Player of the Game

Fausto Carmona came through big in his second straight start, pitching 6 strong innings while only allowing one earned run. He only gave up 6 hits and struck out 6 with the only run coming off a home run by Ichiro Suzuki to lead off the game. Carmona is one of the most important peices of this team if the Indians are still going to try to make it to the playoffs.

Feathers Up

I got nothing. Carmona was ok, but not great. The defense wasn't good. The offense was terrible. The Indians lost another game in the standings to Detroit while playing one of the worst teams in the Majors. Finally, the majority of the starting lineup is now out with either their own medical situation or someone close to them. Where is Trevor Crowe? Give me more Crowe.

Feathers Down

Shin-Soo Choo was missing from tonight's game to be at the birth of his child. You would think his wife would understand that he is in the middle of a divisional race and can't be bothered with little things like babies. To make matters worse, he left so abruptly that the Indians weren't able to call up a replacement and had to play tonight's game with 24 men. With Choo missing along with Shelley Duncan and Travis Hafner, the Indians showed a definite drop in offensive production.

These wild and crazy pitchers have to get things under control. Between Fausto Carmona and Chris Perez, 4 Seattle batters were hit by pitches, two of whom came around to score. Both of these runs were unearned, one because of a wild throw by catcher, Lou Marson, the other because of a stupid error by Perez, who was trying to get the runner out at third on a sacrifice bunt.

Here's something I don't understand about Manny Acta. If Jason Donald wasn't even good enough to be on the team for the majority of the season (meaning he was worse than Adam Everett, Austin Kearns, etc) then why is he all of a sudden hitting higher in the lineup than Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana and Kosuke Fukudome? Just because the normal number 2 hitter (Jason Kipnis) is out, doesn't mean you need to let his replacement hit second. The higher in the lineup you bat, the more at bats you get. Who wants to see Jason Donald go 0-4 while batting second? This is an ongoing discussion I've been having all year, just with different players each time.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 - Seattle Mariners 3

Travis Hafner has been moved to the 15 Day DL for the injury to his foot. Pronk fouled to balls off his right foot before stumbling around first base and limping off the field. He has dealt with an injury like this through most of this season, but he is unaware if it is the same injury. At the same time Shelley Duncan (and his father, Dave Duncan of the St. Louis Cardinals) have taken family emergency as Shelley's mother goes through a serious surgical procedure. These tragedies have left the Indians without a designated hitter for the time being, with Matt LaPorta taking Hafner's spot in tonight's game.

While this may seem like a serious blow for the Indians, it may be a blessing in disguise. It has been reported that the Minnesota Twins have placed Jim Thome on waivers and the Indians are in a decent position to claim him. There are only 6 teams above the Indians on the waiver wire (Baltimore, Kansas City, Seattle, Minnesota, Oakland and Chicago) and none of them are contenders with the exception of the Chicago White Sox. If Thome makes it past the Sox, I can't see any chance of the Indians not claiming him. He would be the perfect fit as the Indians only need a DH and it would allow him to retire as an Indian (he already said he would likely retire after hitting 600 home runs). While Thome has a full no trade clause, he would probably waive it to play with his old team for one last chance at a championship. The White Sox do look like a real problem however as they would love to have a real power hitter to replace Adam Dunn. They could also claim him just so the Indians won't have a chance to. Thome is also likely to be willing to for the Sox as he is from Illinois and has played for them in the past.

If he does come back it would be reminiscent of 2007, when Kenny Lofton came back to the Indians to end his career. I would love nothing more than to see Thome back in an Indians jersey one last time and maybe add a couple more home runs to his already prodigious team record.

Summary:

The Mariners come into Cleveland having lost five straight. They're hitting only .180 (23-for-128) against the Tribe. Vargas, who has thrown three shutouts this year, is 0-1 against the Indians. The Tribe is coming off a 2-4 trip against Chicago and Detroit. They are playing the Mariners for the first time since May, have outscored them, 25-12. Shin-Soo Choo is hitting .400 (6-for-15) against his former team. Tomlin and Masterson are each 1-0 against Seattle.

Pitching Matchups:

LHP Jason Vargas (7-11, 4.37) vs. RHP Fausto Carmona (6-12, 4.89) Monday at 7:05

RHP Blake Beavan (3-4, 4.10) vs. RHP Justin Masterson (10-7, 2.71) Tuesday at 1:05 p.m.

Zach McAllister vs. Anthony Vazquez Tuesday, 7:05 p.m.

RHP Felix Hernandez (11-11, 3.38) vs. RHP Josh Tomlin (12-6, 4.03), Wednesday at 12:05 p.m.

Mariners Medical Watch:

• SS Brendan Ryan (sprained left shoulder) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Aug. 4. He still had a limited range of motion as of Aug. 15. He was activated Aug. 19 but wasn't 100 percent healthy. Wedge said Ryan is likely to return to the starting lineup tonight.

• SS Luis Rodriguez (left elbow contusion) was listed as day-to-day after being hit by a pitch Aug. 21.

• 2B Jack Wilson (bruised left heel) was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Aug. 18..

• 1B Justin Smoak (broken nose) went on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 13. He could be back as soon as he is eligible on Aug. 28.

• 3B Chone Figgins (strained right hip flexor) went on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 2. He was expected to start doing baseball-specific work the week of Aug. 15-21, and he could be activated on Wednesday.

• C Chris Gimenez (strained left oblique) went on the 15-day disabled list June 29, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on July 3. He began a rehabilitation assignment with Class AAA Tacoma on Aug. 12.

• C Adam Moore (torn meniscus in right knee) went on the 60-day disabled list retroactive to April 7. He had surgery April 12. He resumed playing catch June 13. He was taking on-field batting practice in early August, and he hopes to play once the roster expands in September. Moore was doing regular rehab work at the minor league facility in Arizona.

• RHP David Aardsma (left hip surgery in January 2011) had a torn labrum repaired, and the damage was more extensive than expected. He went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22. Aardsma began a rehab assignment with Class AAA Tacoma on April 19, and he made five rehab appearances through April 29. In that last outing, he sprained a ligament in his right elbow. He resumed throwing June 13, the same day he was transferred to the 60-day DL, but he was subsequently shut down again. He underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery July 22.

Mariners News/Notes:

• RHP Jamey Wright came into Sunday with a scoreless streak that has reached 11-1/3 innings. It's the third-longest active streak among AL relievers. But asked to hold a two-run lead, he gave up a double and three walks to the five batters he faced and was charged with four runs and a blown save.

• 3B Kyle Seager got his first start of the season at second base Friday, was forced to play shortstop for the first time as a pro in an emergency situation Saturday, then started at short Sunday.

• 1B Mike Carp extended his current major league-best hitting streak to 20 games with a double Sunday. It's the longest streak for a Seattle rookie since RF Ichiro Suzuki had streaks of 21 and 23 games in his debut season back in 2001.

• SS Brendan Ryan, activated Friday from the disabled list (shoulder sprain), still isn't 100 percent healthy, but Wedge said Ryan is likely to return to the starting lineup tonight.

• SS Luis Rodriguez is listed as day-to-day after being hit by a pitch on his left elbow Saturday. He tried to stay in the game, but had to be lifted with an elbow contusion.

• CF Franklin Gutierrez comes into a four-game series in Cleveland this week averaging .308 (16-for-52) in his last 13 games, raising his average from .194 to .216. In the streak, he has scored six runs and hit four doubles.

• RHP Michael Pineda's strikeout rate is the best for any American League pitcher dating back to 1955. With five strikeouts in six innings Sunday, he has struck out 9.06 batters per nine innings, the most for an AL rookie since Herb Score averaged 9.70. The rookie record is held by Kerry Wood of the Cubs (12.58 in 1998).

• DH Wily Mo Pena hit his first homer in a Seattle uniform, a game-tying two-run shot in the eighth inning Sunday. Combined between Arizona and Seattle, Pena is 13-for-62 (.210) this year and six of the 13 hits have been homers.

Former Tribe skipper Eric Wedge makes his second return to Cleveland.

Player of the Game

Carlos Santana is your 'Player of the Game' for hitting a solo home run when the Indians were down by 7 that started a huge Indians rally. Santana later walked and scored another run, earning a final 'POG' score of 3.75. Ubaldo Jimenez hit a new personal low in his 4th game with the Tribe, scoring a -9.47 as he allowed 8 earned runs in 3.1 innings.

Feathers Up

Carlos Santana has finally started to turn things around, to the point where other teams now legitimately fear him as a power threat. During April, Santana hit .198 and slugged .395. It took a long time to even out those numbers, but Santana's hot hitting of late has brought him up to a batting average of .242 and a slugging percent of .440. While these are by no means elite numbers, the do show a marked improvement on his early season performance. The Indians catcher/firstbaseman now has 19 home runs and 61 RBI, second to only Asdrubal Cabrera for best on the Indians.

Jim Leyland and Manny Acta showed they have extremely different managing styles today, as both were put in similar positions at times during today's game. While Ubaldo Jimenez struggled through 3 innings, Manny let him try to work it out, probably leaving him in there too long as he stayed in until he gave up 8 runs. In the other dugout, Leyland pulled Tigers starter Rick Porcello after just 5 runs scored against him, even though he was lights out for the first couple innings. Later in the game, when Manny didn't like a call at second, he came out to stand up for Asdrubal Cabrera, but didn't argue and sat back down without a fight. A few innings after that a call went the Indians way as Lou Marson through out a runner at third on an attempted sac bunt. Leyland came out flaming and was tossed within seconds. This made it so he was unable to manage the last 3 innings of a one run ball game. One point goes to Leyland for pulling his pitcher before he blew up the whole game, but the second point goes to Manny for actually being able to see how the game ended.

Feathers Down

Travis Hafner more severely injured his right foot today as he was trying to run out a double late in the game. His foot had been bothering him, but not enough to miss time. With how badly he was limping it would be a surprise to see Pronk in the lineup tomorrow. To make it worse, Hafner was tagged out retreating to first after the injury.

Ubaldo Jimenez was brought in to beat the Tigers more than any other team, and he was destroyed by the Tigers worse than just about any Indians pitcher this season. With 6 games still to play against the Motor City Kitties, Ubaldo better figure something out. The only way the Indians can make the playoffs now is by beating Detroit.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 - Detroit Tigers 8

Player of the Game

Shin-Soo Choo won his 5th Player of the Game award tonight. Because of his time on the disabled list, this is the first time he has won since May 20. Choo was a big contribution to what little offense the Indians had tonight. Choo had 2 singles and a solo home run, giving him a PoG score of 3.79. 

Feathers Up

Chad Durbin did a great job in long relief tonight. Durbin pitched 2.2 innings, going longer than starter David Huff. Durbin allowed one of Huff’s base runners to score and 2 unearned runs scored after a Michael Brantley error. Overall, Durbin pitched well tonight. 

Feathers Down

The Indians fell behind early tonight. In the first inning, David Huff gave up a couple of hits, two walks, and a sacrifice fly to the top of the Tigers lineup, giving Detroit a 2-0 advantage. Huff ended the first inning with 34 pitched thrown, one-third of what an average starter will pitch in 6-7 innings. The second inning wasn’t any better for Huff. He gave up two more runs, giving Detroit a 4-0 advantage after just 2 innings. Huff only pitched 2.1 innings before the Indians bullpen took over.

After a great defensive game last night, left fielder Michael Brantley had a costly mistake tonight. He appeared to be distracted by the base runner on 3rd, Victor Martinez, who had gone back to the base to tag up, and dropped a routine fly ball, which lead to 2 unearned runs.

This is a critical series for the Indians, as they battle the Tigers for first place in the Central Division. The Indians must win tomorrow to avoid the sweep if they want to stay close to the Tigers atop the Division standings. After the loss tonight, the Indians are 3.5 games out of first place.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Detroit Tigers 10

Roster move: Shelley Duncan was placed on the Family Medical Emergency list, so the Indians called up Ezequiel Carrera from AAA Columbus.

Trevor Crowe made his triumphant return to baseball today, hitting a home run and drawing a walk against the Arizona Rookie League Giants. Crowe DH'd and hit lead off for the Arizona Rookie League Indians who are 25-23 and in 3rd place in the Arizona League's Central Division. This is odd in itself as Goodyear is the furthest West of all the Spring Training/Rookie League fields. Back to the main topic, the Indians would love to see Crowe back in Cleveland as soon as possible, where he would fit in this season as a 4th outfielder and pinch-runner. Hopefully, Crowe will be healthy at the beginning of next season and will compete with Michael Brantley for the starting left-fielders role. Crowe was wearing #15, probably because another position player uses #4.

Trevor Crowe waits at second, before the umpire told him it was a home run.

Player of the Game

Carlos Santana was tonight’s Player of the Game with a score of 1.08. Santana had a single and scored the Indians only run on a wild pitch. This is Santana’s 8th PoG award of the year.

Feathers Up

Michael Brantley made a nice running catch in the bottom of the third inning. Jhonny Peralta, thinking the ball was hit in the gap, was rounding second base as Brantley caught the ball. Brantley hit his cut-off man, Asdrubal Cabrera, who then threw Peralta out by a few feet at first base, completing the double play.

Pitchers dominated the first half of the game tonight. Through the first 5 innings of the game, there were only 4 total hits and 5 total base runners. Neither pitcher, Josh Tomlin or Max Scherzer, had many strikeouts, but the pitching was definitely overpowering early in the game.

Feathers Down

Travis Hafner keeps racking up the K’s. He has stuck out 10 times in the last 4 games.

The scoreless battle was broken up in the bottom of the 6th inning when Josh Tomlin gave up a 2-run home run to Austin Jackson. Tomlin completely fell apart in the bottom of the 7th inning with two outs, giving up back-to-back solo home runs to Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta. Peralta would be Tomlin’s last batter of the night.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Detroit Tigers 4

It turns out Jason Kipnis is not quite ready to return to the Indians lineup. After recovering from his strained oblique, Kipnis strained his hamstring before last night's game and was placed on the disabled list. This move is retroactive to August 13th, but he will end up missing at least 14 total games due to the double header against Seattle. In his stead, the Indians will call up the super-pinch hitter that is Shelley Duncan. This will be Duncan's 4th stint with the Tribe this season. I know what you're thinking, "Shelley Duncan can't play second base!" Well don't worry, because the Indians made another roster move as well, bringing back utility man Luis Vabuena for Ezequiel Carrera. This move is a delayed reaction to Shin-Soo Choo's return from the disabled list. The outfield will now consist of starters Michael Brantley, Kosuke Fukudome, Shin-Soo Choo and 4th outfielder Shelley Duncan until rosters expand September 1st. 

If nothing else, this move will allow the Indians to pinch hit for, now starting secondbase man, Jason Donald with Duncan, while Valbuena will be available for pinch running and as a defensive substitution. When Kipnis returns, Valbuena will probably be sent back down, while Duncan may remain on the roster for the rest of the season. When roster expansions come around I wouldn't be surprised to see all these players back on the team along with Travis Buck, Cord Phelps, Mitch Talbot and Josh Judy.

Along these same lines, the Indians have announced that it is very unlikely that Carlos Carrasco will return before September 1st. Even though he is ready for return now, the Indians would prefer to use David Huff as the 5th starter for the rest of the season. When he comes back, Carrasco will be a spot starter and long reliever. This role is likely to be important as the Indians have 3 double headers left this year.

Summary:

The Tigers have lost six of their past 10 games. They are hitting .263 (88-for-334) against the Indians this year, with Miguel Cabrera at .353 (12-for-34) with two homers and six RBI, and Alex Avila at .310 (9-for-29) with seven RBI doing most of the damage. Porcello and Fister are 0-2 against the Tribe in five combined starts.

The Indians took two out of three from the Tigers last week at Progressive Field. They are hitting .242 (77-for-318) against Detroit, with rookie Jason Kipnis hitting .427 (6-for-14) and Matt LaPorta driving in eight runs. Jimenez is 1-0 against the Tigers since being acquired in a July 31 trade.

Pitching Matchups:

RHP Josh Tomlin (12-5, 3.97 ERA) vs. RHP Max Scherzer (12-7, 4.37) tonight at 7:05,

LHP David Huff (1-1, 0.51) vs. RHP Doug Fister (4-13, 3.59) Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (7-9, 4.48) vs. RHP Rick Porcello (11-8, 4.98) Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

Tigers Medical Watch:

• CF Austin Jackson (mild leg injury) was hurt Aug. 16. He didn't start Aug. 17 as a scheduled day off, but he did enter the game as a pinch-runner.

• OF Brennan Boesch (sore right thumb) left the Aug. 10 game, and he didn't play Aug. 11-13. He appeared as a pinch hitter Aug. 14, then sat out Aug. 15. He was back in the lineup Aug. 16.

• 2B Carlos Guillen (sore left wrist) went on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 13.

• RHP Al Alburquerque (concussion) went on the seven-day disabled list Aug. 12. The Tigers hoped he could return by this weekend.

• LHP Brad Thomas (sore left elbow) went on the 60-day disabled list July 25. He was shut down from throwing until at least mid-August.

• RHP Joel Zumaya (right elbow surgery in July 2010) experienced pain in the elbow during his Feb. 27 spring debut, and he went on the 15-day disabled list March 30. He was transferred to the 60-day DL on April 18. He had exploratory surgery May 10, and he might be out for the season.

Tigers News/Notes:

• RHP Jose Valverde has four losses this season and each has come in the same circumstance. The defeats have come when Valverde entered a tie game in the ninth inning. His ERA in non-save situations is 5.40.

• 3B Brandon Inge doesn't know what to expect when he returns to the Tigers on or before Sept. 1, and neither does his manager, Jim Leyland.

• RHP Justin Verlander is stamping himself as the front-runner for the AL Cy Young award. Verlander has become the first league pitcher to reach 18 victories and 200 strikeouts before the end of August since RHP Pedro Martinez did it for Boston in 1999, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He is the first Detroit pitcher to do so since LHP Mickey Lolich in 1972. He is two victories away from becoming the first Detroit pitcher since RHP Bill Gullickson in 1991 to win 20 games.

• 1B Miguel Cabrera took a 15-game hitting streak into the weekend series with the Tribe. Cabrera had two hits Wednesday. He was hitting .397 (25-for-63) during the streak with 12 RBI.

• RHP Al Alburquerque could return to Detroit's active roster this weekend if he passes tests related to the concussion he suffered last Friday in Baltimore. Alburquerque has been throwing off flat ground. He will return to the mound for bullpen sessions as soon as he's cleared, after which he probably will be activated by the Tigers.

Player of the Game

Kosuke Fukudome won his first 'Player of the Game' as an Indian as he provided the winning margin by scoring twice and knocking one run in. After the Indians lost the lead in the 4th, it was Fukudome's 6th inning triple that gave it back to them. Kosuke also had 2 singles on the night for a final 'POG' score of 4.46. Matt LaPorta was also integral to the Indians win with a 2 run home run, but went 0 for the rest of the game.

Feathers Up

Kosuke Fukudome knocked out White Sox starter, Philip Humber after only 1.1 innings with a single to his head. To that point in the game Humber had only allowed 2 hits and had struck out 3 batters. The Indians ended up scoring 4 runs against the Chicago pen, further decimating an already overworked bullpen.

The "Bullpen Mafia" did it's thing again tonight, saving Masterson's lead by pitching three scoreless innings, earning holds for Rafael Perez, Joe Smith and Vinnie Pestano and another save for Chris Perez. After a long drought without any saves, Perez now has saves in 5 of his last 7 appearances over a stretch of 10 games.

Feathers Down

Jason Kipnis was kept out of today's game yet again, but this time it was for his hamstring, not his oblique. Kipnis has become a very important part of the Indians offense, hitting second in the lineup. Hopefully these muscle strains will end soon and Jason Donald can go back to being the utility infielder.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - Chicago White Stockings 2