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

Player of the Game

Fausto Carmona destroyed the White Sox tonight, only allowing a single run on a solo home run in his 8.1 innings pitched. Carmona earned 7.59 'Player of the Game' points for striking out 6 batters while only allowing 2 walks and 4 hits. This was his best start since May 3rd when he went 8 innings, only allowing a single run on 5 singles. It is his 7th award on the season and finally pushes him back into the positive for his season total, meaning he has finally helped the team more than he hurt it. His season total is now 1.00 compared to team best pitcher Justin Masterson's score of 94.3.

Feathers Up

The Indians turned around a couple trends tonight. Before tonight the Tribe was 1-7 against Chicago this season and 59-51 against everyone else. If you can remember back to the opening series of 2011, the White Sox were the team that put the Indians in a 0-2 hole.

Along with the Indians trouble with the White Sox, Fausto Carmona has had major trouble against the South Siders. Fausto was skipped in his last scheduled start against the Sox because in his first two starts against them he had an ERA of 20.00. Tonight, Carmona had an ERA of 1.11 as he only allowed a single run in his 8.1 inning effort.

Carmona's 8.1 innings really saved the Tribe's bullpen as it was over-extended last night. Vinnie Pestano and Chad Durbin were both unable to pitch tonight after multiple innings yesterday. Chris Perez ended up being needed in the 9th and has now pitched 4.1 innings in the last 4 games with 3 saves.

The Indians gained a game on the Tigers tonight, who lost to the Twins. They are now 2 games back.

Feathers Down

Although it was better than last night, the Indians are still having a huge problem striking out too much. I blame John Nunnally. The Indians should definitely fire him from whatever his new job is, because firing him the first time worked so well.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - Chicago White Sox 1

Player of the Game

Travis Hafner was the best player in this game, even though he struck out 4 times and grounded into a double play. In his other two at bats he hit a single and a home run, scoring 2 runs and knocking in 2 more for a final 'Player of the Game' score of 4.87. It is his 8th 'Player of the Game' of the season. Chad Durbin took the loss, but with 5 consecutive good outings, he has finally moved onto the positive side of the ledger with a season total of 3.3. Of course both Justin Masterson and David Huff average more than this per game played, but its a good start to making Durbin a positive part of the "Bullpen Mafia".

Feathers Up

Shin-Soo Choo has played decently in his return and has filled in well in the Indians lineup while Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis have nursed injuries. These injuries have allowed Manny Acta to delay his decision on where to ultimately place Choo in the lineup. In his 3 games back he has lead off and second although he will certainly be lowered in the lineup as soon as everyone is healthy. So far Choo has done his job as a top of the lineup hitter by getting on at least once every game with 2 singles and 2 walks and scoring a run in each game.

The Indians brought the score to within one three different times tonight and tied it in the 9th despite the fact that the White Sox scored in 5 different innings. Without this tenacious comeback ability, we would not have had the privilege of watching baseball in the morning yet again.

If you didn't know the players on the Indians roster very well, this was a great game for you to watch. Every healthy position player played as did every relief pitcher and two starters. Of the entire 25 man roster, only Jason Kipnis, Justin Masterson, Fausto Carmona and Josh Tomlin did not play.

Feathers Down

Jason Kipnis has missed the last two games (would have been three if the last Twins game wasn't rained out) do to a sore side. He apparently hurt it on August 9th against the Tigers the night before he went 5-5. The Indians are hoping he will avoid the disabled list, but in the mean time he will be replaced in the field by Jason Donald. Kipnis played injured a few games and stayed in the lineup long enough for Michael Brantley to come back from his wrist injury so the Indians didn't have to do without both their one and two hitters in any one game.

This isn't exactly what the Indians expected when they traded for Ubaldo Jimenez, but he did keep them in the game. Four earned runs and 5 extra base hits in 4.2 innings are just not going to cut it in this Central Division race.

Alexei Ramirez cheated and got away with it when he blocked Michael Brantley from running to third on what should have been a double by Shin-Soo Choo. The umpire gave Brantley third, but Choo was forced to stay at first. Brantley scored on a sac fly that could have moved Choo from second to third, then he was retired on Travis Hafners double play. Who knows what could have happened if the umpire had made the right decision and given Choo second base.

Two days off in a row for the Indians, one scheduled day off and one postponed, have made the Tribe the team with the most games left to play this season. They have played 4 games less than Detroit and have at least 3 rain outs to make up against the Mariners, White Sox and Twins.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 - Chicago White Sox 8