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

Player of the Game

Nick Hagadone takes home his first career 'Player of the Game' award as the rest of the team decided to be generally terrible tonight. Since the only offense came from Lonnie Chisenhall he should have been a candidate, but with a score of -3.86 due to defensive gaffs and 5 unearned runs he isn't even worth looking at. Hagadone pitched a single perfect inning and struck out a batter after the Rangers were too tired to score anymore. This gave him a score of 1.27, 0.70 points more than the next best player.

Feathers Up

Shelley Duncan showed off some moves tonight that we never knew he had. In the first inning he made two catches at the wall, the second much more confident looking than the first. Using his new found talents to the fullest, he made another good catch later in the game on a slide. If he could have jumped another 10 feet or so, he may have been able to save Indians pitchers from a couple home runs.

Feathers Down

Other than Shelley Duncan, the Indians defense was atrocious. Lonnie Chisenhall had a bad play followed by an error that allowed 5 unearned runs to score. In the same inning David Huff had a ball that hit his glove that turned into an infield single and a run. Earlier in the game, Carlos Santana allowed a steal while playing first base when he dropped a throw on a pick off attempt. Lou Marson then allowed the runner to take third.

In play-off news, the Phillies clinched the first play-off spot in the National League behind Roy Halladay. It's really surprising that the team with Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels was the first one to clinch a spot. In the AL, the Tigers passed up the Red Sox in the standings today placing the Indians closer to the Wild Card than the Central Division lead. The Tigers win against the White Sox has virtually eliminated Chicago, placing their elimination number at 1. The Indians are currently involved with the only real race left in the Majors as the Rangers are fighting against the Angels for the AL West lead.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Texas Rangers 9

Player of the Game

Carlos Santana performed a feat only done 7 other times in Indians history. He hit a home run from each side of the plate. It was his first multi home run game and he added a double as well. His 2 RBI and 3 runs scored added up to a 'Player of the Game' score of 7.78. The score of -5.79 by Justin Masterson for his 5 innings pitched with 6 runs allowed was his second worst of the season.

Feathers Up

The Texas Rangers were nice enough to hold a charity auction during tonight's game. The purpose of the auction is to raise money to not have people die trying to catch a ball at the ballpark. Way to go Texas! Hopefully, after improvements to the stadium, those fans sitting in the lower bowl can no longer be terrified of the fact that some one can fall on their head.

Carlos Santana pounded the ball to deep center field in the fourth inning. This was Santana's 22nd home run of the year and it tied the game for the Tribe at 1-1.

The Indians had another Major League debut tonight as Zach Putnam pitched the 7th inning. Putnam has spent all of 2011 in Columbus to this point, pitching exclusively out of the pen. He went 6-3 with 9 saves and 68 strike outs in 69 innings. He had a nice "welcome to the big leagues, kid" moment when the first batter he faced, Adrien Beltre, hit a ball about as hard as a human being can for a solo home run. The Indians now have 32 players on the Major League roster, 34 if you include Shin-Soo Choo and Josh Tomlin who are on the 15 day DL and will return shortly to the team. This means only 6 players from the 40 man roster are not on the team. These players are Kelvin De La Cruz, Corey Kluber, Zach McAllister, Hector Rondon, Thomas Neal and Nick Weglarz. It shouldn't be any surprise that the Clippers lost to the Iron Pigs in the opening game of the championship round. They don't have any players left.

Feathers Down

David Murphy had Justin Masteron's number tonight. Murphy took Masterson yard twice, providing the Rangers with their only run support in the first 4 innings. Masterson ended up giving 3 home runs tonight, the 2 to Murphy and one to Josh Hamilton.

The bullpen didn't fare much better after Masterson was removed either. Nick Hagadone allowed two of Masterson's runners to score in the 6th inning and Josh Judy allowed two of Hagadone's. Niether Masterson or Hagadone recorded an out in the inning.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - Texas Rangers 10

The Indians just got through a tough four game series against Chicago, where they managed to earn a split. Cleveland was outscored 22-19 and remain a half game behind Chicago in the Central Division race for second place. Monday September 12th is the last off-day of the season for the Tribe as they will play 18 games in the next 16 days.

The Rangers are currently 2.5 games above the Angels and have won 4 of their last 5 series in an effort to put the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim away for good. Texas remains the powerhouse they have been known as for the past few decades, scoring 5.2 runs per game in 2011. This is 0.34 more runs per game than last season when they went to the World Series.

Pitching Match-Ups

9/13 8:05 PM

Justin Masterson (11-9, 3.01) vs. Matt Harrison (11-9, 3.50)

The Indians ace will be pitching in one of his last games of the season against the Rangers. Lack of run support has doomed his win/loss record and his chances at any votes in the Cy Young race, but the Indians hitters still have a chance to make it up to him. With about 4 games left this year (depending on how the Indians use their starters in the doubleheaders) Masterson could possibly get a couple more wins and at least avoid going .500 in what has been an absolutely fantastic season so far for him.

9/14 7:00 PM

David Huff (2-4, 3.05) vs. Derek Holland (13-5, 4.12)

This will probably be the Indians last game on national TV this year as they will be Wednesday night game on ESPN. The original scheduled time was bumped up an hour to fit in ESPN's schedule. Huff has lost his last two games, but has pitched pretty well this season with numbers much better than his last two seasons. Holland's last bad game came against the Indians when he was only able to go 1.2 innings after allowing 6 runs to score. The Rangers ended up winning in extra innings, but Derek Holland certainly didn't look very good.

9/14 8:05 PM

Fausto Carmona (6-14, 5.18) vs. Alexi Ogando (12-8, 3.71)

Fausto has struggled for two starts in a row, but has also shown signs of greatness this season. At this point it is basically impossible to know what to expect from Carmona. Ogando on the other hand was an American League All-Star this year, but has fallen off some as of late. Before the break, Ogando had an ERA of 2.92 with a 9-3 record and a complete game. His batting average against was .213. Since then, he has gone 3-5 with a 5.20 ERA with the Rangers losing each of his last 5 starts.

This series is the perfect time for the Indians to take back second place. While the Indians will be in Texas the White Sox are slated to face the Tigers. Detroit has won 9 games in a row, including sweeps of both the Indians and White Sox. The Rangers, on the other hand, are probably looking at the rest of their schedule as easy as they play the Indians, Athletics and 2 series against the Mariners. The Indians could do a great job of spoiler if they can pull off a series win.

Player of the Game

Luis Valbuena was today's "Player of the Game." Valbuena's score of 4.47 included a solo home run and 2 singles. This is Valbuena's first PoG award this year. Ubaldo Jimenez finished today with a score of 3.74, Trevor Crowe contributed with a score of 3.96, and Lou Marson had a score of 3.60.

Feathers Up

Travis Hafner has returned to the team after being on the disabled list with a foot injury. It will be interesting to see how Manny Acta plans to juggle Hafner, Jim Thome, and Shelley Duncan in his lineup.

The bottom of the lineup delivered in the second inning. Singles by Lonnie Chisenhall, Luis Valbuena, and Trevor Crowe, and a double by Lou Marson resulted in 3 runs for the Tribe. The last four hitters of the lineup combined today for 9 hits, 4 RBI, and 7 runs scored.

Ubaldo Jimenez had a great outing today, pitching 6 innings and giving up just 2 runs on 3 hits. Despite walking 5 batters, Jimenez looked solid and was able to guide the Indians toward victory today.

Feathers Down

Matt LaPorta worked so hard yesterday and did so well, Manny Acta thought he deserved a day off.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 - Chicago White Sox 3