Player of the Game

Frank Herrmann and Tony Sipp tied for Player of the Game for the first tie in Player of the Game history. Each pitcher threw a perfect inning with a strike out. The top scoring offensive player was Shin-Soo Choo with two singles for a score of 0.43.

Feathers Up

The Indians season is one game closer to being over.

Feathers Down

The Twins had what ended up being about an hour long ceremony before the game, so sorry to anyone who believed me when I posted the game would start at 7:10 PM. It actually started at about 7:50 PM. You can blame Tom Kelly.

Apparently the Indians have foregone the six man rotation in favor of a much more complicated system. In back to back games the Indians starter has come out in the third inning (this time because of a high pitch count) and been replaced by another starting pitcher. While this may be a good way to get each pitcher some innings as the season ends, it isn't a very good way to evaluate how each pitcher will perform in a full game situation.

With just four hits on the night and just one after the second inning, the Indians offense was something special tonight. It takes a special effort to be that ineffective. Twins starter Cole De Vries has a WHIP on the season of 1.22, but the Indians were only able to manage 5 baserunners in 6 innings against him. They also were unable to score against him and his superb 4.11 ERA.

Play of the Game

Jack Hannahan started a nifty double play in the eighth, stepping on third, then throwing to first to complete the play. This game was almost devoid of anything even remotely entertaining. Even for the Twins the game must have been boring. They scored their last run on a bases loaded walk immediately after a pitching change.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 0 - Minnesota Twins 3

Player of the Game

Russ Canzler hit the first home run of his Major League career. Canzler has now played in 5 games since being called up at the beginning of the month and has gotten at least one hit in each game. In today's game, Canzler had 3 hits and ended the game with a Player of the Game score of 6.39.

Feathers Up

The Indians fell behind early, but managed to hit their way back in the game and come from behind to get the win. The offense contributed today with 7 runs on 12 hits. Shin-Soo Choo, Michael Brantley, and Russ Canzler all had multiple hits in tonight's game.

David Huff did not start today, but he did get the win after relieving Jeanmar Gomez in the 4th inning. Huff pitched 3.1 shut out innings, striking out 3 batters.

Milestone Alert: With a stolen base tonight, Shin-Soo Choo has entered the Indians top 25 of all time tied with Toby Harrah.

Feathers Down

The Twins scored their first run before they even got a hit. Jeanmar Gomez walked 2 batters in the 2nd inning and the Twins scored on a sacrifice fly. This, however, was not the case in the 3rd inning. The strung together 3 hits and another sacrifice fly to score 3 more runs off Gomez.

Is this Spring Training? Jeanmar Gomez pitched just 3 innings before he was removed for David Huff.

Play of the Game

Russ Canzler hits hit first home run.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 - Minnesota Twins 6

A series win against the Tigers has Indians fans and players (some of them literally) asking would things have been different if the Indians had just signed someone like Josh Willingham instead of the 15 useless veterans they did sign before the season started. Since the Twins paid him $7 million that the Indians didn't have for an All-Star outfielder, there is no point in discussing the 33 home runs and 2.9 WAR he could have brought to the Indians (Johnny Damon gained 0.1 WAR during his time with the Tribe at a cost of $1.25 million) so stop bringing it up (this means you Chris).

September 7th, 8:10 PM EDT: Jeanmar Gomez, RHP, 5-7, 5.08 ERA vs Liam Hendriks, RHP, 0-7, 6.11 ERA

Last week the Indians announced that Roberto Hernandez would be making his start on schedule, only to have him removed at the last second. This week they have already said that he won't start and that Gomez will take his place. This probably means that they will completely change the rotation to fit Hernandez back in, making all these match-ups irrelevant. If they do this, just shuffle them around in your head the way they are supposed to be.

Hendriks is an Australian. Not only will this be the first time he has faced the Indians, but it may also be the first time the Indians have faced a pitcher from Down Under. This is what baseball needs more of. When I hear about baseball expanding internationally, this is what I want to see, players who speak English, but with a funny accent. 

September 8th, 7:10 PM EDT: Zach McAllister, RHP, 5-6, 4.26 ERA vs Cole De Vries, RHP, 4-5, 4.41 ERA

McAllister better have a short memory, because a repeat performance of his last outing could quickly see him thrown into the bullpen with the rest of the AAA starters. This last month is extremely important for Zach as it will decide whether or not the writers and fans will consider him an automatic part of the 2013 rotation or someone who has to earn a job in Spring Training. Tribe management should have already made up their mind and have him penciled in as the number four starter regardless of what he does this month.

Another rookie starter for the Twins this year, De Vries has somehow managed to avoid the Tribe to this point in his short career (16 games). Well look out kid, you may have beaten Texas, Chicago and Boston, but those offenses are nothing compared to the power house that is Cleveland. The Indians offense is so great they can afford to bat superstar Russ Canzler sixth in the lineup. They are just that good. 

September 9th, 2:10 PM EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 11-12, 4.84 ERA vs Esmerling Vasquez, RHP, RHP, 0-1, 7.95 ERA

Masterson moved one step closer to my personal goal for him to reach .500 in his last start when he beat the Tigers. In fact, Masterson has a decision in each of his last 9 games (5-4) and 18 of his last 19 games (10-9) overall.

Vazquez just made his first Major League start in his first game for the Twins, but has been a relief pitcher for the Diamondbacks for the last couple of years, pitching as many as 53 innings in two separate seasons. In his lone start he faced Kansas City and allowed five runs in 5.2 innings.

September 10th, 8:10 PM EDT: Corey Kluber, RHP, 1-3, 4.79 ERA vs Samuel Deduno, RHP, 5-4, 3.66 ERA

The Indians haven't officially announced who is going to be pitching this game, but it falls on Kluber's spot in the rotation. With the off day it would be possible to move Ubaldo Jimenez up a day in the rotation (of all the terrible ideas), but more likely if this start does not go to Kluber it could belong to Roberto Hernandez who should be coming back from his ankle injury soon. It could also go to Chris Seddon or David Huff who have both been given the long man spot in the rotation. Of course Kluber just got his first win in his last start, one of his best on the year, so it seems like the better move would be to let him pitch this game, then expand to a six man rotation after this start if that is their intention.

I've seen just about enough of Mr. Deduno this season. The ancient rookie dominated the Tribe in his first start against Cleveland, allowing just a single run in seven innings. His last time out the Indians touched him for four runs in four innings, but was unable to score against the Twins bullpen and lost 7-5. The good news for the Tribe is he is almost certainly a flash in the pan pitcher whose career will be over after this year. 

Manny Ramirez had excellent timing. He arrived just at the moment the Indians were about to peak and provided the last missing piece to the Indians offense of the 1990's. He then left with what was perfect timing for him, jettisoning from a falling Indian team that would only make the playoffs one more time in the next six years to join a rising Red Sox team that would win the World Series twice during his tenure. Of course the timing of the departure was actually coincidental and had more to do with the 165 million reasons the Red Sox gave Manny to play with him during his time in Boston.

Despite his cancerous reputation, Ramirez has to be considered one of the best hitters in baseball history. Overall, he now ranks ninth over all Major League Baseball history in both slugging percent and OPS. Most famous for his power, Ramirez hit 555 home runs in his career, good for 15th all time and membership in the exclusive 500 home run club.

While Ramirez played 11 seasons after his time with the Indians and will likely enter the Hall of Fame as a Red Sox (if he is allowed to enter after his two steroid suspensions) his time with the Tribe ranks above all but the greatest Indian hitter of all time. Ramirez holds career team records in slugging percent and OPS, the single season record in RBI and the post season record in walks. His 236 home runs hit as an Indian rank second all time, while his career RBI and OBP are also in the top ten. He holds top ten single season marks in home runs (2 seasons), RBI (2), runs scored and slugging percent. 

Ramirez was part of the five players who made up the core of the Indians offense in the mid 1990's (along with Omar Vizquel, Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar Jr., and Jim Thome). Those five players hold every single career record for playoff performance. Falling in line with that, Ramirez is in the top five in career playoff seasons, games played, at bats, runs, hits, doubles, home runs (second), RBI, walks (first) and strike outs. He hit two home runs in six separate playoff series with the Tribe, a record for more series with multiple home runs and the second most homeruns in an individual series (behind Thome who hit four twice).

While the phrase Manny-Being-Manny was coined by Mike Hargrove while he was still playing in Cleveland, the vast majority of his hi-jinks and downfalls have come since his exit. All steroid allegations occurred after he left the Indians and while the major steroid scandals didn't start until after 2003, there have been no serious accusations of the Indians powerful 1990's offense with steroid use. This makes his time with the Indians the most legitimate part of his career.

Manny Ramirez definitely deserves more respect than he is given, due mostly from his last few seasons where he jumped from team to team as people who didn't know anything about him got to know his personality. Hopefully he will be given his due once enough time as passed and he will be enshrined in at least the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame and deservedly in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame as well. If each of those things happen, he also deserves to have his number 24 retired by the team. It will be interesting to see how things play out, but there is still a chance of Ramirez being one of six possible Hall of Fame players from the 1990's (including the already enshrined Eddie Murray and Roberto Alomar). If all those players are entered in the Hall of Fame, the rafters above the mezzanine section at Progressive Field could get very crowded very quickly.

Player of the Game

Michael Brantley edged out Jason Kipnis by 0.01 points to take tonight's player of the game with an RBI single and a score of 1.38. Kipnis had two singles and a run scored. This was the lowest winning Player of the Game score since Jeremy Accardo scored 1.03 points for an inning of scoreless relief on July 19th.

Feathers Up

Ubaldo Jimenez had his best start of his last five as his pitched into the eighth for the first time since July 2nd. He allowed four runs (one was given up by Cody Allen in relief) and was able to stay around late by limiting his pitches. He did this by throwing strikes (he didn't walk a batter until the 8th) and forcing the Tigers hitters to put the ball in play.

When the Tigers did put it in play, Jimenez was aided by a pair of fantastic plays by Jason Donald at third base. One is today's Play of the Game, but the other is definitely worth a second look as well.

Rehab Update: Carlos Carrasco threw his first professional inning since undergoing Tommy John surgery at the end of 2011. He pitched for Akron in the Eastern League playoffs and threw a scoreless inning with one strike out.

Feathers Down

Chris Perez fell into more controversy today as an he was quoted in an article written for Fox Sports bashing management. While I agree with his assessment of the Dolans and disagree with his comments about Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti, it will be interesting to see how those mentioned react to the statements. Any punishment or trade of Perez would be silent admittance of their failures. Their best possible move to prove him wrong would be to change strategies in the offseason. Instead of allowing the predictions of the masses to come true, they should sign Shin-Soo Choo and Chris Perez to long term contracts, keeping the players that they have developed over the past few years when they come into their prime. Of course the multiple cases of bad words towards his team, management and fans it is likely that Perez just wants to leave and do whatever he can to find a team with more save opportunities.

You can question Manny Acta leaving Jimenez in for the 8th inning, but I don't as he was pitching well and was still well under 100 pitches. What you should question is why he brought in rookie reliever Cody Allen to face Miguel Cabrera with both Joe Smith and Vinnie Pestano available in the bullpen. While Allen has had a great season at all levels, there is no substitute for experience in a close game against such a potent offense.

Play of the Game

Wow!

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Detroit Tigers 7

Player of the Game

Justin Masterson showed why he's the ace yet again, winning tonight's Player of the Game, his team leading 14th on the year. Masterson earned 3.98 points from 6 innings pitched, only allowing two runs and four hits while recording the win. Chris Perez and Vinnie Pestano each had scores over one as well as they continue to match each other with 34 saves and holds respectively.

Feathers Up

The Indians used a more relaxed opposite field approach tonight and it worked magnificently. Coming into the game Rick Porcello lead all pitchers in hits allowed and he didn't change that trend at all. The Tribe totalled 8 hits off Porcello in 6.2 innings. The Indians were still aggressive, but they didn't try to do to much on an individual level. Each batter went with the pitches he was given, leading to an unusually high number of hits by the Indians. It's almost like beating the Tigers yesterday reminded the players that they can beat the Tigers and everybody relaxed.

The head-to-head matchups in the Central Division tell a different story than the standings. The Indians have had the Tigers number, beating them 9 out of 14 tries, but the Tigers have beaten the division leading White Sox 10 times out of 13 games. Before getting too excited about the Indians beating the Tigers, know that they have gone 4-8 against Chicago. After all this it seems fairly obvious that the Indians are far superior to the Tigers, and the Tigers are better than the White Sox, but the Indians are worse than the White Sox. Make a staircase out of that M.C. Escher.

Milestone Update: Chris Perez's 94th career save ties him for fourth all time as a member of the Cleveland Indians with Mike Jackson.

Feathers Down

The Indians continued their abuse of Matt LaPorta tonight, finding a way to start both Casey Kotchman and Lou Marson. There is no reason to believe that Kotchman will be an Indian past the last day of the regular season and they passed the point of trading him for something useful a long time ago. Now he is just stealing at bats from players who actually could be part of the 2013 team. This just shows the Indians hatred for LaPorta that they won't release him and give him a chance with another team or give him a chance with this one. Even if you are sick of seeing LaPorta struggle in the big leagues, then Russ Canzler could be used at first with Ezequiel Carrera allowed to continue starting in the outfield.

Play of the Game

Asdrubal Cabrera had an RBI hit in the third inning that was ruled a double by ball boy interference. The stupid kid sitting down the first baseline wasn't watching the umpire as he called the ball fair and fielded the routine grounder.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Detroit Tigers 2

With the Clippers season over in Columbus (a positive one at 75-69, but not good enough for the playoffs) the Indians are bringing up most of the rest of the players they will want to look at for the last month of the season. The new faces on the roster as of tomorrow will be Vinny Rottino, Cord Phelps, David Huff and Scott Maine. Rottino will be making his second appearance with the Indians after a short stint with the Tribe last month while Travis Hafner was on paternity leave. Phelps and Huff have both played with the Indians in past seasons but will be making their first appearances of 2012.

There are a few options for Huff, the most likely of which is that he will be placed in long relief. Other options include the Indians expanded to a six man rotation, but with eight starters on the team (Masterson, McAllister, Jimenez, Kluber, Gomez, Hernandez, Seddon and Huff) even a six man rotation seems small. It is possible that the Indians will keep the regular rotation of Masterson, McAllister, Jimenez and Kluber going while splitting starts among the rest of the options as well. Phelps will be another middle infield reserve, joining Jason Donald. This is another position that may get crowded as Lonnie Chisenhall is set to return any day now. The roster currently set at 33 with a maximum of seven more players allowed to be called up. 

Scott Maine pitched 21 games with the Cubs before the Indians picked him up off waivers. He has played with Chicago for three seasons throwing 40.2 innings in relief and accruing 42 strike outs with an ERA of 4.87. Maine's greatest talent is that he throws a baseball with his left hand, a talent in great demand in the Major Leagues, especially by a certain team that plays a little to the north of Cleveland. They must be so jealous of the Indians. With Tony Sipp and Scott Barnes already, Maine just adds to the excess.

The rest of this piece goes to congratulate those Cleveland Indians Minor League affiliates that did make their respective playoffs. The Akron Aeros won the Eastern League (AA) Western Division and will go on to face the second place Bowie Baysox (Baltimore) in the first round of the playoffs. The Aeros have won the Eastern League championship three times since 2003. Lonnie Chisenhall and Carlos Carrasco are expected to rehab with Akron during their playoff series.

The Carolina Mudcats finished 7.5 games out of a playoff spot in the Carolina League Southern Division (Advanced A) with a record of 31-39.

The Lake County Captains finished 40-30 in the Midwest League Eastern Division (A), good enough for second place and the first Wild Card berth. They will go on to play the division champion Bowling Green (KY) Hot Rods (Tampa Bay). Most of the stronger players from Mahoning Valley and the Arizona Summer League have been brought up to Lake County to help them in their playoff run.

At 30-43, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (Short Season) were the most disappointing team in the Indians farm system. Despite having star 2012 draft picks Joseph Wendle, Tyler Naquin and Joe Sever and great pitching from Luis DeJesus (4-2, 2.02 ERA in 14 starts), they finished fifth out of the six teams in the New York-Penn League Pinckney Division (yes, a league that has teams from Ohio, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maryland is called the New York-Penn League and yes they have silly divisional names). 

The Arizona Summer League Indians (Rookie) finished in second place with a record of 31-25. They were 3.5 games behind Los Angeles from winning the Arizona League Central Division (the Indians are the furthest team west of all the AZL teams, but are somehow lumped in the Central with the AZL Reds who play at the same facility). 

The Dominican Summer League Indians (Rookie) finished the season at 35-35 and ended in fifth place (of eight) in the Boca Chica Northwest Division.

Let's make sure to root on our two Ohio teams that did make the playoffs this year, the Akron Aeros and the Lake County Captains! Hurrah!

Player of the Game

Corey Kluber won his first game of the year and his first Player of the Game as well. Kluber threw 6 innings, allowing just 2 runs while striking out four and inducing two double plays. His final score was 4.16.

Feathers Up

While the Indians were kept from getting extra base hits, they were able to turn a few singles into something more. Jason Kipnis took two extra bases early, scoring on a passed ball, while Shin-Soo Choo, Ezequiel Carerra and Lou Marson all stole second after hitting singles. Choo was even able to take third after the ball flew into centerfield when he stole second. This is the result of a good strategy, coming into the game knowing that Anibal Sanchez does a poor job controlling runners and that Alex Avila is vastly over rated as a defensive catcher. It also shows some agressiveness from the Tribe that has been absent of late.

Brent Lillibridge even got an accidental steal in the top of the 9th on a botched hit and run, showing that maybe more of the blame for the easy running falls on Avila than Sanchez. He continued that agressive play by taking third on a short fly to center right after.

Corey Kluber has been waiting more than a month to get his first win as a starter and the Indians were finally able to stand up for the young pitcher and deliver him one.

One day after complaining that expanded rosters allow teams to use to many pitchers out of the bullpen, Jim Leyland used four pitchers to throw the last two innings. This is a positive because it makes Leyland look like a hypocrite who will do and say anything to win even if he is doing and saying opposite things.

Feathers Down

With Chris Perez gone for the birth of his daughter, the Indians have been forced to use some pitchers in situations they would prefer not to. Esmil Rogers and Cody Allen each pitched in a one run situation even though they are usually saved for losing situations with Perez, Vinnie Pestano, Joe Smith and Tony Sipp being used in clutch situations.

Play of the Game

Asdrubal Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly with one out in the 7th inning to score Lou Marson from third. This ended up being the game winning run.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Detroit Tigers 2

For the first half of the season the Indians went back and forth with the White Sox for first place while the Tigers sat in third. The roles have been reversed now as the Tigers are within a game of a first place tie with Chicago while the Indians are within a single game of being tied for last in the Central with the Twins. With the first overall draft pick the only thing left to play for in 2012, it may be hard for the Indians to find motivation in this last month of the season. A couple players who won't need motivating are those already called up with the recent roster expansion. Thomas Neal and Russ Canzler have each been thrust into games, batting in the top part of the lineup and have already had some success in limited action. 

September 3rd, 1:05 PM EDT: Corey Kluber, RHP, 0-3, 5.16 ERA vs Anibal Sanchez, RHP, 2-4, 5.29 ERA

Corey Kluber will be making his seventh start of the season and the first not in the horrible month of August (so, it was all his fault the Indians lost 24 games). Even though he has allowed 3 or fewer runs in four of his six starts, the Indians have lost every single one. His luck is unlikely to change against the Tigers, who are on a mission to pass the White Sox and have beaten the Indians in their last three matchups.

September 4th, 7:05 PM EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 10-12, 4.91 ERA vs Rick Porcello, RHP, 9-10, 4.57 ERA

I could tell you that Porcello has struggled against the Tribe, allowing an ERA of 4.06 and a WHIP of 1.27, but none of that matters because this Indians team is all about being different. Situations that used to be strengths are now glaring weaknesses. While earlier in the season a series against three right handed pitchers seemed like an automatic series win, but it certainly doesn't any more. 

September 5th, 7:05 PM EDT: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 9-14, 5.61 ERA vs Doug Fister, 7-8, 3.61 ERA

Playing for a contract has apparently not provided the motivation needed for Jimenez to perform. Last month Ubaldo was only able to pitch through the sixth inning a single time and increased his ERA to one of it's highest points of the season. While he has kept opposing teams to just three runs in his last four starts, his lack of stamina (or his tendency to throw a lot of pitches) has made this less than impressive. Even though he threw an average of about 100 pitches per game during the last month he did it in just an average of 5.2 innings per game.

Roster Update: In addition to the three minor leaguers brought up yesterday, the Indians have now added Frank Herrmann back to the roster. Already these September Call-ups are being thrown into action with Russ Canzler starting yesterday and producing and both him and Thomas Neal starting today.

Injury Update: Asdrubal Cabrera is sitting out today for the second game in a row nursing his sore wrist. He has been slumping of late, but even when playing poorly is still a huge part of the Indians offense, so they can't afford to have him out for long.

Lonnie Chisenhall will begin his rehab assignment today and hopefully will be back with the team within the next week. When he was first hit by the pitch that broke his arm it looked like he could be out for the entire season, but Chisenhall has worked hard to get back in time to play a few more games this year with the Tribe. This is huge since Jack Hannahan has been absolutely horrendous offensively and the Indians have no other true options at third at this point. Going along with their looking on to 2013 view, having next year's starting third baseman on the team will be a tremendous asset. 

Player of the Game

Carlos Santana contributed to each of the Indians 3 runs when he hot a home run in the 3rd inning and scored on a double in the 8th. Santana has been hot of late, recording positive Player of the Game scores in the last 8 games. His score of 5.56 now gives Santana a team leading 13 PoG awards this year.

Feathers Up

The hustle of Jason Kipnis granted him 2 hits infield hits today.

Minor league talent has joined the team in the past few days and they are getting an opportunity to prove themselves. Russ Canzler has played in the last 2 games and has combined for 3 hits. Thomas Neal got his first hit today, an RBI double in the 8th inning. 

Feathers Down

The home run ball killed Zach McAllister today. He gave up a solo home run to Jurickson Profar in the 3rd inning in Profar's first Major League at bat. In the 5th inning, McAllister allowed 3 more solo home runs. McAllister pitched just 5 innings today and gave up 7 runs on 11 hits, not exactly a good outing for the young pitcher.

Play of the Game

Center Fielder, Ezequiel Carrera, made a nice catch as he slammed into the wall. 

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Texas Rangers 8