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

The Indians should be absolutely embarrassed by their play of late. In a short losing streak, many things can be blamed, including simple bad luck, but in an extended downfall like the Indians are currently on (9-26 since the All-Star break), every single aspect of the team has had a chance to come through and has failed. In 21 of the games listed the Indians scored three or less runs, obviously not enough to win in the American League. The Indians actually won four of these games showing an even bigger problem in starting pitching. They have allowed six or more runs in 19 games since the break. When you put those two numbers together it's not surprising that the Indians have lost 20+ games. Of course the blame for the last couple of losses can fall on the mostly infallible bullpen. The almost perfect Chris Perez has blown two saves in the last month along with blown saves by Vinnie Pestano and Joe Smith, the two most consistant pitchers in the bullpen.

Chris Antonetti has said that every player is up for re-evaluation and is more of a jerk reaction to the Indians current situation than a thought out strategy going into 2013. Some players do need to be looked at to see if they should be traded or released, especially Ubaldo Jimenez, Travis Hafner, Chris Perez and Jack Hannahan. Hopfully he is a good enough judge of talent and the actual value of these players to not completely ruin what is a very good core of players (Jason Kipnis, Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, etc) by gutting the team during the offseason.

August 20th 10:10 EDT: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 9-12, 5.62 ERA vs Kevin Millwood, RHP, 4-10, 4.28 ERA

At this point in the year, the Indians would probably prefer to have Millwood, who they looked at signing in the offseason, than Jimenez. It is almost time to consider the Ubaldo project a complete failure as any team that is actually contending for a playoff spot can't afford to throw a pitcher that is this inconsistant.

August 21st 10:10 EDT: Roberto Hernandez, RHP, 0-1, 7.50 ERA vs Felix Hernandez, RHP, 11-5, 2.60 ERA

One Hernandez threw a perfect game in his last start, the other just made his first start in the Majors this season. The good news for the Tribe is that the other starters who have thrown no hitters this year (Johan Santana, Phil Humber and Matt Cain) all struggled in their starts following their great game. The bad news is that Hernandez is vastly superior to all these pitchers and has been pitching like this all season.

August 22nd 3:40 EDT: Zach McAllister, RHP, 5-4, 3.64 ERA vs Hisashi Iwakuma, RHP, 4-3, 3.79 ERA

The Mariners rookie has pitched against the Indians once this season back when he was still a reliever in May. In July, Seattle switched Iwakuma to a starter and he has since had mixed results. Overall he has pitched well, never allowing more than four runs in a game and lowering his ERA a full run since the transition. If he does have a flaw it is that he has failed to get past the 5th inning in half of his starts. Of course against the Indians he will probably pitch more like he did against Toronto when he threw 8 innings and struck out 13.

Player of the Game

Mr. Pure Rage, Chris Perez runs away with today's Player of the Game honors for pitching just one inning and getting a strike out. With the Indians down by 7 in the 8th inning, this was not a save situation. Perez, with a score of 1.27, has finally achieved his first PoG this year.

Feathers Up

Ezequiel Carrera stole a base, that has to be positive, right?

There were no errors today, so the Athletics had to earn all of their runs.

Feathers Down

In the first 2 innings, the Indians had great opportunities to score, but failed to succeed. Ezequiel Carrera started the game with a bunt single, stole second, and found himself at third with just one out and ended the inning there. In the 2nd inning, there were runners at first and second with just one out, and both failed to advance. 

Justin Masterson tried to keep his team in the game, but the challenge appeared to be too much. He kept the game close (within 2 runs) until the 5th inning, when he gave up 2 lead off singles and a home run to Coco Crisp. By the end of the 5th inning, the Tribe offense was down by 6 runs.

Another shut out, another loss. With their recent road woes, the Indians now find themselves in 4th place in the AL Central, behind the Kansas City Royals. Next stop: Seattle. We shall see what King Felix and his club have in store.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 0 - Oakland Athletics 7

Player of the Game

Shin-Soo Choo took this Player of the Game late as he attempted an impossible comeback with a two run home run in the 9th inning. It was his second hit of the night and gave him a score of 4.63. Carlos Santana (3.05) had a decent game with a home run of his own and Corey Kluber (2.47) settled down nicely after a rocky start. Asdrubal Cabrera's score of -3.66 (mostly derived from four unearned runs) was his fifth game this season with a score under -3.

Feathers Up

Because four Athletics runs were unearned, the Indians officially won this game.

Hopefully when September comes around the Indians will bring up a few players from Columbus like Matt LaPorta, Russ Canzler and Cord Phelps so they can show the Indians how to be winners. This team is absolutely terrible right now.

Feathers Down

A dropped ball by Casey Kotchman gave Asdrubal Cabrera an error and lead to four unearned runs in the bottom of the third. With the Indians averaging just four runs of offense in their last seven games, they cannot afford to give up any unearned runs, let alone multiples in one inning.

The Indians had their first scoring chance of the night in the top of the 4th inning when Asdrubal Cabrera doubled with one out and Shin-Soo Choo followed with a single. Cabrera looked to score on the single, but was held up as a strong throw would have had him by a mile. Carlos Santana followed with an easy double play, much to the excitement of Bartolo Colon.

Play of the Game

Casey Kotchman's dropped ball in the third inning. This Indians team plays very different when ahead than it does behind, starting with how Manny Acta manages his pitching staff. As soon as the Indians are down by more than one run, the basically give up and start thinking about the next game. This makes it extremely important not to give up runs early, especially unearned runs.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 - Oakland Athletics 8

Player of the Game

With four RBI and a run scored, Shelley Duncan won his tenth Player of the Game of the season. Of course this all came on one hit as Duncan scored all the Indians runs on one grand slam.

Feathers Up

Shelley Duncan hit his first career grand slam, giving the Indians a four run lead in the fourth inning.

Feathers Down

In an extreme rarity, Joe Smith and Vinnie Pestano combined to allow two runs in the 8th inning, breaking open the tie game. Smith allowed a couple runners without getting a single out and Pestano allowed them to score on a couple of singles and a sacrifice fly.

For some reason Jason Donald started in left field tonight instead of Ezequiel Carrera, who could actually be a part of the team for the next few years.

Play of the Game

Shelley Duncan's grand slam.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - Oakland Athletics 6

Another series loss has the Indians has placed them further into "there's always next year" mode. The rotation that was set during the last series is likely going to be the rotation for the rest of the season. Roberto Hernandez returned and fit right in with a very unenlightened performance. Corey Kluber will use the rest of the season as a showcase for 2013 and Ubaldo Jimenez will be begging via fastball every start for the Indians to accept his option for next year. 

The Athletics on the other hand, are still in the thick of the Wild Card race. Only 1.5 games back from Tampa, Oakland is competing with five other teams for the two open wild card spots. Both the East and the West a securely in hand by the division leaders, so each of these teams is depending solely on the Wild Card. 

August 17th, 10:05 EDT: Zach McAllister, RHP, 5-4, 3.46 ERA vs Tommy Milone, LHP, 9-9, 3.91 ERA

McAllister had his best start of the season in his last outing as he went into the 8th inning giving up just two. This came after the Indians defense let him down in his prior start, allowing 7 unearned runs before he was pulled in the second. He will be looking to finish the season strong and safely.

Tommy Milone has never faced the Indians before and throws with his left hand. Look out, there could end up being four perfect games this season.

August 18th, 9:05 EDT: Corey Kluber, RHP, 0-1, 8.56 ERA vs Bartolo Colon, RHP, 5'11", 265

Kluber was the winner of the toss up between him and Chris Seddon for the last spot in the rotation. This makes sense as he is an Indians farm product and is younger and has been an actual starting pitcher throughout his career. He will need to prove management right in his next couple starts since they have a lot of options for replacement pitchers on his level. Jeanmar Gomez must be especially ready to make his return to the Majors since his demotion.

The Athletics will be throwing the android that used to be Bartolo Colon at the Indians in game two. It makes no sense that he is still physically able to pitch or that any team would want him to pitch for them but here we are. A decade after the Indians traded him away in what was one of the greatest trades in team history, somehow, Colon is the only one standing. Brandon Phillips is an all-star with the Reds, Cliff Lee is a champion and underrated starter for the ace rich Phillies, Grady Sizemore is on vacation in Cancun and the Expos are in first place in the NL East.

August 19th, 4:05 EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 9-10, 4.50 ERA vs Jarrod Parker, RHP, 7-7, 3.71 ERA

Masterson has given up just two runs in his last two starts over a total of 13 innings resulting in two wins. Although it would be only a small moral victory, it would be great if Masterson could drop his ERA below four and end the season with a winning record since he is supposed to be the ace. He has about eight more starts left this year, so it is time to get cracking.

Parker is having a fine rookie year for the A's. He has been particularly efficient, allowing just 49 walks compared to 95 strike outs in 121.1 innings. If it weren't for a certain fishy Angels outfielder both he and Zach McAllister would both be contending for the Rookie of the Year award.

The third in a four part series covering the Indians minor league players. Here are part one and part two. Players are excluded if they have as much as an at bat in the Majors. Here are another ten young Indians to keep a look out for.

1. Jared Goedert - 3B/RF - AAA Columbus - Drafted Round 9 in 2006

Goedert has been around for a very long time by minor league standards as can be seen by the fact that his next home run will be his 100th as a minor leaguer. Disappointingly, Goedert has played in AA each of the last 4 seasons, but has yet to make it stick in AAA. This has been his best season so far as he has been destroying AAA pitching, but that is to be expected from a 27 year old. The only players ahead of him in home runs (11), RBI (49) and runs (44) are players with significant Major League playing time who are just biding their time while waiting for a call-up. Before Lonnie Chisenhall was drafted Goedert was considered the thirdbaseman of the future, but since Chisenhall has made his debut, the Indians have been trying to make Goedert into a versatile utility player. He has seen time at first, third, left and right field this season in an effort to make him a better fit for the Major League team. Because he is not currently being protected by the 40 man roster, he is eligible to be taken in the rule 5 draft at the end of the season and the chances are good that he will be. If the Indians want to actually give Jared a chance, they will at least have to bring him up as a September call-up and place him on the 40 man.

2. Thomas Neal - OF - AA Akron - Traded from San Francisco for Orlando Cabrera in 2011

Thomas Neal is in a very similar situation to Goedert. He was designated for assignment before the start of 2012 season, but was not claimed by any other teams. He has spent the entire season in Akron to this point after spending all of 2011 in AAA with Fresno and Columbus. Like Goedert, this is his seventh season, but he is two years younger, so there is a little more upside. This year he is hitting .312/.398/.463 with 22 doubles, ten home runs, 49 RBI and 69 runs. The fact that he is still in AA while the Indians have signed the likes of Vinnie Rottino and Lars Anderson and placed them above him in AAA makes it seem unlikely that he has any future with the Tribe. The disappointing part about this is that he was one of the Giants top prospects and the Indians got him for almost nothing.

3. Shawn Armstrong - RP - AA Akron - Drafted Round 18 in 2011

While he is AA Akron and playing well right now, Armstrong has done most of his damage in Advanced A Carolina. Combined over three levels, he has gone 2-3 with a 1.61 ERA in 39 games. Most impressively he has thrown 61.1 innings and struck out 72 batters. This is basically his first professional season as he only threw two innings after being drafted last season. The 2011 draft looks especially impressive as five players have already been featured in these reports, one of whom, Cody Allen, has already made his Major League debut and is dominating there. In his short time in Akron, he has allowed a single run in 11 games. Of course he has continued to get some swings and misses with 16 strike outs in 14 innings. The bullpen mafia looks to be set for a long time in the future. Seeing how fast Allen has risen, look for Armstrong as early as September 2012 with a more likely entrance sometime in mid 2013.

4. Danny Salazar - SP - AA Akron - 2006 International Free Agent

The 22 year old right hander has spent most of the season in Carolina and was just recently promoted to Akron. Overall, he is 2-2 with a 2.84 ERA and 56 strike outs in 63.1 innings. This has been his most successful season since pitching in the Dominican Summer League in 2007. It is also his first year he has pitched beyond Lake County and he has spent the whole season in Advanced A and AA. Salazar will likely start 2013 in Akron, but could advance during the season as he did this year. His expected debut should be in 2014 at the earliest.

5. Charlie Valerio - C - SS Mahoning Valley - 2009 International Free Agent

Valerio is spending his first season above rookie ball and has been very successful. The Scrappers have transitioned him from being the firstbaseman he was signed as to being primarily a catcher this year. This year he has hit .296/.371/.456 with 16 extra base hits in 46 games. Most players see an offensive relapse when they are changing positions, but Valerio has taken well to it, posting his highest average in his three professional seasons. At 21 Charlie is still a few years away, but could be as far as AAA by 2014.

6. Luis Gomez - P - R DSL Indians - 2011 International Free Agent

This is Gomez's first professional season and he is sure making it a good one. So far he has allowed three runs in 40.1 innings across six starts and six relief appearances. He has also struck out 38 and holds a WHIP of 0.74. All that still didn't make him the best pitcher on the DSL Indians, but their best starter, Juan Nivar, was just suspended 50 games for substance abuse (steroids), so he has also been suspended from this list. Gomez is 19 (or so he says) and will likely pitch in the AZL or Mahoning Valley next year.

7. Mason Radeke - RP - A Lake County - Drafted Round 35 in 2011

Another relief pitcher from the class of '11, Radeke has spent the majority of 2012 confounding single A hitters. He has struck out 95 in 86 innings and allowed just 36 earned runs. Radeke did make one start in Akron and 8 in Lake County in addition to his relief appearances and holds a record for 2012 of 6-7. The Indians strategy of drafting hard throwing, swing and miss college pitchers last year seems to be working and Radeke will likely spend 2013 with the Aeros. It's completely possible that the bullpen could consist almost entirely of 2011 draft picks as early as 2014.

8. Alexis Paredas - RP - R AZL Indians - 2009 International Free Agent

Paredas has taken well to his first season of American baseball. The 20 year old has had no trouble dealing with the 18-19 year old hitters in the Arizona League and has thrown 32 innings in 14 games. He has only allowed 9 earned runs so far for an ERA of 2.53 and has struck out 34 keeping his K/9 above nine and his K/BB at almost 4. Paredas has had many chances to pitch multiple inning games as the Indians starting rotation has struggled some in the Arizona heat. This should be his last season in Rookie ball as most players are moved onto Lake County or Mahoning Valley at this point in their careers.

9. Victor Cabral - LF - R DSL Indians - 2011 International Free Agent

Cabral is the hottest hitter for the Dominican Summer League Indians, putting up a slash line of .301/.381/.417. He already has 30 RBI in just 58 games and has 17 extra base hits with 8 steals. Cabral is just 18 years old and has played both right and left field this season, only making one error to this point. He has played some DH as well as the Indians make sure everyone gets playing time in the field, while also keeping Cabral's bat in the lineup. Hopefully he will be leading a different Indians offense next year as he should be making the move to Goodyear for 2013.

10. Luigi Rodriguez - CF - A Lake County - 2009 International Free Agent

The Indians don't have very many power hitters currently in their system, but Rodriguez has a chance to be one of them. Although his batting average has slipped this year, he has found some strength that was missing the past few seasons, hitting 20 doubles and 9 home runs in 104 games in Eastlake. Most impressively he has 102 runs created (R+RBI-HR) and still has managed 20 steals. Did I mention that he plays centerfield? While he still has some things to work on (119 strike outs in 417 at bats and 6 errors as an outfielder), he could definitely be a player to watch for in the future. He will likely play for Carolina and possibly Akron as well next year after spending two seasons with Lake County. He is only 19, so he still has a few years to work with before he ends up like Jared Goedert.

Player of the Game

Shin-Soo Choo gave Indians fans something to be happy about with a three run home run that also won him tonight's Player of the Game. The home run was his only real positive note of the night, earning him a score of 5.68. Asdrubal Cabrera also had a decent game with a double and a single, knocking in one run for a score of 1.96.

Feathers Up

Roberto Hernandez allowed five runs in six innings in what I guess we are calling his Major League debut. This may seem like a bad start, but keep in mind, this is his first start of the year, and hitters are always ahead of pitchers at this point in Spring Training. Also, this start was extremely better than two of the Indians last three starts, which should put it in some perspective.

Cody Allen had his worst game of his career and still made it through without giving up a run. Allen gave up a single and walked two, but ended the inning with a double play with no harm done. To this point he has thrown 12.1 innings of shut out baseball to begin his career along with 9 strike outs. Esmil Rogers also threw a scoreless inning. Hernandez threw two scoreless innings, the first and the fifth. I just thought that needed to be included for completeness. Of course Hernandez had four non-scoreless innings including one in which he allowed 5 runs (3 unearned).

Feathers Down

The Indians were unable to take advantage of their favorite Angels starter as Ervin Santana threw 7 innings, only allowing a single run. Santana has an ERA well over 5.00 against the Tribe in his career and prior to today had only one real outlier, a no hitter.

After a week of solid defense, the Indians completely lost it in the second inning. Brent Lillibridge had two errors that lead to three unearned runs and Carlos Santana had an error of his own. Santana had another awkward play as well when he and Hernandez cound't decide who should field a ball that landed just in front of the plate.

Play of the Game

In the fifth inning, Kendrys Morales hit a double over the head of Shin-Soo Choo. What made this play interesting was when Choo threw the ball to get Morales at second, there was no one standing there (it was Brent Lillibridge's responsibility to cover as the short stop). Jack Hannahan actually fielded the ball and threw to home where Torii Hunter was tagged out. Before the out call could be made, however, Hunter split open home plate umpire, Greg Gibson's face with a wild slide. Gibson was replaced by Manny Gonzalez, the turning point in the game.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 8

Roster Update

Josh Tomlin was placed on the disabled list today with right elbow inflammation. In his place, Roberto Hernandez will be called up for tomorrow's start. While this could be a phantom injury that was made up for a little roster flexibility, there is a good chance this is something much more serious. Tomlin has struggled all season in ways he never has before in his career. This could very well have to do with chronic elbow pain that has forced him to change his delivery. By placing him on the DL, the Indians will be able to give Tomlin some time to rest his arm without having to worry about pitching from the bullpen without notice on any particular day. Tomlin could be a very important part of the Indians rotation next season if he can get through the issues he had this season, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to shut him down officially for the rest of the season.

Player of the Game

Michael Brantley lead the team tonight as hit had three hits and scored each time he reached base. Included in his hits was a two run home run to open the Indians scoring. Casey Kotchman also had a good game offensively, scoring 4.72 points on the strength of his own two run home run (with Brantley on base). Brantley finished the game with a score of 6.57.

Feathers Up

Chris Seddon was unofficially removed from the starting rotation as he threw in relief for the second time since he was brougt up as a starting pitcher. He will likely take Josh Tomlin's place as the long man out of the bullpen with Hernandez taking his spot in the rotation tomorrow. He ended up throwing 2.1 innings, striking out a pair and allowing just one run.

The Indians tried to make it interesting late, scoring four unanswered runs over the last three innings, but when your starting pitcher is as useless as Ubaldo Jimenez, six runs just isn't enough. 100% of the blame for this loss falls squarely on Jimenez's shoulders. The offense scored, the defense was above average and the bullpen was good enough. All these parts are important are important in every game, but none so as important as the one that doesn't work on any particular night.

Feathers Down

Manny Acta certainly showed some undue faith in Ubaldo Jimenez as he allowed him to pitch through the 4th inning, during which he allowed two home runs and four total runs, bringing the Angels total to eight. Jimenez has been so bad this year, the Indians will soon have to think about replacing him internally. There are very few pitchers in the Indians minor league system who would allow 8 runs a game.

Play of the Game

Ezequiel Carrera knocked in the the Indians third run with a bases loaded infield single to the pitcher. Both Albert Pujols and Zack Greinke went to field the ball and Carrera was safe when there was no one to cover first.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 9

Unimportant Roster Update: The Indians traded J.C. Romero to the Baltimore Orioles after signing him recently to pitch for Columbus. He had signed a short term contract allowing him to request his release on Wednesday, but the Orioles decided they couldn't wait. In return, the Indians picked up Carlos Rojas, a career minor leaguer hitting .226 across AA and AAA so far this year. The Orioles are desparate for relief help right now and the Indians were going to lose him anyway, so it doesn't really matter that they got nothing in return.

Player of the Game

When he's good, he's really good and Justin Masterson was good again tonight. For his second start in a row he threw into the seventh and won the Player of the Game. This time he didn't allow a single run or extra base hit and struck out four. His defense also recorded three double plays behind him to keep his baserunners to a minimum. He had a final Player of the Game score of 6.70, good for his team leading 12th award of the season. As a huge catalyst of the Indians offense tonight, Brent Lillibridge earned a season high 5.32 points and came in second.

Feathers Up

The Indians really stepped up their defensive game tonight and were even helped out a bit by the umpires. Asdrubal Cabrera made two fantastic plays against consecutive batters and Brent Lillibridge had another good snag. The umpire aid came on a double play that shouldn't have been. Casey Kotchman dropped a line drive and tagged first for the force. He then threw to second and the runner beat the throw back to first, but was called out. Mike Scioscia argued, but to no avail.

Lilly Time continued tonight as Brent Lillibridge hit his second home run of the year. The blast brought his batting average with Cleveland up to .289, the highest he has had with any team over his career. He now has more home runs and RBI with the Indians in 13 games than he had in his 59 previous games with Chicago and Boston. He also added three runs scored today, giving him 9 already with the Tribe.

Ezequiel Carrera came in, got a single and scored after being used as a late inning defensive replacement for Shelley Duncan. He has had either a hit, run or RBI in every game he has played in this year except one. While he has played in every game since being called up, he is still not starting as he should be. Tonight he could have been used in the starting lineup if Manny Acta had benched Casey Kotchman against the left hander (like he usually does) used Carlos Santana at first and DH'd Duncan.

Jason Kipnis made his return from his sore neck in the 9th inning as a pinch hitter in tonight's game. He had taken batting practice prior to the game but was held out against a tough left hander. Kipnis hit a sacrifice fly to deep center in his only at bat.

Milestone Alert: Chris Perez's 100th career save was also his 32nd of the season, tying him for 10th all-time as an Indian in a single season with Doug Jones and Bob Wickman. Perez is just 14 saves from the record that Jose Mesa set in 1995.

Feathers Down

The unhittable Vinnie Pestano gave up just his third home run of the season tonight to Albert Pujols, ending his month and a half (21 inning) long run of scoreless outings (no runs allowed since 6/28). The home run allowed to Pujols should not be considered a negative to Pestano as there are no pitchers immune to his power, however the walk before the home run is reason for blame. Pestano knows he can't walk hitters (and he usually doesn't) especially those that bat in front of Albert Pujols.

Manny Acta allowed stats to determine his pitching moves, which is usually a mistake. When the Indians increased their lead to four runs in the 9th, Acta decided to go with Esmil Rogers instead of Chris Perez in the bottom of the inning. Rogers came in and immediately gave up two hits, forcing Acta to bring in Perez anyway. The way the Indians have played of late they should be much more worried about getting the win than someone getting a save.

Play of the Game

Plays like this are why Asdrubal Cabrera will eventually win a Golden Glove, as soon as he stops making errors on very easy plays. This play came one play after another bare handed grab. This play is definitely in the running for defensive play of the year.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2