Player of the Game

Shin-Soo Choo won his 5th Player of the Game award tonight. Because of his time on the disabled list, this is the first time he has won since May 20. Choo was a big contribution to what little offense the Indians had tonight. Choo had 2 singles and a solo home run, giving him a PoG score of 3.79. 

Feathers Up

Chad Durbin did a great job in long relief tonight. Durbin pitched 2.2 innings, going longer than starter David Huff. Durbin allowed one of Huff’s base runners to score and 2 unearned runs scored after a Michael Brantley error. Overall, Durbin pitched well tonight. 

Feathers Down

The Indians fell behind early tonight. In the first inning, David Huff gave up a couple of hits, two walks, and a sacrifice fly to the top of the Tigers lineup, giving Detroit a 2-0 advantage. Huff ended the first inning with 34 pitched thrown, one-third of what an average starter will pitch in 6-7 innings. The second inning wasn’t any better for Huff. He gave up two more runs, giving Detroit a 4-0 advantage after just 2 innings. Huff only pitched 2.1 innings before the Indians bullpen took over.

After a great defensive game last night, left fielder Michael Brantley had a costly mistake tonight. He appeared to be distracted by the base runner on 3rd, Victor Martinez, who had gone back to the base to tag up, and dropped a routine fly ball, which lead to 2 unearned runs.

This is a critical series for the Indians, as they battle the Tigers for first place in the Central Division. The Indians must win tomorrow to avoid the sweep if they want to stay close to the Tigers atop the Division standings. After the loss tonight, the Indians are 3.5 games out of first place.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Detroit Tigers 10

Roster move: Shelley Duncan was placed on the Family Medical Emergency list, so the Indians called up Ezequiel Carrera from AAA Columbus.

Player of the Game

Carlos Santana was tonight’s Player of the Game with a score of 1.08. Santana had a single and scored the Indians only run on a wild pitch. This is Santana’s 8th PoG award of the year.

Feathers Up

Michael Brantley made a nice running catch in the bottom of the third inning. Jhonny Peralta, thinking the ball was hit in the gap, was rounding second base as Brantley caught the ball. Brantley hit his cut-off man, Asdrubal Cabrera, who then threw Peralta out by a few feet at first base, completing the double play.

Pitchers dominated the first half of the game tonight. Through the first 5 innings of the game, there were only 4 total hits and 5 total base runners. Neither pitcher, Josh Tomlin or Max Scherzer, had many strikeouts, but the pitching was definitely overpowering early in the game.

Feathers Down

Travis Hafner keeps racking up the K’s. He has stuck out 10 times in the last 4 games.

The scoreless battle was broken up in the bottom of the 6th inning when Josh Tomlin gave up a 2-run home run to Austin Jackson. Tomlin completely fell apart in the bottom of the 7th inning with two outs, giving up back-to-back solo home runs to Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta. Peralta would be Tomlin’s last batter of the night.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Detroit Tigers 4

Player of the Game

Kosuke Fukudome won his first 'Player of the Game' as an Indian as he provided the winning margin by scoring twice and knocking one run in. After the Indians lost the lead in the 4th, it was Fukudome's 6th inning triple that gave it back to them. Kosuke also had 2 singles on the night for a final 'POG' score of 4.46. Matt LaPorta was also integral to the Indians win with a 2 run home run, but went 0 for the rest of the game.

Feathers Up

Kosuke Fukudome knocked out White Sox starter, Philip Humber after only 1.1 innings with a single to his head. To that point in the game Humber had only allowed 2 hits and had struck out 3 batters. The Indians ended up scoring 4 runs against the Chicago pen, further decimating an already overworked bullpen.

The "Bullpen Mafia" did it's thing again tonight, saving Masterson's lead by pitching three scoreless innings, earning holds for Rafael Perez, Joe Smith and Vinnie Pestano and another save for Chris Perez. After a long drought without any saves, Perez now has saves in 5 of his last 7 appearances over a stretch of 10 games.

Feathers Down

Jason Kipnis was kept out of today's game yet again, but this time it was for his hamstring, not his oblique. Kipnis has become a very important part of the Indians offense, hitting second in the lineup. Hopefully these muscle strains will end soon and Jason Donald can go back to being the utility infielder.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - Chicago White Stockings 2

Player of the Game

Fausto Carmona destroyed the White Sox tonight, only allowing a single run on a solo home run in his 8.1 innings pitched. Carmona earned 7.59 'Player of the Game' points for striking out 6 batters while only allowing 2 walks and 4 hits. This was his best start since May 3rd when he went 8 innings, only allowing a single run on 5 singles. It is his 7th award on the season and finally pushes him back into the positive for his season total, meaning he has finally helped the team more than he hurt it. His season total is now 1.00 compared to team best pitcher Justin Masterson's score of 94.3.

Feathers Up

The Indians turned around a couple trends tonight. Before tonight the Tribe was 1-7 against Chicago this season and 59-51 against everyone else. If you can remember back to the opening series of 2011, the White Sox were the team that put the Indians in a 0-2 hole.

Along with the Indians trouble with the White Sox, Fausto Carmona has had major trouble against the South Siders. Fausto was skipped in his last scheduled start against the Sox because in his first two starts against them he had an ERA of 20.00. Tonight, Carmona had an ERA of 1.11 as he only allowed a single run in his 8.1 inning effort.

Carmona's 8.1 innings really saved the Tribe's bullpen as it was over-extended last night. Vinnie Pestano and Chad Durbin were both unable to pitch tonight after multiple innings yesterday. Chris Perez ended up being needed in the 9th and has now pitched 4.1 innings in the last 4 games with 3 saves.

The Indians gained a game on the Tigers tonight, who lost to the Twins. They are now 2 games back.

Feathers Down

Although it was better than last night, the Indians are still having a huge problem striking out too much. I blame John Nunnally. The Indians should definitely fire him from whatever his new job is, because firing him the first time worked so well.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - Chicago White Sox 1

Player of the Game

Travis Hafner was the best player in this game, even though he struck out 4 times and grounded into a double play. In his other two at bats he hit a single and a home run, scoring 2 runs and knocking in 2 more for a final 'Player of the Game' score of 4.87. It is his 8th 'Player of the Game' of the season. Chad Durbin took the loss, but with 5 consecutive good outings, he has finally moved onto the positive side of the ledger with a season total of 3.3. Of course both Justin Masterson and David Huff average more than this per game played, but its a good start to making Durbin a positive part of the "Bullpen Mafia".

Feathers Up

Shin-Soo Choo has played decently in his return and has filled in well in the Indians lineup while Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis have nursed injuries. These injuries have allowed Manny Acta to delay his decision on where to ultimately place Choo in the lineup. In his 3 games back he has lead off and second although he will certainly be lowered in the lineup as soon as everyone is healthy. So far Choo has done his job as a top of the lineup hitter by getting on at least once every game with 2 singles and 2 walks and scoring a run in each game.

The Indians brought the score to within one three different times tonight and tied it in the 9th despite the fact that the White Sox scored in 5 different innings. Without this tenacious comeback ability, we would not have had the privilege of watching baseball in the morning yet again.

If you didn't know the players on the Indians roster very well, this was a great game for you to watch. Every healthy position player played as did every relief pitcher and two starters. Of the entire 25 man roster, only Jason Kipnis, Justin Masterson, Fausto Carmona and Josh Tomlin did not play.

Feathers Down

Jason Kipnis has missed the last two games (would have been three if the last Twins game wasn't rained out) do to a sore side. He apparently hurt it on August 9th against the Tigers the night before he went 5-5. The Indians are hoping he will avoid the disabled list, but in the mean time he will be replaced in the field by Jason Donald. Kipnis played injured a few games and stayed in the lineup long enough for Michael Brantley to come back from his wrist injury so the Indians didn't have to do without both their one and two hitters in any one game.

This isn't exactly what the Indians expected when they traded for Ubaldo Jimenez, but he did keep them in the game. Four earned runs and 5 extra base hits in 4.2 innings are just not going to cut it in this Central Division race.

Alexei Ramirez cheated and got away with it when he blocked Michael Brantley from running to third on what should have been a double by Shin-Soo Choo. The umpire gave Brantley third, but Choo was forced to stay at first. Brantley scored on a sac fly that could have moved Choo from second to third, then he was retired on Travis Hafners double play. Who knows what could have happened if the umpire had made the right decision and given Choo second base.

Two days off in a row for the Indians, one scheduled day off and one postponed, have made the Tribe the team with the most games left to play this season. They have played 4 games less than Detroit and have at least 3 rain outs to make up against the Mariners, White Sox and Twins.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 - Chicago White Sox 8

Player of the Game

Asdrubal Cabrera provided all the offense tonight and won himself his 15th 'Player of the Game' of the season. Cabrera was 2-3 with a 3 run home run, a single, a walk and a stolen base. The home run was his team leading, 20th of the season.

Feathers Up

Jason Donald had his best game of the season with a single, a triple and a run scored. The fact that he has been able to come up from AAA and not be absolutely terrible makes Jack Hannahan the leading candidate for the "Austin Kearns Player who needs to be removed from the Roster" award. Talking about Austin Kearns, stay tuned and check back tomorrow for some more about everybody's favorite non-Indian.

Chris Perez now has three consecutive innings pitched without allowing a baserunner. Over that time he has earned 2 saves and struck out two batters. How dare anyone doubt the rage.

Feathers Down

The Tigers won again, so the Indians remain 3 behind in the Central Division chase. All they can do now is try to win every game and play well against Detroit every chance they get.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Minnesota Twins 1

Player of the Game

Justin Masterson shut down the Twins offense for tonight's 'Player of the Game', only allowing 2 earned runs in 7.2 IP. He has now won 11 awards in his 26 games played, making him the most important player in every game he plays. Masterson struck out 4 and only allowed 5 hits, all singles. He did leave 2 runners on in the 8th when he was pulled from the game, but Rafael Perez got the final out (and the win) with no problem.

Feathers Up

Shin-Soo Choo returned early from his rehab assignment to hit leadoff for the Tribe against the Twins. Choo had a single and a run scored in his productive first game back. His return forced Kosuke Fukudome to move to center and facilitated the demise of...

...Austin Kearns is finally gone! There is one less glaring hole of uselessness on the Indians roster. I have no clue why it took so long, but it is time to celebrate. Without his dead weight on the team, the Tribe should be able to overtake Detroit in no time.

The majority of Indians hits tonight were on plays that could have been called errors, and there were very few that landed past the infield. Even though there were no home runs or deep doubles (Matt LaPorta's game winning double was a bloop hit) the Indians were able to pull it out and win. This shows the importance of putting the bat on the ball and not striking out 10 times a game.

Feathers Down

Even though the Indians won, they remain 3 games behind Detroit as the Tigers beat the Orioles tonight. The Indians have three more series against Detroit this season, including one starting on August 19th in Motown. It is probably to early to keep a daily track on how far back the Indians are, but it is hard not to notice.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Minnesota Twins 2

Player of the Game

Carlos Santana's solo home run was enough to earn him tonight's 'Player of the Game' as the only other runs scored on Asdrubal Cabrera's double. This hit earned Santana a 'POG' score of 2.95, while Cabrera only earned 2.79 points. Offensively, that was about it for the Tribe, although all three pitchers did their jobs very well. The obvious point of blame for tonight's game was Lonnie Chisenhall who scored a -1.39 for his error and unearned run.

Feathers Up

I was at the game tonight and got one of the t-shirts they were giving away, advertising the Indians new publicity campaign, "peace, love and racism."

The outfield defense was spectacular tonight with both Kosuke Fukudome and Ezequiel Carrera making diving catches. Shelley Duncan also had a couple good throws in from left field, trying to get runners out on the basepaths.

Feathers Down

The Indians just couldn't get anything going against Justin Verlander, but that is to be expected as he is the premier pitcher in the American League right now. The Indians only had one inning all game where more than 4 batters stepped to the plate, and that was the 2 run third inning. As it was, that inning was set up by 2 walks before the Cabrera double. The Indians never had more than one hit in an inning.

Feathers down go to the jerk sitting in section 130, row F, seat 5 knocked my camera onto the concrete and broke it, severely depleting the amount of pictures that will be posted to the site in the foreseeable future.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Detroit Tigers 4

Player of the Game

Jason Kipnis had one of the best games this season by an Indians hitter as he went 5-5 with 3 RBI and 4 runs scored. Two of his hits went for extra bases as well. Kipnis scored 10.23 'Player of the Game' points for the game and has quickly become the Indians hottest hitter, with an average score of 1.93 points per game. The second best hitter this season has been Asdrubal Cabrera with an average score of 1.59. Jason's 30.9 points in 16 games already surpasses Austin Kearns' (25.7 points in 57 games) and Lou Marson's (27.6 in 48) season totals.

Feathers Up

The Indians are now only 2 games behind Detroit in the Central Division after winning two games in a row for the first time since July 18th. It was extremely important to win the first two games of this series, because the pitching match-ups were very favorable towards the Indians and tomorrow's is not (Justin Verlander v. Fausto Carmona). If the Indians can win tomorrow they will only be a single game behind Detroit with the Twins coming to town.

The Tribe set their bullpen up perfectly for the final game of the series, thanks mostly to Ubaldo Jimenez, who was able to pitch 8 strong innings. After both teams used just about everybody last night, it was nice for the Indians pen to get a night off. The offense did their part as well, knocking Rick Porcello from the game early on, making Detroit use their pen for the second night in a row. This could be important if tomorrow night's game is close or if Justin Verlander has to throw a lot of pitches and needs to leave the game before the 7th.

In addition to all his hits, Jason Kipnis also had an excellent day on the basepaths, taking four extra bases against the Tigers. Two of these came in the 4th inning when he scored from first on Asdrubal Cabrera's single. By running hard and forcing a throw to third, he was able to take advantage of the Tigers poor defense and score on the throwing error.

Scoring 10 runs against Detroit is incredible and the best part about the offense was that everyone was involved. Each of the starting hitters had at least one hit and one production stat (run or RBI). Of course Kipnis had the big game, but great efforts by Carlos Santana (2 hits, 2 Runs, 1 RBI), Kosuke Fukudome (3 hits, 2 doubles, 1 RBI) and Ezequiel Carrera (Double, 1 RBI, 1 Run) should not be overlooked.

Feathers Down

Lonnie Chisenhall was thrown out trying to turn a single into a double when the Indians already had a big league. What is wrong with him? I demand perfection from every player. Actually it was a great, aggressive move by a talented, young player and I'd like to see this style of baserunning continue. Fooled you, no feathers down tonight.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 10 - Detroit Tigers 3

Player of the Game

The 'Player of the Game' tonight was Asdrubal Cabrera for scoring the winning run in the 14th inning. Cabrera also knocked in the first run of the game and scored the second in the 1st inning, if anyone can remember when that happened. His final score for his team leading 14th award was 3.77. Chad Durbin gets an honerable mention for making a spot start in the third inning and pitching 3 scoreless innings, facing the minimum.

Feathers Up

The rain delay ruined both starters outings, but both bullpens came through admirably. While each starter gave up 2 runs in 2 innings, both teams pens made it through the next 7 innings without allowing a run, to send the game into extras. All said and done, 13 relief pitchers were used by both teams for a total of 23.1 scoreless innings.

Thanks to David Pauley for hitting Kosuke Fukudome to drive in the winning run. I love baseball, but 2 am is a little late.

Feathers Down

Carlos Carrasco was placed on the 15 day disabled list with some swelling in his "elbow." This came at an extremely convenient time as the Indians had to bring Jack Hannahan back for tonight's game and didn't want to get rid of any position players. It is also convenient because Carrasco was being suspended and was going to be replaced this time through the rotation by David Huff anyway. Now, Carrasco can stay on the DL until September when he won't hurt the team by taking his suspension, because the rosters are expanded.

Jason Donald was caught stealing home on a suicide squeeze play by Michael Brantley in the 8th inning. Brantley tried to make contact, but the ball was low and outside and the catcher easily tagged out Donald trying to score. The play was reminiscant of Asdrubal Cabrera's squeeze play against Boston early in the season to win a game 1-0. The only difference was that last time it worked. It was an interesting call by Manny Acta for being aggressive, but Michael Brantley has played well enough this season that he probably should have been able to try to score him from third on his own.

Jeff Kellogg was Coco Puffs tonight. He took away Chad Durbin's Special K early in the game as he Cinnamin Toast Crunched the strike zone down somewhere below the hitter's knees. He should thank his Lucky Charms that Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner didn't gang up on him and knock out his Fruity Pebbles.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Detroit Tigers 2