Player of the Game

Justin Masterson proved to be the Ace today as he was the main factor in today's WIN. Masterson pitched 7 full innings of baseball in which he gave up just 2 runs on 3 hits. He also struck out 7 batters. Masterson ended the day with a score of 5.31. Close behind him with a perfect offensive game was Shin-Soo Choo with a score of 4.91.

Feathers Up

The Indians avoid losing 12 straight with their win over the Twins today. Now, if they win the next 11 games, we can forget that ever happened.

Shin-Soo Choo dominated at the plate today with a 4-4 performance. Choo hit 3 singles and a double, drove in 2 runs and scored a run himself. He must have really wanted to win.

Choo was not the only production offensively. The Indians provided 6 runs on 11 hits. Every starter in the line up reached base today except for Lou Marson, who contributed with a sacrifice bunt.

Jason Kipnis and Brent Lillibridge combined for 3 stolen bases. Two swipes by Kipnis brings his season total to 23, which ranks 4th in the American League.

There were no errors today, at least none committed by the Tribe. Errors had become a huge contributing factor to the Indians recent losing streak.

Feathers Down

Where is Pronk? Travis Hafner has played in just one game since the birth of his baby boy, and he hit an extra inning home run in that game. Hafner has been listed day-to-day with back stiffness and is expected to return to the line up tomorrow.

Play of the Game

Ezequiel Carrera avoids the tag and scores on a Casey Kotchman fielder's choice.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 - Minnesota Twins 2

Roster Update: The Indians added Frank Herrmann to their overworked bullpen. To make room for him, they designated Jose Lopez for assignment.

Player of the Game

Shelley Duncan did not have any errors as tongiht's DH, so he is today's Player of the Game. Not only was Duncan error-less, but he also hit a 2 run home run in the second inning, giving him a score of 4.40. Duncan now has 8 PoG awards this season.

With a change in a scoring decision in yesterday's game, yesterday's Player of the Game is shifted from Carlos Santana to Jason Kipnis.

Feathers Up

Corey Kluber provided the Indians with a quality start, the first starter to do so in a very long time. He gave the Tribe 6+ solid innings and gave the bullpen a much needed break. Kluber ended the night giving up just 1 earned run on 6 hits. Too bad he couldn't get the win he deserved.

Feathers Down

Chris Seddon came out of the bullpen tonight. I'm not sure is this is a good thing or a bad thing. Does this mean that the Indians are looking for another starter or were they just desperate in the bullpen?

Cleveland fans were teased yet again when it looked like the Indians were finally going to break their 10 game losing streak. The defense was to blame 100% for today's loss. Errors by Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Kipnis in the 7th inning and Casey Kotchman in the 9th led to 5 unearned runs. Pitchers should not have to get 5 outs in an inning. 

Losing Streak Update: 11 games

Play(s) of the Game

Asdrubal Cabrera'a error, Jason Kipnis's error, and Casey Kotchman's error.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 - Minnesota Twins 7

Acta Support Update: Chris Antonetti came out in support of Indians manager Manny Acta today. Burning River Baseball also supports Acta. There is nothing he could have done to change the Indians record to this point this season. He has made marginally few errors in baseball decisions (removal of pitchers, batting order, etc) and seems to be a fine motivator. The Indians aren't under .500 because they don't want to win. Just watch Jason Kipnis sprint down to first on a grounder to second (he forced an error this way tonight that lead to the Indians first run) or Vinnie Pestano come sprinting in from the outfield. As a unit the Indians stuck with a few players longer than they should have (Josh Tomlin, Derek Lowe and Johnny Damon are three), but that is not Acta's decision alone to make. If Indians management doesn't give him a new starting pitcher, who should he replace the old one with? Manny Acta has done nothing to deserve getting fired and any speculation at this point is completely unfounded.

Player of the Game

With a meaningless two run home run, Carlos Santana continues his dominance in winning the Player of the Game as he takes his team leading 11th of the year. He has now won 6 in the Indians last 18 games while just three other players have more than 6 total for the year. Of course his home run was meaningless because of his own stupid play, but we'll have more on that later. Since, on that particular play, the error was given to Jason Kipnis, he managed a score of -7.32 driven mostly by 7 unearned runs. Kipnis did score two runs and get a single to make the score as good as it ended up being.

Feathers Up

Cody Allen allowed just his seventh baserunner in seven appearances with the Tribe as he walked a batter in the 7th. Allen is yet to give up a run and has only allowed a single hit.

Scott Diamond did not throw a complete game shut out. He did, however, go 7 innings, only giving up a two run home run in addition to an unearned run for scoring.

Feathers Down

Rehab Update: Roberto Hernandez struggled in his third start with the Lake County Captains. He now has a 5.19 ERA in those three starts with five home runs allowed. Rather than bring up a pitcher who is allowing more than 5 runs per game against single A hitters, why not go with a knuckleballer who has allowed just 2.44 runs per nine in double A, two whole levels above where Hernandez is pitching. The reason why not is because the Indians traded Steven Wright to the Red Sox for a piece of garbage. Of course there are still other options better than the pitcher formerly known as Fausto. In fact, every single starter in AA has a better ERA than Hernandez. At this point it would be best to give him a couple more rehab starts while allowing the current rotation to struggle through their own problems.

If the Twins manage to complete a second sweep of the Indians this time around it will put the Indians in 4th place for the first time this year.

Juan Nivar, the Indians best pitcher on their Dominican Summer League (R) team was suspended 50 games today for MiLB's substance abuse policy. So far this year he has a 1.36 ERA through 10 starts and 54 strikeouts. If Nivar was juicing then we better watch out for news on Luis Gomez (0.77 ERA, 0.71 WHIP) and Anthony Vizcaya (0.92 ERA, 0.92 WHIP).

Play of the Game

The play that lost the game. Jason Kipnis fielded an easy grounder with two outs in the second with the score 2-1. Carlos Santana pulled his foot off the bag before he caught the ball, leading to an error being called on Kipnis. The Twins scored 8 more that inning.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Minnesota Twins 14

Prior to the 2012 season, the Indians made a lot of signings. Looking for a new firstbaseman, particularly a right handed power bat, they signed light hitting lefty Casey Kotchman and Andy LaRoche. In an effort to shore up the starting rotation they traded for Derek Lowe and signed Kevin Slowey. To round out the bullpen they signed Dan Wheeler, Chris Seddon, Jeremy Accardo and Chris Ray. J.C. Romero was signed midseason for added depth. Looking for another utility infielder, the Tribe invited Christian Guzman, Gregorio Petit and Jose Lopez to camp and signed Russ Canzler. In search of a starting left fielder they picked up Felix Pie, Fred Lewis and Ryan Spilborghs. In mid season they signed Johnny Damon as a free agent since none of the other players worked out.

Where are these players now? Kotchman, Seddon and Lopez are still on the Major League team although Kotchman and Lopez have both underperformed and Seddon has only just joined the team (and as a starter, not the reliever he was signed to be). Slowey, Wheeler, Romero, Canzler and Petit are currently with AAA Columbus, most of whom haven't seen any time on the Indians this year. Wheeler did spend about a month with the team and was absolutely dreadful during his time in Cleveland.

Guzman was released on March 28th and retired. Lewis was released on April 2nd and went on to New York with the Mets. Pie was baked on April 4th (he has since been picked up by Atlanta. Now he's peach Pie). Spilborghs was sold to Texas on May 4th. On June 26th, the Indians released LaRoche (he was then signed by Boston). Ray was released on July 7th (then released by Oakland on July 26th). What do all these players have in common? They never got a sniff of the Major Leagues in 2012.

There is one last group of those mentioned above, the ones who played for the Indians for an extended amount of time, but no longer do so. This group consists of Lowe (released 8/2), Damon (8/4) and Accardo (8/5). This is what I call, taking out the trash. None of these players have done a single positive thing for the Tribe since May and they have all played below replacement level. The Indians have players in the minors better than all three of these old men, particularly those who were called up for them, Corey Kluber, Ezequiel Carrera and Seddon. These three have been a waste of time, money and talent for more than half a year, costing not just the Indians their payroll and the games they lost, but the minor league player's playing time. This wouldn't bother me if it was the first time, or an isolated incident, but this has happened before.

You may remember this list of players better or worse than those listed in the first paragraph: 

This is a fairly complete list of every free agent the Indians have signed since 2004 that has made the team and stayed for 3 or less years. It includes when they came, how and when they left, their OPS or ERA while on the team, how much money they stole from the Indians and the player(s) they took playing time away from. Here are a few notes about the listing:

• There were a couple of good signings by the Indians and these should be noted. Millwood lead the league in ERA in 2005 and was by far the Indians best pitcher. When it says a player didn't take playing time away from anyone it means that their replacement was worse than them or they played so little it didn't matter. Aaron Fultz was another good signing as relief pitchers tended to be the most needed position filled and the most successful. Breslow and Rincon were two other signings that didn't work out poorly. Paul Byrd was an innings eater for years that should be commended for his performance in the 2007 post season.
• Ed Mujica is listed next to Breslow, even though there is no question that Breslow was superior, then and now. However, Mujica did go on to close for Tampa Bay, meaning that one of the two teams misjudged him. 
• The OG next to Roberto Hernandez stands for original gangsta, so he would not be confused with the newly created Roberto Heredia Hernandez. This is the Roberto Hernandez that was an All-Star closer for the White Sox and Devil Rays before coming to the Tribe.
• In 2007 Borowski didn't take playing time from Betancourt, but he did take the closers role. Betancourt was by far the best reliever on that team, while Borowski wasn't in the top five, yet Borowski got almost every save opportunity while Betancourt set a team record for holds.
• The worst signings were outfielders. With an overload of minor league outfielders through the years mentioned including Coco Crisp, Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, Franklin Gutierrez, Ben Francisco and later Trevor Crowe and Ezequiel Carrera, it is offensive that the Indians continued to sign below average players that cost the Indians more wins than they generated. This list includes Hollandsworth, Dellucci, Nixon, Kearns (twice), Buck and this season Johnny Damon. Special mention goes to Jason Michaels who is not listed because he was picked up in trade, but also stole more than his share of playing time from much more talented, faster and better defensive outfielders. The Indians believed they were so deep in outfielders that they continued to trade them away, even as they signed new ones. Gutierrez went on to star with the Mariners while Francisco won a World Series with Philadelphia. Crisp has also seen decent success with the Royals and A's and Crowe was recently signed by the Angels.
• A half a season of the reject from a terrible Tigers team, Jason Johnson, was worth not even looking at a first round draft pick before trading him. Jeremy Guthrie was kept out of the starting rotation in 2006 by the signing of Johnson and was then traded to Baltimore after just a single start for the Tribe. He went on to be the Orioles ace for the next five seasons.
• Two players are listed next to Chad Durbin's name, even though he only took one roster spot. When Durbin was signed, the Indians designated Laffey and traded him to the Mariners when he didn't clear waivers. Durbin was bad before the Indians signed him and they still gave up on the career of a left handed starting pitcher and a chance at seeing Frank Herrmann all season instead of moving him constantly between AAA and the pros. Durbin also cost the Indians some games as he was absolutely dreadful out of the bullpen and not usable during games that were decided by less than 5 runs.
• In 2011 with the future of the franchise (Kipnis and Chisenhall) ready for the majors, they decided to go with more expensive less talented veteran options. If Kipnis had played a full 2011, maybe he wouldn't be dealing with stamina issues in 2012. They compounded the mistake with Chisenhall this year by signing Jose Lopez. Instead of playing half a season before he broke his arm, he ended up playing less than a month.
• Most of the players were sold, traded or released mid season when their replacements finally broke through. This means the Indians paid them for a whole year, but only got half. The one exception is Kerry Wood, who had $8.4 million of his salary paid for by the Yankees after he was traded. Usually when a player is released midseason, the new team is only required to pay the minimum while the rest of the salary is covered by the original team.
• If the Indians had used minor league replacement level players instead of old men, most of whom never were very talented, they could have saved about $50 million in payroll over the last 8 years. That money could have been used to buy more midlevel players like Millwood (almost one a year), re-sign players like Choo or Cabrera to long term deals or to build another big windmill on top of the stadium. Whatever management found to be more important to creating a winning baseball team.

In general, starting players that sign for less than $5 million a year are being paid for their veteran status rather than their abilities. There is a threshold between there and about $12 million a year that include some very talented, but sometimes unappreciated players. This could include future free agents like B.J. Upton, Delmon Young, Luke Scott and James Shields and would have including Carlos Pena last offseason. Maybe the Indians wouldn't be interested in any of these players, but they have been linked to all them in rumors and would be able to afford them if they stopped over paying for replacement level talent. The Indians could have had Scott for nothing if they had just avoided trading him for Jeriome Robertson in 2004, another player that would have been included on this list if only the Indians would have acquired him differently. The Indians need to immediately cease this inane obsession with signing veterans on their last legs and never-wills who have spent enough time in the majors to know what they truly are. Look to Choo, Hafner and Rafael Perez for that veteran leadership (they've all been around for a day or two and have played through playoff hunts and the playoffs themselves). Trust your draft picks to amount to what you projected them to be and put more faith in the minor leaguers you traded your stars for.

The moral of the story is, "Go big or stay home."

After a third consecutive sweep, this one to the Detroit Tigers, the Indians postseason hopes have been officially demolished. As we move into "there's always next year" mode, focus should switch to the young players like recent call-up Ezequiel Carrera and future all-star Jason Kipnis. It will be interesting now to see how Corey Kluber and Chris Seddon pitch for the rest of the year as next years starting rotation seems to be completely up in the air after Justin Masterson. 

One interesting point to the rest of the season will be if the Indians bother bringing back a number of injured/suspended players including Grady Sizemore, Rafael Perez, Carlos Carrasco and Roberto Hernandez (Fausto Carmona). In the cases of players who should be back next season (Perez and Carrasco) they should probably try to at least get them back by September, but there is little point in the other two players who are not signed through 2013. If the Indians brain trust has any brains left that we can trust, Grady will have to be released post 2012 and Hernandez probably should be as well.

August 6th, 7:05 PM EDT: Scott Diamond, LHP, 9-5, 2.93 ERA vs Zach McAllister, RHP, 4-3, 3.42 ERA

Looking at the Indians successes against left handed pitching so far this season, I see no reason to believe the Indians current losing streak won't continue on to ten games. This year Diamond has faced the Tribe twice, going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA. One game was a complete game shutout, while in the other he allowed 3 unearned runs in 7 innings. It is possible with the recent roster changes and the extra motivation of a lost season and an extremely long losing streak that the Indians may be able to change their fortunes and actually win this game, however unlikely.

August 7th, 7:05 PM EDT: Sam Deduno, RHP, 3-0, 2.48 ERA vs Corey Kluber, RHP, 0-0, 12.46 ERA

Don't worry about Kluber's ERA. He has only made one start and really calmed down after the first inning. What you should worry about is Deduno's. After throwing a two hit, one run game against the Tribe, Deduno stepped it up and didn't allow a run to score against Boston in his next start. This ancient (29) Dominican hasn't had a bad start this year and seems to be getting better each time out.

August 8th, 12:05 PM EDT: Brian Duensing, RHP, 2-6, 4.39 vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 7-10, 4.78 ERA

The Indians have a shot at winning this one with their ace throwing and a right hander opposing. At most this losing streak should last 11 games. If the Indians losing streak continues through this game Manny Acta will possibly start using Vinnie Pestano in the second or third innings and leaving him in until the ninth.

Roster Update: The Indians designated reliever, Jeremy Accardo, for assignment to make room on the roster for today's starter, Chris Seddon.

Player of the Game

Travis Hafner contributed offensively today as he takes his 5th Player of the Game of the season. Hafner's score of 6.09 included 3 singles, 3 RBI, and a home run. Several other players ended with decent scores: Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo, Michael Brantley, , and Vinnie Pestano all ended with scores over 2, and Carlos Santana and Ezequiel Carrera each had scores above 3.

Feathers Up

Chris Seddon made his first start in the season and his 5th in the Majors. His stats did not look that great for today's game. He was removed from the game in the 5th inning and gave up 4 runs on 7 hits. The 4 runs he allowed tied for the fewest amount of runs allowed by a starter in 9 games.

The Indians were aggressive on the bases today, recording 3 stolen bases. Asdrubal Cabrera stole 2 bases and Ezequiel Carrera stole one.

Ezequiel Carrera continues to stay hot as he keeps Shelley Duncan on the bench. In his 3 games since coming up from Columbus, Carrera is 7-12 with 3 runs scored.

The Indians and Manny Acta found themselves in trouble in the bottom of the 9th inning with a tied game. Relief pitcher, Josh Tomlin, gave up a lead off triple to Austin Jackson. Tomlin would strike out Omar Infante for the first out in the inning. He then intentionally walked Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder to set up a double play and  surpass the strongest hitters in the Detroit line up. After adding a 5th infielder (Jose Lopez), Tomlin got Quintin Berry to ground into a double play to end the inning.

After the exciting/nerve racking bottom of the 9th inning, Travis Hafner and Ezequiel Carrera hit back-to-back home runs to take the lead in the 10th.

Almost the entire line up contributed today. The offense combined for 17 hits and recorded at least one hit in the first 7 innings. Too bad this wasn't enough to end their losing streak.

Milestone Updates: Travis Hafner hit his 200th career home run. Asdrubal Cabrera is now ranked in the top 50 in career double in Indians history, tied with Rick Manning.

Feathers Down

Tribe batters piled up the strike outs today. In the 6th inning, they combined for 11 strikeouts. After 10 innings, they had accumulated 13.

After scoring 3 runs in the top of the 10th inning, Chris Perez was unable to complete the 3-run save. He let 5 runs score in the 10th inning, bringing the Indians losing streak to 9 games.

Play of the Game

A very exciting double play gets the Indians out of the 9th inning.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 8 - Detroit Tigers 10

Player of the Game

Ezequiel Carrera won his first Player of the Game in just his second game since joining the team as he was the only player who figured out Doug Fister. He was also the only player to safely hit a ball past Austin Jackson in center. Carrera ended the game with two triples and a run scored. His final game score was 2.55.

Indians starters have 8 consecutive negative games and the Indians have lost 8 consecutive game. What a coincidence.

Feathers Up

Jhonny Peralta hit an RBI triple, then scored on the next hit. Peralta later doubled in a run as well. This 'Feathers Up' expires in July of 2010.

With the way the Indians offense is playing right now, Tribe fans have a chance of witnessing history every night. Tonight, Doug Fister threw a perfect game through 5.2 innings and only allowed allowed two hits through 8.

Chris Seddon is starting tomorrow, so at least that is something new.

Feathers Down

The ability of the Indians to score runs is completely insignificant when compared to their starters ability to allow them to score.

Travis Hafner waited until coming back from the Paternity List to start having back pains so he was able to take up his roster spot again and still not be able to play. Normally you can't perform strenuous activity for a month or so after labor, so Pronk will not be able to face left handed pitchers for the rest of the season, per doctor's orders.

Esmil Rogers is back in the bad side of the bullpen as he was used in long relief after Ubaldo Jimenez was removed in the 6th inning. As usual, Jimenez made sure the game was decided before he was pulled. Rogers had two bad games in a row and three bad out of his last four to get himself put back on the naughty list. The bad game bullpen now consists of Rogers, Josh Tomlin, Jeremy Accardo and possibly Cody Allen. The Bullpen Mafia continues to consist of Joe Smith, Tony Sipp, Vinnie Pestano and Chris 'Pure Rage' Perez.

Play of the Game

Ezequiel Carrera hit his second triple of the night in the 9th inning, leading to the Indians first run.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Detroit Tigers 6

Roster Update: In the second incredibly intelligent move in the past week, the Indians cut the waste of space/money/time that was Johnny Damon to make room for Ezequiel Carrera, who legitamately should have been on this team since day one after his impressive season in 2011. Carrera will likely split time with Shelley Duncan and Brent Lillibridge in left field and possibly spell Michael Brantley in center from time to time. This also means that there will be no more milestone updates about Damon moving up the leaderboards in at bats. What a shame.

Player of the Game

Cody Allen won his second Player of the Game of the year because everyone else on the team is terrible. He score was 2.64. No other player scored more than 2 points. Johnny Damon gets a figurative 10 points for not being on the team anymore.

Feathers Up

Cody Allen had another great game (he was the only one) as he threw two innings and struck out three Tigers.

The Indians no longer have to deal with Johnny Damon's noodle arm in left field and .220 batting average at the plate.

Feathers Down

Ezequiel Carrera made an awful play in left in the third inning when he let an easy out sail over his glove with the sun in his eyes. He was wearing sunglasses, but had made the decision not to flip them down. If you remember his play last year, he is good for about one of these a season and should be Gold Glove material for the rest of the year.

Early on it looked like the Indians had worked through some of their offensive struggles with a couple hits in both the first and third innings, but they only amounted to a single run and as the last innings came around there was no other scoring to mention.

Justin Masterson must have forgot it was his week to pitch well. He threw 4 innings and allowed 7 runs including a giant two run bomb by Prince Fielder.

Losing Streak Update: 7 games

Play of the Game

Pick one. How about Ezequiel Carrera throwing out Alex Avila at home to end the inning after a two out single by Austin Jackson.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 - Detroit Tigers 10

Coming off sweeps to the two worst teams in the AL Central, the Indians are in a bad place. With Detroit and Chicago off last night the Tribe had a chance to make up one paltry game after already pushing themselves to the brink, but they were unable to and now sit 7.5 games behind the Central leading White Sox. The chances of winning the central division are slipping away with every loss.

White-Flag Report: This is going to be a short lived segment of the site that will tell you when the Indians (and you) should give up on the season. While things look bad right now, there is still significant time to come back, if the Indians play with their heads on fire for the rest of the year. The Indians Magic Number is now 51 (yes we're bringing back the Magic Number box), meaning any combination of 51 White Sox wins and Indians losses will lead to their elimination from the division title. With 57 games left, this means the Indians can no longer afford to play .500 (or under it). The Indians have 19 series left ( a couple of them 4 game series), meaning they only have to make up a game every two to three series. Assuming the White Sox continue playing as they have (a .548 winning percent) they will win about 32 more games. They do have one more game left than the Indians, so the Indians will have to win 8 more games with one less attempt. To get another Central Division flag at this point, the Indians will have to win around 40 games out of their next 57. This means if they win every single series for the rest of the season, they would probably take the crown.

Wild Card Update: I haven't mentioned the Wild Cards all year to this point with good reason. There are only five teams in the AL Central, three of which are actively competing for the title. There are currently 9 teams competing for two Wild Cards within 10 games of the leaders. Those 9 teams include both the Indians and Tigers, so unless both teams were to win Wild Cards (not going to happen), the Indians would still have to pass Detroit. There are also 6 teams within 5 games of the Wild Card. This makes the situation very volatile and will probably lead to a lot of disappointed teams at the end of the season who thought they should have made it. With the Indians 6.5 back sitting behind 7 other teams, they are virtually out of the Wild Card race already. Of course if this particular half of the AL starts to lose every game (impossible since they will be playing each other half the time) the Indians could technically win, but don't count on it. The Indians playoff hopes lie in the Central Division where they always have.

Before even thinking about the White Sox, Cleveland has to catch Detroit. The good news is that the Tigers are not as smoking hot as the White Sox have been of late and are just 5 games ahead of the Tribe. With a sweep in this upcoming series (almost a necessity for staying in the race at this point) the Indians would just be two games in back of second place with two more series left against the Motor City Kitties.

August 3rd, 7:05 PM EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 7-9. 4.47 ERA vs Anibal Sanchez, 0-1, 7.50 ERA

I won't go as in depth as normal on the starting pitchers, because you have seen these guys all year. It is also past the point where the Indians can take two out of three against Detroit and be happy, so it is slightly pointless to decide who has the edge in each game. I will however, tell you about the new guys like...

Anibal Sanchez is the newest Tiger starting pitcher, coming over in a big deal from the Miami Marlins. While his numbers for the season look bad, it is simply because stats don't transfer leagues after a trade is made so his 7.50 ERA is solely based on a game against the Blue Jays in which he struggled. While with the Marlins this year, Sanchez threw well with a 3.94 ERA and 110 strike outs over 19 starts. Over his career he was basically always their second best pitcher, behind Josh Johnson, and holds a 3.75 career ERA with the Marlins. He should end up being a very good pitcher for Detroit, but if the Indians can take advantage of his struggles in transitioning to the American League then all the better for them. 

August 4th, 7:05 PM EDT: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 8-10, 5.08 ERA vs Doug Fister, RHP, 5-7. 3.77 ERA

August 5th, 1:05 PM EDT: TBD, RHP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA vs Max Scherzer, RHP, 10-6, 4.62

I'm just assuming that Derek Lowe's replacement will be a right handed AAA pitcher. Although it has been posted ad nauseum throughout Lowe and Tomlin's struggles, here is the list of possible replacements: 

Jeanmar Gomez: RHP 4-2, 3.54 ERA (AAA); 4-7, 5.18 ERA (MLB)

The first choice would be Gomez who has pitched in the Majors this year with the Indians. He pitched fairly well early in the season, but was replaced by Zach McAllister at the first sign of struggle. Gomez hasn't imploded since being sent down and deserves another chance at the Major League level.

Chris Seddon: LHP 11-5, 3.44 ERA (AAA)

Seddon was a MiLB free agent roster invitee to Spring Training that stayed on with the Clippers after not making the Major League team. Although he was signed as a reliever, he has spent the entire season starting for Columbus and has been their most consistent starter (outside of McAllister and Corey Kluber who are already on the team).

David Huff: LHP, 5-5, 5.15 ERA (AAA)

To finish out the list, we'll include a former Indian who has struggled in his return to the minors. Huff had a below average season in 2011 for the Tribe and was kept out of the rotation this year because of a good Spring by Gomez. Now would be a good time to give Huff one last chance as he is usually good for about 4 great starts immediately after being recalled and it will give the Indians a chance to see if he should be considered as part of the mix in 2013.

*Edit: It's Seddon that will start on Sunday. I'll still leave the rest of this here for future reference.

Roster Update: Derek Lowe is finally gone as he was released today to make room for tonight's starting pitcher, Corey Kluber. Kluber was announced as today's starter a few days ago, so it was just a matter of who was going to be removed for him. The Indians couldn't have picked a better player to let go as Lowe has been absolutely terrible for more than half of the season at this point.

Player of the Game

With four of the Indians six runs batted in, Carlos Santana powers his way to his team high 10th Player of the Game award. Santana hit a two run single along with a two run home run, giving the Indians some unfounded hope to enjoy from the 3rd through the 10th inning. He ended the game with a score of 7.01. Brent Lillibridge, Michael Brantley, Vinnie Pestano and Tony Sipp all had scores over two in the Indians loss.

Feathers Up

The Indians offense woke up a little bit today, erasing an early 6 run deficit. The lineup was a little different than normal because of the left handed starter, but it worked at least this time. Brent Lillibridge was especially impressive as he was thrown in the #2 hole in just his third start with the Tribe. Lillibridge had two hits, scored two runs and stole a base.

Tony Sipp quietly threw his best outing of the season, going an 1.2 innings in relief of Corey Kluber ending with a couple strike outs. Sipp has had two bad games in a row, but has generally been getting better results of late. He has not allowed a run to score (inherited or his own) in 11 of his last 16 games including today. Sipp has firmly placed himself back into the 'good' part of the Bullpen Mafia.

Feathers Down

In a smaller version of the regular season, the first inning saw the Indians get two singles and a steal and manage not to score, followed by the Royals hitting a couple home runs, a few singles and a triple along with two steals to put 6 runs on the board.

Corey Kluber had his starting debut ruined as he looked just like every other Indians starting pitcher has for the last week. He did settle down and didn't give up another run as he threw 4.1 innings. Ending a lot better than he began, Kluber struck out the last batter he faced after allowing a home run to the first batter of the game.

Play of the Game

Asdrubal Cabrera helped out Kluber by starting this inning ending double play in the third.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 - Kansas City Royals 7