on the season. Gomes is now batting .293 and has surpassed Ryan Raburn as the go to player during off days. Gomes started at catcher today and was responsible for half of the Indians offense.

Feathers Up

Terry Francona stuck with Corey Kluber despite his early struggles and Kluber proved his intuition right. After allowing four earned runs over the first two innings, he allowed just two hits over his next four innings. Instead of panicking and wasting the bullpen by making them throw seven innings, Kluber was able to pitch as well as anybody alive for those next four innings. All included, Kluber struck out eight in six innings and walked just one.

The Indians were finally able to break through against the Yankees in the late innings today when they scored a pair of runs in the sixth and seventh innings. The first two runs were scored with some small ball as Drew Stubbs started things with an infield single. Michael Bourne followed with another single before Jason Kipnis hit one down the line to bring in the first run. A Nick Swisher ground out scored Bourn to end the scoring in the sixth.

In the seventh, they did things a little differently. Michael Brantley hit a strong single to the outfield just prior to another Yan Gomes home run. This brought the Indians back to within two runs, the closest they had been since the first inning.

Feathers Down

Last time out a rain storm kept Corey Kluber from pitching past the second inning, but today it was the storm of Yankees hitters that kept him down. Kluber allowed home runs to Travis Hafner and Brett Gardner while allowing six run (four earned) to the Yankees lineup in the first two innings.

Skinny C.C. was on today, throwing a perfect game until Mike Aviles blooped a single into left during the fifth inning. The Indians made their mark the next inning, scoring twice, but Sabathia looked great early on, striking out nine in nine innings. His seven hits allowed are not indicative of his performance as few were actually hit hard.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - New York Yankees 6

Roster Update: Because of the injury sustained by Asdrubal Cabrera last night to his right calf, he has been placed on the disabled list. Columbus starting short stop, Juan Diaz, will be brought in as his replacement on the 25 man roster and will take Mike Aviles place in the lineup as Aviles moves to starting short stop. While Aviles starting at short is the obvious solution, it is disappointing that the Indians didn't use this opportunity to promote Lonnie Chisenhall. He has been tearing up the International League as of late and is now ranked sixth on the team in RBI despite having about 90 less at bats than the next highest batter. His slash line of .364/.667/.434 makes him the team leader in all three stats. While Diaz will be available as back-up short stop, Chisenhall would be a starter and actually add something to the offense as he would replace Jason Giambi or Ryan Raburn on a daily basis.

Player of the Game

For the second night in a row, Drew Stubbs showed some promise of turning things around. This time it was a three run home run that brought the Indians back within one and removed Joba Chamberlain from the game. Stubbs also had the only hit against Phelps when he beat out what should have been an easy ground out to short. His POG score of 5.85 marks this as his best game of the year.

Feathers Up

Normally, a starting pitcher allowing just four runs in six innings at Yankee stadium would be considered a great effort, but a lack of offense killed Scott Kazmir's decent performance. Interestingly enough, Kazmir lasted just as long as Yankees' starter, David Phelps who allowed just a single hit during his six innings.

Feathers Down

It was deja vu for the Tribe tonight as Mark Teixeira gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead early in the game. This time it was just a three run home run, instead of the grand slam as Ichiro Suzuki had already knocked in one run with a single. Teixeira is making up for lost time and now has two home runs on the season. Only a baserunning gaff by Chris Stewart kept them both from being grand slams as the Yankee catcher was caught out in a run down after hitting a single.

Two games in New York and two 'mo' saves for Mo. If Mariano Rivera played every game at home against the Indians he wouldn't have to retire at the end of this season.

Mike Aviles was thrown out of the game after it was over because of yet another terrible call by a home plate umpire against the Indians. The Tribe are having a hard enough time scoring runs these days, they certainly don't need to be playing against the umpires as well.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - New York Yankees 4

Player of the Game

With a single and a two RBI double, Carlos Santana is tonight's Indians Player of the Game. His final score POG was 3.21. This award was his fourth of the season and his first in almost a month (5/5).

Feathers Up

Drew Stubbs broke a long hitless streak in the fifth with his first extra base hit in ten days. Overall it broke an 0-16 slump that had lasted more than five games. Stubb could almost certainly could learn a thing or two from Michael Bourn, who has become an expert at being safe without hitting the ball out of the infield.

The Indians were able to tie the game against Andy Pettitte and the Yankees in the fifth inning with a Carlos Santana two out, two run, ground rule double. The double was Santana's fifth hit in the past two days after seeing his average drop by over 100 points during the past month. It is back up to .290 now and he definitely seems to have found his stroke in the past couple of days.

Feathers Down

Mark Teixeira made his presence felt for the first time since returning to the Yankee lineup in a big way with the shortest grand slam you may ever see. The first two batters in the third (who were batting under .250 combined at the time) each singled before Brett Gardner walked to load the bases. Nick Swisher made a nice play to get the out at home for a fielder's choice, but it was rendered moot by the Teixeira blast.

Asdrubal Cabrera has been playing with an injured quad for awhile now and it hasn't affected him too much, but he blew it out running to first on a ground out. He was unable to put any pressure on it while leaving the field and it is unknown as of now whether he will wait it out on the bench or have to hit the DL. Luckily for the Indians, they have Mike Aviles, who should be able to fill in as starting short stop during the interim. This could also be an excuse to bring Lonnie Chisenhall back to the big league team as the Indians wouldn't have a back-up third baseman behind Mark Reynolds.

Everything went south for Justin Masterson in the sixth inning. He walked the first batter before retiring the next two quickly. After Austin Romine hit a single, he allowed Romine to steal second. When Brett Gardner hit a single right after, Masterson cut off the throw from centerfield, keeping Michael Bourn from throwing out Romine at home. Masterson then threw the ball into centerfield on an attempted pick-off of Gardner. He did get the final out, but this was the most frustrated we have seen Justin Masterson this season.

For some reason, Terry Francona did not see Masterson struggling and decided to send him back out for the seventh inning when he allowed a solo home run to former Tribesman Travis Hafner. That hit finally got through to Francona and he brought in Cody Allen who finished the inning without incident.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - New York Yankees 7

The Indians will play their final series against the surprising Yankees team in Yankee Stadium the next three days. Cleveland is coming off a couple tough series (a four game split with the Reds and a loss to the Rays), especially the final game against Tampa which they lost 11-3. With the loss the Indians remain a half game back from Detroit, where they have been the past three days.

The Yankees on the other hand, have been a complete surprise this year and were in first place in the AL East as recently as May 26th. They are currently in third after dropping two straight, but should be reinvigorated soon, by the return of a few of their super stars. Both Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis returned to the Yankees this past weekend and should be in the starting lineup against the Tribe. This should help bolster a lineup that doesn't really need any help, already sixth in the league in home runs. If there is one word to describe the Yankees lineup, however, it is old and there is always a question of how long Lyle Overbay and Travis Hafner can remain productive. By adding these two all-stars back into the mix, they will not need to rely on the aging veterans quite as much.

Game 1: Monday, June 3rd 7:00 EDT
Justin Masterson, RHP, 8-3, 3.07 ERA vs Andy Pettitte, LHP, 4-3, 3.83 ERA

If the Indians don't win this game, it would be ominous for the rest of the series. Justin Masterson has been defeating all comers this year and the Yankees are certainly no better than the Reds, who he beat in his last start. In fact, Masterson defeated the Yankees once already this year in a 1-0 match-up featuring the Yankees game two starter, David Phelps.

Pettitte on the other hand is very old, and while he may be crafty, he isn't good enough at his age to fool the Indians right handed hitters like Mark Reynolds (2 doubles in 9 AB against Pettite) or Asdrubal Cabrera (.364 career AVG against Pettitte). Even Jason Giambi has had pretty good success against his old teammate, batting .286 with three doubles, although most of those at bats probably came when they were both much younger. Expect Jason Kipnis or Michael Bourn to get a day off in order to get Ryan Raburn into the lineup as well. 

Tuesday, June 4th 7:05 EDT
Scott Kazmir, LHP, 3-2, 5.13 ERA vs David Phelps, RHP, 3-3, 4.65 ERA

This game will be a little tougher for the Tribe, but they should be able to pull out a second victory and win the series early. Kazmir has completely straightened out his early season issues (most likely caused by injuries) and has improved vastly in each of his last two starts. Last time out he allowed just one run in seven innings against the offensive juggernaut that is the Cincinnati Reds. He should find the Yankees lineup much easier to deal with as they hit for a much lower average, but still have a tendency to strike out. The Yankees hitters like to go deep into counts, which should suit Kazmir fine as that is how he has been pitching all season. Look for some more big K numbers from Scott as his K/9 is over 9 again for the first time since 2008.

David Phelps is a little of an unknown quantity for the Tribe as the only time most of the team has faced him was during the Yankees last trip to Cleveland. Kipnis does have a home run against the former reliever, but overall the numbers are insignificant. In his last start, Phelps was pulled after just one out when he gave up five runs (four earned) to the Mets. The first three batters reached before Phelps struck out Lucas Duda, then the two reached safely as well. Jayson Nix committed an error to allow another runner and Phelps gave up one more hit before being removed. 

Wednesday, June 5th 1:05 EDT
Corey Kluber, RHP, 3-3, 4.36 vs C.C. Sabathia, LHP, 5-4, 3.71 ERA

The Indians' old friend will start the final game of the series against the youngest member of the Indians rotation. Sabathia remains a top pitcher in the league and has been averaging more than six innings per start for New York. His ERA was recently inflated by a seven run game against Tampa Bay, but who hasn't give up seven or eleven to the Rays. In his last start, C.C. shut down Boston with ten strike outs, allowing just a single run through seven innings. The Indians may have one advantage against him however, as he has won the Cy Young award. This has been a good luck charm for the Tribe this year as they have defeated all but one Cy Young award winning pitcher they have faced this season.

Kluber keeps pushing along and has surprisingly been a very strong part of the Indians rotation. In his last start he was only able to pitch two innings due to rain, but they were the best two innings thrown by an Indians pitcher in that game. Kluber was not bumped up in the rotation after his short start, so he may be a little stronger than normal going into this game, only having pitched two innings in the past ten days. It is yet to be seen how this will affect his stuff, but in general, an extra mile or two per hour is usually a good thing. If he can pitch well, this game is definitely winable for the Tribe and they could even possibly sweep the series, which would likely move them back into first place.

Player of the Game

Mike Aviles got a rare start at short stop with Asdrubal Cabrera getting the day off. He came through enough to win today's Player of the Game. Aviles had a single, knocking in two of the Indians three runs. A generally sad pitching performance all around handed this one to Aviles.

Feathers Up

The Indians finally got on the board in the fourth, when they had four consecutive two out hits to score three runs. Mark Reynolds and Carlos Santana singled before a Yan Gomes double that should have scored both runners. For some reason, Santana was not running with two outs so the Indians needed another hit to get him across. Mike Aviles came through this time with a single up the middle that scored both Santana and Gomes.

Santana had a pretty nice game overall, especially considering his recent dip in batting average. He started off by bunting against the shift for a single and hit one through the hole in the shift for another single his next time up. He finished with a third single, this one a solid line drive to center field. The hits showed a nice progression and if this continues, he should be back to hitting home runs in a game or two.

Feathers Down

Zach McAllister allowed two runs in the first inning for the second start in a row. A one out walk helped the Rays score that inning, a rarity for McAllister. Prior to this game he had allowed 18 walks in his 10 starts and just one of those was in the first inning. In general he had a tough day with his command as he walked four in 4.1 innings. This marks the first game this year that he didn't pitch at least five innings and breaks his 12 game streak of allowing less than three runs per game.

While getting hits with two outs can be a huge bump to a team's offense, the Indians seemed to only be able to get hits that way. During the first four innings the Indians had seven hits, all of which came with two outs. This is great if you have had walks or hits prior to getting two outs, it is a hard way to ignite an inning.

Part of McAllister's command problems may have stemmed from a shifting strike zone. The Indians had a problem with Bill Welke's strike zone all game, with McAllister going as far as to ask him where he should throw the ball in between innings. After an outside pitch was called a strike against Nick Swisher in the 5th inning, Terry Francona was ejected for the first time this season. This was the most animated we have seen Francona this year and it was well deserved after seeing replays of the strike calls.

In "welcome to the big leagues, kid" news, Matt Langwell allowed a two run home run to perennial MVP candidate, Evan Longoria on his second Major League pitch. Langwell did recover to strike out the next batter and he can't be blamed for the loss as Rich Hill came in to pitch before him.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Tampa Bay Rays 11

Roster Update: As expected, the Indians made a roster move following last night's game to shore up the bullpen. Also as expected, Scott Barnes was the odd man out as he heads back to Columbus for the third time. Of the three choices for relief pitcher from AAA, the Indians went with Matt Langwell, who has been used in long relief for the majority of his minor league career. He has been fantastic this year, posting a 2.30 ERA in 27 innings over 20 appearances for the Clip Show. Over his career he has a K/9 of exactly nine and he looks to be ready as ever for the big show.

Player of the Game

If the Indians ever needed Ubaldo Jimenez to come through for them, today was the day and he responded with his best game of the year. With most of the bullpen options exhausted after last night's eight hour adventure, Ubaldo did no less than pitch eight incredibly strong innings, shutting out the Rays to get the Indians back into a tie for first. He struck out seven batters and allowed just four hits as he continues his trend of getting back to 2010. His POG score of 10.10 is the fifth best overall of any Indians player this year and the third best by a starting pitcher.

Feathers Up

Milestone Alert: Jason Giambi hit another home run (three of four hits in a row were home runs) and it moved him into 40th place all time in MLB history. His 434th home run ties him with Andruw Jones and Juan Gonzalez. An interesting note about his place in history; every player that has hit more home runs than Giambi whose career ended before 1990 is in the Hall of Fame except for Dave Kingman. Seventeen players above him are recent (or active) players and are not in the Hall of Fame. Giambi's Hall of Fame case will be interesting as he has admitted to doing steroids, but was apologetic. This blast gave him home runs in three straight games and 5 of his 14 hits this year have left the yard.

Apparently, sleep is important. The top three players for the Indians in this game were the starting pitcher, Ubaldo Jimenez (who was allowed to leave last night's game early), Jason Giambi and Jason Kipnis none of whom played last night. Giambi and Kipnis combined for all the Indians hits until Asdrubal Cabrera's fifth inning home run.

Two infield singles were the only thing keeping Ubaldo Jimenez from a no hitter through six innings. Jimenez gave up a double in the seventh as well, but no harm came from it as he shut down the rest of the side in order. The Rays best chance to score came in the second inning after the first bunt single, when Jason Kipnis threw an attempted double play ball into the dugout. This gave the Rays a runner on second with two outs, but Jimenez struck out Jose Molina to end the inning.

The combined team shut-out was the Indians 8th of the season. Justin Masterson has started four of those games and Ubaldo has started two with Zach McAllister and Trevor Bauer pitching the other two.

Feathers Down

The Indians struck out ten times today and didn't even have the benefit of playing the bottom of the ninth. Drew Stubbs lead the way with a strike out in all four at bats, but few were immune with just three players avoiding the K.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 - Tampa Bay Rays 0

May was about as good a month as is possible for a baseball team. While some of the offensive players tailed off a little from April, the pitching has been all around tremendous and the starting rotation in general is shooting up the rankings. The third rankings of the year see a new top player for the third time as well, with the Indians ace beating out the top hitters after a scorching month.

1. Justin Masterson Above (+1)

Masterson remains on fire through the second month of the season as he continues to destroy hitters across the league. He is not only the top pitcher on the Indians, but ranks first in the AL in wins and innings pitched and fifth in strike outs. He is just four wins away from a career high and is on pace for records in almost every other stat as well. He has one complete game shut out in each month so far this year.

2. Zach McAllister Above (+2)

McAllister has been the Indians most consistent pitcher this year, if not quite as dominant as Masterson at times. He has thrown at least five innings and allowed three or less runs in all ten starts and currently holds the lowest ERA among qualifying Indians at 3.08. It is interesting that his paltry K/9 of 6.6 is the lowest on the team, but it hasn't really affected his results. As a ground ball pitcher, he has depended on the Indians infield defense and they have not disappointed.

3. Mark Reynolds Below (0)

Reynolds has still shown signs of power this month, but his batting average has dipped to .254 after ending April over .300. While no one expected him to maintain that number all season, no one really thought it would drop off that dramatically either. Reynolds still ranks among the league leaders in home runs and RBI.

4. Carlos Santana Below (-3)

After batting almost .400 for April, Santana has entered into a month long slump. He has batted just above .200 for the whole month and ranks 8th on the team in RBI during that span. As a primary run producer it is integral to the Indians lineup for Santana to hit in the Indians lineup. He remains high in the rankings because his two months averaged together are still better than almost anyone else on the team.

5. Michael Brantley Above (+7)

Brantley has easily been the Indians most consistent hitter this year, despite being moved around the lineup on whatever whim Terry Francona has on any particular day. Brantley has played in every game but two going into June and is batting .299, the second highest average on the team. While he has had almost no extra-base power, he is doing a fantastic job as a table setter, batting in every place in the lineup except ninth.

Lonnie Chisenhall Update: Gone, but not forgotten, the Chiz Kid has played much better since our last update and now looks ready for a return to the Tribe. He has raised his average up to .400 after a 4-5 outing on 5/29 and has three home runs in his last ten games. Not only has he warmed up in AAA, but much of the lineup has cooled down over the last month. Mark Reynolds, Carlos Santana, Drew Stubbs and Jason Giambi all hit under .240 in May. The Indians could use all the offense they could get now and Chisenhall would replace the combination of Giambi, Mike Aviles and Ryan Raburn. It would also aid the Indians defense by moving Mark Reynolds back to DH.

Player of the Game

Despite throwing just two innings, Corey Kluber won tonight's Player of the Game as no other pitcher was able to match his performance. Kluber struck out three and walked one before being removed during the long rain delay. With just one hit on the offensive side, there was little competition for tonight's honor.

Feathers Up

Every other team in the AL Central lost before the Indians entered into the fourth inning. This means that the Indians will remain just a half game back of Detroit despite the loss.

Nick Hagadone was able to get back into his comfort zone as he threw two innings tonight against both left and right handed batters. Hagadone allowed just a single hit (which should have been called an error) and struck out a batter during his time on the field.

Feathers Down

For some insane reason, despite radar showing rain until midnight, the Indians decided to play this one out instead of postponing it. Rather than just calling the game after the second inning and trying to make it up tomorrow as a double header, they chose to play all night, almost certainly hurting both teams for tomorrow's 1:05 start time.

Corey Kluber looked good again tonight, but was only able to throw two innings because of the massive almost five hour rain delay. Kluber struck out three in a row between the first two innings and didn't allow a hit. The Indians were facing a tough job facing Rays ace Matt Moore coming into the game, but losing Kluber early on made the game much more difficult to win. If he had remained in the game, it would almost certainly have been a much closer affair.

With the bullpen already in a difficult position due to the weather, Scott Barnes made things even harder by throwing 30 pitches while allowing five runs in his first inning. Barnes was expected to go at least three innings, but was only able to stick around for a single inning. With the extra innings the bullpen was forced to take, don't be surprised if there is a roster move before tomorrow's game to bring in some reserves. If this is the case, Barnes could be the odd man out with two other left handers already available in the bullpen.

It has been 19 days and nine appearances since Rich Hill was able to appear in a game and not allow a base runner. Tonight he allowed hits to the first four batters in the ninth inning, eventually giving the Rays three easy runs that they did not need. Hill has proven that he is washed up and is by far the worst pitcher in the Indians bullpen. The only reason Barnes would be sent down instead of Hill is because for some reason, the Indians don't want to lose him to waivers.

This unnecessarily long game ended at 2:56 am, the day after it was started.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 - Tampa Bay Rays 9

Tampa Bay Rays ( - ) at Cleveland Indians ( - )
Series 19, Games 54, 55 & 56
Progressive Field, Cleveland: Park Factor 96, Pitcher's Park.

Friday, May 31st 7:05 EDT (STO)
Matt Moore (8-0, 2.21) vs Corey Kluber (3-3, 4.57)
Brett Myers injury complications has granted Kluber a reprieve from the worry of being removed from the rotation, but the way he has pitched lately is really what earned him his place on the team. In his last three starts he has lowered his ERA a full run per nine innings while throwing 19 innings and striking out 23. He will face the difficult task of going against Moore, the best pitcher on an extremely good pitching team.
Moore's last time out was the first game his team as lost that he started all year, although he himself didn't actually take the loss. He has given up just two runs in his last two starts covering 14 innings. This type of performance is not atypical for Moore, who has only given up more than two runs in two games this year. He will definitely not provide a respite from the tough pitching the Indians have been facing against Cincinnati.

Saturday, June 1st 1:05 EDT (STO)
Alex Cobb (6-2, 2.66) vs Ubaldo Jimenez (3-3, 5.57)
Cobb was originally scheduled to pitch Friday, but was moved after dealing with an issue with his finger nail. Cobb is a young starter and is having a fantastic season to this point, much like Moore, Cobb has allowed more than three runs just a single time this year. One difference between him and Moore is that Cobb strikes out more batters, with 62 already in his ten starts.
Jimenez got back on track in his last start after a less than stellar appearance against the Tigers. In one of his best starts of the season against Cincinnati he allowed just two runs in seven innings, but didn't receive a decision. While he hasn't pitched well in Cleveland, Tampa should be a good fit as they are a free swinging team that hits the ball into the ground often.

Sunday, June 2nd 1:05 EDT (STO)
Jeremy Hellickson (2-2, 5.61) vs Zach McAllister (4-4, 3.08)
This match-up favors the Indians more than either of the other games. McAllister can be expected to throw a quality start in any game this year, but he has been particularly good against the Rays, against whom he has pitched three games and given up just three runs in 17.2 innings. Hellickson has been equally as good against the Indians, allowing just 5 runs in 19 innings with a WHIP around 1.00.

Predictions: This will be another tough series for the Tribe (and they don't get any easier for awhile) and they would be very lucky to get away with a series win. The series sets up best for the Indians in the final two games, after they have dealt with the Rays ace in game one.

Player of the Game

Scott Kazmir threw seven innings and allowed just a single run, keeping a tough Reds offense (Votto, Phillips and Choo combined for 2-9) at bay. Kazmir struck out five and walked just one as he threw more than 70% of his pitches for strikes. While the Reds hitters did take advantage of this from time to time, two double plays helped keep them from scoring on their seven hits. Kazmir earned the win and finished with a final POG score of 5.84. Because the offense was so spread around tonight, six different batters finished with scores between 2.00 and 3.00.

Feathers Up

Yan Gomes received a rare start tonight and made the most of it, going 3-4 with an RBI and run scored. Gomes presents an interesting opportunity/challenge for the Indians if they would like to use him more often. Defensively, he is far superior to Carlos Santana in every facet, but the Indians don't want to lose Santana's bat. Using them as they did tonight, with Santana as DH, presents the best possible batting order and defense, but leaves them at risk should something happen to Gomes during the game as they only carry the two catchers.

The Indians may not know that they are allowed to score with less than two outs. Tonight, they scored seven times on six consecutive hits after there were already two outs in the fourth inning. Asdrubal Cabrera lead off the inning when he was hit by a pitch, scored the first run and finished the scoring in the inning with an RBI double to knock in Jason Kipnis from first. Nick Swisher struck out for the first out in the inning and flew out to end it. Other than Swisher and Mark Reynolds (who also struck out), every batter in the Indians line-up got a hit during the fourth inning and (other than Santana) scored and knocked in a run.

If Scott Kazmir has had a single problem this year, it has been that his tendency to work deep in counts forces him to throw a lot of pitches early in the game, leaving him weak in the late innings and forcing him to exit the game early. Tonight, he didn't get the strike outs he usually does (just five in seven innings), but he was able to pitch through the seventh for the first time this year despite allowing eight hits.

Nick Hagadone looked free and easy as he retired the Reds in order in the 8th inning. He took the loss in his last appearance when he allowed a single and a home run for two runs against Cincinnati.

The Ohio Cup will stay in Ohio as the Indians and Reds split their four game home/road series. I believe the Columbus Clippers will get to house the cup for the next year for the geographic place about half way between Cincinnati and Cleveland.

Feathers Down

The Indians were unable to score tonight in any situation other than with two outs in the fourth inning.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 - Cincinnati Reds 1