The Indians were able to finally win a series, taking two out of three games from the Nationals, ending their long stretch against the top teams in the Majors. They generally wasted the chance to impress against this years prospective playoff crop, winning just 8 games of the 25. The Indians will be moving on now to play the third place Royals with second place in the Central Division on the line. This will start a stretch of seven series against Central Division foes in the next nine series.

Game 1: Monday, June 17th 7:05 PM EDT
James Shields, RHP, 2-6, 2.79 ERA vs Carlos Carrasco, RHP, 0-2, 15.26 ERA

Carrasco's suspension ends today and he will make what could be his last start this time around. Zach McAllister is able to come off the DL in time to take his next turn through the rotation and it couldn't happen soon enough. Carrasco has only been able to make two starts between suspensions and has yet to go five innings. Prior to the season, Carrasco looked to be the best internal option as fifth starter, but Corey Kluber has since surpassed him and Carrasco will be replaced in the rotation as soon as possible. The Indians are actually lucking out that the Royals are throwing their best pitcher in this match-up as they can drop just this game and focus on the other two to win the series.

Game 2: Tuesday, June 18th 7:05 PM EDT
Ervin Santana, RHP, 5-5, 2.74 ERA vs Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 5-4, 4.79 ERA

Ubaldo's numbers are still skewed by his first couple of starts of the season, but since his third start of the year he has lowered his ERA from 11.25 to under 5.00 now. His only start this year against Kansas City was one of his best this year when he shut out the Royals over seven innings. Most impressively, he retired 13 batters via the ground ball, his highest total of the year.

Santana has been very dominant against the Indians as well, throwing a no hitter back when he was with the Angels and throwing a shut out of his own against the Indians, two days before Jimenez'. Of the three games, this is the most mysterious, where it could be a complete pitcher's duel where either pitcher could throw a no hitter, or this could be the game where either pitcher breaks and returns their failures of the past. The Indians are definitely favored by a low scoring game as they have had some issues scoring runs even against the worst starters and their bullpen is still incredibly strong.

Game 3: Wednesday, June 19th 7:05 PM EDT
Luis Mendoza, RHP, 2-3, 4.08 ERA vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 8-5, 3.52 ERA

The Indians should have the most confidence in the finale as it sees the Tribe ace going against one of the worst members of the Royals staff. This, however, doesn't mean he will be easy to defeat. Mendoza, like Jimenez, has had his numbers skewed from a few bad starts at the beginning of the season. He has thrown eight straight starts with three runs allowed or less. Mendoza has seen success against most of the Indians hitters, but one interesting note is that Jason Giambi has a grand slam against him despite just two at bats. 

The Indians finally won a series in Texas and will move on to face the Washington Nationals, the last team in their difficult stretch of nine straight series against teams above .500. During the stretch the Indians went 6-16 including two sweeps by Detroit, one by the Yankees and one by Cincinnati. The series against the Nationals will be a rarity for the Tribe. They haven't  played against Washington since 2010 and before that, 2007 and each was just a three game series. With the new 15 team alignment, they will almost certainly start playing each other more often.

The Nationals were expected to be not just the best team in the NL East going this year, but the top team in the entire National League. Instead, they have had trouble scoring (rank second to last in runs scored in all of baseball) and currently rank six games behind the Atlanta Braves who have used a revitalized Uptony offense to rank number one in home runs in all of baseball.

Game 1: Friday, June 14th 7:05 PM EDT
Gio Gonzalez, RHP, 3-3, 3.59 ERA vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 8-5, 3.68 ERA

The Indians ace has struggled in his last two times out and three of his last four, going from 7-2 to 8-5 over that stretch. He has still been able to pitch deep into games, but allowed 16 runs in 19 innings against Detroit, New York and Boston. Playing against the weak Washington offense may be the one thing that gets him back on track.

The Indians are familiar with Gonzalez from his time with the Oakland A's and the young pitcher is hitting his peak now with the Nationals. Gonzalez has pitched well for the Nats this year (like most of their staff), allowing more than four runs just four times this season. In fact, his two worst starts came against the tough Braves offense that leads their division. The Indians players do have some experience against Gonzalez from his time in the AL, with Ryan Raburn especially having good numbers, so expect him to start in right field in lieu of Drew Stubbs.

Game 2: Saturday, June 15th 7:15 PM EDT Fox
Jordan Zimmermann, RHP, 9-3, 2.00 ERA vs Scott Kazmir, LHP, 3-4, 5.33 ERA

In thirteen starts, Zimmerman has allowed just 21 runs. This is made even more impressive when you notice that he allowed seven of those in a single bad game against Baltimore. Outside of this one start he has an even more impressive ERA of 1.42 and has not given up more than three runs in any one game. This is just about as bad a pitching match-up as the Indians can get, as Kazmir is starting for the Tribe and has allowed four or more runs in half of his starts. Of course, anything can happen in baseball, but this would be the game to want a three hour rain delay during the second inning in.

Game 3: Sunday, June 16th 1:05 PM EDT
Stephen Strasburg, RHP, 3-5, 2.54 ERA vs Corey Kluber, 4-4, 4.08 ERA

The Indians have faced the Nationals phenom just once before, in 2010 before he missed an entire season due to Tommy John surgery. He is now on the disabled list for the fourth time in his career with a strained lat, but is expected to be activated in time for the series finale in Cleveland. He last pitched on May 31st when he was pulled in the second inning due to injury. This broke a streak spanning all season of lasting at least five innings in each game. He has a current streak of five games allowing a single run or less. Overall this year he has blanked opponents three times, but hasn't pitched a complete game shut out. In fact, he has only pitched into the eighth inning twice as the Nationals are being very careful with the fragile pitcher they believe to be the future of their franchise.

Kluber has been a surprise this season and over his last six starts, has become the Indians third most dependable pitcher (after Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez). In his last outing he struck out just three, but held the AL West leading Rangers to just a single run in eight innings. Two games before that, he struck out 10 Red Sox and held them to a single run as well, but was unable to get out of the seventh. Kluber is exactly the starter the Indians want going against Strasburg as he can try to keep things close until it becomes a battle of the bullpens.

The Indians are in free fall, falling two games below .500 for the first time since April. There isn't a single part of the team that is without blame, but the offense has especially fallen off in the past weeks. Against New York and Detroit, the Indians scored more than four runs just a single time and were held to a single run in the final game against the Tigers, by a young pitcher in his Major League debut.There have also been some issues with the pitching staff, but they are still playing well enough to win games with a decent offense behind them.

Everyone will need to step up their game going into the next series as the Indians travel to Texas to play one of the best hitting teams in all of baseball. The Rangers own the AL West and are dominating all opponents despite losing their top hitter, Josh Hamilton, from the past few seasons.

Game 1: Monday, June 10th 8:05 PM EDT
Scott Kazmir, LHP, 3-3, 5.24 ERA vs Josh Lindblom, RHP, 0-1, 7.71 ERA

The Indians will face two pitchers this series that they have never faced before. That is just about the scariest thing that you could say to the Indians hitters this year, a team that has destroyed all but two of the former Cy Young award winners they have faced. Most recently, the Indians scored three runs against Justin Verlander in the opening game against Detroit, but were unable to get anything more than a solo home run against Jose Alvarez who pitched the finale. Lindblom may not be as good as either of those two starters, but it may be irrelevant with the way the Indians are hitting right now. Something will have to break the Indians out of their month long slump though, and maybe it will be the hitter friendly confines of the Ballpark in Arlington.

Game 2: Tuesday, June 11th 8:05 PM EDT
Corey Kluber, RHP,  3-4, 4.56 ERA vs Derek Holland, LHP, 5-2, 2.82 ERA

The Indians will face their only familiar foe during this middle game of the series. Holland has fared well against the Indians in the past (3-0, 2.31 ERA), but these are not your left handed only Indians. Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis have all had success against Holland and some of the younger players (Yan Gomes, Drew Stubbs, etc.) have yet to face him. Who knows, maybe all Mark Reynolds is waiting for to break out of his slump is a nice hard throwing left hander.

Game 3: Wednesday, June 12th 8:00 PM EDT ESPN
Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 4-4, 5.03 ERA vs Nick Tepesch, RHP, 3-5, 3.92 ERA

Tepesch is a rookie, but has been in the Rangers rotation all season. This will be his first game against the Tribe and it will come off his worst game of the year, where he gave up six runs against the Blue Jays (he allowed just six runs in all of April). Overall, he has pitched well and seeing the Indians past against rookie starters, they could be in trouble.

Jimenez didn't pitch too poorly in his last time out, but a an errors cost him two unearned runs and he was removed from the game after just three innings and 85 pitches. It broke a stretch of eight games pitching through at least the fourth, a set back after a full month worth of quality starts. Still, just once since April 21st has he given up more than three runs in a start and he continues to strike batters out without walking as many as last season. If he can continue improving as he has most of the year, this will be the closest and lowest scoring game of the series.

Panic! The Indians are 4-12 in their last sixteen games and have lost five of their last six series. But...the Tigers have lost five of their last seven and maintain a slim lead on the AL Central despite the Tribe's struggles. Even the White Sox who, the person who usually writes these articles picked as his surprise winner for the Central, have lost eight in row against the cellar dwelling Cubs and the lowly A's and Mariners.

In all likelihood, this stretch is the hardest of the season, facing nine straight opponents with a winning percentage over .500. After this, the Indians only play two teams over .500 in a row one more time (Atlanta followed by Detroit in late August). This stretch will also played almost entirely on the road with 14 of 25 games away from home. Don't worry Tribe fans, it gets better.

Game 1: Friday, June 7th 7:08 EDT
Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 4-3, 4.83 ERA vs Justin Verlander, RHP, 7-4, 3.70 ERA

Rematch! This will be round three of the Jimenez/Verlander match-up of 2013. Round one went to Jimenez and the Indians as Verlander was only able to pitch five innings while allowing three runs. Round two saw a reversal with Jimenez throwing just four innings and allowing six runs (Verlander actually pitched worse in this game than round one, but still got the win). Round three could be the deciding battle to prove who is the better pitcher.

Jimenez may surprisingly  have an advantage as the two pitchers are headed in severe opposite directions. Since April 16th, Jimenez has lowered his ERA steadily from 11.25 to his current 4.83. He had a set back against Detroit last time out, but besides that game he hasn't given up more than two runs in a game since April 21st. Verlander has gone the other way, starting from May 5th, when he held an ERA of 1.55. Two of his next three starts came against the Tribe who raised his ERA to 3.66 while mediocre outings against the Pirates and Orioles have raised it a little since then as well.

Game 2: Saturday, June 8th 4:08 EDT
Justin Masterson, RHP, 8-4, 3.57 ERA vs Rick Porcello, RHP, 2-3, 5.21 ERA

Masterson didn't look much like himself against the Yankees last time out, but no one on the Tribe played particularly well. He has struggled with some of the Tigers in the past, but if he can avoid Miguel Cabrera, he should be alright. Like every pitcher in this match-up, Porcello is a familiar face to Indians hitters. The Indians switch hitters have seen the most success against the right hander in the past, with Carlos Santana hitting three home runs and Asdrubal Cabrera batting .351. Even Nick Swisher has seen some success in his few appearances against Porcello with a home run and four RBI.

Game 3: Sunday, June 9th 1:08 EDT
Scott Kazmir, LHP, 3-3, 5.24 ERA vs Anibal Sanchez, RHP, 6-5, 2.65 ERA

Sunday would be Zach McAllister's normal start day, but some finger discomfort has forced the Indians to skip his start this time around. This will be Kazmir's normal time of rest as the Indians have an off day on Thursday before the series. Kazmir took a step back last time out, but, while he took the loss, he pitched better than any other starter against the Yankees, thowing six innings and allowing just four runs. After dealing with Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano, the Tigers should be nothing for the left hander.

Sanchez has possibly been the Tigers best starter this year as he maintains an ERA below 3.00 and has struck out 98 over 78 innings. Of course, he has yet to face the Tribe so these numbers are almost certainly inflated. We all know that the Braves, Nationals, Rays and Athletics (all teams that have been shut down by Sanchez), have nothing on the prolific Indians offense. 

The Indians will play their final series against the surprising Yankees team in Yankee Stadium the next three days. Cleveland is coming off a couple tough series (a four game split with the Reds and a loss to the Rays), especially the final game against Tampa which they lost 11-3. With the loss the Indians remain a half game back from Detroit, where they have been the past three days.

The Yankees on the other hand, have been a complete surprise this year and were in first place in the AL East as recently as May 26th. They are currently in third after dropping two straight, but should be reinvigorated soon, by the return of a few of their super stars. Both Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis returned to the Yankees this past weekend and should be in the starting lineup against the Tribe. This should help bolster a lineup that doesn't really need any help, already sixth in the league in home runs. If there is one word to describe the Yankees lineup, however, it is old and there is always a question of how long Lyle Overbay and Travis Hafner can remain productive. By adding these two all-stars back into the mix, they will not need to rely on the aging veterans quite as much.

Game 1: Monday, June 3rd 7:00 EDT
Justin Masterson, RHP, 8-3, 3.07 ERA vs Andy Pettitte, LHP, 4-3, 3.83 ERA

If the Indians don't win this game, it would be ominous for the rest of the series. Justin Masterson has been defeating all comers this year and the Yankees are certainly no better than the Reds, who he beat in his last start. In fact, Masterson defeated the Yankees once already this year in a 1-0 match-up featuring the Yankees game two starter, David Phelps.

Pettitte on the other hand is very old, and while he may be crafty, he isn't good enough at his age to fool the Indians right handed hitters like Mark Reynolds (2 doubles in 9 AB against Pettite) or Asdrubal Cabrera (.364 career AVG against Pettitte). Even Jason Giambi has had pretty good success against his old teammate, batting .286 with three doubles, although most of those at bats probably came when they were both much younger. Expect Jason Kipnis or Michael Bourn to get a day off in order to get Ryan Raburn into the lineup as well. 

Tuesday, June 4th 7:05 EDT
Scott Kazmir, LHP, 3-2, 5.13 ERA vs David Phelps, RHP, 3-3, 4.65 ERA

This game will be a little tougher for the Tribe, but they should be able to pull out a second victory and win the series early. Kazmir has completely straightened out his early season issues (most likely caused by injuries) and has improved vastly in each of his last two starts. Last time out he allowed just one run in seven innings against the offensive juggernaut that is the Cincinnati Reds. He should find the Yankees lineup much easier to deal with as they hit for a much lower average, but still have a tendency to strike out. The Yankees hitters like to go deep into counts, which should suit Kazmir fine as that is how he has been pitching all season. Look for some more big K numbers from Scott as his K/9 is over 9 again for the first time since 2008.

David Phelps is a little of an unknown quantity for the Tribe as the only time most of the team has faced him was during the Yankees last trip to Cleveland. Kipnis does have a home run against the former reliever, but overall the numbers are insignificant. In his last start, Phelps was pulled after just one out when he gave up five runs (four earned) to the Mets. The first three batters reached before Phelps struck out Lucas Duda, then the two reached safely as well. Jayson Nix committed an error to allow another runner and Phelps gave up one more hit before being removed. 

Wednesday, June 5th 1:05 EDT
Corey Kluber, RHP, 3-3, 4.36 vs C.C. Sabathia, LHP, 5-4, 3.71 ERA

The Indians' old friend will start the final game of the series against the youngest member of the Indians rotation. Sabathia remains a top pitcher in the league and has been averaging more than six innings per start for New York. His ERA was recently inflated by a seven run game against Tampa Bay, but who hasn't give up seven or eleven to the Rays. In his last start, C.C. shut down Boston with ten strike outs, allowing just a single run through seven innings. The Indians may have one advantage against him however, as he has won the Cy Young award. This has been a good luck charm for the Tribe this year as they have defeated all but one Cy Young award winning pitcher they have faced this season.

Kluber keeps pushing along and has surprisingly been a very strong part of the Indians rotation. In his last start he was only able to pitch two innings due to rain, but they were the best two innings thrown by an Indians pitcher in that game. Kluber was not bumped up in the rotation after his short start, so he may be a little stronger than normal going into this game, only having pitched two innings in the past ten days. It is yet to be seen how this will affect his stuff, but in general, an extra mile or two per hour is usually a good thing. If he can pitch well, this game is definitely winable for the Tribe and they could even possibly sweep the series, which would likely move them back into first place.

Tampa Bay Rays ( - ) at Cleveland Indians ( - )
Series 19, Games 54, 55 & 56
Progressive Field, Cleveland: Park Factor 96, Pitcher's Park.

Friday, May 31st 7:05 EDT (STO)
Matt Moore (8-0, 2.21) vs Corey Kluber (3-3, 4.57)
Brett Myers injury complications has granted Kluber a reprieve from the worry of being removed from the rotation, but the way he has pitched lately is really what earned him his place on the team. In his last three starts he has lowered his ERA a full run per nine innings while throwing 19 innings and striking out 23. He will face the difficult task of going against Moore, the best pitcher on an extremely good pitching team.
Moore's last time out was the first game his team as lost that he started all year, although he himself didn't actually take the loss. He has given up just two runs in his last two starts covering 14 innings. This type of performance is not atypical for Moore, who has only given up more than two runs in two games this year. He will definitely not provide a respite from the tough pitching the Indians have been facing against Cincinnati.

Saturday, June 1st 1:05 EDT (STO)
Alex Cobb (6-2, 2.66) vs Ubaldo Jimenez (3-3, 5.57)
Cobb was originally scheduled to pitch Friday, but was moved after dealing with an issue with his finger nail. Cobb is a young starter and is having a fantastic season to this point, much like Moore, Cobb has allowed more than three runs just a single time this year. One difference between him and Moore is that Cobb strikes out more batters, with 62 already in his ten starts.
Jimenez got back on track in his last start after a less than stellar appearance against the Tigers. In one of his best starts of the season against Cincinnati he allowed just two runs in seven innings, but didn't receive a decision. While he hasn't pitched well in Cleveland, Tampa should be a good fit as they are a free swinging team that hits the ball into the ground often.

Sunday, June 2nd 1:05 EDT (STO)
Jeremy Hellickson (2-2, 5.61) vs Zach McAllister (4-4, 3.08)
This match-up favors the Indians more than either of the other games. McAllister can be expected to throw a quality start in any game this year, but he has been particularly good against the Rays, against whom he has pitched three games and given up just three runs in 17.2 innings. Hellickson has been equally as good against the Indians, allowing just 5 runs in 19 innings with a WHIP around 1.00.

Predictions: This will be another tough series for the Tribe (and they don't get any easier for awhile) and they would be very lucky to get away with a series win. The series sets up best for the Indians in the final two games, after they have dealt with the Rays ace in game one.

Player of the Game

With the three run home run that put the game away, Jason Giambi wins his second Player of the Game of 2013. Giambi also doubled earlier in the game for a POG score of 6.01. He barely edged out starting pitcher Justin Masterson who played well, but only pitched six innings.

Feathers Up

Through the first three innings a pair of solo home runs kept the game tied. Joey Votto took Justin Masterson deep with the only Reds hit over that span and Mark Reynolds came back with a home run of his own in his first at bat in the third inning.

Jason Giambi had a great game in his first start in six games. Giambi came into the game with good numbers against Bronson Arroyo and he continued that trend with a double (that should have knocked in a run) and a three run home run in his next at bat.

Justin Masterson pitched well tonight, despite getting into a few difficult situations. He got out of the worst situation, the bases loaded with no one out in the sixth, with no damage when he was able to get Xavier Paul to ground the ball right back to him, allowing to go to home and then first for the double play. With two outs, Masterson got an easy fly ball from Ryan Hanigan to end the inning.

The Indians had a good chance to test their new bullpen in a low stress situation tonight. Newly ordained set-up man Cody Allen pitched a perfect seventh before Joe Smith threw a scoreless eighth. Vinnie Pestano threw the ninth as scheduled, but was not as perfect as the rest of the bullpen, giving up a lead-off home run to Xavier Paul. The best part of the whole test was that they were able to  use their top pitchers with a four run lead. Coming off a five game losing streak, Terry Francona wasn't going to take any chances in losing this one.

Feathers Down

Two base running mistakes cost the Indians an unknown number of runs in the fourth inning. First, Nick Swisher was unable to score from second base on a Jason Giambi double, even though it hit the wall and was obviously not going to be caught. The play at the plate wasn't even close and Swisher never touched the plate. During the next at bat, Giambi decided to go double-or-nothing and attempt to steal third base. To the surprise of no one, Giambi and his old legs were out by a mile.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 - Cincinnati Reds 2

Cleveland Indians (27-22) at Cincinnati Reds (31-19)
Series 17, Games 50 and 51.
Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati: 105, Hitter's Park.

Cincinnati Reds at Cleveland Indians
Series 18, Games 52 and 53
Progressive Field, Cleveland: 96, Pitcher's Park

Prediction: The Indians would be best to hope for a sweep, but expect worse. Games 2 and 3 are the most winnable, while the other two look like far away long shots.

Corey Kluber (3-3, 5.19) vs. Felix Doubront (L) (3-2, 5.61)
Doubront tossed six innings of two-run baseball Tuesday, allowing five hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts, during the team's loss in Chicago. Doubront induced 10 ground-ball outs, but his only mistake was a two-run homerun to Jeff Keppinger which put the game away. He'll follows up his third quality start of 2013 today against an Indians team who he held to two runs in five innings earlier this season.

Detroit Tigers (23-19) at Cleveland Indians (26-17)
Series 15, Games 44 and 45
Progressive Field: 95, Pitcher's Park
Weather: Looks like a chance of thunderstorms with temps in the mid 80's. 

Tuesday, May 21 7:05 EDT (STO)
Max Scherzer (5-0, 3.98) vs. Corey Kluber (3-2, 5.40)
This series sets up well for the Tribe as they are 2.5 games ahead of the Tigers in the Central Division. This means that regardless of the results of the short series, the Indians will still be in first, but they also have the opportunity to move to 4.5 games up. Both pitching match-ups favor the Tigers, but the Indians were able to split two games in the last Tigers series with these same match-ups. Kluber will be playing for his roster spot again with Brett Myers scheduled to return within the next two times through the rotation. If he is a bad as he was last time against Detroit, this could be his last start with either Myers or Trevor Bauer returning. While a fifth place team can tolerate a replacement level pitcher allowing  three or more runs in a five inning start, a first place team can't.

One major difference between this time and the last series is that Miguel Cabrera has turned on the afterburners and went from being the hottest player in the Majors to a towering inferno. He now leads the league in AVG, hits, runs and RBI after a three home run, 5 RBI against the Rangers. He hit one out against Kluber last time they played, so giving him a few more intentional walks wouldn't be a bad idea.

Wednesday, May 22 7:05 EDT (STO)
Justin Verlander (4-4, 3.17) vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (3-2, 5.31)
In the surprise of the series, last time around, Jimenez out-dueled the former Cy Young and Triple Crown award winner. Jimenez has had four straight good starts and is either turning things around or getting ready for his biggest drop off to date. 

Facing Verlander will be a challenge of it's own for the Tribe hitters, but one they are familiar with to this point. They have already set a record by beating 7 (of 8 faced) former Cy Young Award winners before June 1st and Verlander will be a chance for another. He will be the first of these former winners to face the Indians a second time, but they shouldn't be too worried. Verlander has face the Indians more times than any other team in his career and no other team (that has faced him at least eight times) has been more successful. For some reason, Verlander loses all control against the Tribe and has hit almost twice as many Indians batters than any other team and has thrown seven more wild pitches against Cleveland than any other team. His 75 walks and 221 strike outs are also team highs. This patient and powerful Indians line-up matches up with Verlander better than just about any other team. 

The Indians should be able to hit off either Tiger starter, irrelevant of their successes against the rest of the league, but the real question of who will win the series depends on how the Indians starters throw. Each has been successful this year, but they both have struggled at times as well. This is the end of the home stand and the start of a long, difficult stretch of baseball, so they will want to start off right. 

Of course, after the improbable wins against the Mariners in the last series, it certainly seems like the baseball gods are looking down on the Tribe. If they keep getting breaks like those, they won't ever lose.