Summary:

Having dropped their finale against the Twins on Wednesday and are now a half game behind the Tigers atop the division, the Indians return home just 4 1/2 games up on the White Sox, a team that they will see plenty of in the second half.

...Sox leadoff batter Juan Pierre has a 12-game hitting streak.

...Reliever Brian Bruney hasn't allowed a run in his last nine appearances.

...Designated hitter Adam Dunn is 7-for-79 (.089) with 40 strikeouts in his last 22 games. I added him onto my fantasy team... I'm smart aye?

Pitching Matchups:

RH Gavin Floyd (7-9, 4.37 ERA) vs. RH Carlos Carrasco (8-7, 4.25). Tonight 7:05pm.

 RH Edwin Jackson (6-7, 3.97) vs. LH *David Huff (5-10, 5.63). Saturday night 7:05pm.

RH Phillip Humber (8-6, 3.27) vs. RH Justin Masterson (8-6, 2.64) Sunday afternoon 1:05pm.

* The Indians, with the ability to juggle the rotation because of off days Thursday and July 28, will have Fausto Carmona face the Angels instead of the White Sox this weekend. This year, Carmona is 0-2 with a 20.25 ERA (18 earned runs in eight innings) against the White Sox.

Sox Injury News:

• LHP John Danks (right oblique strain) went on the 15-day disabled list June 26. He began throwing on July 1. He made rehab starts for Class AAA Charlotte on July 10 and July 15, and he was activated on July 20.

• RHP Jake Peavy (right arm fatigue) had his scheduled July 17 start pushed back to July 19 and pitched six innings against the Royals.

• C Ramon Castro (broken right hand) went on the 15-day disabled list July 10. He may 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 resumed throwing on July 16, but on a rehab assignment with Class AAA Charlotte on July 20, he suffered yet another setback in the right elbow after just four pitches.

Sox News/Notes:

• 3B Brent Morel did get the start at third base on Wednesday, going 1-for-2 in the loss to Kansas City, but he is still only 1-for-13 in his last five games, and third base now seems to be more of a platoon than simply Morel's job. Manager Ozzie Guillen indicated that Mark Teahen would start on Friday and Saturday in Cleveland, with the Indians pitching righties Carlos Carrasco and Justin Masterson. Teahen started the first four games coming out of the All-Star Break, going 4-for-16. Guillen wants the best chance to help out the offense, and as of right now that means Morel and Teahen will split time based on pitching match-ups.

• OF Juan Pierre has ended all the talk about the White Sox needing more production from the leadoff spot, as the veteran hit .385 from June 26 through Wednesday's game, the best in the majors over that time while riding the aforementioned 12 game hitting streak Pierre was 30-for-78 with three doubles, two triples, 10 RBI and 11 runs in that stretch. It was manager Ozzie Guillen who fought off critics that wanted Pierre replaced in mid-June, and now the White Sox are at least getting some productivity from the top of the lineup.

• C A.J. Pierzynski was hoping to have a second half with a few more off days than he had in the first half, but manager Ozzie Guillen indicated that is no longer an option. With the news on Wednesday that C Ramon Castro and his broken hand will like need the remainder of the regular season to heal, C Tyler Flowers will hold down the back-up role. Guillen has used Flowers only once since the injury to Castro right before the All-Star break, and Pierzynski has seen the rest of the playing time. The White Sox might use Flowers more if they feel like they are out of it, but as long as they remain a handful of games out of first place they will lean heavily on Pierzynski.

• Manager Ozzie Guillen wasn't the only member of the White Sox coaching staff that was in a bad mood the last 48 hours. It was Guillen who made news with his critical comments of his team after a Wednesday loss to the Royals, and then on Thursday it was pitching coach Don Cooper's turn. Cooper was doing a phone interview on a Chicago radio station, and was asked by the host about the White Sox calling up Dayan Viciedo to help get a spark from the offense. "I have no clue about that; I'm a coach," Cooper fumed. "Do I feel like something (needs to be done)? Yeah, we have to score some runs. That's what's got to be done. And if we do, we have a chance to win. And if we don't, we won't. … Nice try, asking me to bring up (bleeping) Viciedo. I'm not in charge of making moves, I'm in charge of coaching." Cooper then hung up on the host.

• DH Adam Dunn was nursing a sore knee, according to manager Ozzie Guillen, but was scheduled to start the game Friday in Cleveland. Dunn missed the last two games against Kansas City, but that was because the Royals were starting two left-handers. The Indians were scheduled to start RHP Carlos Carrasco.

"If I'm not having fun anymore, I'll go home; "Flat out. I'll go home. ... How many games can you play doing this? This is ridiculous."-  Adam Dunn on his recent struggles.

Jason Kipnis is being called up to Cleveland for Friday's game against the White Sox.

 Via twitter: @TheJK_Kid Jason Kipnis: "I'm Coming Cleveland!!"

It is unknown as of yet who will be removed from the roster to make room for Kipnis or whether he will be playing primarily second base or outfield when he is on the team. There is a good chance he will be taking over starting second base duties from Orlando Cabrera for the time being. Be excited people! If this works out, Kipnis, Cabrera, Chisenhall will be the starting infield for the next five years. Check back later for updates on exactly how Kipnis will fit on this team.

UPDATE: (7:00 EST) The Indians have just made the official announcement: Jason Kipnis will join the team tomorrow wearing number 22. Both Manny Acta and Chris Antonetti were unavailable to give statements on the move because of the off day, so it is still uncertain whether Kipnis will be making his debut at second base or in the outfield. In order to make room for him on the big league team, utility man Luis Valbuena has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus. Because Kipnis was not part of the 40-man roster, the Indians had to designate Jared Goedert for assignment. The Indians will have 10 days to either trade or release Goedert. After 10 days, Goedert will have to clear waivers if the Indians want to keep him.

Player of the Game

Lonnie Chisenhall takes home his first career 'Player of the Game' for a meaningless home run hit while down 3 in the 9th inning. The Chiz Kid also hit a single earlier in the game making this only his 3rd multi-hit game of the season. The home run was the second of his career and it came off Twins closer Joe Nathan. He earned 3.31 'POG' points in this game and his season average of 0.85 points per game is already better than Jack Hannahan (0.79) Ezequiel Carrera (0.69), Lou Marson (0.66) and Austin Kearns (0.55).

Feathers Up

If the Indians can keep playing .500 ball while half the roster is out, they should be fine. Grady Sizemore, Michael Brantley, Travis Buck, Trevor Crowe and Mitch Talbot should all be back soon, so the guys playing right now just have to keep the team afloat until their return.

Travis Hafner was able to score on a passed ball after he doubled thanks to some aggressive baserunning. This was huge when it happened as it tied the game and with two outs in the inning. Carlos Santana ended up grounding out after the passed ball, so had Hafner not scored then, he never would have. It was Pronk's great baserunning instincts and his sneaky speed that surprised Drew Butera and allowed him to score.

Hopefully by beating the Twins in the first two games, but letting them win the last two the Indians have heated up the Twins bats as they will go on to face the Tigers next. Of course if the Twins beat the Tigers, we will have to start rooting for the Twins to lose as well.

Feathers Down

The Indians outfield problems hurt the team again today as Luis Valbuena was forced to play left field with the absence of Shin-Soo Choo, Sizemore, Brantley and Buck. Both Brantley's (stomach sickness) and Buck's (headache) ailments are not serious so they should be fine to play on Friday with an off day tomorrow. If either one can not play then the Indians may make another roster move to bring up another outfielder. This could be either Shelley Duncan, Jared Head or Chad Huffman. There is a 99% chance it would be Duncan, but I just thought I'd throw some other names out there just to be sure.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 - Minnesota Twins 7

Player of the Game

With 6 strikeouts and only 4 hits allowed during his 7.2 innings pitched, Justin Masterson dominated the Twins tonight. The biggest trouble Masterson had during the night was caused by an error on a ground ball, followed by a seeing-eye single. This threat was handled with ease with a strike out of Jim Thome and a double play. Masterson has been the rock of the Indians rotation this season and deserved another win that he was robbed of. Even without the win, he earned 8.56 'POG' points for his 9th 'Player of the Game' of the season. This puts him firmly in second behind Asdrubal Cabrera who has 12.

Feathers Up

Since there was no offense to speak of, here are a couple more feathers you can add to Justin Masterson's cap. According to Pitch/FX, Masterson threw only one breaking ball the entire night, splitting his 103 other pitches pretty evenly between 4-seam fastballs and sinkers. This change change in strategy worked well and seems to be a growing trend with Masterson as he sticks with the pitches that work the best. Justin did a great job keeping the ball down which, along with his good downward movement lead to...

...a ridiculous amount of ground outs. 15 of Masterson's 23 outs recorded were on the ground including just one double play. Most of these were easy outs although a couple ground balls were turned into singles and there was one error. Of course if you want something done right you have to...

...do it yourself, and Masterson did. 5 of those 15 ground outs were recorded by Masterson himself on easy bouncers to the pitcher. This shows how big of a ball hog Masterson is and how he doesn't trust anyone else on his defense. Three of the 5 outs made by the pitcher were in the first inning, starting the game off in impressive fashion.

Luis Valbuena's versatility was a huge asset to the Indians tonight as Michael Brantley was pulled from the game before it started with an illness and Travis Buck was removed after being struck by a pitch. This left the Indians with their only two outfielders, Austin Kearns and Ezequiel Carrera in the field already, meaning an infielder would have to play left-field. Luckily, the Indians and Clippers have been working Valbuena in the outfield all year and he was able to play there without incident. Of course with the way Justin Masterson pitched, a rock could have played left field and there wouldn't have been much difference.

Feathers Down

The lineup was pretty weak today showing the Indians lack of depth with the injuries to Shin-Soo Choo and Grady Sizemore. With Michael Brantley out as well, the outfield consisted of Carrera, Buck and Kearns, none of whom deserve to be starting on any Major League team. The lineup was also missing Travis Hafner who had a scheduled day off and was replaced indirectly by Lou Marson in the lineup. Looking at the starting lineup, it isn't very surprising they were only able to score a single run tonight.

Credit given were credit is due: Glenn Perkins had an extremely easy time mowing through the Indians lineup in the top of the 9th. While he was not that much of a starting pitcher, he looks like a force to be reckoned with coming out of the bullpen.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Minnesota Twins 2

Unless you think like Joe who believes that trading Jason Donald will bring back a difference maker, the Indians simply are not going to trade for a 2-3 win player at the trade deadline unless they part with one, two or three of what I call the "prized group" of prospects: Jason Kipnis, Drew Pomeranz, Lonnie Chisenhall, Alex White and Trey Haley.

A player for the Tribe to consider is Michael Morse, who plays some first base and outfield for the Washington Nationals. Morse, 29, played little for Seattle and was traded to Washington in 2009. It was only last season that he hit .289 (.871 OPS) with 15 homers and 41 RBI in 266 at-bats. This season, he's at .306 (.886 OPS) with 15 homers and 49 RBI. Morse is attractive because he makes only $1 million and won't be a free agent until 2014. The price could be high for Morse in terms of prospects, but I'd be willing to talk about most guys in the system -- but not the "prized group." Morse is a right-handed hitter who makes more sense than 33-year-old Ryan Ludwick, who could leave at the end of the season. He's not a prime defender at any position, but he can play the corner outfield spots, first and third base.

Morse was traded to Seattle in 2009 in exchange for Ryan Langerhans, and spent a month slugging in the International League before getting a brief look as Dunn’s defensive replacement at first. The polar opposite of fellow utilitarian Wee Willie Harris in size, handedness, speed, and plate approach, at first glance Morse’s four-corner skill set seemed to mesh well with Harris's to complete some sort of Utility Player 3-D Cube Puzzle back in 2010, but according to most scouts, Morse's missing piece was power. He never consistently produced the sort of thunder you’d hope for from an infield corner, even in a reserve role, which presages a short shelf-life, even with the talent-starved Nationals.

However, the past two seasons saw Morse hit double-digit homeruns while playing in that reserved role.

If the Indians look to upgrade the offense, Morse might be the best fit when considering low-revenue contraints.

Roster Update: It was Jeanmar Gomez who was removed from the roster for the return of Fausto Carmona, which means David Huff will remain in the Indians starting rotation. The Tribe now has the normal 5 man rotation and 5 man bench.

Player of the Game

Lou Marson showed up on offense and won his first 'Player of the Game' in the last 65 games. Marson was a huge contributor to the Indians win, hitting a double and a home run and scoring twice. His final 'POG' score was 4.68. If anyone was wondering who had the largest total score on the day, it was David Huff, who won the award in the early game. Michael Brantley, Asdrubal Cabrera and Ezequiel Carrera all stood out as well as all three earned a score of more than 1.25 in both games. Brantley played especially well in the second game with 3 hits and 3 extra bases.

Feathers Up

That's what you call a Twin killing.

Ezequiel Carrera showed off his speed today as he turned in his first two steals of his career, one in each game. The second steal came off a pick-off move where Carrera was running on first movement and he still beat the throw to second. Zeke was a spark to the offense in both games as he turned a single, an error and two walks into 3 runs and an RBI. The Indians have made good use of Carrera's speed so far this time up as he has played in every game as either a starter or pinch runner.

The Indians scored 2 runs in the 5th by doing exactly what they needed to do. With two outs, Lou Marson on second and Carrera at first, both Michael Brantley and Asdrubal Cabrera had bloop singles just beyond the infield. Had either player tried to hit a home run the inning would have probably ended before a single run scored, but because they were willing to shorten their swings and just make contact, the Indians pushed two runs across the plate.

The Indians kept scoring late in the game to cement the victory, including some 2 out runs and two separate RBI singles by Travis Hafner. The last run, which was scored when Carlos Santana tripled in pinch runner Luis Valbuena, did make the game a 4 run game, taking a save opportunity away from Chris Perez, making that play a feathers down.

Feathers Down (AKA: Something bad Austin Kearns did)

Today Austin Kearns turned a single into a double when he didn't pay attention to Alexi Casilla running the bases. While Casilla was burning his way toward second, Kearns lightly tossed the ball to the cut off man without looking up. Later in the game Kearns was caught stealing because he is very, very slow and should never even attempt to steal. This ends "Something bad Austin Kearns did."

Joe Mauer is a hit machine and he rapped out 6 more in today's double header. The only thing good about that is the Indians still managed to win both games. Hopefully he got these 3 hit games out of his system early in the series and will slump during the next two games, only batting .350 or so.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 - Minnesota Twinkies 3

Player of the Game

In his first game this season, David Huff earned his first win since May 29th, 2010 and this game's 'Player of the Game' award. Huff pitched 7 innings allowing no earned runs, 5 hits and only two walks while striking out 5. Huff earned 8.07 'POG' points in the win with one of the better starts of any Indians pitcher this season. Hopefully Chris Antonetti will agree that he deserves a second start and he will not be removed from the roster before the night game. Asdrubal Cabrera (5.61 'POG' points) had a great day as well with his 3 run home run that provided the difference in the final score. Vinnie Pestano (1.77) also played well as the impromptu closer as he picked up his second save of the season in relief of Chad Durbin.

Feathers Up

Lonnie Chisenhall has slightly underperformed expectations, most noticeably with his batting average of .213, but he has still contributed to the scoring effort. The Chiz Kid has been on base in 15 out of his 17 games played including today when he was safe on an error and scored on Ezequiel Carrera's double. As far as the team is concerned it is better to allow Chisenhall to play everyday and struggle as Lonnie playing poorly is about the same as Jack Hannahan playing the best baseball of his career. It also should get this struggle out of the way early so he can reach his full potential in time for when the Indians really need him.

David Huff was very impressive in his 2011 debut, going 7 shut out innings. Huff was able to avoid a lot of the problems he had in 2010, most notably his control. While only walking 2, David also managed to avoid throwing any pitches straight down the middle of the plate. He did an especially good job of pitching around the Twins only real power threats, Jim Thome, Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young. These hitters went 1-8 against Huff with a walk and 3 strike outs. It was his third career shutout of 6+ innings and his first since 2009.

It ain't over yet. Stay tuned for game 2 coming up at 8:10. The Indians will need to make another roster move prior to the game as expected starting pitcher, Fausto Carmona is still on the disabled list. The most probable player to be sent down is Jeanmar Gomez as David Huff pitched so well today it would be very hard to not give him another start. Carmona will be pitching against Scott Diamond in his Major League debut.

Feathers Down

Seeing Jim Thome play in Twinstripes makes me long even more for the day that he could return to the Indians to end his career. I would love nothing more than if the Indians were able to trade for Thome to give him one more shot at a World Series championship as the Indians greatest all-time slugger.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 - Minnesota Twins 2

Summary:

The Indians started to do the roster shuffle Sunday morning when they optioned outfielder Shelly Duncan  to Class AAA Columbus so right-hander Jeanmar Gomez  could be activated and start against the Orioles. There will be even more moves before today's day-night doubleheader against the Twins. Left-hander David Huff will be recalled from Columbus and will start the first game. Fausto Carmona will start the second game, but he has to be activated from the disabled list. There are plenty of candidates, including utility man Luis Valbuena and outfielders Ezequel Carrera and Travis Buck. Grady Sizemore's bruised right knee suffered Sunday will influence that decision, don't be surprised if he is headed to the DL, again. The move to activate Carmona will probably be made between games of the doubleheader. Huff is likely to be sent back down because Acta said he anticipates Gomez staying in the rotation in place of injured Mitch Talbot. However, if Huff pitches well, don't be surprised if they go with the hot hand.

...The Indians have lost six straight at Target Field and nine of their last 12 games in Minnesota. They're hitting .224 (37-for-165) against the Twins this year. Michael Brantley leads the way at .368 (7-for-19) with one homer and three RBI. Carmona, Tomlin and Chris Perez are a combined 0-3 against Minnesota this year. 

... The Twins have won 10 of their last 16 games after Sunday's 4-3 win over the Royals. Twins are hitting .281 (47-for-167) against the Indians this year. They've outscored them, 23-13. Ben Revere is hitting .385 (5-for-13) against the Indians in 2011.

...In my own personal opinion, this series will decide whether the Indians are buyers or sellers at the trading deadline this year.

Pitching matchups:

LHP David Huff (first start) vs. RHP Anthony Swarzak (2-2, 3.38) Today at 1:10 p.m.

RHP Fausto Carmona (4-10, 5.78) vs. RHP LHP Scott Diamond (first MLB start) Tonight at 8:10 p.m.

RHP Justin Masterson (8-6, 2.80) vs. LHP Francisco Liriano (6-7, 4.76) Tuesday at 8:10 p.m.

RHP Josh Tomlin (11-4, 4.03) vs. RHP Nick Blackburn (7-6, 3.99) Wednesday at 1:10 p.m.

Twins Injuries:

• RHP Scott Baker (flexor strain) left the July 5 game, and he was scratched from his scheduled July 10 start. He was placed on the disabled list July 17, retroactive to July 7.

• CF Denard Span (concussion) went on the disabled list retroactive to June 7. He was playing catch as of June 23. He had a setback over the July 2-3 weekend and cut back on his workouts. He began working out again July 4, and he took batting practice for the first time July 5. He began a rehab assignment with Class AAA Rochester on July 17.

• OF/DH Jason Kubel (sprained left foot) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 31. He began a rehab assignment with Class A Fort Myers on June 28, but he re-injured his foot June 30, irritating his plantar fascia. He resumed his rehab assignment with Class AAA Rochester on July 17.

• 1B Justin Morneau (herniated disk in neck, strained left wrist) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 10 because of the wrist problem. He had surgery June 29 to fix the neck problem. He was cleared to being non-baseball workouts in mid-July, and he hopes to return sometime in August.

• RHP Kevin Slowey (strained abdominal muscle) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 21. He made rehab starts for Class A Fort Myers on June 25 and June 30, and he started for Class AAA Rochester on July 5, July 10 and July 15.

Twins News/Notes:

• RHP Joe Nathan was moved back to the closer spot Saturday and earned his first save since April 8 in a 4-3 victory over Kansas City. He recorded another save on Sunday in another 4-3 win over the Royals, the 251st save as a Twin. He's one shy of Rick Aguilera's team mark.

• RHP Matt Capps has gone 0-2 with two blown saves, two saves and an 11.11 earned-run average since blowing a three-run lead in an 8-7 loss to Milwaukee on July 2.

• RHP Scott Baker was placed on the disabled list after Sunday's 4-3 victory over Kansas City because of a flexor strain. The move is retroactive to July 7, when he missed his last start. Baker was scheduled to pitch Game 1 of Monday's double-header with Cleveland; instead, the Twins called lefty-hander Scott Diamond up from Class AAA Rochester to take his place.

  Diamond, a Rule 5 draft selection last summer, will be making his major league debut. He is 4-8 with a 4.70 ERA in 17 starts with the Red Wings.

• INF Matt Tolbert was optioned to Class AAA Rochester so the Twins could call up another pitcher for today's double-header today.

• LHP Chuck James was recalled from Rochester to take a spot in the bullpen. James, 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in 26 appearances with the Red Wings, tossed five scoreless innings for the Twins earlier this season.

• CF Denard Span and OF Jason Kubel began rehabilitation assignments with Class AAA Rochester on Sunday night. Manager Ron Gardenhire said he doesn't want them back until they are hitting.

  Kubel has been out since spraining his left foot on May 30; Span hasn't played since June 6 because of a concussion.

• 1B Justin Morneau said he still has a numb forefinger, but the strength in his left arm has improved since having surgery June 24 to repair a ruptured disc in his neck.

  Morneau said he hopes to start doing light baseball activity on Monday but must be cleared first by doctors. He is expected to be back in mid-August.

The Indians must play well this series... or... ehem...

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Player of the Game

Jeanmar Gomez did not win today's 'Player of the Game' with a score of -4.51. It is not his first of the season after allowing 5 runs in 5.1 innings and taking a loss. In fact, Carlos Santana won the 'Player of the Game' with his mammoth solo home run in the first inning along with a single later on in the game. It is his 4th award of the season and he scored 3.48 points for the game. Santana is now third on the team in total points for the season behind only Asdrubal Cabrera (149.5) and Michael Brantley (115.6) with 107.3.

Feathers Up

Travis Hafner hit a home run in the first inning, but was then overshadowed as the next hitter, Carlos Santana hit an even bigger home run, knocking it straight out of the stadium to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.

Early in the season I said that all the Indians would have to do to make the playoffs would be to win 50% of their games for the rest of the season. Since June 12th they have done the absolute minimum amount of winning necessary to stay in first place and they remain the 5 games over .500 that they were on that day. Since then, the Indians have never won or lost more than 3 consecutive games.

Feathers Down

The Tribe had a bunch of two out run scoring opportunities, but were only able to take advantage once, when Travis Buck hit a 2 out double in the first inning. Overall the team left 11 runners on base.

As go Michael Brantley and Asdrubal Cabrera, so go the Indians. Today, their combined 0-10 leaves little surprise to why the Indians were only able to score 3 runs. The lineup after those two (outside of Lonnie Chisenhall) all played well, but for some reason were unable to knock in each other. Also, with no runners on base, Oriole pitching was able to work around Travis Hafner, not giving him a good pitch to hit after his home run in the first inning.

It took a squeeze bunt to ruin Joe Smith's scoreless streak as the Orioles ended his 27 straight games without allowing an earned run. Smith gave up a double, a ground out and a bunt to give up the run.

Grady Sizemore hurt his leg turning around first base on a double in the first inning. Grady was noticeably limping before he slid into second and was immediately removed with what was called a knee contusion. Of course it seems very improbable that he bruised his knee while running, but since the Indians never tell the whole truth about injuries, this is all we have to go on for now. Hopefully he will not need to go on the disabled list for the third time this season as the Indians are having major problems with outfield depth at the moment.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Baltimore Orioles 8