Player of the Game

Josh Tomlin remains a consistent force in the Indians rotation, winning his 7th 'Player of the Game' of the year, tieing him with Justin Masterson for most by an Indians pitcher. Tonight he was even better than normal, scoring 7.19 points in one game while his per game average for the season is just over 2.00. Tomlin struck out 5, only allowing one run in 7 innings. Another player of note is the guy whose name has been removed from the rest of this post. He scored 5.55 points after only earning 11.53 points all season.

Feathers Up

Austin Kearns is lucky Joe Coblitz is not writing this game recap. Otherwise, those of you reading this might have got cheated on a fair analysis. The Indians took the lead over the Yankees in the seventh inning, 4-2, after Kearns' three-run two-out home run. It was Kearns' first home run since August 22, 2010, when he was playing for the Yankees. Kearns entered the game batting .196 with no homers and two RBI in 102 at-bats. His home run went to right field, off the Yankees' A.J. Burnett. It was his 112th pitch of the game.

Shelley Duncan drove in the Tribe's first run, also in the seventh, with a single to right field. He fell behind, 0-2, before battling back to 2-2. He hit a fastball away into right for a single to drive in Grady Sizemore and send Lonnie Chisenhall to third.

Starter Josh Tomlin no-hit the Yankees for six innings, crafted a quality start, set a modern-day record and held Derek Jeter hitless.Tomlin who improved to 10-4, 3.78 ERA gave up two runs in seven innings. He has worked at least five innings in 29 starts to begin his career, breaking the mark of 28 set by Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007. Tomlin carried a no-hitter into the seventh. Mark Teixeira hit aground-ball single up the middle, Tomlin dancing to get out of the way. Teixeira had been 0-for-7 career against Tomlin.

Jeter finished 0 for 4 to remain at 2,994 career hits. Game was sold out. I attended the game and it had a playoff atmosphere.

Feathers Down

Unlike Tomlin, Burnett did not have a no-hitter going, but he was nasty nonetheless. The only Indian who gave him problems through six innings was All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. With one out in the first, Cabrera singled. He was cut down attempting to advance after Burnett's pitch skipped away from catcher Russell Martin. Travis Hafner walked and Santana flied to center. Cabrera would later double in the sixth. Jeter led off the game with a slow roller toward Tribe third baseman Chisenhall, who failed to field it cleanly for an error. Curtis Granderson walked, Tomlin's first walk in four starts and his fifth since May 1.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 6 - New York Yankees 3

My column, my rules. His name shall not be written until his batting average is above .250 or he is removed from the roster. Right to censor. - jlablitz

Roster Update

Before today's game the Indians placed starting pitcher Fausto Carmona on the 15 day disabled list for the injury he sustained while running the bases yesterday. Because of this move, the Indians were able to keep Josh Judy on the roster when Chris Perez returned from the bereavement list. There has been no official mention of who the Indians will bring up to replace Carmona or if they will try to make it to the All-Star break with a 4 man rotation.

Player of the Game

Shelley Duncan won today's 'Player of the Game' in a loss to the Reds, going 3 for 4 and accounting for 3 of the Indians 5 runs. It is his 4th of the season and he didn't have much competition as the entire team combined had a 'POG' score of 3.13. Duncan scored 5.97 of that by himself.

Right when it looked like the entire active roster would have a positive 'POG' score for the season, Mitch Talbot went and got blown up. Since Chad Durbin has been able to put together a few solid outings, Talbot (-8.2 total season 'POG' score) is the only player on the active roster that has hurt the team more than he has helped. Other players no longer on the roster that are in the same position are Fausto Carmona (-17.3), Jeanmar Gomez (-2.4) and Justin Germano (-4.0).

Feathers Up

Lou Marson threw out two base runners during game play today, one at third on a sacrifice fly, the other at second on a bunt attempt. Marson has played well since the injury to Matt LaPorta. Before the injury, Marson was playing about once every three games, but since then he has played in 12 of the last 14 games.

Shelley Duncan came through for the Tribe with his first home run since April. This two run home run accounted for the first two Indians runs and his single later in the game lead to the Indians 5th run.

Feathers Down

The only negative thing we ever heard about Lonnie Chisenhall in the minors was that his glove was not Major League ready. Today he made his first big defensive gaff, an error on a ball between his legs in the first inning. While that ball should have been caught, he has otherwise played well on defense and has a hit in every game this season, more than making up for this error.

Chris Perez has been though a roller coaster of emotions the past few weeks. Against Colorado he was put in in a non save situation and took his third loss of the year, then he converted 2 one run save opportunities. Right after that his grandmother died and he celebrated his birthday within a couple of days of each other. He has now rejoined the team and was just selected as one of the Indians representatives to the All-Star game. Hopefully after all this he can remain the cool, calm and collected ball of pure rage that we all know and trust in save situations.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 - Cincinnati Reds 7

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

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

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

Player of the Game

Justin Masterson's inability to earn a win has not kept him from winning the 'Player of the Game'. He won for his 6th time today after pitching 6.2 innings and not allowing an earned run. Masterson struck out 5 and only allowed 4 hits, earning him a 'POG' score of 5.40, his best start of his last 7. Only one Indians hitter (Michael Brantley 1.35) and one other Indians pitcher (Vinnie Pestano 1.27) had a score of over one today.

Feathers Up

Matt LaPorta is progressing well in his rehab and will be reevaluated shortly. Hopefully he will return to the lineup as soon as his 15 days are up. Until he comes back you can expect a lot more low scoring games from the Tribe as they are playing without their top three power hitters in LaPorta, Travis Hafner and Shin-Soo Choo.

The starters have done a good job giving the bullpen some time to rest as Carlos Carrasco and Justin Masterson combined to pitch 14.2 innings of the 16 innings pitched in the two games. The Bullpen Mafia needed this time off so they could spend their energy on more important things like stealing flags and fighting protesters.

Indians pitching has only given up one earned run over the past two games against the Giants...

Feathers Down

...But the Indians defense has given up 4 unearned runs which cost the Tribe both games. Today it was Cord Phelps with 2 errors leading to one unearned run.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 0 - San Francisco Giants 1

Player of the Game

Carlos Carrasco pitched a complete game and only allowed 1 earned run against the World Series champion Giants. He earned the loss anyway due to Carlos Santana's errors, but he still won the 'Player of the Game.' His 8 inning, 6 hit performance garnered him a 'POG' score of 4.57. Carrasco's score was slightly lower than it normally would have been due to his 0-3 effort at the plate. It is his 4th consecutive start that he has won 'Player of the Game'.

Feathers Up

The Indians took advantage of Jonathan Sanchez's wildness early on, walking 6 times and pushing him out of the game in the 5th inning. All three runs scored against Sanchez got on base initially with either walks or were batters that were hit by pitches.

Feathers Down

I'm so glad that we finally get watch Carlos Carrasco strike out and hit weak ground balls. Isn't it great the National League is doing its best to live in the past and keep the glory of pitcher hitting alive?

Tonight's loss can be almost solely placed on Carlos Santana's shoulders as he knocked in two runs early in the game, then committed two errors that allowed 3 unearned runs to score.

If you are wondering why Michael Brantley was given both days off around an already scheduled off day, don't look here for the answer, because I'm wondering the exact same thing.

Final Score: Indians 3 - Giants 4