Player of the Game

Carlos Santana did a little bit of everything tonight, earning him the Player of the Game. His 3 run home run gave the Indians the lead and he added a hit and a walk to his stat line as well. Santana also threw out a runner attempting to steal and stole a base himself after his single. While stealing second, a terrible throw by A.J. Pierzynski allowed Santana to take third as well. Travis Hafner's 2 run home run and single put him in second place with a score of 5.40, while Santana scored a 6.58.

Feathers Up

Matt LaPorta is third in the league in batting average with a .386 clip. Lonnie Chisenhall is also tearing the cover off the ball with a .326/.351/.562 line. Combined they have hit 13 home runs and knocked in 30. They also have 15 combined doubles and 32 runs scored. It isn't even fair. It's like these guys should be in a whole different league.

The Indians win and gain sole possession of first place to begin May. Chris Perez's save pushes him into a tie for the league lead in saves as well.

Feathers Down

Casey Kotchman is currently hitting .143, worst in the league by 7 points. He and Aaron Cunningham combined have a total of 4 extra base hits and 6 RBI. These guys are totally outmatched. It's almost like these guys should be in a totally different league.

Johnny Damon left the game in the bottom of the 6th with PMS. Trainers say he should have stayed in Goodyear until the end of his cycle.

It's hard to get a chances with 5 runners in scoring position in a single game, but Shin-Soo Choo not only had those chances, he managed to go 0-4 during the game, stranding all 5 runners. He wasn't the only Indians hitter to with a RISPLOB tonight, Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana, Travis Hafner and Shelley Duncan had them as well, but he was the most prodigious.

Play of the Game

Carlos Santana hit a three run home run to give the Indians a 2 run lead in the top of the 5th.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 - Chicago White Sox 3

Player of the Game

In what could be his last game as a starter, Shelley Duncan went 2-3 with a double, home run and walk to win tonight's Player of the Game. He earned a total score of 4.68, aided by his two runs scored and the RBI from the home run. It was his highest score since April 15th and the first Indians home run in over a week. With a -4.45, Asdrubal Cabrera had a game to forget about. He went 0-4 without hitting a ball out of the infield and had an error that lead to three unearned runs.

Feathers Up

The removal of Jose Lopez from the roster rather than Aaron Cunningham will allow the Indians to platoon Shelley Duncan and Casey Kotchman at first, with Johnny Damon splitting time with Duncan and Cunningham in left. This will allow the Indians to keep Duncan's powerful bat in the lineup on a daily basis and avoid having Kotchman's.

I rarely have as mixed feelings about a player as I do about Jairo Asencio. He started the season by losing the opening game, but only after pitching two good innings. Since then he's had three good appearances followed by a bad one, then two more average appearances followed by an absolutely terrible inning where he gave up 4 hits and 4 runs. Asencio pitched well again today, but it's impossible to get a feeling on him, whether he will be lights out or get his lights knocked out.

Feathers Down

There must be things that Manny Acta cares more about than winning, otherwise he wouldn't play the back up catcher the day after an off day and move the number 2 hitter down to 7th so the utility infielder could hit second.

Shin-Soo Choo did not make his return tonight as promised. The Indians are claiming that he will be ready to start tomorrow night. Johnny Damon was also left out of the lineup, although he was available to play.

Ubaldo Jimenez still can't throw strikes. He was removed before the end of the fifth inning as he had already thrown over 100 pitches and walked 6 batters.

With bases loaded in the 9th and two outs, Manny Acta showed that he had already given up as he let Lou Marson, who hasn't had a hit in two weeks, bat instead of pinch hitting either Choo, Damon or Jack Hannahan (the team leader in RBI). Somebody should tell Manny that his goal should be to win games, not to play little league coach and make sure everybody gets their playing time.

Play of the Game

In the 7th, Alexis Rios hit a shallow pop to second base where the Indians catcher, Carlos Santana misjudged it, allowing it to fall for an error. This is the play of the game because it exemplifies this game as good as any other. Why was Carlos Santana trying to catch a ball at second? Why did Alexis change his name to Alex? Who is John Galt?

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 - Chicago White Sox 7

This is a new segment that may be recurring on a monthly basis. Basically I will be ranking the Indians players by importance to the team with notes to whether they are exceeding expectations, meeting them or falling behind. I will also include their most important stat and why it is so.

Travis Hafner Above

.450 OBP: Although his batting average has dropped a little over the last week (.295), Pronk is still second in the AL in OBP. His excellence in this, the all-mightiest of basic stats, makes him top offensive player on the team.

Derek Lowe Above

4 Wins: Lowe's greatest ability is that he can keep a team in the game. The Indians have rewarded his ability by giving him a league leading 4 wins through April. Lowe has certainly been the best surprise on the Indians so far this year.

Jason Kipnis Even

20 Games Played: Kipnis hasn't been the best offensive player statistically, but by being solid defensively and on the base-paths, he has become a steady point for this team to base itself around. He has played every game this season for the Indians at second base.

Jack Hannahan Above

14 RBI: Hannahan has been Mr. Clutch this year, knocking in the most runs on the team and doing so from the bottom half of the lineup. This is probably because the Indians lead off hitters don't get on base as much as their middle of the lineup hitters, but I'll try not to take all the credit away from Jack.

Jeanmar Gomez Above

.161 BAA: There isn't one stat you can use to describe Jeanmar's performance this year as they are all fantastic. He has done exactly what was asked of him, from the bullpen or as a starter, on short or long rest. He has not allowed hits, walks or runs scored and has struck out 13 in 15.1 innings.

Carlos Santana Even

18 Walks: This total ranks him second in the league, right above Travis Hafner. His ability to get on base by other means makes it a lot easier to accept a .262 batting average.

Justin Masterson Below

6 IP per game: Where is the Indians ace who had a chance to go the full 9 every five days last season? Masterson has been hit like crazy this year, giving up almost a hit per inning in addition to the 17 batters he's walked. His turn around is the single most important thing the Indians need for this baseball team to be successful.

Asdrubal Cabrera Even

10 Extra Bases: This is one of the stats I keep on my own and I believe it is even more important than stolen bases, because it brings greater reward to the team with less risk. His 11/13 on extra base attempts (extra bases + steals / extra bases + outs on the base paths) makes him the best base runner on the team this season.

Josh Tomlin Even

3 Walks: Every pitcher on the staff who was in Cleveland all month has walked more batters than Tomlin (except Pestano). This includes relievers who have only pitched 7 innings, while Tomlin pitched over 20. Josh is a control freak and be remain successful as long as he remains one.

Vinnie Pestano Above

8 Inherited Runners Stranded: Pestano leads the team in runners stranded by other pitchers as he has continued from where he left off last year. His job as holder is just as important as Perez's as closer and is usually more difficult as Pure Rage gets to come in with nobody on base.

Michael Brantley Below (but rising)

6 Doubles: Brantley has made a huge comeback after hitting below .200 for the first three weeks of the season and is now sitting at .250. He has also taken over the team lead in doubles. As he gets on base and into scoring position more, it will only increase the potential of Hafner and Santana.

Joe Smith Above

1.74 ERA: Smith leads Indians relievers in ERA and least amount of credit given. There is no question anymore of whether he is one of the top three coming out of the Tribe bullpen. The question is "is he the top one?" While Perez gets the glory and Pestano gets the love, don't forget about the lowly side armer, who destroys evething that gets in his path.

Ubaldo Jimenez Below

14 Walks: As a power pitcher, you should never walk more batters than you strike out, but Jimenez has come up with Fausto Carmona syndrome as he has only struck out 13 batters. He will need to start missing some bats if he wants to maintain his #2 spot in the rotation and will need to find his control if he still wants a job in professional baseball.

Chris Perez Even

7 Saves: Perez is tied for the league lead in saves as he is doing his job extremely well. He is paid to close out games, no matter how he does it and he has only failed once so far this season.

Shin-Soo Choo Below

.697 OPS: For those who don't know, great players usually have an OPS of 1.000+. Bad players, like Kotchman, have one around .500. Choo's OPS is embarassing for him and the only way to fix it is to start hitting for some power. Choo has walked a fair amount this season (10), but has yet to hit a home run or triple. Hopefully when he returns from his injury in May, he will find his power stroke.

Shelley Duncan Below

.344 SLG: The Indians have 5 players hitting above .400 slugging even though they didn't hit a home run the last week plus in April. Duncan is not one of them, but should be. The only powerful right handed bat in the lineup is being out hit by Kipnis and Hannahan among others. He will probably be pushed back into a pinch-hitting role with the acquisition of Johnny Damon.

Jason Donald Even

5 Runs: You may say that 5 runs scored in nothing, there are guys on the team with double that, but Donald has only been on base 8 times. He also has two steals and is yet to be caught, making him extremely productive when he does get on base. He has already played 4 positions for the Tribe this year as well, the perfect definition of a utility man.

Aaron Cunningham Below

2 RBI: Cunningham has mostly been used as a late inning defensive replacement, but also has started in right field for Choo during his injury. Through that time he has managed to get 37 at bats, but has produced as close to nothing as possible. He has a total of 9 hits and his 2 RBI came in back to back games. It is almost a surety that Cunningham will not be on the team the next time I write one of these.

Tony Sipp Below

5 Holds: Sipp has done just about the absolute minimum to get his job done at this point in the season. With young stud Nick Hagadone on the roster now, his job as left handed specialist may be in jeopardy.

Casey Kotchman Below

.149 Batting Average: This guy was in the top ten in hitting in 2011 (Currently is second to last in AL). Kotchman's absolute lack of success is inexplicable. All the Indians can do at the moment is drop him to the bottom of the lineup, enjoy his solid defense and wait for Beau Mills.

Dan Wheeler Below

4/8 Inherited Runners Scored: Wheeler has been very predictable when he comes in from the pen with runners on. He will let them score. He has really hurt Manny Acta's strategy of taking out a starting pitcher extremely early in the game.

Nick Hagadone Above

0.69 WHIP: Even though his sample size is small, his numbers are impressive as he has struck out 5 batters in 4.1 innings and has only allowed 3 base runners and one run to score. Hagadone belongs in the "Bullpen Mafia" and will hopefully never have to put on a Clippers uniform again.

Jose Lopez Below

1 Home run: This home run is pretty much the only thing Lopez has done this year. He has 3 RBI in 5 games and his .190 batting average in limited time makes him next on the chopping block if the Indians want to bring up someone else/Lonnie Chisenhall.

Lou Marson Even

3 Games Played: How can you judge a player with only 3 games under his belt. This is actually a great number as it means Carlos Santana is playing every day and at the position that he brings the most value to. Marson needs to be ready down the line, later in the season as fatigue hits Santana and he can't play behind the plate every day.

Jairo Asencio Below

0 Options: Asencio has the worst batting average against on the team and the second worst ERA (7.15). He has allowed more runs, hits and walks than any pitchers on the staff except 4 of the five starters even though he has pitched in less than half the innings those pitchers have. He does not deserve to be on a Major League roster.

Out: Rafael Perez (DL) Even

.143 BA (Against righties) .231 BA (Against lefties): So much for matching up. Did we learn nothing from Money Ball? It doesn't matter what hand you throw with. Get used to Hagadone, Cleveland.

Those are my rankings and assessments. I dare you to tell me I'm wrong. @BRBBlog on Twitter.

Roster Moves: This series will see a couple of changes to the lineup that should help the team offensively. Shin-Soo Choo is expected to return from his 5 game absence to take back his starting right field job from Aaron Cunningham. He has been bothered by a strained hamstring. The other addition will be new left-fielder Johnny Damon. He will most likely be taking Shelley Duncan's place in the startling lineup and in left field on a semi-regular basis. Damon has been getting ready for the season in Goodyear and will be going straight into Major League action, bypassing the usual trip through the minors. Damon will likely hit in the bottom half of a reordered lineup that should include Jason Kipnis at the top. It is still unknown which player will be sent down/released to make room for Damon, but it will most likely be Aaron Cunningham.

Last series the Indians were able to keep the Angels on their losing ways, taking two out of three from the AL West favorites and only allowing a total of four runs in the three game series. With the wins, the Indians were able to maintain their first place spot in the Central Division (one game ahead of both Chicago and Detroit. Of course, any wins the Tribe get now will go a long way in keeping them competitive when the division chase is coming down the line.

May 1, 8:10 EST: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 2-1, 4.50 ERA vs Chris Sale, LHP, 2-1, 3.12 ERA

This series will feature all the pitchers that threw in the rain shortened two game series between the White Sox and Indians in early April. Chris Sale was one of those starters and he was very impressive in what was his first Major League start. Sale pitched into the 7th and only allowed one run while striking out 5. He was only pulled from the game because he hit the 100 pitch mark. Since that game he has continued his success, pitching at least 5 innings in every game and never allowing more than 3 runs. He has thrown at least 100 pitches in each game so far and managed to stretch it through the 8th inning his last time out. Chris Sale is making the White Sox look good with their decision to change him from closer to starting pitcher, an experiment that doesn't always work out.

Ubaldo Jimenez will be pitching against the White Sox for the first time this year as he was still serving his suspension the last time they were in Cleveland. His goal should be to at least get into the 7th inning as he hasn't pitched past the 6th his last three times out. The main reason for this has been his lack of control. Jimenez has walked at least three batters every game this season and has actually struck out less batters than he has walked, not even close to the 2-1 ratio expected amongst power pitchers. 

May 2, 8:10 EST: Josh Tomlin, RHP, 1-2, 5.48 ERA vs Philip Humber, RHP, 1-1, 4.66 ERA

Josh Tomlin took the loss in the first game against Chicago this season, but did not pitch all that badly. He has been a little unpredictable to this point in the season, going from an 8 inning start with 7 strike outs to a start of less than 5 innings and only one strike out. One thing that has remained consistent with Josh is his control. So far this year he has only walked three batters in 4 games.

Humber missed the first series battle between these two teams due to the rain out, but has made some news since then as he pitched Major League Baseball's 21st perfect game ever. He was the third White Sox pitcher to throw a perfect game, the most recent before him being Mark Buehrle's perfecto in 2009. Some have questioned the validity of his perfect game since it came against a minor league team, the Seattle Mariners.

May 3, 8: 10 EST: Justin Masterson, RHP, 0-2, 5.40 ERA vs John Danks, LHP, 2-3, 6.23 ERA

The Indians ace finally pitched like an ace in his last time out as he went into the 9th and only allowed two runs. Vinnie Pestano relieved him and earned the win in that game, but Masterson finally showed what Indians fans have been waiting for all year. He will go up against the White Sox ace in this matchup, who beat him in their first bout earlier this year. Masterson only gave up three earned runs in that game, but the 2 unearned runs are the ones that cost him. With the Indians improved defense (Choo and Damon) and offense they should provide a much better game for the White Sox this time around.

From 1929 to 1932, Wes Ferrell was the Indians best pitcher. As the ace, he pitched in over 40 games and won more than twenty each year during that four year span. His 25 wins in 1930 (his career high) remain in the top ten best of all Indians pitchers in a single season. Ferrell filled the talent gap between the time Hall of Famer Stan Coveleski left the team in 1924 and Mel Harder became the ace in 1933. Even though his best statistical year was 1930 (at least as far as ERA, wins and strikeouts go), Ferrell didn't start to receive accolades until a few seasons later, when he was voted 11th in the AL MVP vote in 1931 and 19th in 1932. He made his first All-Star game in 1933, during what was his worst, and final, season as a Cleveland Indian. In 1934 Ferrell was traded to the Red Sox, ending his career with the Indians. He went along with Dick Porter in exchange for Bob Seeds and Bob Weiland.

Even though Wes Ferrell's 13 year career wasn't quite good enough to get him into the Hall of Fame, his time with the Tribe was significant enough to garner him a spot in the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame. His brother Rick has been enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame as a catcher for the Washington Senators. The two brothers did get to play together for Washington in 1938. Wes Ferrell died in 1976.

Player of the Game

One could not ask for a better start than Derek Lowe gave Indians fans today. Lowe pitched 7.2 innings of shut out baseball, only allowing 3 hits, 2 singles by Kendrys Morales and a single hit by Chris Iannetta. He worked very efficiently, keeping his pitch count low all game by forcing Angel batters to hit the ball into play, letting the defense do their job. At one point in the game, Derek Lowe retired 13 straight batters. His spectacular performance today won Derek Lowe is 2nd Player of the Game honors with a score of 8.14, the highest score of any player this season.

Feathers Up

During the past 2 games, Torii Hunter has been listed in the "Feathers Down" portion of the game recap. Today, Hunter receives a giant "Feathers Up." It was Hunter's 2-run error in the 5th inning that led to the first 2 Indians runs. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a routine fly ball to right field with 2 runners on and 2 outs. Torii hunter appeared to be under the ball ready to catch it, but he apparently lost the ball in the sun, allowing both runners to score.

While Torii Hunter could not handle the sun, Aaron Cunningham decided to deal with the sun in style. The inning after Hunter's error, Cunningham wanted to make sure the same thing didn't happen to him. When a line drive was hit to him in right, he lost his footing, fell down, and proceeded to get up and still make the catch.

The Indians took advantage of another Angel error in the 8th inning when releif pitcher Kevin Jepsen threw wildly to first base on a Jack Hannahan sacrifice bunt. This allowed pinch runner, Jason Donald, to score from 2nd on the overthrow and gave the Indians an extra out. The Indians were able to add 2 more runs to their lead, giving them a 4-0 advantage after 8 innings.

Feathers Down

The Indians continue their homerless streak. Tribe hitters have not hit the ball out of the park in 11 games.

Play of the Game

Torii Hunter loses the ball in the sun

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 0

Player of the Game

Pitching 2 perfect innings of relief with 2 strikeouts, Joe Smith won his 2nd Player of the Game this year with a score of 2.54. Close behind him was Jeanmar Gomez with a score of 2.29.

Feathers Up

Jeanmar Gomez returned from his suspension with a quality start. Gomez pitched 6 strong innings, allowing just 2 Angel runs. Unfortunately, the one run by the Tribe was not enough to get Gomez the win today. In his 6 innings pitched, Gomez struck out 7 and gave up just 6 hits.

Feathers Down

Torii Hunter continues to tear up Tribe pitching. Hunter was today's deciding run with his solo home run in the top of the 4th inning. So far in this series, Hunter is 3-8 with 2 home runs. Hopefully Indians pitching will be able to shut him out in the series finale tomorrow.

The Indians have had problems scoring runs and coming up with the big innings that we saw earlier in the season. The whole team is on a home run slump. The last home run by an Indian player was hit by Carlos Santana on April 17th, 11 days ago.

Tribe hitters struck out 8 times today and walked only twice. Carlos Santana and Asdrubal Cabrera were amongst those not seeing the ball well today, with Santana striking out 3 times and Cabrera, 2.

Play of the Game

Jack Hannahan singles in the 4th inning, driving in Jason Kipnis, the only Indians run today.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2

Player of the Game

Justin Masterson won his second Player of the Game of the season, even though he wasn't able to record the win in the game. His score of 4.74 was his highest since Opening Day. He pitched into the 9th inning before he was relieved for the final two outs by Vinnie Pestano. Masterson struck out 5 and only allowed 4 hits in the game. Michael Brantley had one of his best games of the season with 3 hits, an RBI and a run scored, but was unable to move the winning run to third when it really counted. His final score was 3.07.

Feathers Up

The Indians have restructured the lineup as I predicted by placing Jason Kipnis in the two hole and flipping Travis Hafner and Carlos Santana. This may or may not change back to the old lineup as soon as Shin-Soo Choo comes back from his hamstring ailment.

Travis Hafner has started in 11 consecutive games and has gotten on base in each one. Last year the Indians' DH never played in more than 14 consecutive games. He definitely appears to be injury free and running on all cylinders.

Justin Masterson played the Ace today and outdueled Jered Weaver, simply by staying in the game longer. The Indians weren't able to score against Weaver, but by making him throw a lot of pitches were able to knock him out of the game early. Masterson allowed a couple of runs, but was much more efficient, enabling him to stay in the game through the 8th inning while the Angels were forced to use their terrible bullpen.

Feathers Down

It was the Torii Hunter show tonight as the Indians former nemesis knocked in both Angels runs and kept the Indians from scoring their first run. Hunter scored Albert Pujols from second with a single and kept Asdrubal Cabrera from scoring the same way right after with a good throw from right field. He later added a solo home run to increase the Angel lead to two.

Play of the Game

Asdrubal Cabrera hit a walk off single to right field to knock in Aaron Cunningham and win the game for the Tribe. What I really loved about this hit was that the Angels had brought an outfielder in to play infield, so all he had to do was hit it in the air to win the game, but he hit a ball that would have been a double against a normal defense and a triple or inside-the-park homerun against the defense they had set up.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2

The series against Kansas City didn't end quite the way the Indians wanted as they struggled scoring runs, losing the last two games of the three game series. The Indians are now 2-6 at home and 7-2 on the road. In fact, every team in the AL Central has a losing record at home (Kansas City is worse with an 0-10 record) and a winning record on the road (Cleveland is best at 7-2). This strange scenario has allowed the Tribe to remain in first place going into the series with Los Angeles.

Shin-Soo Choo comes into the series with an injured hamstring and it is unknown as of now when he will return. The injury is said not to be serious, but he has already missed two games for it. The Indians are really missing his defense as Aaron Cunningham is no comparison. Cunningham has fit well into the lineup, however as he has two RBI hits in his last two games.

It is safe to say that the Angels have been this years most disappointing team thus far as their Yankee like free agent signings have not been enough to give them a winning record (6-13). Currently they sit at the bottom of the AL West behind the rebuilding Seattle Mariners and Oakland A's. The Angels come into this game after losing 4 in a row and the Indians will look to continue that streak.

Jered Weaver, RHP, 3-0, 2.43 ERA vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 0-2, 6.65

The Indians will need Masterson to step up his game in this match up as he goes against the Angels ace and multiple Cy Young candidate, Jered Weaver. He is one player who hasn't struggled and has recorded half of the Angels wins this season. Over time the Indians have performed slightly better than the average team against Weaver, but he is still good enough that you shouldn't see more than 2 runs scored while he is in the game. It is up to Masterson to keep it close until the Angels bullpen comes in. Their bullpen is currently ranked as the third worst in the AL with a 4.96 ERA and 5 losses.

Dan Haren, RHP, 0-1, 4.07 ERA vs Jeanmar Gomez, RHP, 1-0, 1.93 ERA

Gomez's suspension is finally over and he will look to go deep into a game for the first time this season. His 1.93 ERA looks fantastic, but he has only pitched 9 total innings in his last three games. In his last start he was taken out in the 5th inning even though he had yet to give up a run and had only thrown 88 pitches. The bullpen gave up the runner that he had left on base which is one of the only two runs he's allowed this year. 

He will be pitching against the Angels second ace, who has not been as successful this year as he was last season (Tenth in AL with 3.17 ERA). Haren struggled in his first game of the season, but has gotten progressively better each game. In his last game he went into the 8th inning and only allowed 2 runs with 9 strike outs. The first two games of this series will not be easy going for the Cleveland Indians.

Ervin Santana, RHP, 0-4, 7.23 ERA vs Derek Lowe, RHP, 3-1, 3.00 ERA

If there ever was a good match up for the Tribe, this is it. Derek Lowe has been the Indians most consistent pitcher all season and currently leads the team in wins. Santana, on the other hand, has been the Angels worst starter and currently leads the Majors in losses. He hasn't been much better against the Indians in his career either, with a record of 1-6.

Roster Moves: Rafael Perez has been placed on the 15 day disabled list for a strained lat. He is eligible to come off the DL on May 11. In his place, the Indians have recalled another left-hander, Nick Hagadone. Hagadone pitched well in three games during his first stint with the Tribe this year and will look to earn a permanent place with the Tribe even after Perez's return.

Player of the Game

With a score of 3.32, a relief pitcher once a gain takes home the Player of the Game for the 3rd time this year. Joe Smith won his first award, pitching 1.2 perfect innings in today's loss.

Feathers Up

Since I complained about it so much last season, I feel that I should mention it when the Indians do the right thing. I am very happy with backup catcher, Lou Marson's playing time. He has been used in only three games this season and not surprisingly the Indians have lost two of the games that Marson has started. While it is a small sample size, it reinforces the obvious that Marson is not part of the best lineup the Indians can put on the field.

Shelley Duncan proved that he can play left field, even in the last few inning of the game, with a diving catch on the warning track. Duncan has been removed from games in late innings this year for Aaron Cunningham, a defensive upgrade, but with Shin-Soo Choo day-to-day, Duncan has proven that he can flash the leather.

Feathers Down

Josh Tomlin's performance left something to be desired today as he allowed 8 hits along with an uncharacteristic 2 walks and a hit batter. Indians starters as a whole have struggled going deep into games. Josh Tomlin and Justin Masterson are the only Indians pitchers to pitch through 8 innings and the Indians have no complete games. Since the first time through the rotation, only Tomlin has pitched as many as 7 innings. In the past 13 games, 4 starters were pulled before the 5th and only 5 have made it through the 6th.

If not offensively, Shin-Soo Choo is sorely missed defensively in the outfield. His replacement, Aaron Cunningham made a couple of poor throws from right field today and the Royals runners showed no fear when taking an extra base on a hit to right.

Play of the Game

Michael Brantley hit a drag bunt single down the first baseline in the sixth. The hit brought his average above .200 and lead to the Indians second run.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 - Kansas City Royals 4