The Indians have completely turned things around after losing the first two series and have now won two series in a row, winning 4 of their last 5 games. Of course these series have been against a couple of the weaker teams in the American League, but you have to start somewhere. The Tribe is making the short trip down to Oakland next to take on the Athletics for three. Currently Oakland is 7-7 and are having a surprising start as no one thought the Angels would begin the season this poorly.

This may be the first series this year that the Indians patience at the plate will not be an asset. Oakland's pitching has been tremendous to this point (2.91 team ERA) and they have walked the least amount of hitters in the American League. Offensively the Indians have walked the most. The starting pitchers will be as follows:

Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 1-0, 4.50 ERA vs Graham Godfrey, RHP, 1-2, 4.09

Ubaldo will be looking to improve on his last start when he gave up 4 runs in 5 innings. He was even worse than the end results show as he gave up 9 hits and threw 112 pitches, making the bullpen come into the game early. Oakland is currently the worst offensive team in the league with a line of .200/.270/.318 so he should have an easy time getting back to the way he pitched in his first start.

This is Godfrey's rookie season as he only has 25 innings under his belt to this point. The Indians have never faced this pitcher so it may take a couple times through the lineup for the hitters to get used to him. Looking at his career numbers, he doesn't really seem to be anything really special, but he does have good control, just like the rest of the A's pitching staff. Judging by his first two starts, he seems very hittable. He was only able to go 11 total innings against the two teams the Indians just beat, Seattle and Kansas City.

Jeanmar Gomez, RHP, 0-2, 2.25 ERA vs Brandon McCarthy, RHP, 0-2, 3.60 ERA

Jeanmar Gomez has had a rough season so far and it's only getting worse. He has been pitching extremely well, but scheduling issues forced him to miss a start and put him in the bullpen. In his last start he stuck up for Shin-Soo Choo by hitting Mike Moustakas and was ejected. He has since been suspended for the hit batter (Jack Hannahan and Chris Perez have each been fined for the altercation as well) and will be forced to miss another start. Gomez is currently appealing which will allow him to play in this game, after which he will drop the appeal and serve the five game suspension. 

The Indians know McCarthy well from his time with the White Sox and Rangers. He has thrown more than 50 innings against the Tribe with an ERA of 4.61. Of the current Indians, Casey Kotchman has the most experience against McCarthy with 13 at bats and a .462 batting average against him. He has made four starts so far this season, due to Oaklands's early series against Seattle and has pitched well in two of those games (against Seattle and Kansas City). Hopefully the Indians experience against McCarthy will help them get Jeanmar his first win of the season.

Justin Masterson, RHP, 0-1, 6.48 ERA vs Tyson Ross, RHP, 0-0, 3.00 ERA

The Indians ace will be making his 4th start of the season, which to this point has gotten progressively worse for him. In his last start, Masterson was only able to go 3.2 innings as he gave up 8 runs against Seattle. Justin was having command problems and his pitches just weren't moving the way they did on opening day when he struck out 10 Blue Jays. These on and off pitching results have been going on since Spring Training. One day he will look like the masterful Masterson of early 2011 and the next he will fall apart like he did last May. 

Tyson Ross is another young starter for the A's. He was converted from relief pitcher to starter last season and performed very well. This will be his second start of 2012 after going 6 innings and allowing only 2 runs against the Angels. The Indians play against him once last year when he allowed one run over 6.1 innings. 

Milestone Alert: Travis Hafner's next hit will be his 1,000th as a Cleveland Indian and he is two home runs away from being 8th all time.

Player of the Game

Josh Tomlin's Player of the Game score of 7.73 was the second highest on the year (Justin Masterson 7.98 on Opening Day) as he steamrolled into tonight's award. His 8 innings pitched tied for the most by an Indian this year and his 7 strikeouts tied his first start for second most. The win was his first of the year and he only allowed 5 total hits with one earned run. Jack Hannahan's game winning single put him in the running at the last second with a score of 3.10 and Chris Perez earned 2.02 with a perfect 9th.

Feathers Up

The pitcher's duel made it possible for Matt Underwood to use one of his trade marked lines early in the game as he went to break saying "We're scoreless in Seattle." This is why we all love Matty.

Josh Tomlin was fantastic enough in his re-entrance to the starting rotation. Tomlin was forced into the bullpen for his last outing due to postponed games, extra days off and suspensions, but he should be able to retain his spot in the starting five from now on. It was the Indians first quality start since Derek Lowe's second game (4/13).

Jack Hannahan came through in the clutch where nobody else could and handed Brandon League a blown save. Because Manny Acta made the genius move of replacing Travis Hafner with pinch runner Aaron Cunningham, the Indians were able to score two on the hit, enough to take the lead and win the game.

Feathers Down

The Indians were unable to get anything going against Felix Hernandez tonight, but their 12 strikeouts did make him throw enough pitches that he wasn't able to pitch a complete game.

Play of the Game

Jason Donald makes a tough throw from shortstop with two outs and a runner on third in the 4th inning. Casey Kotchman laid out to complete the play.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 - Seattle Mariners 1 as the Indians win their second series in a row.

Player of the Game

Jairo Asencio wins the Player of the Game for tonight's effort, making him the first Indians relief pitcher to win the award this year. As always, if a reliever is the best player on the field for your team, it isn't a good sign. His 1.2 innings pitch in relief of Derek Lowe earned him a score of 1.90. Jason Kipnis, Aaron Cunningham and fellow relievers Dan Wheeler and Nick Hagadone were the only other players with scores over 1.00.

Feathers Up

Nick Hagadone pitched in his second straight game and was even more dominant than his last time out. The Indians lefty was a favorite to make the bullpen during Spring Training and may be earning his place right now. If he continues this way and Dan Wheeler struggles, Hagadone may be able to stay on the team when Asdrubal Cabrera returns.

Feathers Down

Jeanmar Gomez was suspended 5 games for hitting Mike Moustakas of the Kansas City Royals last week. Gomez will likely appeal his suspension, make his next start and then get bumped back one game in the rotation. This suspension seems unfair and unnecessary as he was already ejected from a game he was pitching very well in for punishment. Jonathan Sanchez has seen absolutely no punishment for hitting Shin-Soo Choo after breaking his thumb last season. This type of ruling means that you can intentionally hit any player you want, just as long as the other team didn't hit one of your guys first.

Derek Lowe had absolutely no control over his pitches today, walking 5 and allowing 2 home runs. While the 4 runs given up may not seem like much, it was by far his worst start of the season.

Play of the Game

With runners on first and third Jairo Asencio came in for Derek Lowe and got Munenori Kawasaki to pop out to the shortstop, keeping the game from getting out of hand.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Seattle Mariners 4

Roster Update: Before the game today, the Indians made the signing of Johnny Damon official and announced that he will work out in Goodyear for the time being. When he is ready to make the team he will likely take the either Jose Lopez's or Aaron Cunningham's spot on the roster. The Indians also placed shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera on the bereavement list as he went to Venezuela to deal with the death of a family member. Nick Hagadone has been brought up from Columbus to take his place on the 25 man roster and Jason Donald will man short in his stead.

Player of the Game

Carlos Santana becomes the first player to win two Player of the Game awards in 2012. Santana scored 5.73 PoG points mostly via a 3 run home run that brought the Indians to within one run of the Mariners. He also walked in the first inning. Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Donald and Michael Brantley all had scores above 3.00, while Justin Masterson's -8.97 cancelled out his great Opening Day start and gave him a negative score for the year. The rest of the bullpen picked him up, however, scoring a combined 8.55 between the 5 pitchers used.

Feathers Up

For just the second time this season, Michael Brantley lead off the game by getting on base and just like the first time, he scored in the first inning. While the rate of occurance isn't very high (2 out of 8 times), it does show what kind of damage a leadoff hitter who can get on base can do. Brantley also stole his first base of the season.

Jason Donald filled in well for the missing Cabrera, knocking in the tieing run in the 5th with a sacrifice fly and the go ahead run in the 7th with a single. Donald also hit another single earlier in the game and scored a run as well. Nick Hagadone also played well in his first game of 2012, bailing out Justin Masterson by stranding two of his runners. Overall Hagadone pitched 1.1 innings with 2 strikeouts. Both players were in the game due to Asdrubal Cabrera's absence.

Feathers Down

Justin Masterson looked absolutely awful in the 4th inning as he was completely unable to throw strikes. Masterson walked in a run and hit a batter to score another one. The Indians scored 7 the next inning to take him off the hook, but no amount of hitting could save his sub-3.00 ERA.

Jack Hannahan made his fourth error of the season today. Lonnie Chisenhall has 4 home runs and is hitting .380 in AAA right now. This will be the first of as many notes as it necessary for Hannahan to be replaced by the player who was named the future at third base by Tribe management just one year ago. You should definitely be amazed that I made it 8 games into the season without bringing this up.

Play of the Game

Just when the game seemed out of reach, Carlos Santana made it a lot closer with this three run home run.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 9 - Seattle Mariners 8

After a dominant sweep of Kansas City, the Indians will go to Safeco Field in Seattle to take on the Mariners. Get ready for some late night baseball as all three games start at 7 pm, Pacific time. The Indians and Mariners are have built a little history between the two teams the past couple seasons with the Indians basically stealing their best two minor league players, Shin-Soo Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera. In the past off-season two more players have switched sides with former Indian Kevin Millwood joining the Mariners and former M Jose Lopez coming to Cleveland. 

The Mariners have had some early success in 2012 for what was predicted by many to be a cellar dweller. They are currently 6-5, right behind the powerful Texas Rangers in the AL West. The Indians have finally found some success as well. With their sweep of Kansas City they have moved to third in the Central and marched back to .500. Hopefully the Indians didn't leave their hitting shoes in Kansas City as they will need them all season.

Pitching Matchups

Justin Masterson, RHP, 0-1, 2.77 ERA vs. Kevin Millwood, RHP, 0-1, 1.50 ERA

The Indians will be going into their fourth series of the season and somehow, Justin Masterson will be making his third start. Although he was not as strong as his first outing, Masterson maintained his poise in his last time out and did not let the game get away from him. Masterson did only go 5 innings though, so he should be well rested for this start.

If it seems like Kevin Millwood has been around forever, then you may have been born in the mid 1990's. When Millwood pitched for the Indians in 2005 it was his 10th season and 3rd team. He is now entering his 17th season with his 7th team. Millwood is out to prove that he still has something left in the tank and he just might. His junk-ball style of pitching should be well suited for the Tribe as many of the Indians hitters are already among the league leaders in walks. Patience is a key against Millwood and that is something the Indians have in abundance. 

Derek Lowe, RHP, 2-0, 1.98 ERA vs Jason Vargas, LHP, 1-1, 3.44 ERA

Lowe leads the Indians in wins as he took the only win that happened before the Royals series and another one during that series. His 1.98 ERA is completely unsustainable, but the Indians should enjoy it while it lasts. If he can keep his good luck and injury free lifestyle going on he could be a total surprise and lead this team in wins for the whole year, just by going out there 33 times. 

Jason Vargas hasn't had much success against Cleveland in his career, going 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA, but most of that was against hitters that are no longer with the team. The only player on the current roster that has had consistent success against Vargas is Asdrubal Cabrera, who is 5/10 with a home run.

Josh Tomlin, RHP, 0-1, 8.31 ERA vs Felix Hernandez, RHP, 1-1, 3.80 ERA

Just one appearance after Jeanmar Gomez was used in relief to bail out Justin Masterson, Tomlin was needed in relief to take over for Gomez after he was ejected against the Royals. Josh Tomlin fell apart in that game, but one can hardly blame him as it was his first ever appearance out of the bullpen and his appearances this year have been anything but regular. Indians fans should just go ahead and consider this his first start of the season and try to forget what has happened already. Barring anymore rain outs, suspensions or off days, the Indians should be able to make their rotation actually rotate and get Tomlin his regular starts.

Former Cy Young Award winner King Felix is starting this season in dominant fashion as usual. He currently sits third in the AL with 19 strikeouts and has been dominant in two out of three starts. All three starts have come against Oakland, but if you exclude the one that actually happened at the Coliseum he has pitched 15 innings allowing 3 runs on 12 hits with 12 strikeouts. His command has also been impressive, only walking 4 batters compared to his 19 K's.

Player of the Game

It was a battle of the bats in today's "Player of the Game" race. Shelley Duncan came out on top today to win his first PoG award of the year. Duncan's score of 7.50 included a three-run homer in the 2nd inning and 3 walks. Casey Kotchman came in second with a score of 6.95, which also included a home run, in addition to 2 singles, a walk, and a stolen base.

Feathers Up

After giving up 3 runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning, the Indians hitters retaliated with 6 runs of their own. Michael Brantley reached on an infield single and advanced to third on an Asdrubal Cabrera single to right field. Shin-Soo Choo then hit a double in the gap, scoring both Brantley and Cabrera. After falling behind in the count, Royals pitcher Luis Mendoza intentionally walked Travis Hafner, setting up a 3-run shot over the left field wall by Shelley Duncan. Mendoza then walked the next two batters, Casey Kotchman and Jason Kipnis. Kotchman scored on a single hit by Jack Hannahan. This is the third time in 3 games that the Indians have batted around in an inning and scored at least 5 runs in the inning in which they batted around.

Casey Kotchman shows off his speed and great base running skills by stealing his second base of the year and scoring from second on a short single to left field. Kotchman's second stolen base ties the amount of steals he recorded all last season.

Pronk is back! Travis Hafner blasted a solo shot into the restaurant in right field at Kauffman Stadium, over all of the right field seating. Kansas City announcers said that might be the furthest ball hit to right field in that ballpark. At 456 feet, that was the 10th longest home run in Kauffman Stadium history and the first one to land in Rivals Sports Bar. The Indians continued to hit in the 5th inning. They sent 9 batters to the plate and added 4 more runs, including Hafner's home run.

Casey Kotchman and Jason Kipnis went back-to-back in the 8th inning. After two outs were recorded, Shelley Duncan walk and scored on Kotchman's homer. Kipnis then decided to join the hitting parade and hit a home run of his own.

The Indians wore out the Kansas City bullpen so much this series that in the 9th inning, they brought in center fielder, Mitch Meier, to pitch.

After entering the series with a 1-4 record, the Cleveland Indians completed a sweep of the Kansas City Royals, and are now back to a .500 winning percentage.

Feathers Down

Ubalbo Jimenez had a rough start to today's game. After over thirty pitches the first inning, which fortunately did not lead to any runs, Jimenez threw almost as many pitches in the second, giving up a total of 5 hits and 3 runs over the two innings. By the end of the third, his pitch count was at 78 pitches. Jimenez was taken out after 5 innings and 111 pitches, but remained in the game just long enough to get the win.

Play of the Game

Travis Hafner hits a mammoth shot

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 13 - Kansas City Royals 7

Player of the Game

Jason Kipnis won tonight's Player of the Game, coming in for the ejected Jack Hannahan. From the 9th spot in the lineup, Kipnis hit a two run opposite field home run and later singled and scored the go ahead run in the 10th inning. All this was worth a PoG score of 5.48 and his first award of the season. As of this point no player has won two Player of the Game awards.

Feathers Up

It's nice to know that the Indians do have the ability to score more than four runs in a game, even if it is only against the Royals.

Jairo Asencio was very impressive tonight in the 9th inning to keep the game even going into extra innings. This kid may actually be worth all the trouble the Indians went through to get him.

Feathers Down

Early in the game, Jonathan Sanchez hit Shin-Soo Choo with a pitch. This came after Sanchez broke Choo's hand last season and combined with all the balls that have been thrown at him already this year, Choo was incensed. His screaming match lead to the benches being warned. To start the next inning, Jeanmar Gomez, who had been throwing a perfect game, hit the first batter intentionally leading to his ejection along with Manny Acta and Jack Hannahan. No Royals were ejected.

Manny Acta hurt the Indians flexibility for the second time this season by misusing the designated hitter spot in the lineup. Today, rather than placing the slow-footed Shelley Duncan in that spot, he placed Jose Lopez there. This hurt the Tribe when Jack Hannahan was ejected for sticking up for Shin-Soo Choo. Jason Donald was forced to move to third, where he later made an error that cost the Indians a run. If Duncan had DH'd he would have gotten a half day off and the Indians would have still had plenty of infield and outfield defensive flexibility. General Rule: If a player isn't good enough to be in the starting lineup, he isn't good enough to DH.

For the first time this season the Bullpen Mafia was tasked with keeping a game close late and they were not up to the task. The combination of Rafael Perez, Joe Smith, Tony Sipp and Vinnie Pestano pitched a total of 2.1 innings and gave up 3 earned runs as well as one of Josh Tomlin's. Pestano finished off the comeback by giving up a solo home run to Yuniesky Betancourt in the 8th inning for the blown save.

Play of the Game

Jeanmar Gomez hits Mike Moustakas leading to the ejection of three Indians.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 11 - Kansas City Royals 9

On the Indians off day, they signed veteran outfielder and free agent, Johnny Damon. Damon is rumored to have signed a one-year, $1.25 M deal with a no-trade clause, $1.4 M in performance bonuses, and an option to opt out and return to the free agent market once Grady Sizemore returns from the DL. The Indians signed Damon with hopes of improving their slumping offense. It is currently unknown when Damon will join the team and who he will replace on the active roster.

Player of the Game

There were 3 players that were very close in today's "Player of the Game" race. Asdrubal Cabrera came out on top with a 9th inning home run, which added to a double and a run scored earlier in the game, giving him a score of 4.45. Jason Kipnis came in close second with a score of 4.34, which included a 2-run triple, a run scored, and a stolen base. Shin-Soo Choo finish in third place today, with a score of 4.26, which included 2 singles, 2 RBI, a run, and a stolen base.

Feathers Up

The Indians came out hitting today, scoring 7 runs to start the game. The Indians sent 11 hitters to the plate in the first inning. Michael Brantley led off the game with a single. Asbrubal Cabrera then doubled, and Shin-Soo Choo, Shelley Duncan, and Casey Kotchman singled before Jason Kipnis cleared the bases with a triple. The offense continued as Jack Hannahan singled and Brantley doubled. This 7-spot in just one inning was more than the Indians have scored in a single game so far this season.

Derek Lowe pitched very efficiently, with less than 80 pitched going into the bottom of the 7th inning. Lowe ended up pitching 6.2 innings today, giving up 3 runs on 11 hits and recording the win.

Runners were more aggressive and more successful on the base paths today. Choo and Kipnis each had a stolen base today, and no runners were caught stealing.

Solid defense helped the Indians get out of potential run scoring situations as they turned 3 double plays today.

Almost every batter in the Indians line up today contributed to their offense, all except one getting at least one hit. Travis Hafner was the only Indians who did not get a hit today, with Michael Brantley, Shin-Soo Choo, and Asdrubal Cabrera recording multiple hits. The Indians ended the game with 11 hits.

Feathers Down

Manny Acta is getting annoyed with all of the Johnny Damon questions. He would much rather focus on the current team and their performance.

Play of the Game

Jason Kipnis hits a 2-run triple

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 8 - Kansas City Royals 3

The Indians will be taking the show on the road for the first time in 2012, traveling to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City to face the Royals. The season has been dismal to this point with the Tribe only managing one win so far. Last series they were swept by the White Sox in a series shortened to two games by snow. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and the Indians will remember how to hit against the Kansas City pitching staff.

Derek Lowe, RHP, 1-0, 0.00 ERA vs. Luke Hochevar, RHP, 1-0, 2.84 ERA

Lowe was surprisingly effective in his first start, allowing no earned runs in the Indians only win of the season. His goal for that game was the same as it will be for the next one. Throw strikes and keep the ball down in the zone. If his sinker is working anywhere near as good as it did last week this should be no problem. Hopefully Jack Hannahan and Casey Kotchman will have recovered from their defensive lapses by then and the Tribe infield will be ready to go behind him.

Luke Hochevar has been starting for the Royals since 2008 and has become a very effective innings eater for their team. Last year was his best season at 11-11 with almost 200 innings pitched in 31 games and he hopes to improve on that effort this season as he nears his prime years. The Indians have fared well against Hochevar in the past, especially Shin-Soo Choo who has a batting average over .500 against the right-hander in more than 20 at bats. Choo has 3 home runs and 10 RBI against him as well.

Jeanmar Gomez RHP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA vs. Jonathan Sanchez, LHP, 1-0, 3.60 ERA

Gomez pitched in the finale against the White Sox in relief as the Indians needed a little help in the bullpen to make up for Masterson's early departure. The shuffling of the rotation along with the off days allowed him to throw 2 innings in that game and still be ready for the second start against KC. Gomez was perfect in that outing (his second career appearance out of the bullpen) and was fantastic in Spring Training. Hopefully he will continue his success on Saturday in Missouri.

Jonathan Sanchez is a newcomer to the Royals after being an integral part of the San Francisco Giants starting rotation for 4 years. Last season was disappointing for Sanchez, but he has already started off on the right foot with the Royals, winning his first game against the AL West favorite Los Angeles Angels. Sanchez was only able to go 5 innings in the game as he was already at about 100 pitches thrown. This bodes well for the Tribe as the one good thing the Indians have done offensively is work the count. Carlos Santana is tied for first in the AL in walks while Michael Brantley, Shin-Soo Choo, Shelley Duncan and Travis Hafner are all in the top 20.

Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 0-0, 2.57 ERA vs. Luis Mendoza, RHP, 0-1, 1.59 ERA

The suspension is finally over as Jimenez prepares to take the mound for the second time this year. Ubaldo kind of fell apart after pitching 5+ perfect innings in his first start, but if he can match his last outing every time he pitches it might make it worth losing the top two pitchers in the farm system. He goes up against Luis Mendoza who has been in the Majors since 2007, but has only made a total of 17 starts. Mendoza had an amazing Spring, leading the Cactus League in ERA. Of course Spring Training stats are meaningless as soon as April begins, but with his success in his first start against Oakland, you have to wonder if Mendoza has finally turned things around.

Player of the Game

Travis Hafner won today's Player of the Game as he reminded everyone of what Pronk can do. Hafner hit a solo home run followed by a two run double for a PoG score of 6.06. Also in the running for the award today was Shelley Duncan who also hit his first home run of the season for a score of 4.94.

Feathers Up

Justin Masterson actually pitched a little better than his line shows. Of his 8 hits allowed, only one went for extra bases and many of the others were weak singles through holes in the infield. He didn't have a whole lot of movement on his pitches, leading to the lack of strikeouts and his defense wasn't strong behind him, but he maintains a 2.77 ERA for the season through two games.

With no one out and runners at first and second in the 4th, Jason Kipnis took a bad swing and whiffed on a fastball at his shoulders. Realizing he was outmatched, either he or Manny Acta called for a sacrifice bunt that Kipnis executed beautifully. If either Jack Hannahan or Michael Brantley could have went on to do something remotely positive, something good could have even came from it.

Aided by a postponed game yesterday and another day off tomorrow, Jeanmar Gomez was able to pitch out of the bullpen today. Gomez will still make his scheduled start Saturday, but his availability today allowed the Indians to save their normal relievers and get through a couple innings without incident.

Feathers Down

The Indians gave a couple runs away early in this game as Jack Hannahan botched a throw on a sacrifice bunt and Casey Kotchman dropped one from Asdrubal Cabrera. These two plays lead to two unearned runs in addition to the 3 runs that the White Sox legitimately scored off of Justin Masterson. The Indians also scored their first run on a gift from the White Sox. Asdrubal Cabrera was given a double on a bad play by Kosuke Fukudome and scored on a wild pitch.

The Indians had great chances to score in both the third and fourth innings, but were unable to come up with anything. When the team batting average is below .200 it is really tought to get more than one hit in an inning. The answer to this problem isn't to try and miraculously get all their hits in the same inning, but rather to increase the team batting average by getting more hits in any inning.

Of course, the ultimate reason the Indians lost today didn't have anything to do with any of that. The 5 run 6th inning provided by Dan Wheeler and Rafael Perez sealed the Indians fate.

Play of the Game

Travis Hafner made a return to Pronkville with this solo home run.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 - Chicago White Sox 10