Player of the Game

Nick Hagadone won his second "Player of the Game" award tonight with a score of 2.56. Hagadone pitched 1.2 scoreless innings with a walk and 2 strike outs. Zach McAllister was not far behind tonight with a score of 2.44. Jim Thome proved to be the best offensive player tonight. He had an RBI single, a run scored, and two walks, giving him a score of 2.35.

Feathers Up

The Indians offense put together some hits in the fourth inning to score a few runs. The inning started with singles by Jason Donald, Carlos Santana, and Jim Thome. Shelley Duncan walked and Grady Sizemore hit a sacrifice fly. Then Matt LaPorta doubled and Jack Hannahan hit a sacrifice fly. After three outs were recorded in the inning, the Indians found themselves up 4-0.

Indians starting pitcher Zach McAllister greatly improved form his last outing. Last time he pitched, on August 24th, he only pitched 3.1 innings and gave up 8 runs. Tonight, McAllister pitched 5.1 solid innings and gave up just 2 runs.

Feathers Down

Zach Putnam came out of the bullpen in the 7th inning with a one run lead and was unable to keep that lead. Putman only recorded one out before he was pulled from the game. Putnam gave up 2 singles, a double and hit a batter before giving up 2 runs and leaving 2 base runners for Nick Hagadone.

Final Score: Chicago White Sox 5 - Cleveland Indians 4

Player of the Game

Travis Hafner hit a two run home run early in the game to give the Indians a lead, and the winning margin. He also had a single later in the game as well. Kosuke Fukudome, Asdrubal Cabrera also scored well with home runs of their own, as did the relief pitchers, Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez, who all earned decisions.

Feathers Up

The Columbus Clippers won the Governors' Cup for the International League championship and will now play for the AAA championship in Albuquerque, NM. The game will be televised on versus if anyone would rather see a championship caliber team, than the Indians.

Jack Hannahan returned from the dead today to take over defensive duties at third from Lonnie Chisenhall late in the game. It's good that he got over his injury, but hopefully he will be relegated to this type of work for the rest of the season as Lonnie Chisenhall needs to get as many at bats as he can to prepare for 2012. The Indians made a couple of roster moves in the last two days as well, bringing back Zach McAllister and Corey Kluber from AAA. McAllister will start the night game tonight and Kluber will be available out of the bullpen. The Indians also announced that Josh Tomlin will be recalled in time to start next Saturday against Minnesota.

The Indians have found some offense over the last 5 games, scoring at least 6 in every game except today and hitting 3 home runs in today's game. The Indians even got the home runs from some expected run producers in Travis Hafner and Asdrubal Cabrera.

Feathers Down

Waste of space catcher, Lou Marson, struck out another 3 times today. That makes him 0 for his last 6 at bats with 6 strike outs over the last 3 games. If anyone thinks he is better than anyone currently on the Indians or Clippers they are sorely mistaken. Bet no one saw this coming, the "Bad stuff about Austin Kearns" section has now turned into bad stuff about Lou Marson. He's now batting .233 on the season.

Asdrubal Cabrera hurt himself swinging in his last at bat and was forced to leave the game for the 9th inning with an oblique injury. If the injury is serious at all we can expect Cabrera to sit out the rest of the season. He

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - Chicago White Sox 3

Pitching Matchups:

Today 9/20: Gavin Floyd (12-11, 4.42) vs. Fausto Carmona (6-15, 5.26)

Tonight: Dylan Axelrod (0-0, 2.25) vs. Zach McAllister (0-1, 12.27).

Wednesday 9/21: Mark Buehrle (11-9, 3.74) vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (4-2, 4.56).

Thursday 9/22: Philip Humber (9-8, 3.59) vs. Jeanmar Gomez (4-2, 3.78).

Sox Medical Watch:

• C Ramon Castro (broken right hand) went on the 15-day disabled list July 10. He had the cast and pins removed Aug. 9, and he hopes to return to action in late September.

• INF/OF Brent Lillibridge (broken right hand) went on the 15-day disabled list Sept. 9. He'll miss the rest of the season.

• RHP Tony Pena (right elbow tendinitis) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 28. He began a rehab assignment with Class AAA Charlotte on June 16. After making a solid appearance June 24, Pena informed trainers that there was further soreness, prompting him to be shut down. He started a new rehab assignment with Charlotte on July 20, but he suffered yet another setback with his elbow after four pitches. He had season-ending Tommy John surgery in August.

Sox News/Notes:

• C A.J. Pierzynski is signed through the 2012 season, and gets $6 million for next season. Although with C Tyler Flowers showing some ability, especially behind the plate and working with a veteran pitching staff, there is a good chance the White Sox might try to move Pierzynski's contract. Not real easy to do at that price, but it would only take one other general manager in need of a veteran catcher for it to happen.

• 1B/DH Paul Konerko continued to cement himself into the White Sox record books, as his home run on Sunday was the 30th of the season, giving him 30 for the seventh time in his career. It was also the fifth time he has recorded 30 home runs and 100 RBI in a season, second most in franchise history to Frank Thomas, who did it eight times.

• DH Adam Dunn had three hits off left-handed pitchers in the series against Kansas City, which doubled his season total. While the 2011 season has been a complete bust for Dunn, anything he can take from it that will help for 2012 will be embraced by the organization.

• 2B Gordon Beckham entered this week with an AL leading fielding percentage .992 among second basemen, attempting to become the first White Sox second baseman to lead the league in fielding since Nellie Fox in 1963. So while his offense has been dismal this season, Beckham can at least take that with him to the offseason.

• RHP Gavin Floyd was scheduled to start in the early game of todays doubleheader, with RHP Dylan Axelrod getting the nod in the night game. It will be his second start since being called up, and is yet another pitcher trying to make a statement to the organization heading into the offseason. With LHP Mark Buehrle a free agent and Floyd, as well as LHP John Danks probably trade candidates, the White Sox need to know that there are some safety nets to fall back onto, just in case.

By the Numbers:

29-35—The White Sox's record against the AL Central this season, heading into the four-game series against the Tribe this week. That's yet another reason why the White Sox fell short of overtaking Detroit. So sad.

Player of the Game

Asdrubal Cabrera won today's 'Player of the Game' with 3 hits and 3 RBI. Cabrera knocked in his first two in his first at bat with a two run home run. The next inning, Cabrera came up with Jason Donald on base again and scored him with a double. His third hit was a single up the middle later in the game.

Feathers Up

The Indians started out well, scoring 4 times in the first 2 innings. Jason Donald started off each run scoring effort with a single and was knocked in both times by Asdrubal Cabrera. In the first inning, Cabrera and Carlos Santana hit back to back home runs to take an early lead 3-0. This positive start looked like it would continue, but M's starter Charlie Furbush settled down and completely shut down the Tribe over the next few innings.

Feathers Down

Although the rosters were completely different, one thing stayed the same between today's make-up game and the original back in May, it rained. I poured throughout the game today on a day where neither team could afford a delay or a rain out so they played through. Of course, one other thing that has changed since May is the Indians place in the standings. Since the Indians have been eliminated from the Central Division race, this game has a lot less meaning than it once seemed to.

David Huff blew up his spot in the third inning destroying a lot of the good work he's built up over the season. After a Lonnie Chisenhall error, Huff allowed a double and after an out, allowed four straight hitters to reach. Another out later Ichiro Suzuki ended Huff's day with an RBI double. His replacement, Chad Durbin, didn't fare any better as he allowed a walk and a grand slam adding another terrible note to an already bad season for the middle reliever.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 - Seattle Mariners 12 Final in 7

Tonight's game (9/19) is a make up of the rain out from May 15th. This is the second make up of that series, the last coming on 8/23. The Indians won the first game of the series when it was oringinally scheduled and the first make up game, so if the Indians win tonight, it will be one of the most drawn out sweeps in history with 127 days between the first and last game. 

The Mariners are coming to town on their way from Seattle to Minneapolis. Sunday wrapped up a series loss to the Rangers for the Mariners and, after today's day game, will move on to play the Twins for 3. The Indians get to stay at home after the quickie against the M's, but have to play 8 games in the next 6 days. 

Probable Starters 9/19 4:05

Charlie Furbush (2-6, 5.77) vs. David Huff (2-5, 3.40)

Charlie Furbush has one of the funniest names in baseball and a very average ERA. David Huff has been a pleasant surprise this season and will use his last couple starts to prove he belongs in the starting rotation next season. Only a couple spots seem set (Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin) and Huff would love to make himself part of the top 5. 

Player of the Game

Shelley Duncan hit a home run and a double, knocking in 3 runs, which gave him his 10th "Player of the Game" award of the season with a score of 6.18. Both feats happened in the 6-run 7th inning. Duncan led off the inning with a solo home run, and came to bat again with 2 outs and the bases loaded and doubled just over the head of the left fielder, scoring two more runs. Justin Masterson came in second with a score of 4.91.

Feathers Up

The Indians and Twins finalized the deal for Jim Thome. What was suppose to be a player to be named later turned into cash considerations. In the end, the Indians paid $20,000 to the Twins to get Thome.

The Indians were aggressive on the base paths today. Two base runners stole a base today. Jason Kipnis stole second after reaching safely on an error in the first inning. Kosuke Fukudome stole second in the sixth inning after hitting a single.

Shelley Duncan ruined Carl Pavano's shutout by taking him deep to left field in the top of the 7th inning. That jump started the Tribe offense in the 7th. They took advantage of a fielding error, a few bases-loaded walks, and added a bases-loaded single and double, scoring a total of 6 runs in the inning.

Justin Masterson pitched well today. He gave up 3 runs, only 1 of which was earned. He allowed 7 hits in 6 innings pitched, but all of them were singles. The only command issue he had is when he hit Jason Repko and sent him to the hospital with a possible concussion. Masterson recorded the win today, which was his first career win against the Twins.

Feathers Down

Tribe bats were quiet today early in the game. The Indians collected just 3 hits in the first 6 innings. All three hits were singles, one by Lonnie Chisenhall, one by Lou Marson, and the other by Kosuke Fukudome.

The defense today was lacking. Blame it on the rain, blame it on the cold, whatever the reason may be, 4 errors in a game is unacceptable. While it is nice to give Asdrubal Cabrera a day off every once in awhile, Jason Donald had a rough day defensively at short stop. Donald had 2 of the team's 4 errors. The other errors were both throwing errors, one by Lou Marson, the other by Jason Kipnis. Lou Marson also had a passed ball, allowing a runner to get from second to third. These defensive woes resulted in 2 unearned runs.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 - Minnesota Twins 5

Player of the Game

Jason Kipnis was today's "Player of the Game" with a score of 6.62. His score today consisted of a single, a double, and a triple. He also scored three times and knocked in 2 runs. This is his 5th PoG award of the year. Carlos Santana's home run, single, and 2 RBI gave him a score of 4.53. Asdrubal Cabrera contributed 4 hits today, with 2 runs and an RBI, giving him a score of 4.34.

Feathers Up

The Indians got the bats going early today. In the first inning, singles by Jason Kipnis, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Travis Hafner resulted in 2 runs. The offense continued in the second inning when Ezequiel Carrera tripled and Trevor Crowe knocked him in with a single. Kosuke Fukodome then walked and a triple by Jason Kipnis scored Crowe and Fukudome. Carlos Santana then decided to crush a fastball to right field, scoring two more Tribe runs. Twins starter, Anthony Swarzak, did not make it out of the second inning. Twins reliever, Lester Oliveros, walk Hafner, the first man he faced, and gave up a double to Matt LaPorta, scoring Hafner. After just two innings, the Indians had a 8-0 lead. Lonnie Chisenhall was the only Tribe hitter that did not reach base in the first two innings.

Jeanmar Gomez pitched a great game today. He pitched 6.2 innings and only gave up 2 runs.

After being quiet since the 2nd innings, the bats woke up again in the 9th. The Indians added two runs to their lead with hits by Kipnis and Cabrera, a walk by LaPorta, and a hit by Chisenhall.

Congratulations to the Columbus Clippers for winning the Governors' Cup last night.

Feathers Down

Jeanmer Gomez was taken out of the game after 6.2 innings with an injury. He left with a "knee tweak" that occurred when he attempted to field a ground ball.

Josh Judy gave up the first home run of Chris Parmelee's career, and the first home run the Twins have hit in a week.

The Indians officially cannot win the Central Division. Detroit clinched the Central Division title last night in Oakland. Now the Indians are in the fight for the Wild Card.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 10 - Minnesota Twins 4

Player of the Game

With the win, Ubaldo Jimenez wins his second 'Player of the Game' award since entering Cleveland. With a score of 5.73, Jimenez just beat out a couple of offensive stars (Lonnie Chisenhall 5.35 and Jim Thome 4.43) for the honor. Jimenez pitched another great game, going 6.1 innings and only allowing a single run that came in against relief pitcher Tony Sipp. Ubaldo only allowed 5 hits while striking out 4 and walking 3. Jimenez has pitched at least 6 innings in each of his last 5 starts and has never given up more than 3 earned runs in a game. As of late he has become exactly the type of pitcher that the Indians expected when they traded for him. The Indians current playoff position has nothing to do with the production of neither him or the other trade pick-up, Kosuke Fukudome.

Feathers Up

The offense scored some runs tonight, aided in part by a certain nonchalance by the Twins defense. While all the runs were earned, only one was scored via the home run. One instance stands out in particular when, in the 4th inning, Jim Thome scored from second on a Lonnie Chisenhall single. While this wasn't a big deal in itself, the outfielder, unable to get Thome at the plate threw there anyway, allowing both Shelley Duncan and Lonnie to take extra bases. They both scored on Lou Marson's RBI single during the next at bat.

Jim Thome deserves some credit for this win as he provided the winning margin in the 9th inning with a solo home run. It was the 603rd home run of his career. He remains (and will for some time) the Cleveland Indians all-time home run leader.

The Chiz Kid produced again going 3-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Lonnie Chisenhall even ran the bases well, taking the extra base 3 times on the night. It was also nice to see him play solid defense as some of his recent offensive triumphs have been overshadowed by his poor glovework. Most recently his boot of a ball 2 games ago that lead to 5 unearned runs.

Feathers Down

The Indians aren't the only ones battling injuries this season. The day after the Indians shut down Shin-Soo Choo for the season, the Twins had to do the same thing with Joe Mauer. The Twins are now without Mauer and Justin Morneau for the rest of the season and have been without them for most of the season to this point. Outside of Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer, there were no players in the Twins starting line up with more than a year of Major League service. Kubel went down with an injury during the game as well.

It's completely unfair that the Indians had to play in Texas in 100° heat and the next day had to play outside in Minnesota where it is 56°. Poor Michael Brantley sprained a hamstring and stubbed his toe today and he's riding the bench.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 - Minnesota Twins 6

Summary:

The Twins have lost five straight and 10 of their past 11 games and have outscored the Indians, 40-36 this year. Within that span, Tsuyoshi Nishioka is hitting .438 (7-for-16) and Joe Mauer .435 (10-for-23) against the Tribe. Matt Capps is 2-0 with two saves against the Indians.

The Tribe entered has a  2-5 record on this 10-game trip after last nights drubbing by the Rangers. Asdrubal Cabrera is hitting .302 (13-for-43) with three homers and 10 RBI against the Twins this year. Masterson has a 1.54 ERA (four earned runs in 231/3 innings) in three no-decisions against Minnesota this year.

Pitching Matchups:

RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (9-11, 4.61 ERA) vs. RHP Kevin Slowey (0-5, 6.07) tonight at 8:10

RHP Jeanmar Gomez (3-2, 3.95) vs. RHP Anthony Swarzak (3-6, 3.89) Saturday at 1:10 p.m.

RHP Justin Masterson (11-10, 3.20) vs. LHP Scott Diamond (1-4, 3.94) Sunday at 2:10 p.m.

Injuries:

Indians -- RHP Josh Tomlin (right elbow), OF Michael Brantley (right hand) and RHP Carlos Carrasco (right elbow) are on the disabled list. 3B Jack Hannahan (left calf) is day to day. Twins -- RHP Scott Baker (right elbow), RHP Nick Blackburn (right forearm), 2B Alexi Casilla (right hamstring), LHP Brian Duensing (right oblique), LHP Francisco Liriano (left shoulder) and LF Denard Span (migraines) are on the disabled list. 1B Justin Morneau (concussion-like symptoms) and SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka (right oblique) are day to day.

Player of the Game

With 2 hits, 2 runs scored an RBI and a walk, Shelley Duncan won his 9th 'Player of the Game' of the season. This is his 4th award in the Indians last 11 games. Duncan has been especially impressive of late as he has been forced to play the outfield, rather than DH or play first base. He has even made a few decent looking plays in the last couple games where he didn't look like he was wearing concrete boots. His score of 3.01 was over a full point higher than anyone else on the team.

Feathers Up

Kosuke Fukudome deserves some props after playing 44 straight games since joining the Indians. Fukudome has played both center and right field while Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo have spent time on the DL with various ailments. Fukudome has been a pleasant surprise for the Tribe as he has hit .274/.320/.397 after hitting .273/.374/.369 with the Cubs. He has hit the same amount of home runs (3) and only 5 less total extra-base hits as an Indian as he did in twice as many games with the Cubs.

Feathers Down

Shin-Soo Choo managed to take at least one at bat before he had to leave the game due to discomfort in his side. Ezequiel Carrera took his place in the lineup and the field for what was a pretty good example of the 2011 season. Choo will probably miss tomorrow's game if experience has taught us anything, but will not have to be placed back on the disabled list.

The Columbus Clippers have come back after losing game one to win the last two games behind spectacular pitching performances by Mitch Talbot (remember him?) and Joe Martinez. Tonight Luke "should be an Indian" Carlin hit a home run to help the Clip Show beat the Iron Pigs 6-2. The Clippers will now try to finish off LeHigh Valley to take the Governors' Cup in what will hopefully be a preview of the results of next years Indians team.

The Indians really helped the Rangers get their power numbers up this series as Tribe pitching allowed 8 home runs. The Rangers now have 5 players with more than 20 home runs each (Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz, Mike Napoli, Adrien Beltre and Josh Hamilton) and 188 home runs as a team. Their 119 home runs at home are the most by any Major League team.

The Indians can be eliminated from the playoffs tonight if Detroit beats Oakland in their West Coast match-up. The White Sox were eliminated from the Central Division race when they lost to Kansas City earlier tonight.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - Texas Rangers 7