Player of the Game

Michael Brantley won his 4th 'Player of the Game' of 2011 for his 3 run home run that accounted for all the Indians offense during the game. It is his first since May and his final score was 5.42.

Feathers Up

Michael Brantley hit a three-run homerun in the top of the third in an high-leverage situation to put the Tribe on top 3-0. His homerun made an otherwise frustrating inning better. Hopefully, this homerun will get his bat going again.

Frank Herrmann, making his first appearance since June 20, started the third in place of an injured Fausto Carmona (see below). Herrmann retired seven straight before Reds SS Paul Janish singled with one out in the fifth. He retired the next two batters to end the inning. It was the third time in 15 appearances that Herrmann made a three-inning appearance. They've all been scoreless. He struck out two and allowed one hit on 45 pitches.

Vinnie Pestano picked up the second save of his major league career! However, he is not new to the closer role. He recoreded 71 saves in his minor league career. Overall, the Indians worked seven innings striking out 10 and only giving up one earned run.

Feathers Down

Carmona left the game with an injury after stumbling while running down the first baseline in the third. Carmona injured his quad when he bunted to third base following a leadoff single by Lou Marson. Marson was safe at second when shortstop Paul Janish didn't step on the bag. Carmona, sprinting down the line, was safe at first as well. Unfortunately, he lost his balance a couple of steps from the bag and tumbler over it. Lonnie Soloff, Indians head athletic trainer, spent several minutes talking to Carmona. He was apparently checking his right hand. Carmona took a hard shot off the hand knocking down Homer Bailey's comeback to end the second inning. As he was walking back to the dugout, Carmona was shaking the hand. After watching him take a header running to first base - its time for MLB and the Players Association to make a uniform decision if we're going to keep interleague play. Either get rid of the DH, so pitchers spend more time hitting and running the bases or implement it in both leagues.

The Indians couldn't get much going against Reds starter Homer Bailey after the third. Lonnie Chisenhall and Austin Kearns opened the fourth with singles, Marson struck out. Herrmann, batting in the spot for Carmona, advanced Chisenhall to third, but forced Kearns at second on his bunt attempt. Bailey retired Brantley to end the inning. Carlos Santana reached on a two-out bloop double in the fifth, but was stranded.

Tony Sipp had a rough bottom half of the eighth inning. He gave up a lead off homerun to Joey Votto, followed by a double by Scott "Rock N'" Rolen, was able to strike out Jay Bruce but walked Jonny Gomes. It's been a rough road trip for Sipp.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Cincinnati Reds 1

Roster Update

Chris Perez was placed on the bereavement list for today's game so he could deal with a death in the family. Josh Judy was called up in his absence and no interim closer has been named, so we can assume it will be a closer by committee. The best we can hope for is that Chris Antonetti will forget who he brought up for Perez and will release Chad Durbin to open up a roster spot when he returns.

Player of the Game

Justin Masterson won his 7th 'Player of the Game' of the year and his 4th in his last 5 games. His 'POG' score of 7.67 continues a trend of Indians starters getting back on track to where they were early in the season. Excluding Mitch Talbot and Fausto Carmona who have continued to struggle, the other three pitchers have had a score over one in each of their last 4 appearances (the last 3 for Josh Tomlin) and have averaged 4.81 points per game during that time. Masterson earned his score today by pitching 8 innings and only allowing 4 hits, while picking up a single for himself. The only run he allowed was a solo home run and he struck out 5 batters.

Feathers Up

Justin Masterson finally got some run support as the Indians offense saw a bit of a resurgence tonight. Most impressive was the fact that the offense was able to add on to an early lead and was able to hit more than one home run in a road game. Time will tell whether this was just because they are playing in a hitter friendly park in the Great American Ballpark and because they faced Bronson Arroyo, or if it is a real improvement in power hitting.

Not only did Masterson get himself a lead, he got a win as well, and it wasn't just because of the hitting. He only allowed a single run in 8 innings, and it was on a fantastic pitch that Brandon Phillips was somehow able to turn on. It is Masterson's first win since April and his sixth on the season. His 8 innings pitched and the large lead allowed the Indians to give the bullpen some much needed rest.

Feathers Down

Travis Buck pulled his hamstring on a 2 RBI single. Since I'm a doctor, I can tell you that he probably won't miss much time, but it will really hurt an already thin outfield. While he may not need to go on the DL, even going one game with another player who is unable to play in the field will be difficult for the Indians and it could necessitate another move of Buck down to AAA.

This will be the first bad thing I've ever said about Travis Hafner. It is completely ridiculous that he cannot play a single game at first in an entire season. With Matt LaPorta injured and 9 straight games in National League parks now would be the first time for him to take over a couple starts. Instead, Carlos Santana has been forced to play first almost every game and Lou Marson has had to catch. Marson has now played in 10 of the last 12 games and Santana hasn't had a game off since May 25th. There is no way it would be harder for Hafner to play first once than it is for Santana and Marson to play that often. It doesn't matter how his elbow feels as a first baseman rarely has to make more than one or two hard throws a game. If Prince Fielder can play an entire career at first, Pronk can play one game a season. Stop being lazy and get back on the field.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 8 - Cincinnati Reds 2

Interleague Nightmare:

Interleague play mercifully ends for the Reds with the three-game series that begins Friday with the Tribe at Great American Ball Park. "We want to salvage this interleague before we think about leaving it," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "If you think about leaving it, that's kind of conceding what you've got left." The Reds can't salvage their record in interleague play. They are 5-10, and that's after taking two of three games from the Tampa Bay Rays. The Reds are 5-7 against the American League East. The Reds were swept in three games by the Indians on May 20-22. The series with the Indians leads into a crucial seven-game stretch leading to the All-Star Break. The Reds go to St. Louis for the first of three on July 4. After St. Louis, the Reds play a four-game series against the Milwaukee, which leads into the break. "We have 10 days to go," Baker said. "We'll try to win as many games as we can before the break. I always tell my guys: This is like basketball right before the first half ends. You can get a quick 3-pointer, steal in-bounds pass, have the layup." The Reds have played well against Milwaukee and St. Louis. They are 5-1 against Milwaukee and 4-2 versus St. Louis.

(All quotes courtesy of the Cincinnati Enquirer)

Pitching Matchups:

Fri. July 1 at Cincinnati (7:10PM ET, WTAM, STO)

RHP Justin Masterson (5-6, 2.98) vs. RHP Bronson Arroyo (7-6, 5.01)

Sat. July 2 at Cincinnati (4:11PM ET, WTAM, FOX)

RHP Fausto Carmona (4-10, 5.89) vs. RHP Homer Bailey (3-2, 3.86)

Sun. July 3 at Cincinnati (1:10PM ET, WTAM STO)

RHP Mitch Talbot (2-4, 4.96) vs. RHP Mike Leake (7-4, 3.89)

Reds News/Notes:

• RHP Bronson Arroyo goes after his fourth consecutive victory Friday. He hasn't pitched lights out, compiling a 4.09 ERA in his past three starts. But he was 4-1 with a 3.67 ERA in June.

• RHP Brian Boxberger retired the only two batters he faced in the his debut at Class AAA Louisville. Boxberger, the Reds' supplemental first-round pick in 2009, had a 1.31 ERA over 30 appearances at Class AA Carolina.

• RHP Johnny Cueto will face RHP Chris Carpenter in the series opener in St. Louis on Monday. Cueto and Carpenter were principles in the brawl in August of last year.

• SS Zack Cozart, C Devin Mesoraco, OF Jeremy Hermida and OF/1B Yonder Alonso all made the International League All-Star team for Class AAA Louisville.

• RF Jay Bruce struck out in all four at-bats Wednesday. Bruce, the NL player of the month in May, finished June in a 2-for-17 skid with nine strikeouts.

Reds Injury Watch:

• C Ryan Hanigan (strained lat muscle) did not play June 26-28. He was back in the lineup June 29.

• LHP Matt Maloney (cracked rib) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 24. He hurt himself while sneezing.

• RHP Jared Burton (right shoulder inflammation) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 29. He suffered a setback in early April, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on April 18. He underwent arthroscopic surgery April 22, and hoped to return by July.

An insightful and hopefully humorous look at the upcoming trade deadline. For information on the current Indians contract situation, look here.

Joe: One of the most common talking points with Indians fans right now is how active the Indians will be before the trade deadline. You wrote an overview on where the Indians stand, but were vague as far as specific players or teams were concerned. What do you think is the most important hole to fill on the Indians roster?

Mike: Now that the team won't have any need for Albert Pujols now that Matt LaPorta will be coming off the DL soon, I think we need an everyday right fielder with some power, preferably a right-handed hitter. One name I keep hearing is Hunter Pence in Houston. But also look at Mitch Mooreland from the Texas Rangers. They have a bad bullpen who might want to overpay for a set-up guy. What players from outside the organization are you looking at?

Joe: It really depends on how much the Indians want to spend. I agree that the Indians biggest hole is right field and could see any number of players being more capable to fill it than internal options. A return of Ryan Ludwick from San Diego or taking any of the Oakland outfielders that will be free agents at the end of the season (David DeJesus, Coco Crisp or Josh Willingham). If the Indians don't want to spend, they could take a flier on Mike Cameron who was just released by the Red Sox. Replacing the defense that is now lacking with [Shin-Soo] Choo's absence is just as important as replacing his offense.

Mike: No way the Indians would pick up Mike Cameron. He will still be owed nearly $3.5 million the rest of the season for a guy who had two stints on the DL last year and earned a -6 VORP this season. The problem with the names you mentioned is what exactly are the Indians going to have to give up to get a mediocre Ludwick or any of those A's hitters?

Player of the Game

Orlando Cabrera took the 'Player of the Game' against the Diamondbacks today, going 4-6 with a double and 2 runs scored. Cabrera also knocked in a run for a final 'POG' score of 4.45. This was Cabrera's 5th 'Player of the Game' of the season. Carlos Carrasco was a close second to Cabrera, earning 4.31 points for his 7 innings pitched. Over his last 5 starts Carrasco has averaged 6.73 points per game, more than twice his season average. On a completely uninteresting note, players whose last names start with "Ca" earned 45% of the total team score in today's game.

The first pitch, Zach Duke against Michael Brantley.

Feathers Up

The Tribe had a lead at some point in every game this series and won two out of three. This is a far cry from what happened in San Francisco and may show the difference between the Giants and the Diamondbacks more than any improvements the Indians may have made over that time span.

The Indians were forced to use a very bad defensive outfield today due to the injury to Shin-Soo Choo and an off day for Grady Sizemore. Carlos Carrasco pitched well to avoid that disadvantage, only allowing 2 balls to be hit to right field and 2 to center in 7 innings. Of those 4 hits to the outfield, three were caught on the fly for outs and the other was a double, one of only 4 hits allowed by Carrasco.

The player who shall not be named was unable to hurt

the Tribe, due to Carrasco's smart pitching.

Feathers Down

One of the other hits allowed by Carrasco today was a home run to right field by Stephen Drew that was higher than any other home run I've ever seen in person. It looked like the ball peaked just past the infield and it was coming straight down when it landed in the Indians bullpen. Luckily the 2 solo home runs he allowed were the only runs he allowed and the Indians were able to hold on and win.

Asdrubal Cabrera was caught stealing for the first time today, ruining his dream of the perfect season. 

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 - Arizona Diamondbacks 2

Player of the Game

Josh Tomlin wins tonight's 'Player of the Game' for being a real renaissance man. Not only can he pitch, but he can also hit. Tomlin is the first pitcher this season to have a positive 'POG' score from the plate, earning 1.92 points from hitting alone. That puts within 9 points of the season total for some other guy on the team who's been on the team all year. Tomlin's final score was 4.92 as he pitched 7 innings, striking out 4 and only allowing 3 more hits than he got himself. It is his 6th award of the season, tying him for 3rd most on the team.

Feathers Up

For the first time in the 5 interleague games played in NL parks, the pitchers showed up to hit. Josh Tomlin had the first hit for an Indians pitcher this season on a bunt single in the first and the second hit with a line drive up the middle to knock in a run. Daniel Hudson also hit well for the D-Backs, sacrificing twice and hitting an RBI double.

Josh Tomlin has now tied the Major League record for most consecutive starts over 5 innings pitched to begin a career. He has 28 in a row and is tied with Daisuke Matsuzaka, who came to the Majors as a veteran already, signing with the Red Sox from Japan. The only thing that can keep Tomlin from owning this record all for himself is Manny Acta, who should probably leave him in for 5 no matter how poorly he pitches in his next start.

Chad Durbin has not played in the last 7 games for the Tribe and has only made appearances in 2 of the last 15 games. Apparently this is how the Indians are choosing to deal with their players that are performing poorly. Adding Durbin to the list, the Indians now have two players they will never use, unless the game is already decided. Managing can be harder than it needs to be when you limit yourself to a 23 man roster.

Feathers Down

The bullpen faltered for the second night in a row, but it probably isn't too much to worry about. Rafael Perez allowed two runs today as did losing pitcher Tony Sipp. The hittability of the relievers pitches tonight could have stemmed from some over use, as Perez, Sipp and Joe Smith have each made appearances in 3 of the last 4 games. It would probably help everyone in the pen immensely if Manny Acta would either trust Frank Herrman and Chad Durbin, or find some one to replace them that he can trust. 

Lonnie Chisenhall is ruining his batting average and if he keeps having games like this, he will never hit .500 for the season. He's now hitting .375 after his one hit effort against Arizona.

The Tigers lost tonight so the Indians missed out on a chance to regain first place in the Central Division. Not that it really matters at this point in the season, but it is always nice to gain a game on the opposition.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - Arizona Diamondbacks 6

Burning River Baseball took it out on the road tonight to catch the game at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

Player of the Game

Asdrubal Cabrera won his second straight 'Player of the Game' a feat that he alone has accomplished for the Indians this season. Cabrera won his 12th award on the strength of his 2 hit, 2 RBI, 2 run night. He also made a couple of fantastic defensive plays including an unassisted line-out double play. Asdrubal earned a 6.08 for all his trouble, his highest score since June 1st. The second highest 'POG' score of the game was by the other Cabrera, Orlando, who won the game in the 9th with a solo home run.

Feathers Up

The game started out great with a two run bomb by Asdrubal Cabrera. It was his team leading 13th home run of the season and gave the Indians a 2 run lead to start the game. By the way for proof I was at the game, check out this video of said home run. That's me in the block "C" hat and gray Indians road jersey acting a fool.

Lonnie Chisenhall made his Major League debut, going 2-4, and most importantly, knocking in a run on a single in the 6th in a game that ended up being decided by one run. Here he is, taking a lead off of second after his first Major League hit, a double off starting pitcher Ian Kennedy. Lonnie Chisenhall is currently batting .500 on the season. 

It is such a great feeling to be able to go into the 6th inning with a one run lead and have nothing but total confidence that it will be enough to win the game. While Vinnie Pestano did have a slight hiccough, giving up a single run (raising his ERA to 1.57), Joe Smith, Tony Sipp, Rafael Perez and Chris Perez pitched admirably, going 3.2 innings while only allowing a single hit. It cannot be said enough that the greatest asset on this team is the pitching out of the bullpen.

Let the rage begin. This picture isn't blurry, Chris Perez just moves to fast to be caught on film.

The last 'Feathers Up' is that of the 25,000+ fans in attendance, at least 5,000 had to be Indians fans. In my section alone were people holding signs for Lou Marson and Grady Sizemore, and there were Indians hats everywhere around the concourse. Phoenix is definitely a very friendly road city for the Tribe.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 - Arizona Diamondbacks 4

Finally, Lonnie Chisenhall will make his Major League debut for the Cleveland Indians at third base. The most highly touted Indians prospect since Victor Martinez, was called up today and will be in the starting line up against the Arizona Diamondbacks. We here at Burning River Baseball are so excited that we flew our top photographer out to Phoenix to catch his Major League debut in person. Chisenhall was the top hitter in AAA over the last week and hopefully he will remain hot in the pros. Since his recent return from a concussion, Lonnie has hit .429 with two home runs, a triple and 14 RBI. Chisenhall will most likely immediately become the starting third base man for the Tribe, moving Jack Hannahan to a back-up role at both third and first. To make the move, the Indians designated Adam Everett for assignment. This improves the overall team a lot more than it would have to remove Travis Buck or Shelley Duncan, as Everett was almost useless at the plate, only bringing his exceptional defense to the team. With Hannahan now available as a bench player, the Indians are three players deep at every infield position and no longer need a player whose only specialty is defense. Come back tonight to check out a detailed report of Chisenhall's first game on the Tribe.

* Series Roster Note:

The Indians have promoted Lonnie Chisenhall from Class AAA Columbus. Chisenhall will make his big league debut tonight against the Arizona Diamondbacks, starting at third base and batting seventh.

To make room for Chisenhall, infielder Adam Everett was designated for assignment. Chisenhall, the Indians' first-round draft pick in 2008, was just named the International League Player of the Week. He went 9-for-21 with two homers and 14 RBI in five games since coming off the disabled list for a concussion at Columbus.

Series Summary:

They entered Sunday trailing the first-place Giants in the NL West by a half-game. Kennedy and Hudson give them a great 1-2 punch in the rotation. Chris Young is their leader in homers and RBI.

Pitching matchups:

RHP Mitch Talbot (2-4, 4.91) vs. Ian Kennedy (8-2, 2.90) Tonight at 9:40 ET

RHP Josh Tomlin (9-4, 3.95) vs. RHP Daniel Hudson (9-5, 3.58) Tuesday at 9:40 p.m. ET

RHP Carlos Carrasco (7-4, 3.62) vs. LHP Zack Duke (1-2, 5.73) Wednesday at 3:40 p.m. ET.

Diamondbacks Injury Watch:

• 3B Melvin Mora (back) was a late scratch from the June 26 game.

• RHP Juan Gutierrez (right shoulder inflammation) went on the 15-day disabled list May 25. An MRI found rotator cuff irritation but no tears. He threw a bullpen session June 17.

• RHP Sam Demel (right shoulder tendinitis) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 22. He began a rehab assignment with Class AAA Reno on June 24, and he could be activated during the week of June 27-July 3.

• INF Geoff Blum (sore right knee) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22. Blum underwent successful arthroscopic surgery April 26.

Diamondbacks News/Notes:

• INF/OF Willie Bloomquist stole second base in the sixth inning Sunday, his eighth stolen base of the season but his first since April 15. Bloomquist was the first in the majors to three, four, five and six stolen bases this season but shortly after stealing No. 7 missed almost a month with a hamstring injury. He made his first start of the season at second base Sunday, previously playing shortstop and left field.

• 3B Ryan Roberts, who was not scheduled to start Sunday, had a three-hit game and drove in the go-ahead run for a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning in Detroit, although the Tigers recovered to win, stunning the D-Backs with seven runs in the eighth. 3B Melvin Mora was in the original starting lineup but was a late scratch because of a bad back. Mora, a free agent signed to play third this season, has started only three of the last 16 games while Roberts has played his way into a regular role there with careers-high in homers (10), stolen bases (nine) and RBI (33).

• D-backs manager Kirk Gibson and bench coach Alan Trammell stood side-by-side in the D-backs' dugout and applauded as the No. 11 of former Detroit and Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson was unveiled on the left-center field fence in Comerica Park in a ceremony before Sunday's game. Gibson was the MVP of the Tigers' 1984 ALCS victory over Kansas City, and Trammell was the MVP of the 1984 World Series victory over San Diego.

• RHP Josh Collmenter was honored when his hometown of Homer, Mich., held Josh Collmenter Day on Friday, the day before his first major league start in his home state against Detroit. Several hundred fans from Homer attended the game, a 6-0 Tigers' victory. Family and friends wore orange T-shirts with a D-backs logo and lined the area around the bullpen as Collmenter warmed up, and he received a loud ovation when he was announced in the starting lineup.

• RHP J.J. Putz was unavailable Sunday after pitching three times in four days, recording three straight saves last Wednesday-Friday, and the D-backs were unable to hold a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning. RHP Aaron Heilman, who normally pitches earlier in the game, gave up two base runners in the Tigers' seven-run eighth inning, and setup man RHP David Hernandez gave up a walk and three singles to the four batters he faced as the Tigers took an 8-2 lead.

The Tribe recalled 3B Lonnie Chisenhall to play third base.

Can he help the offense?

Player of the Game

I guess Asdrubal Cabrera wins the 'Player of the Game' for getting two singles, an RBI and only striking out once, unlike Carlos Santana, Grady Sizemore, Shelley Duncan, Shelley Duncan, Adam Everett and Fausto Carmona who all struck out twice. Shelley Duncan being listed twice is not a typo, he struck out twice, twice. Cabrera scored a 1.70, it's his 11th of the year, sendAC2AZ and all that jazz. Hard to say someone is the player of the game when you get swept.

Feathers Up

The Indians gave up a few earned runs today instead of the unearned runs they have been giving up in the first two games of the series. The Indians still gave up two errors, but they didn't lead to runs, so that is the only good thing that happened in today's game.

Feathers Down

Fausto Carmona has been having major trouble pitching with runners on base lately and this may be partially due to his attitude. Every time Carmona gives up a hit, he reacts as emotionally as if he had just given up a no hitter. This has to take his concentration off the next hitter, and it has showed up in the box score with his batting average against being much worse when he pitches from the stretch than it is with no one on.

Giants pitching must have been cheating by throwing hologram balls that project an image of a strike, even though they are more than a foot out of the strike zone. How else can you explain the fact that Madison Bumgarner, a man who is such a bum he had his name changed to reflect the fact, struck out 11 Indians hitters, a career record. In his last game "the bum" pitched a total of 0.1 innings and allowed 8 runs on 9 hits. If it was just him I might believe that he is just really deceptive, but Jeremey Affeldt, a pitcher so bad the Royals gave up on him, struck out 5 of the 6 batters he faced.

Either the top brass (Chris Antonetti and Mark Shapiro) in the Indians organization have some incredible secrets or they are intentionally not putting the best team on the field that they can. The best explanation I can think of is they are forfeiting the chance of going to the playoffs this year in order to keep Lonnie Chisenhall, Jason Kipnis, Zach McAllister and others around for an extra year. Of course this doesn't make the move to bring up Travis Buck instead of Ezequiel Carrera or to not bring up David Huff make any sense, so the best I can guess is that they are trying to lose. There is no reason for Adam Everett, Buck or some other unnamed players to be on this team with the versatility shown by Orlando Cabrera, Jack Hannahan and Cord Phelps.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - San Francisco Giants 3