Player of the Game

Esmil Rogers won his second Player of the Game with 2 perfect innings in relief and four strike outs. 

Feathers Up

In different ways, this was Zach McAllister's best and worst start of the year. He recorded a season high 8 strike outs with some great movement on his fastball, but when he wasn't striking batters out, they were hitting him all over the park. He ended up giving up two home runs and two doubles, leading to five A's runs before he was removed from the game with one out in the fifth. Although this is not what you want to see out of McAllister, you can hardly blame him for anything since even allowing five runs in five innings would make him the third best starter on the team and the offense was unable to come up with a single run to support him.

Rogers continued the strike out theme in the top of the seventh when he struck out the side. An interesting note: all were swinging strike outs on balls in the dirt and Carlos Santana had to throw to first to make each put out. He also struck out the first batter he faced in the eighth, but Santana didn't have to throw to first so it wasn't as much fun.

At this point if they won it would probably mess everything up anyway.

Feathers Down

Playing against the Athletics (the worst team in the Majors in batting average) brings about an interesting observation. The Indians past six series have come against teams that are either in the top five or bottom five in runs scored in the AL. Against the teams in the bottom five during those series they have allowed 5.28 runs per game while allowing just 5.00 runs per game against the top five teams. On the season they have allowed 5.26 runs per game against the same top five (Texas, Boston, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles) while allowing a slightly smaller amount, 5.00, to the bottom five (Tampa, Baltimore, Kansas City, Oakland and Seattle). It's like the Indians play in a bubble where it doesn't matter how good or bad the opposing team is, they will still give up a ton of runs each game. On the season the two groups have a difference in runs per game of over 0.70 so it is absolutely inexplicable how the Indians could play them so equally. These numbers don't include tonight's game or they would be even more slanted.

Ezequiel Carrera had his second day off in a row after playing in every other game since joining the team. The Indians did this because everybody know that the best way to get out of a losing streak is to bench the only player that is actually still trying.

Michael Brantley pulled an 0-4 tonight, the first three of which were hard hit fly balls to the outfield. Everyone on the team is pressing right now, but that doesn't mean they should abandon their game plan. Brantley needs to keep the ball low, hitting line drives and ground balls since he doesn't have the power to just go out and mash each at bat. When he tries to do that he ends up hitting easy fly balls to outfielders. When he tries to hit line drives, sometimes they go over the fence.

Brent Lillibridge deserves special mention for his terrible throw in the fifth inning. On an easy ground ball to short, he lazily tossed the ball into right field turning what should have been an inning ending double play into a situation with runners on second and third. It wasn't just the physical throw that was the problem, but his obvious "I don't care we're already losing by five so it doesn't even matter, why concentrate and make a good throw" attitude.

Play of the Game

I'm going to double dip and make that last 'Feathers Down' the play of the game as well. It really represents the last couple of weeks well in my opinion.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 0 - Oakland Athletics 7

Player of the Game

Chris Seddon earned his first Player of the Game of his career with his best game of the season. Seddon threw 3.2 innings, taking over for Roberto Hernandez early in the game. He did give up a single inherited runner, but was just about flawless after that point, allowing just three base runners and striking out one. His final score was 3.05.

Feathers Up

A Brent Lillibridge double kept this game from being another almost perfect game against the Tribe. Brett Anderson (owner of one perfect game already, was mowing through the Indians lineup until the fifth inning, when Michael Brantley was called safe when he was most certainly out. Luckily Lillibridge came through the next inning to remove any possibilities of another Armando Galarraga situation.

Feathers Down

Chris Seddon fans will be excited as it looks like he is returning to the rotation after throwing in 3.2 innings in long relief tonight. Roberto Hernandez sprained his ankle in just his third start since coming back to the U.S and is considered day to day. Since it is unknown whether he will make his next start along with the fact that the Indians are considering a six man rotation anyway, it is likely that either Seddon or Jeanmar Gomez will make Hernandez's next start.

I don't know if Manny Acta has ever described how he makes out the lineup, but it defies all baseball logic on an almost nightly basis. Tonight he did one of his favorites when he batted Jason Donald, a player not even good enough to be in the lineup on most nights, second. This means that tonight he deserves the second most at bats on the team and is considered a table setter.

Just another game in Cleveland as the Indians fail to score, yet again.

Play of the Game

Chris Seddon induced a double play to end the seventh after walking a batter.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 0 - Oakland Athletics 3

A lost series to the Yankees looks like a huge positive step forward as the Indians weren't swept after being swept in five of their last eight series. They haven't actually won a series in over a month, the last being at the end of July against Detroit when they were still in the playoff hunt. At this point, winning a single game is a momentous victory. Marred with two losing streaks (one 11 games, the other nine), the Indians will likely finish the month with out winning a single series and with just five wins so far in the month, it is looking to be like one of the worst in franchise history.

The only significant change made during the most recent losing streak was the addition of Matt LaPorta, back from Columbus. If the Indians management has any clue what it is doing, this has to be Matt's last chance and he should be given a fair one. So far he has played in two of the three possible games for him to play, but if the Indians actually want to learn anything about him, he needs to play every single game for the rest of the year. Casey Kotchman will not be returning for 2013 and the Indians don't currently have many options at first, so step one is deciding whether it is worth even having LaPorta on the 40 man roster next season.

The Indians have also announced that they will possibly change to a six man rotation for the last month of the season, most likely with the return of Jeanmar Gomez to the starting rotation. Since the five pitchers that are currently starting can't seem to keep anyone down, it can't hurt to bring in another arm at this point.

August 27th, 7:05 EDT: Brett Anderson, LHP, 1-0, 1.29 ERA vs Roberto Hernandez, RHP, 0-2, 6.75 ERA

This will be an intriguing match-up as Hernandez will be throwing his third game this year after returning with a new name and Anderson will be throwing just his second game of 2012 after returning with a new elbow ligament. Obviously his first time out was a success as can be seen by his record and Roberto's was not as can be seen by his. The Indians had a hard enough time scoring in their last series with the A's (one of the sweeps mentioned above) when they were outscored 21-9 and neither of these pitchers threw. This match-up doesn't look good for the Tribe, but maybe their new weapon against left handers can show what he is really made of. My guess, Jesus juice.

August 28th, 7:05 EDT: Tommy Milone, LHP, 10-9, 3.87 ERA vs Zach McAllister, RHP, 5-4, 3.50 ERA

This is going to be a rematch of last weeks game between two rookie starters. Although Milone has had an arguably better season, McAllister matched him in their last match-up as each pitcher gave up 4 runs (McAllister pitched one more inning) in a game decided by bullpens. In a rare occasion, the almost infallible Joe Smith allowed this one to get away, but you can be sure he won't let that happen again. If there are two people who should have guaranteed spots on the roster next season they are Joe Smith and Vinnie Pestano. No one else on the team has shown the combination of heart and talent that this right handed low-throwing duo has out of the bullpen.

August 29th, 7:05 EDT:  TBA vs Corey Kluber, RHP, 0-2, 5.32 ERA

Bartolo Colon's spot in the rotation was originally taken by Tyson Ross, but he has since been demoted to AAA and will be further replaced by another minor league starter for this game. The options are A.J. Griffin, Dan Straily or Travis Blackley.

Kluber has been basically guaranteed a spot in the starting rotation for the rest of the season with Manny Acta's mention of a possible six man rotation. He now has to show the Indians what he has to bring to the table as a possible starter in 2013.

August 30th, 12:05 EDT: Jarrod Parker, 8-7, 3.52 ERA vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 10-11, 4.60 ERA

Yes, this is a four game series, one of two left in the season (the other against the Twins). After this the Indians will play multiple series against the Rangers, Tigers, Twins, White Sox and Royals in what is some very uncreative scheduling to end the season. With such tough foes ahead, the Indians will have to pull out all the stops to try to at least split the series against Oakland and find some semblance of respectability. This should be a good chance for the Indians to pull out a win with a right handed pitcher throwing against the Tribe and Masterson on the mound for them. Justin was good in his last outing and has been himself in two of his last three earning each of the Indians last two wins and almost magically, three of the Indians five wins so far in the month of August.

Player of the Game

Jason Kipnis ran away with today's Player of the Game honors. Kipnis had an outstanding offensive game, as he went 3-5 with 2 singles and a double. One at bat in which he did not record a hit, he was safe on an error. He also scored one of the Indians 2 runs. Kipnis ended the day with a score of 2.97, giving him 12 PoGs on the season.

Feathers Up

Jason Kipnis had his running shoes on today as he stole 3 bases. He now has a total of 26 stolen bases this season. 

Carlos Santana came up to bat both time the Indians loaded the bases today. The first time he was unsuccessful. The second time, however, he hit a single, which scored the only 2 Indians runs.

Milestone Alert: With his appearance in today's game, Tony Sipp has now entered the Indians top 30 for games pitched, tied with Rick Waits.

Feathers Down

Ubaldo Jimenez had just one bad inning, which cost him the game. Jimenez gave up his only 3 runs in the 2nd inning. He pitched just 5 innings today and gave up 3 runs on 7 hits.

Tribe hitters have lost the patience at the plate that they demonstrated earlier in the season. Previously, it was expected that batters would take 4-5 walks a game. Lately, they have only been getting 1 or 2. Today, they took just 2 walks (both Shin-Soo Choo) and struck out 10 times.

Play of the Game

Carlos Santana hits a bases loaded single, scoring the only 2 runs.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 - New York Yankees 4

Player of the Game

Justin Masterson won the game and his 13th Player of the Game of the year. He threw 6.2 innings, allowing just one run for a score of 5.86. Michael Brantley produced all the Indians runs and came in second with a score of 5.55.

Feathers Up

Justin Masterson showed what he can do today, dominating the AL East leading Yankees, not allowing a hit or walk until two outs in the fourth inning. The game ended for Masterson with two outs in the 7th following a great performance. He only allowed a single run on seven hits and two walks while recording six strike outs.

Minor League Craziness: Justin Toole started off tonight's game for the Carolina Mudcats in right field and hit a single in the first inning. In the second he moved to center field to take over for Delvi Cid and in the third he played left. He moved to the infield in the fourth as he took over first base, then continued his rotation as he played second in the fifth and short stop in the sixth. He played the seventh at the hot corner and caught the eight, calling two strike outs for reliever Rob Nixon. In the ninth with a four run lead, Justin Toole came in to close the game out and gave up two solo home runs. While this might not seem too impressive, he did strike out the last two batters to end the game. Before today, Toole had played 22 games at first, 31 games at second, 5 games at short, 17 games at third, 3 games in left field and 8 as a DH at three different minor league levels for the Indians. This is his first game as a pitcher this season, but he did throw one perfect inning in 2010 and the Indians have been talking lately of using him as a pitcher more often. Today was the first game of his career for him to play catcher, center field or right field. Former Florida Marlins manager (2010-2011) Edwin Rodriguez is the current manager for the Mudcats.

Feathers Down

No possible negatives when the Indians end a nine game losing streak against the Yankees. The Feathers Down is simply that there was a nine game losing streak to begin with.

Play of the Game

Michael Brantley's three run home run in the first inning.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - New York Yankees 1

Roster Update: The man that we at Burning River Baseball refer to as "Hero" is back on the team in hopes of bringing some offensive power. Matt LaPorta was called up for Columbus and Frank Herrmann was sent back down.

Player of the Game

C.C. Sabathia tried to hit Asdrubal Cabrera for retaliation of an event that occurred earlier in the game, but missed completely and threw a ball. On the very next pitch, Cabrera hit the ball out of the ballpark, giving him enough points to win tonight's Player of the Game. Asdrubal Cabrera now has 8 awards on the season.

Feathers Up

Corey Kluber had a solid outing. He only went 5 innings and gave up 6 hits, but he limited the damage by striking out 6 and giving up just one run.

Hit Streak Update: In the midst of their second long losing streak, Carlos Santana has managed to hit in 7 straight games.

Feathers Down

Not everyone can be perfect, and young reliever, Cody Allen, learned that today. Allen gave up his first earned runs of the season when he gave up a 2-run homer to Nick Swisher in the 7th inning.

C.C. Sabathia was dominating tonight as he only allowed 1 run in 7.1 innings pitched. Tribe hitters only got 4 hits of C.C. and struck out 9 times.

When you lose 11 in a row, and then 9 in a row, Mr. Pure Rage cannot record saves. This forces Manny Acta to use him in non-save situations. Chris Perez, however, did pitch a perfect inning in the top of the 9th.

There were no outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, and the Indians had runners on 2nd and 3rd. The tying run was Michael Brantley on 2nd base. The Indians failed to score, giving them their 9th straight loss.

Play of the Game

Home Run, Asdrubal Cabrera.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - New York Yankees 3

As the Indians epic slide into oblivion continues, a few things are being made more clear. We now know that Grady Sizemore will not be playing a single game for the Indians in 2012 (and probably none after that), despite his $5 million incentive laden contract. We also know that Josh Tomlin is out for the year and most of next year as well while he gets Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. We know that Lonnie Chisenhall and Rafael Perez are continuing with their rehab and are both expected to return before the end of the season. We also know that the Indians struggles against left handed pitching were really just a sign of a terrible offense that was for some reason hitting well against right handed pitching.

This losing streak has brought out the truth of the Indians offense and allowed everyone to see what it really is. A bunch of .250 and lower average hitters with little or no power and just a tiny bit of speed. There are definitely stand outs in the group, Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera and newcomer Ezequiel Carrera, but none of them is a true middle of the order hitter and would probably bat first, second, sixth, seventh and ninth (in the order listed above) in a decent lineup. The rest of the lineup could be scrapped, keeping Carlos Santana around as well of course, removing Casey Kotchman, Jack Hannahan, Shelley Duncan and the rest of the hangers on. The problem is that to really improve the lineup they would have to bring in players that are actually better than the players already here, and that costs money, so it won't happen.

August 24th, 7:05 PM EDT: C.C. Sabathia, LHP, 12-3, 3.56 ERA vs Corey Kluber, 0-2, 6.27 ERA

A team that actually spends money is coming into town for a three game series, and is leading off game one with direct proof of that. If the Indians were willing to spend with the best of them, C.C. would be starting this game for the Indians instead of the Yankees and Brantley would still be in Milwaukee with Matt LaPorta. If the Indians had spent the money to keep Sabathia, as well as Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez, they would probably be paying those three players as much as the rest of their roster on a yearly basis, but they certainly would have won a lot more games this year and last, and would probably be dominating the division instead of trying to make it to last place.

You could argue that Kluber's last start was his best of four this season because he didn't allow any earned runs, but I won't do that. When you give up a home run, you should never be able to say you gave up zero earned runs. Kluber will be facing his toughest task yet, an expensive Yankees lineup, leading the AL East by a considerable margin.

You may have noticed I haven't been writing much about the other Indians starters when they pitch. This is because I've previewed each starter more than 20 times and there is very little left to write about without repeating myself over and over. If something new and interesting happens, I'll be sure to cover it.

August 25th, 7:05 PM EDT: Hiroki Kuroda, RHP, 12-8, 2.96 ERA vs Justin Masterson, 9-11, 4.73 ERA

Kuroda has been splendid in his first season with the Yankees, already matching his career shutout total and sporting a single season low ERA and WHIP. He's the Yankees most dominating starter on a weekly basis (although the Indians will probably have more trouble with Sabathia). The Indians one hope is that with Justin Masterson throwing, they will be able to keep this game close, late.

August 26th, 1:05 PM EDT: Freddy Garcia, RHP, 7-5, 4.96 ERA vs Ubaldo Jimenez, 9-12, 5.59 ERA

Apparently every team other than the Indians decided to go old this year. In the past two series the Tribe has faced Bartolo Colon (since suspended) and Kevin Millwood and will now face Freddy Garcia. Unlike Kuroda, Garcia seems to be having the worst season of his career. Although he has had a few injury shortened years, he has never pitched a full season with an ERA over 5.00. The Indians can do that. They could score all the runs they score in this series in the first two innings against Garcia and push his ERA over the brink. Assuming they lose the first two games (I am), they will need this one to keep the losing streak from getting to double digits for the second time this month.

Player of the Game

With another great game, Zach McAllister takes his fourth Player of the Game of the season. His 12th positive game out of 15 (see the Player of the Game explanation for an in depth look at how the scoring works) gives him a total score for the year of 32.2, the highest of any starting pitcher. There are three relief pitchers with higher total scores than McAllister, Vinnie Pestano (54.7), Chris Perez (37.5) and Joe Smith (34). What is really disappointing is the amount of pitchers that are currently in negative numbers including all the starting pitchers except McAllister and Justin Masterson. Ubaldo Jimenez (-2.6), Corey Kluber (-8.1), Roberto Hernandez (-6.9) and Chris Seddon (-4.1) have all underperformed to this point in the year. For reference the top scorer for the Tribe so far in 2013 is Shin-Soo Choo with 163.6 points on the season, an average of 1.39 a game.

Feathers Up

If there is one bright point that has been overshadowed by an incredible losing streak, it's Casey Kotchman. He has been hot of late with 11 hits in his last nine games including 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. While this may not seem like a lot, the Indians have only scored 30 runs total in those games, so Kotchman has produced more than his own share while hitting from the bottom of the lineup. He is currently riding a five game hitting streak as well, the second longest active streak on the team (Carlos Santana has a 6 game streak).

Shin-Soo Choo has decided to start stealing again, which is great news for the Tribe. Choo stole two bases today, one leading to the Indians only run, after not having a single attempt in the last ten games. Choo has been a very high percentage stealer over his career with the Indians and brings a whole different dimension to the offense when he is threatening on the basepaths.

Feathers Down

It seems like every team the Indians plays is playing their best baseball of the season. This is either incredibly bad luck in scheduling or the combination of bad Indians hitting and starting pitching bringing the best out of their opponents. This time it seems like the Mariners are legitimately hot as they played almost flawless defense and pitched well. Especially impressive were Kyle Seager at third base and Trayvon Robinson in left field. The Mariners also turned a rediculous amount of double plays in the series, stemming from good situational pitching and solid middle infield defense.

Vinnie Pestano blew the game today, but can you really blame him for the Tribe being held to just a single run yet again. Yes, pitching has been a problem all year, but even when they get a great start and good relief, they still lose. Quality starting pitching is meaningless without even a tiny bit of offense. The Indians ended the series with Seattle scoring a total of 5 runs in three games and have scored 5 runs in their last 4 games.

Play of the Game

Ezequiel Carrera says anything you can do I can do better to Trayvon Robinson with this beautiful diving catch.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Seattle Mariners 3

Injury Updates: Josh Tomlin is scheduled to recieve Tommy John surgery to repair his right elbow. This means he will likely miss all of 2013, just like Carlos Carrasco has missed all of this one after his Tommy John surgery. As far as the Indians roster goes, it will free up one more 40 man spot as Tomlin can be placed on the 60 Day DL instead of the 15.

Rafael Perez has seen a further delay in his comeback as he sprained his ankle. It is very unlikely he will make another appearance on the Indians roster this year.

Grady Sizemore has had his rehab stopped indefinately after yet another set back. He is extremely unlikely to ever play another game in Cleveland and possibly in the Major Leagues.

Player of the Game

Casey Kotchman knocked in the only Indians runs and had two singles, therefore he is the default Player of the Game. Congratulations Casey, in a gave filled with losers, you were the least bad.

Feathers Up

The Indians' Hernandez matched up surprisingly well against the Mariners'. Through the first four innings the game was scoreless and Roberto Hernandez hadn't given up a single hit, while Felix had given up four. In the end Roberto didn't deserve his fate as Esmil Rogers came in for him in the seventh after just 72 pitches and only two runs allowed. Rogers immediately gave up a home run off the upper deck facing to seal the game for Felix.

Feathers Down

Just under 40,000 yellow-shirted Mariners fans showed up for tonight's game in recognition of Felix Hernandez's perfect game. This is great for a team that has trouble drawing a crowd on a regular night, but it really shows how awful attendance is in Cleveland. This year the Indians have had one game over 30,000 that wasn't a weekend game or Opening Day.

Manny Acta let Esmil Rogers lose what was a close game before he came in. When you're 15 games under .500 and in a six game losing streak for the second time in a month, you have to play any game within 3 runs like you are winning. Since Hernandez pitched into the 7th, there is no reason that Acta couldn't have gone with Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano (who hasn't pitched in three games) and Chris Perez (if needed) like he would have had they been winning. Between that decision and a botched suicide squeeze, this was one of those losses that can actually be pinned on the manager.

Play of the Game

There were a lot of fantastic plays tonight, especially by those in teal, but this one was the best. I don't often give this to the opposing team, but I don't know that any Indian has made a play this great all season.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Seattle Mariners 5

Player of the Game

Jason Kipnis ran this game from the Tribe's side with his first great game since mid July. Kipnis started the game off with a home run off the foul pole and added on later with a two out RBI single. His efforts earned him a final Player of the Game score of 4.38. Of course he also ended the game with a double play with the tying run on second, but his positives tonight far outweigh his negatives.

Feathers Up

Ubaldo Jimenez found his strikeout pitch again, whatever that is worth. He finished the game with 8, a tie for his second highest total on the season. His real success tonight (and tonight was a success for him) came from keeping runners off the base paths, his only early mistake being a home run allowed after a single by Dustin Ackley which hit him in the arm.

Here is the section where we stick up for Chris Perez yet again in yet another controversy. If you have seen the video, you know what I'm talking about. First off, Perez was obviously set up and anyone who has ever been in the midst of a huge losing streak in one of the biggest collapses in team history can understand why his temper may have been a little short. The biggest mistake he made was doing this in front of a camera, which he claims he didn't see. Pure Rage earned his nickname for a reason and the real question is, do the Indians want a passionate closer or one that is a little cooler tempered, but just as dominant like Vinnie Pestano or Joe Smith. Looking at history, the passionate closers seem to play great for a year or two (John Rocker, Jonathan Papelbon and Jose Mesa come to mind) while the more relaxed pitchers who just do their job seem to sustain success for much longer (think Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman and Joe Nathan). Of course there are many more players who only had one or two good seasons, some of whom were calm, while others were excitable, but there have been very few long term successful closers and all I can think of were stoic.

Feathers Down

Joe Smith's ERA is being decimated and it's not really his fault. In the last two games three of his inherited runners have been allowed to score by the next reliever (Pestano three days ago and Tony Sipp today). Smith has been great all year, but he can't control how the pitcher that comes in after him pitches.

Mariners outfielder Trayvon Robinson set a Mariners record for put outs by a left fielder. While he did make a couple nice plays (especially one on a foul ball hit by Michael Brantley) for the most part his night was routine. This means there were a lot of opposite field flies against the junk baller that used to be Kevin Millwood. This is the second time in a week that a player from the late 1990's has stymied the Tribe.

With the loss the Indians remain a half game behind Kansas City in fourth place in the AL Central.

Play of the Game

Asdrubal Cabrera singled in the fifth with two outs, scoring Ezequiel Carrera from second base with the go ahead run. Carrera got on base in the first place with a great bunt single.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Seattle Mariners 5