The Indians sweep of Seattle brings their winning streak to 4, immediately after having a three game losing streak. This streak has moved the Indians to 4 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central. This is thanks to the series sweep of the Tigers by the Minnesota Twins. There will be a few familiar faces when the Indians play the Marlins as former central division foes John Buck (Royals), Omar Infante (Tigers) and Mark Buehrle (White Sox) currently reside in Miami. Former Indian outcasts Austin Kearns and Edward Mujica have also found a home with the Marlins. After seeing Carl Pavano and Jamey Carroll with the Twins and Eric Wedge with the Mariners its like all the Indians mistakes are coming back to play against them. Maybe this was the plan the whole time. Sign a bunch of terrible players then distribute them among the teams so the Tribe get to play against them.

May 28th, 7:05 EST: Carlos Zambrano, RHP, 1-2, 1.88 ERA vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 1-3, 5.40 ERA

Sometimes when you put crazy and crazy together they cancel each other out. This appears to be the case with Carlos Zambrano this year, as his union with Ozzie Guillen as been a success to this point. Zambrano was amazing as the Cubs ace, steadily improving from 2002 through 2007, but had fallen off in recent years. His decline in effectiveness and his childlike temper tantrums were enough to make Chicago give up on him. He has found new success in his new home, however, as he has only allowed 10 runs all season in almost 50 innings. In his last three games he has allowed only one run and struck out 21 in 23 innings. The one crack in Zambrano's game to this point in the season is that he is still wild. He has allowed 20 combined walks and hit batters, two things that the Indians excel at.

Justin Masterson has been really hard to figure out this season. In his last outing he was bombed by the Red Sox for 6 runs after having three straight quality starts. It's possible that the Red Sox had been under performing and they used that series to break out of it, but some of the blame has to fall on Masterson. He was uncharacteristically wild, hitting three batters, and when he did throw strikes, they got hit. On the season the Marlins have not been a great offensive team (144 runs scored, .238 batting average), so Masterson may be able to keep them in check a little easier than the Red Sox. Offensively the guy to look out for is Giancarlo Stanton, who has 8 home runs and 24 RBI through a month and a half. Their lineup isn't very deep, so if Indians pitching can limit the damage by Stanton and Hanley Ramirez, it shouldn't be too hard to deal with the rest of the roster. 

May 29th, 4:05 EST: Anibal Sanchez, RHP, 2-1, 2.28 ERA vs Jeanmar Gomez, RHP, 2-2, 3.75

Sanchez has thrown a quality start out there every time out so far, but hasn't gone much further from that. He has only given up more than 2 runs once this season (his first start), but has not thrown past the 7th inning. This series should feature some tough pitching match-ups in general as each team is sending it's three best starters out there.

After only giving up 4 runs in April through 15.1 innings, Gomez has allowed 11 runs in 20.2 innings during May. This includes his last time out when he threw 7 innings and didn't allow an earned run. It's not surprising that Gomez has pitched better against Minnesota, Oakland and Kansas City and worse against Chicago and Texas. Too this point Gomez is doing his job by beating the teams he is supposed to and some of those he isn't. He would like to continue this trend with a good outing against the weak hitting Marlins.

May 30th, 1:05 EST: Josh Johnson, RHP, 1-3, 5.36 ERA vs Derek Lowe, RHP, 6-1, 2.05

Johnson has definitely been hittable this year. Over his career he has a 3.12 ERA, but since coming back from injury he has struggled some. Twice this year he has not been able to get through the 4th inning and he has given up 5 or more runs 3 times. Out of the three games this series, this one will feature the Marlins worst pitcher against the Indians best.

Derek Lowe pitched a complete game shutout in his last start. This is madness. Manny Acta doesn't let starters throw nine innings!

Injury News: Travis Hafner is currently day to day after being hit by a pitch in the hand. He will probably miss the opener, but should be back by Saturday.

Jack Hannahan, who has missed the last 4 games with a strained back, is on schedule to be back in the starting lineup during this series, at least by the finale on Sunday.

Grady Sizemore took batting practice before the game on 5/16, but will not be back in the lineup until mid June at the earliest.

Player of the Game

With a game-tying homer in the bottom of the 8th inning, Jose Lopez won Player of the Game with a score of 6.27. Before the home run, Lopez had an error, a strikeout, and 3 runners in scoring position left on base, but the 3-run homer made up for all of that. In the 10th inning, he walked and later scored another tying run. Lopez won his 2nd Player of the Game this season, his other one coming on April 9th.

Feathers Up

The Indians bats (at least Jose Lopez's) came alive in the 8th inning. It looked like the Indians were going to take a 4-1 defeat until they tied it up in the 8th. Carlos Santana started the inning with a walk. Casey Kotchman then doubled. With runners on 2nd and 3rd, Jose Lopez hit a home run off the railing in left field, tying the game at 4. This took Zach McAllister, who pitched a very average game, off the hook for the loss.

Tony Sipp pitched a flawlessly in relief today. He pitched the 9th inning and one out of the 10th, facing the minimum 4 batters and striking out 3 of them.

When it looked like the Indians were going to lose after giving up a run in the top of the 10th inning, they came back to ties the game. Jose Lopez and Jason Kipnis walked, and Asdrubal Cabrera drove Lopez in to score the tying run.

The Indians won the game in the 10th inning after Seattle pitcher, Brandon League, walked several Indians hitters and Carlos Santana singled in the game-winning run.

The Indians have completed their 2nd 2-game series sweep in a row. The go into the weekend with a 4 game winning streak.

Feathers Down

The Indians defense was a little rough today. In the 5th inning, Jose Lopez had a fielding error and Carlos Santana had a passed ball, which combined led to an unearned run. In the 8th inning, there was a high pop up in far territory right in front of home plate which Casey Kotchman attempted to field, running all the way from first base. In his nice hustle attempt, he dropped the ball. Justin Smoak was credited with a single on the play, but it obviously should have been an error. Hits like that should be easy outs.

Travis Hafner was removed from the game after getting hit by a pitch on the hand.

Play of the Game

Jose Lopez ties the game in the 8th.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 - Seattle Mariners 5

Player of the Game

Travis Hafner knocked in 3 runs tonight in three separate at bats and won tonight's Player of the Game with a score of 6.77. Pronk had an RBI ground out, double and solo home run to account for those runs. He also scored two runs. Positive outings by Jairo Asencio, Tony Sipp and Ubaldo Jimenez along with the demotion of Dan Wheeler have lead to the Indians having no negative players on the current roster. There are a few players that are close, but every player on the team has been a positive part of the total effort this season.

Feathers Up

Shin-Soo Choo looked good in the lead-off spot again today. Since being moved there he has been 6-12 with 2 doubles, a home run, two RBI and four runs scored. The move was made to give more at bats to the Indians most effective hitters. It may be unconventional, but this lineup will almost certainly score more than one with a fast player that hits .220 at lead-off.

The Indians success against the Twins wasn't too much to get excited about as they are a last place team throwing out rookies and soon to be retirees, but scoring 8 runs against Felix Hernandez in 4 innings is very impressive.

The Indians finally wizened up and replaced Dan Wheeler with Jeremy Accardo, the pitcher who would have won the job out of Spring Training if the competition had truly been fair. Accardo made his Indians debut tonight and pitched a single perfect inning with a strike out. This note is very similar to tonight's Feathers Down.

Feathers Even? Ubaldo Jimenez wasn't vomit inducingly horrible tonight. Of course he was pitching against one of the worst offenses in the Majors and he still allowed 3 runs and threw over 100 pitches in 6 innings. It may be a step in the right direction, but it wasn't a very big one.

Feathers Down

At some point the Indians may want to stop watching Matt LaPorta set records in AAA, while Casey Kotchman sits at the bottom of the league in batting average. I know he has already had a ton of chances, but he never struggled to hit over .200. Kotchman went 0-3 with two strike outs and a double play tonight which puts his season average at .196 while LaPorta is hitting .331/.403/.644. Matt set a new record for most home runs at the Clippers new stadium tonight. Nobody wants to set minor league records. Give him a break. Trade him, release him or bring him up. Matt LaPorta can do absolutely nothing more at AAA. (This could have been about how Lonnie Chisenhall should be on the team instead of Jose Lopez, but LaPorta hit that home run).

Play of the Game

Carlos Santana stole second, took third on an over throw and scored on another one. Asdrubal Cabrera also scored on the play.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 9 - Seattle Mariners 3

The Indians Minor League system is filled with talented players. You hear about these players when they are drafted or traded for, but then they disappear from the mainstream media until they get to the Majors. How will you know the Indians of next year before they actually become Indians? I'm here to help you out with the Indians top ten Minor League players of 2012 so far. There will be four of these throughout the season. Once a player has been featured he will no longer be eligible for the list, so we will feature 40 different players. Players that have played in the Major Leagues are also ineligible as they cannot really be considered prospects anymore. This will keep this article from featuring the 2011 Cleveland Indians who are currently in AAA.

1. T.J. McFarland - SP - AA Akron - Drafted Round 4 in 2007

T.J. McFarland's complete dominance over all of AA has been an integral part of the machine that is the Akron Aeros. Akron currently leads all Eastern League teams with a 23-13 record. Seven of those wins belong to McFarland. He has only started 8 games and has a decision in each. T.J. currently holds a 1.86 ERA with a WHIP of just over 1.07 in 48.1 innings pitched. He has never pitched higher than AA, but look for him to make the jump later this season. This is McFarland's fifth professional season.

2. Chen Lee - RP - AAA Columbus - International Free Agent 2008

Chen Lee is the best example of an improved international scouting department in the Indians organization. Lee was signed out of Taiwan in 2008 and is currently in his fourth season in the Indians farm system. Lee has only thrown 7 innings out of the bullpen this year for the Clippers, but his consistency has not wavered since he got to Columbus. In parts of two seasons with Akron and Columbus, Lee holds a 2.80 ERA (so far this year with Columbus it is 2.57). His K/9 has been over 10 for every single MiLB season so far reaching as high as 12 strike outs per nine innings in Columbus last year. He needs some more time in AAA to make sure he can sustain his success, but he is definitely on the horizon for the Bullpen Mafia. Look for Lee as early as late 2012 and to be a competitor for a spot on the 25 man roster next Spring Training.

3. Steven Wright - SP - AA Akron - Drafted Round 2 in 2006

If it wasn't obvious before it should be now. The Indians are very deep in starting pitching at the mid to low Minor League levels (they are an Ubaldo Jimenez trade away from being deep at the upper level). Steven Wright is absolutely dominating AA hitters so far this season. In his 6th professional season Wright has struck out 38 batters over the course of 43.1 innings. Even more impressively he holds a 1.87 ERA over this time. This is the most successful he has been throughout his Minor League career with a career low in ERA and the highest K/9 rate at any level above Lake County. Wright definitely looks like one of the next starting pitchers to make the trip from Akron to Columbus.

4. Francisco Lindor - SS - A Lake County - Drafted Round 1 in 2011

In just 33 games at single A, Lindor has already hit 13 extra base hits including 3 triples. He also has stolen 11 bases making him look like the rarity that is the speed player with some power. He is only 18 and in his first full season with the Indians, but will hopefully move quickly through the system over the span of the next two years. He may still have some defensive issues to work out, but he has plenty of time for that. Look for him in Columbus by 2014. 

5. Adam Abraham - 3B - AA Akron - Drafted Round 13 in 2008

Abraham has moved slowly up the system, but it is probably for the best as it has allowed him to increase his power output during the last couple of seasons culminating in 17 home runs and 72 RBI in 2011(Kinston). This is his first season in AA and while it may look like he has struggled (.256 AVG), he has maintained in the more important categories of getting on base and hitting for power. His 20 walks have kept his OBP afloat at .393 and his extra base power has his slugging percent at .467, the highest of his career at any level. This is Abraham's 5th season in the minors and he is already 25, but at the least we can expect him to be the eventual replacement of Lonnie Chisenhall in Columbus when the Indians realize they need him in Cleveland.

6. Beau Mills - 1B - AAA Columbus - Drafted Round 1 in 2007

The Indians struggled with early round draft picks for a few years in the early 2000's and looked to come out of it with the selection of Beau Mills in 2007. Since then, only Lonnie Chisenhall and Francisco Lindor remain as first round picks. The Indians have high hopes for Mills as first base is not a deep position for the team at the Major or Minor League levels. This is his 6th season and his .231/.279/.436 line doesn't give much reason for the Indians to move him along any further. If he doesn't step up his game soon he may be could be traded or end up as a rule 5 player at the end of the season. Of course if he doesn't play any better, why would any other team want to take a risk with him.

7. Jose Flores - RP - A+ Carolina - International Free Agent 2005

The Indians have taken it slow with this reliever, pitching him two seasons in the Dominican Summer League before allowing him to pitch in the U.S. Flores is currently having his best season yet as the closer for the Mudcats. He has finished 11 of his 15 games pitched in and has struck out 21 in only 17.2 innings. His 1.02 ERA is extremely impressive and his 7 saves show he can take the pressure of being a low level minor league closer. At his current pace he will be ready to leave Columbus sometime in 2016, but his talent level should allow him to move up a little faster than that. Instead, look for him to be in Columbus within the next two years.

8. Cody Anderson - SP - A Lake County - Drafted Round 14 in 2011

In just his first full Minor League season Cody Anderson is already showing some promise. In the 43 innings he's pitched since he was drafted last season he has only allowed 9 runs for an ERA of 1.88. He has won 4 of his 6 starts and struck out 31 compared to 9 walks. The basics are there for Anderson, it will just take some more time to see what kind of pitcher he will really be. After the routine AA broken finger and AAA Tommy John surgery, how much will he have left in the tank? Assuming none of those things happen, Anderson could be expected to be at a pro level by late 2015 or 2016.

9. Eric Berger - SP - AAA Columbus - Drafted Round 8 in 2008

The best mustache in baseball has jumped around a lot since joining the Indians system in 2008. In 5 years with the Tribe he has played for 5 different teams including time in Akron in 4 separate seasons. He started this year in Akron, but was quickly moved back to AAA, where he has pitched admirably. In 2 starts Berger has struck out 10 and only allowed 3 runs. Berger may be a pleasant surprise to most Indians fans as he hasn't seen much press as an 8th round draft pick, but most people hadn't heard of Zach McAllister before last season either. Berger could be Major League ready by season end and should definitely be in mind as a possible deep rotation starter or long reliever in 2013.

 10. Tim Fedroff - OF - AA Akron - Drafted Round 7 in 2008

Tim Fedroff spent last season at AAA, but has been demoted back to AA for the start of 2012. This probably has more to do with the glut of outfielders the Indians aquired before the season this year. New this season were Trevor Crowe (back from injury), Ezequiel Carrera (demoted from Cleveland) and Ryan Spilborghs (Minor League Free Agent). Since the beginning of the season Crowe has hurt himself again and Spilborghs has been traded, possibly leaving an opening for another outfielder on the Clippers' roster. Fedroff has played well enough for the promotion with a line of .333/.422/.468. His 5 steals with 3 times caught do leave some room for concern however as the Indians would like him to be a speed-type player. Fedroff does have 3 triples already, so he is probably just picking some bad places to run.

There are your top ten Indians Minor Leaguers through May. They are not specifically the best ten in the system right now, just those athletes that I felt should be recognized at this point in the season. Look out for ten more sometime around the beginning of July.

The Indians just completed a quick 2 game sweep of the Minnesota Twins. Many positive things came out of this series: starting pitching was strong, the offense started producing runs, they hit a 4 home runs in 2 games, and Johnny Damon is no longer in the lead off role. Next, the Indians return home for another 2 game series, this time against the Seattle Mariners, who are currently in 3rd place in the AL West, and 8 games behind the Texas Rangers.

This is the second series against the Mariners this season. The Indians took the first series from them, 2-1. With consistent pitching and solid offense, the Indians should sweep this series as well. The Indians are currently 2 games ahead of the second place Tigers, which guarantees them first place standings at the end of this series.

May 16th 7:05 EST: Felix Hernandez, RHP, 3-2, 2.29 ERA vs Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 3-3, 5.18 ERA

The last time the Indians faced the King (4/19), he pitched 8 shut out innings and left for the 9th where the Seattle closer blew the game. This was one of the rare time where the Indians strategy of striking out constantly to increase a starters pitch count actually worked. Twelve Indians struck out, but it forced Hernandez to throw 126 pitches, a number that Eric Wedge was not comfortable with. The Indians abillity to work the count is one of their greatest strong points and they will need to be very selective against Hernandez.

The reason the Indians were able to come back in that game was because Josh Tomlin kept the Mariners to a single run. After his time out against Boston, I'm not sure that Ubaldo has it in him to do that. There are a couple of ways to look at the series in Boston. One of those is that Boston is a high level team that has been playing very poorly so far and they finally got it together when the Tribe came to town. It still doesn't fit exactly with his dominance of an even better offensive team in the Texas Rangers, but it can go a little to explain how he gave up 7 runs in 4 innings.

May 17th 12:05 EST: Hector Noesi, RHP, 2-4, 6.32 ERA vs Zach McAllister, RHP, 1-1, 4.15 ERA

Noesi is a rookie for Seattle and has yet to pitch against the Indians. He has struggled some this year, specifically against the Rangers and White Sox where he was unable to go more than 3 innings, but has also shown moments of greatness. In two games, against the Twins and the A's, he allowed one run in 7 innings and had an 8 inning shutout. Those four games can probably be considered outliers in a short career so far. More likely he will be like his other three starts where he has allowed between 4 and 6 runs in 5 to 7 innings.

McAllister has pitched well in each of his two starts, especially considering that he pitched the last one on less than a days notice. This will be the first of his three starts this year that has been scheduled in advance, so he should be able to be a little more prepared for the hitters he is going to face. Of course the hitters for Seattle are nowhere near those of Chicago or Boston, so he should get some help there too.

Player of the Game

Four players had Player of the Game scores above 4 today, but Derek Lowe nearly doubled the score of the next highest player. Lowe was today's Player of the Game with a score of 8.47. Derek Lowe pitched a complete game, allowing just 6 hits in his shut out performance. When he did allow base runners, Lowe forced Twins hitters to ground into 4 double plays. The other 3 Indians players with scores above 4 were Shin-Soo Choo (4.73), Asdrubal Cabrera (4.53), and Carlos Santana (4.33).

Feathers Up

After losing 3 of 4 games in Boston, the Indians came back with a 2-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins. The Indians next series is in Cleveland, with 2 games against the Mariners.

Shin-Soo Choowas in the lead off spot for the second consecutive game, forcing Johnny Damon to bat in the 7 position. Choo led off 4 different innings today and ended the game going 2-4 with a double, a home run, an RBI, and 2 runs scored.

The Indians scored their first 2 runs of the game (1 in the 2nd inning, 1 in the 3rd inning) via the small ball. Tribe hitters strung together a couple singles and doubles to score their runs. In the 5th inning, however, they felt it was time to show off their power. Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Carlos Santana each hit solo home runs, adding 3 more runs to the Indians lead.

Feathers Down

Jack Hannahan has not played in 2 consecutive games due to some tightness in his back.

Play of the Game

3 home runs (Choo, Cabrera, Santana) in the 5th inning.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 - Minnestoa Twins 0

Player of the Game

Starting pitcher Jeanmar Gomez was the top player in tonight's game against the Minnesota Twins. He pitched 7 strong innings, giving up just 3 singles, while he walked only 3, and struck out 2. One Twin run was scored while Gomez pitched, but it was unearned. With a score of 6.54, this is Jeanmar's first Player of the Game award of the season. Casey Kotchman took second place tonight with a score of 4.78, which included a single and a 2-run home run.

Feathers Up

Shin-Soo Choo was the lead off hitter tonight as Johnny Damon got the day off. We will see where Damon hits when he returns to the line up.

The Indians played small ball to score their 2 runs in the 4th inning. Jason Kipnis singled and advanced to 3rd on Asdrubal Cabrera's ground-rule double. Travis Hafner drove in Kipnis with a ground out to the right side of the infield, advancing Cabrera to 3rd. Carlos Santana then hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Cabrera.

The Indians added 2 more runs in the 5th inning with the long ball. After Jose Lopez doubled, Casey Kotchman hit a 2-run home run.

The Indians were able to come back and win the game after the Twins tied it up in the 8th inning. Casey Kotchman singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Lou Marson, who ran for Kotchman, scored on a Shin-Soo Choo single, giving the Indians the lead.

Feathers Down

The Twins were able to take the lead early when Carlos Santana threw a ball into left field attempting to throw out Darin Mastroianni, who was taking 3rd on a passed ball. This unearned run was the only run allowed while Jeanmar Gomez was pitching.

The bullpen was rocky in the 8th inning, allowing the Twins to come back and tie the game. Vinnie Pestano and Nick Hagadone each were only able to record one out. Pestano walked a batter and gave up a double, allowing one run to score. Hagadone came in the game and allowed a home run, allowing 2 more runs to score. Joe Smith came in the game and quickly recorded the last out in the 8th inning.

Play of the Game

Casey Kotchman hits a 2-run home run and improves his batting average to .198

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 - Minnesota Twins 4

Let's ignore that ever happened. And on to the Twins.

Mon 5/14, 8:10 EST: Jeanmar Gomez, RHP, 2-2, 4.66 ERA vs Carl Pavano, RHP, 2-3, 5.02 ERA

This short two game series against the worst team in the AL Central should be just what the Indians need. The best part is that the team as little time in the terrible state that is Minnesota as possible as they will be playing the second game at 12:10 local time. Carl Pavano was once a good pitcher, especially during his time with the Florida Marlins (2002-2004) where he was a World Series champion and All-Star. After the Yankees ruined his career, he pitched for a half season with the Indians and was traded to the Twins for Yohan Pino. After pitching well in AAA in 2009, Pino struggled in 2010 and was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays where he has been demoted to AA and is struggling through his 7th professional season in Minor League Baseball. The point of this story is to say that the Indians got the better part of this trade as they no longer have to put Pavano on the mound and get to face him a couple times a season.

Tue 5/15, 1:10 EST: Derek Lowe, RHP, 5-1, 2.47 ERA vs Jason Marquis, RHP, 2-2, 6.26 ERA

Derek Lowe is still the rock in the Indians rotation and the only starting pitcher that is pitching above the level he should be. He should be able to continue this trend against the light hitting Twins. Minnesota will be especially light hitting during this series as their only power hitter, Justin Morneau, is on the disabled list. Taking his place at first will be Chris Parmelee (.188/.253/.257) and catcher Joe Mauer. Ryan Doumit or Drew Butera will be behind the plate if Mauer plays first. Doumit is actually one of the Twins better players at the moment as only him and Josh Willingham have more than a single home run on the season. 

Another former Indian on the Twins is Jamey Carroll, who is listed as their starting third baseman. This Twins team is very bad. Anything less than a two game sweep should be looked at as an absolute failure by the Tribe during this series.

Player of the Game

Pitching a perfect 8th inning with 2 strike outs, Jairo Asencio won today's Player of the game with a score of 1.50. Just a reminder, when a relief pitcher wins this award, it means that the Indians did not provide and offense and that their starting pitcher had a poor outing. Asencio has won 3 Player of the Game awards this year. Michael Brantley came in very close 2nd with a score of 1.49. Michael Brantley went 2-3 today with a single and 2 doubles and 9-18 in the series.

Feathers Up

Milestone: Justin Masterson has now pitched 500+ innings as a Cleveland Indian. Only about 100 pitchers in Indians history have accomplished this feat, now Masterson is one of them.

Feathers Down

Justin Masterson had a wild outing today. He pitched 6 innings, but probably should have pitched fewer. In those six innings, he gave up 6 runs. He allowed 7 hits: 4 singles, 2 doubles, and a home run. He struck out 3 and only walked one. It wasn't the one walk that made this a wild outing for Masterson, it was the fact that he hit 3 batters. He also did not control the Boston running game, as they stole 2 bases off of him.

The Indians had a couple of opportunities to score, but were unable to take advantage of them. They scored their only run in the 3rd inning with a bases loaded walk taken by Asdrubal Cabrera with just one out. The next batter, Travis Hafner, got behind in the count early and ended the inning by grounding into a double play. They had another opportunity to score in the 4th inning when they had runners on 2nd and 3rd with just one out, but they failed to take advantage and score any runs.

If one thought Justin Masterson had a bad game, they didn't stick around to see Dan Wheeler pitch. Before recording a single out in the 7th inning, Wheeler gave up 3 doubles, a single, and walked a batter, allowing Boston to score 4 runs. After recording an out, he then gave up a 2-run home run over the Green Monster. To put that into Player of the Game perspective, his score of -9.39 is the lowest score by any Indians player this year.

The way Johnny Damon played defense in left field today, you would think that he never played at Fenway Park. He seemed uncomfortable fielding balls hit off the Green Monster as he misplayed a few today. He also dropped a ball he should have caught and allowed a single to turn into a double when he couldn't find the ball that was trapped under his body.

I'm sure every team dreams of their lead off batter batting .159 with an OBP under .200. Johnny Damon either has to start hitting or Manny Acta needs to shuffle the line up around. Tom Hamilton said it best (paraphrasing): You can't send a guy to Arizona for a couple weeks to face pitchers that aren't even good enough to make minor league clubs and expect him to be Major League Baseball ready.

The Indians are currently on a 3 game losing streak, which is their longest losing streak of the year. This year's Boston team is not a playoff-caliber team, as they sit in last place in the AL East. The Indians need to get their pitching in gear and start hitting, and tomorrow night against the struggling Minnesota Twins is a perfect time to start.

Play of the Game

Asdrubal Cabrera stands at the plate with the bat on his shoulders for 4 straight pitches and gets an easy RBI.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Boston Red Sox 12

Pregame Transactions: The Indians needed a spot starter today as Josh Tomlin was placed on the 15 day disabled list with an injury to his right wrist. In his place Zach McAllister has returned to make his second start for the Tribe. He is basically just making his next regular start after he pitched game one of the double header on Monday. In other nonsensical moves the Indians demoted Jason Donald and brought back Jose Lopez. Since Lopez was dropped from the 40 man roster when he was demoted, the Indians had to make a corresponding roster move. They have decided to designate Nick Weglarz for assignment.

Player of the Game

Lou Marson miraculously won today's Player of the Game as he lucked out with his second hit of the season and a run scored. Marson got his second hit in 20 at bats and earned a score 1.33. Jason Kipnis and Jairo Asencio each scored about 1.26 for their efforts.

Feathers Up

There is only one more game in Boston this season and the Indians have their ace going.

Feathers Down

Josh Tomlin's injury pushed Zach McAllister from his start in Columbus into a start in Boston. McAllister struggled some early, giving up 3 runs in the 3rd and 4th innings , but settled down to pitch 7 innings.

As predicted the Indians struggled against a left handed pitcher that they haven't face before. This is becoming a trend as the Indians' left-handed heavy lineup continues to be ineffectual against left handed pitching.

Play of the Game

Mike Aviles hit a sacrifice fly to short left that allowed Daniel Nava to score. This is the play of the game because Nava had no right to score on this play. Learn to block the plate Lou-ser, you're supposed to be a great defensive catcher.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Boston Red Sox 4