A four game series loss to the Twins has placed the Indians in last place in the American League Central, at least momentarily. The Indians have been almost eliminated from the playoffs and will probably be officially by the end of the week. Since a .500 record is no longer attainable at this point, the Indians will have to lower their goals once again. The absolute minimum would be to not lose 100 games, but they only have to win three of their last 21 to avoid this, an extremely modest and depressing goal. A positive goal, rather than avoiding a negative, would be to pass the Royals again for a hold of third place. This is entirely possible with the Indians just 4.5 games back and if the team took it seriously, would give them motivation for actually winning a game or two and let them feel the pressure of trying to win late in the season.

September 11th, 8:05 PM EDT: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 9-15, 5.58 ERA vs Matt Harrison, LHP, 15-9, 3.37 ERA

The good news in facing Harrison this time is that the Indians can't hit right handed pitching either. This is actually a good test for the Indians to try Russ Canzler at first, since he could possibly playing there next season. It would give them another right handed bat in the lineup and allow them to possibly play Vinny Rottino or Thomas Neal in left field while DHing Matt LaPorta. This replaces three positions usually held by left handed batters with righties, all of which are competing for jobs next year.

September 12th, 8:05 PM EDT: Jeanmar Gomez, RHP, 5-7, 5.33 ERA vs Ryan Dempster, RHP, 5-1, 4.36 ERA

Both Gomez and McAllister were used for limited innings in their starts against Minnesota. David Huff and Chris Seddon were used as long relief and Huff in particular was very effective. This could be a continuing trend throughout the season if Manny Acta decides to pull these young starters after the first sign of trouble. While this will spread the innings to more pitchers, it won't help the Indians find out which pitchers can go deep into games. If the Indians really want to give either Huff or Seddon a chance, they need to start a game and pitch into at least the sixth inning to show they physically can. The same is true of Gomez. If they are going to keep pulling him after less than five innings, there is no reason to believe he will be able to pitch more than five innings next year. Assuming a 2013 rotation of Masterson, Jimenez, Carrasco and McAllister, there is just a single opening in the rotation for all the pitchers listed above. If the Indians can use this last month intelligently and make their decision now, the extra starters could be used as trade bait or released in the offseason instead of inviting them into Spring Training for a job they can never get. 

September 13th, 8:05 PM EDT: Zach McAllister, RHP, 5-7, 4.31 ERA vs Derek Holland, LHP, 10-6, 4.59 ERA

It is almost surprising that the Indians aren't talking about shutting down McAllister down in a Stephen Strasburg way. He has thrown more than 100 innings this year in his first full Major League season. Of course by limiting him to just over 5 innings per game, the Indians have already kept down his total innings total. If he continues pitching as he had he will only throw another 20 innings or so this year. What amazing forsight to keep him from throwing too many innings this year. If only the Nationals had though to pull Strasburg every time he threw into the sixth inning, he would still be around to win the a championship.

A series win against the Tigers has Indians fans and players (some of them literally) asking would things have been different if the Indians had just signed someone like Josh Willingham instead of the 15 useless veterans they did sign before the season started. Since the Twins paid him $7 million that the Indians didn't have for an All-Star outfielder, there is no point in discussing the 33 home runs and 2.9 WAR he could have brought to the Indians (Johnny Damon gained 0.1 WAR during his time with the Tribe at a cost of $1.25 million) so stop bringing it up (this means you Chris).

September 7th, 8:10 PM EDT: Jeanmar Gomez, RHP, 5-7, 5.08 ERA vs Liam Hendriks, RHP, 0-7, 6.11 ERA

Last week the Indians announced that Roberto Hernandez would be making his start on schedule, only to have him removed at the last second. This week they have already said that he won't start and that Gomez will take his place. This probably means that they will completely change the rotation to fit Hernandez back in, making all these match-ups irrelevant. If they do this, just shuffle them around in your head the way they are supposed to be.

Hendriks is an Australian. Not only will this be the first time he has faced the Indians, but it may also be the first time the Indians have faced a pitcher from Down Under. This is what baseball needs more of. When I hear about baseball expanding internationally, this is what I want to see, players who speak English, but with a funny accent. 

September 8th, 7:10 PM EDT: Zach McAllister, RHP, 5-6, 4.26 ERA vs Cole De Vries, RHP, 4-5, 4.41 ERA

McAllister better have a short memory, because a repeat performance of his last outing could quickly see him thrown into the bullpen with the rest of the AAA starters. This last month is extremely important for Zach as it will decide whether or not the writers and fans will consider him an automatic part of the 2013 rotation or someone who has to earn a job in Spring Training. Tribe management should have already made up their mind and have him penciled in as the number four starter regardless of what he does this month.

Another rookie starter for the Twins this year, De Vries has somehow managed to avoid the Tribe to this point in his short career (16 games). Well look out kid, you may have beaten Texas, Chicago and Boston, but those offenses are nothing compared to the power house that is Cleveland. The Indians offense is so great they can afford to bat superstar Russ Canzler sixth in the lineup. They are just that good. 

September 9th, 2:10 PM EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 11-12, 4.84 ERA vs Esmerling Vasquez, RHP, RHP, 0-1, 7.95 ERA

Masterson moved one step closer to my personal goal for him to reach .500 in his last start when he beat the Tigers. In fact, Masterson has a decision in each of his last 9 games (5-4) and 18 of his last 19 games (10-9) overall.

Vazquez just made his first Major League start in his first game for the Twins, but has been a relief pitcher for the Diamondbacks for the last couple of years, pitching as many as 53 innings in two separate seasons. In his lone start he faced Kansas City and allowed five runs in 5.2 innings.

September 10th, 8:10 PM EDT: Corey Kluber, RHP, 1-3, 4.79 ERA vs Samuel Deduno, RHP, 5-4, 3.66 ERA

The Indians haven't officially announced who is going to be pitching this game, but it falls on Kluber's spot in the rotation. With the off day it would be possible to move Ubaldo Jimenez up a day in the rotation (of all the terrible ideas), but more likely if this start does not go to Kluber it could belong to Roberto Hernandez who should be coming back from his ankle injury soon. It could also go to Chris Seddon or David Huff who have both been given the long man spot in the rotation. Of course Kluber just got his first win in his last start, one of his best on the year, so it seems like the better move would be to let him pitch this game, then expand to a six man rotation after this start if that is their intention.

I've seen just about enough of Mr. Deduno this season. The ancient rookie dominated the Tribe in his first start against Cleveland, allowing just a single run in seven innings. His last time out the Indians touched him for four runs in four innings, but was unable to score against the Twins bullpen and lost 7-5. The good news for the Tribe is he is almost certainly a flash in the pan pitcher whose career will be over after this year. 

For the first half of the season the Indians went back and forth with the White Sox for first place while the Tigers sat in third. The roles have been reversed now as the Tigers are within a game of a first place tie with Chicago while the Indians are within a single game of being tied for last in the Central with the Twins. With the first overall draft pick the only thing left to play for in 2012, it may be hard for the Indians to find motivation in this last month of the season. A couple players who won't need motivating are those already called up with the recent roster expansion. Thomas Neal and Russ Canzler have each been thrust into games, batting in the top part of the lineup and have already had some success in limited action. 

September 3rd, 1:05 PM EDT: Corey Kluber, RHP, 0-3, 5.16 ERA vs Anibal Sanchez, RHP, 2-4, 5.29 ERA

Corey Kluber will be making his seventh start of the season and the first not in the horrible month of August (so, it was all his fault the Indians lost 24 games). Even though he has allowed 3 or fewer runs in four of his six starts, the Indians have lost every single one. His luck is unlikely to change against the Tigers, who are on a mission to pass the White Sox and have beaten the Indians in their last three matchups.

September 4th, 7:05 PM EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 10-12, 4.91 ERA vs Rick Porcello, RHP, 9-10, 4.57 ERA

I could tell you that Porcello has struggled against the Tribe, allowing an ERA of 4.06 and a WHIP of 1.27, but none of that matters because this Indians team is all about being different. Situations that used to be strengths are now glaring weaknesses. While earlier in the season a series against three right handed pitchers seemed like an automatic series win, but it certainly doesn't any more. 

September 5th, 7:05 PM EDT: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 9-14, 5.61 ERA vs Doug Fister, 7-8, 3.61 ERA

Playing for a contract has apparently not provided the motivation needed for Jimenez to perform. Last month Ubaldo was only able to pitch through the sixth inning a single time and increased his ERA to one of it's highest points of the season. While he has kept opposing teams to just three runs in his last four starts, his lack of stamina (or his tendency to throw a lot of pitches) has made this less than impressive. Even though he threw an average of about 100 pitches per game during the last month he did it in just an average of 5.2 innings per game.

The Indians gave no signs during their recent series against Oakland that they are improving at all. After being swept by the second place Athletics, it's hard to believe that the Tribe will do any better against the first place Rangers. In fact, the Indians have struggled mightily with Texas for the last few years without dealing with their current problems.

August 31st, 7:05 PM EDT: Ryan Dempster, RHP, 3-1, 5.46 ERA vs Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 9-13, 5.58 ERA

This is the last game of the month and due to three lengthy losing streaks, the Indians have won a total of five games going into this. They won four of the five over a span of six games against the Minnesota, Boston and Los Angeles. The other win came against the Yankees with Justin Masterson on the mound. A loss to the Rangers in this game would put an exclamation point on an already terrible month which must stand as one of the worst in Indians history. The good news is that the Rangers have a right hander on the mound (not that it really matters anymore) and that Jimenez has had some good starts this year. At least enough to think that he could possibly keep the Indians in the game this time. 

September 1st, 7:05 PM EDT: Scott Feldman, RHP, 6-10, 4.95 ERA vs Roberto Hernandez, RHP, 0-3, 7.53 ERA

Apparently Roberto Hernandez will be making this start after all after injuring his ankle and leaving his last start early. This should give the Indians a much better chance to win than they would have with either Jeanmar Gomez or Chris Seddon starting.

September 2nd, 1:05 PM EDT: Derek Holland, LHP, 9-6, 4.90 ERA vs Zach McAllister, RHP, 5-5, 3.82 ERA

This losing streak has even claimed McAllister as a victim, with his last start out being his worst all year. It was the first time he had been pulled from a game before the end of the fifth inning (excluding the one game that his defense gave up 7 unearned runs) and his five runs allowed were the most he has given up all year. Even given that, it was still the best start by an Indians pitcher in the series against Oakland. This team is in trouble, there is no hiding that. The only way to fix things is with money and a lot of it. One hitter is not enough to change this team. The Indians now need a minimum of three solid position players (first base, outfield and DH) for next season and at least one new starting pitcher. That might be enough to keep the Tribe out of last place.

A lost series to the Yankees looks like a huge positive step forward as the Indians weren't swept after being swept in five of their last eight series. They haven't actually won a series in over a month, the last being at the end of July against Detroit when they were still in the playoff hunt. At this point, winning a single game is a momentous victory. Marred with two losing streaks (one 11 games, the other nine), the Indians will likely finish the month with out winning a single series and with just five wins so far in the month, it is looking to be like one of the worst in franchise history.

The only significant change made during the most recent losing streak was the addition of Matt LaPorta, back from Columbus. If the Indians management has any clue what it is doing, this has to be Matt's last chance and he should be given a fair one. So far he has played in two of the three possible games for him to play, but if the Indians actually want to learn anything about him, he needs to play every single game for the rest of the year. Casey Kotchman will not be returning for 2013 and the Indians don't currently have many options at first, so step one is deciding whether it is worth even having LaPorta on the 40 man roster next season.

The Indians have also announced that they will possibly change to a six man rotation for the last month of the season, most likely with the return of Jeanmar Gomez to the starting rotation. Since the five pitchers that are currently starting can't seem to keep anyone down, it can't hurt to bring in another arm at this point.

August 27th, 7:05 EDT: Brett Anderson, LHP, 1-0, 1.29 ERA vs Roberto Hernandez, RHP, 0-2, 6.75 ERA

This will be an intriguing match-up as Hernandez will be throwing his third game this year after returning with a new name and Anderson will be throwing just his second game of 2012 after returning with a new elbow ligament. Obviously his first time out was a success as can be seen by his record and Roberto's was not as can be seen by his. The Indians had a hard enough time scoring in their last series with the A's (one of the sweeps mentioned above) when they were outscored 21-9 and neither of these pitchers threw. This match-up doesn't look good for the Tribe, but maybe their new weapon against left handers can show what he is really made of. My guess, Jesus juice.

August 28th, 7:05 EDT: Tommy Milone, LHP, 10-9, 3.87 ERA vs Zach McAllister, RHP, 5-4, 3.50 ERA

This is going to be a rematch of last weeks game between two rookie starters. Although Milone has had an arguably better season, McAllister matched him in their last match-up as each pitcher gave up 4 runs (McAllister pitched one more inning) in a game decided by bullpens. In a rare occasion, the almost infallible Joe Smith allowed this one to get away, but you can be sure he won't let that happen again. If there are two people who should have guaranteed spots on the roster next season they are Joe Smith and Vinnie Pestano. No one else on the team has shown the combination of heart and talent that this right handed low-throwing duo has out of the bullpen.

August 29th, 7:05 EDT:  TBA vs Corey Kluber, RHP, 0-2, 5.32 ERA

Bartolo Colon's spot in the rotation was originally taken by Tyson Ross, but he has since been demoted to AAA and will be further replaced by another minor league starter for this game. The options are A.J. Griffin, Dan Straily or Travis Blackley.

Kluber has been basically guaranteed a spot in the starting rotation for the rest of the season with Manny Acta's mention of a possible six man rotation. He now has to show the Indians what he has to bring to the table as a possible starter in 2013.

August 30th, 12:05 EDT: Jarrod Parker, 8-7, 3.52 ERA vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 10-11, 4.60 ERA

Yes, this is a four game series, one of two left in the season (the other against the Twins). After this the Indians will play multiple series against the Rangers, Tigers, Twins, White Sox and Royals in what is some very uncreative scheduling to end the season. With such tough foes ahead, the Indians will have to pull out all the stops to try to at least split the series against Oakland and find some semblance of respectability. This should be a good chance for the Indians to pull out a win with a right handed pitcher throwing against the Tribe and Masterson on the mound for them. Justin was good in his last outing and has been himself in two of his last three earning each of the Indians last two wins and almost magically, three of the Indians five wins so far in the month of August.

As the Indians epic slide into oblivion continues, a few things are being made more clear. We now know that Grady Sizemore will not be playing a single game for the Indians in 2012 (and probably none after that), despite his $5 million incentive laden contract. We also know that Josh Tomlin is out for the year and most of next year as well while he gets Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. We know that Lonnie Chisenhall and Rafael Perez are continuing with their rehab and are both expected to return before the end of the season. We also know that the Indians struggles against left handed pitching were really just a sign of a terrible offense that was for some reason hitting well against right handed pitching.

This losing streak has brought out the truth of the Indians offense and allowed everyone to see what it really is. A bunch of .250 and lower average hitters with little or no power and just a tiny bit of speed. There are definitely stand outs in the group, Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera and newcomer Ezequiel Carrera, but none of them is a true middle of the order hitter and would probably bat first, second, sixth, seventh and ninth (in the order listed above) in a decent lineup. The rest of the lineup could be scrapped, keeping Carlos Santana around as well of course, removing Casey Kotchman, Jack Hannahan, Shelley Duncan and the rest of the hangers on. The problem is that to really improve the lineup they would have to bring in players that are actually better than the players already here, and that costs money, so it won't happen.

August 24th, 7:05 PM EDT: C.C. Sabathia, LHP, 12-3, 3.56 ERA vs Corey Kluber, 0-2, 6.27 ERA

A team that actually spends money is coming into town for a three game series, and is leading off game one with direct proof of that. If the Indians were willing to spend with the best of them, C.C. would be starting this game for the Indians instead of the Yankees and Brantley would still be in Milwaukee with Matt LaPorta. If the Indians had spent the money to keep Sabathia, as well as Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez, they would probably be paying those three players as much as the rest of their roster on a yearly basis, but they certainly would have won a lot more games this year and last, and would probably be dominating the division instead of trying to make it to last place.

You could argue that Kluber's last start was his best of four this season because he didn't allow any earned runs, but I won't do that. When you give up a home run, you should never be able to say you gave up zero earned runs. Kluber will be facing his toughest task yet, an expensive Yankees lineup, leading the AL East by a considerable margin.

You may have noticed I haven't been writing much about the other Indians starters when they pitch. This is because I've previewed each starter more than 20 times and there is very little left to write about without repeating myself over and over. If something new and interesting happens, I'll be sure to cover it.

August 25th, 7:05 PM EDT: Hiroki Kuroda, RHP, 12-8, 2.96 ERA vs Justin Masterson, 9-11, 4.73 ERA

Kuroda has been splendid in his first season with the Yankees, already matching his career shutout total and sporting a single season low ERA and WHIP. He's the Yankees most dominating starter on a weekly basis (although the Indians will probably have more trouble with Sabathia). The Indians one hope is that with Justin Masterson throwing, they will be able to keep this game close, late.

August 26th, 1:05 PM EDT: Freddy Garcia, RHP, 7-5, 4.96 ERA vs Ubaldo Jimenez, 9-12, 5.59 ERA

Apparently every team other than the Indians decided to go old this year. In the past two series the Tribe has faced Bartolo Colon (since suspended) and Kevin Millwood and will now face Freddy Garcia. Unlike Kuroda, Garcia seems to be having the worst season of his career. Although he has had a few injury shortened years, he has never pitched a full season with an ERA over 5.00. The Indians can do that. They could score all the runs they score in this series in the first two innings against Garcia and push his ERA over the brink. Assuming they lose the first two games (I am), they will need this one to keep the losing streak from getting to double digits for the second time this month.

The Indians should be absolutely embarrassed by their play of late. In a short losing streak, many things can be blamed, including simple bad luck, but in an extended downfall like the Indians are currently on (9-26 since the All-Star break), every single aspect of the team has had a chance to come through and has failed. In 21 of the games listed the Indians scored three or less runs, obviously not enough to win in the American League. The Indians actually won four of these games showing an even bigger problem in starting pitching. They have allowed six or more runs in 19 games since the break. When you put those two numbers together it's not surprising that the Indians have lost 20+ games. Of course the blame for the last couple of losses can fall on the mostly infallible bullpen. The almost perfect Chris Perez has blown two saves in the last month along with blown saves by Vinnie Pestano and Joe Smith, the two most consistant pitchers in the bullpen.

Chris Antonetti has said that every player is up for re-evaluation and is more of a jerk reaction to the Indians current situation than a thought out strategy going into 2013. Some players do need to be looked at to see if they should be traded or released, especially Ubaldo Jimenez, Travis Hafner, Chris Perez and Jack Hannahan. Hopfully he is a good enough judge of talent and the actual value of these players to not completely ruin what is a very good core of players (Jason Kipnis, Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, etc) by gutting the team during the offseason.

August 20th 10:10 EDT: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 9-12, 5.62 ERA vs Kevin Millwood, RHP, 4-10, 4.28 ERA

At this point in the year, the Indians would probably prefer to have Millwood, who they looked at signing in the offseason, than Jimenez. It is almost time to consider the Ubaldo project a complete failure as any team that is actually contending for a playoff spot can't afford to throw a pitcher that is this inconsistant.

August 21st 10:10 EDT: Roberto Hernandez, RHP, 0-1, 7.50 ERA vs Felix Hernandez, RHP, 11-5, 2.60 ERA

One Hernandez threw a perfect game in his last start, the other just made his first start in the Majors this season. The good news for the Tribe is that the other starters who have thrown no hitters this year (Johan Santana, Phil Humber and Matt Cain) all struggled in their starts following their great game. The bad news is that Hernandez is vastly superior to all these pitchers and has been pitching like this all season.

August 22nd 3:40 EDT: Zach McAllister, RHP, 5-4, 3.64 ERA vs Hisashi Iwakuma, RHP, 4-3, 3.79 ERA

The Mariners rookie has pitched against the Indians once this season back when he was still a reliever in May. In July, Seattle switched Iwakuma to a starter and he has since had mixed results. Overall he has pitched well, never allowing more than four runs in a game and lowering his ERA a full run since the transition. If he does have a flaw it is that he has failed to get past the 5th inning in half of his starts. Of course against the Indians he will probably pitch more like he did against Toronto when he threw 8 innings and struck out 13.

Another series loss has the Indians has placed them further into "there's always next year" mode. The rotation that was set during the last series is likely going to be the rotation for the rest of the season. Roberto Hernandez returned and fit right in with a very unenlightened performance. Corey Kluber will use the rest of the season as a showcase for 2013 and Ubaldo Jimenez will be begging via fastball every start for the Indians to accept his option for next year. 

The Athletics on the other hand, are still in the thick of the Wild Card race. Only 1.5 games back from Tampa, Oakland is competing with five other teams for the two open wild card spots. Both the East and the West a securely in hand by the division leaders, so each of these teams is depending solely on the Wild Card. 

August 17th, 10:05 EDT: Zach McAllister, RHP, 5-4, 3.46 ERA vs Tommy Milone, LHP, 9-9, 3.91 ERA

McAllister had his best start of the season in his last outing as he went into the 8th inning giving up just two. This came after the Indians defense let him down in his prior start, allowing 7 unearned runs before he was pulled in the second. He will be looking to finish the season strong and safely.

Tommy Milone has never faced the Indians before and throws with his left hand. Look out, there could end up being four perfect games this season.

August 18th, 9:05 EDT: Corey Kluber, RHP, 0-1, 8.56 ERA vs Bartolo Colon, RHP, 5'11", 265

Kluber was the winner of the toss up between him and Chris Seddon for the last spot in the rotation. This makes sense as he is an Indians farm product and is younger and has been an actual starting pitcher throughout his career. He will need to prove management right in his next couple starts since they have a lot of options for replacement pitchers on his level. Jeanmar Gomez must be especially ready to make his return to the Majors since his demotion.

The Athletics will be throwing the android that used to be Bartolo Colon at the Indians in game two. It makes no sense that he is still physically able to pitch or that any team would want him to pitch for them but here we are. A decade after the Indians traded him away in what was one of the greatest trades in team history, somehow, Colon is the only one standing. Brandon Phillips is an all-star with the Reds, Cliff Lee is a champion and underrated starter for the ace rich Phillies, Grady Sizemore is on vacation in Cancun and the Expos are in first place in the NL East.

August 19th, 4:05 EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 9-10, 4.50 ERA vs Jarrod Parker, RHP, 7-7, 3.71 ERA

Masterson has given up just two runs in his last two starts over a total of 13 innings resulting in two wins. Although it would be only a small moral victory, it would be great if Masterson could drop his ERA below four and end the season with a winning record since he is supposed to be the ace. He has about eight more starts left this year, so it is time to get cracking.

Parker is having a fine rookie year for the A's. He has been particularly efficient, allowing just 49 walks compared to 95 strike outs in 121.1 innings. If it weren't for a certain fishy Angels outfielder both he and Zach McAllister would both be contending for the Rookie of the Year award.

The Indians have to be exciting about splitting the series with the Red Sox and will now take their losing season to Anaheim. This series will be about change. A change in the rotation as one unlucky starting pitcher will be pulled randomly from the rotation and either placed in the bullpen or demoted (by random I mean either Corey Kluber or Chris Seddon). A change in name as Fausto Carmona will make his first appearance as an Indian wearing the name Hernandez on the back of his jersey. A change in time zone as the Indians will be on the west coast. So, there aren't actually going to be very many changes, just Roberto Hernandez joining the starting rotation. At ten games back the Indians could change the entire roster and it wouldn't change their fate.

August 13th, 10:05 PM EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 8-10, 4.68 ERA vs C.J. Wilson, LHP, 9-8, 3.34 ERA

The Indians will get to see what money can buy as they take on an augmented version of the Angels. Unlike last time the two teams played, they will have to face the Angels big money starter C.J. Wilson and Albert Pujols, who has remembered his name and started hitting home runs again. The Indians were lucky to win four of their first six against the halos, but they will have to really step things up as the tables have turned. While the Indians are scuffling, the Angels are just hitting their stride and making moves to take over first place in the AL West. If there is any sign of weakness, Wilson has just started struggling in his last few outings after pitching like the ace he is all season. Three of his last five games have been awful by his standards and the Angels have lost six of his last seven starts.

August 14th, 10:05 PM EDT: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 9-11, 5.25 ERA vs Zack Greinke, RHP, 0-1, 5.68 ERA

The newest Angel is a familiar foe for the Tribe. Greinke has faced the Indians 27 times and struck out 120 Indian batters, more than any other team he has faced other than the White Sox. The Indians have had some success against him however, as his 8-9 record against Cleveland shows. He certainly hasn't been unbeatable since arriving in Los Angeles and the Indians will look to make the Angels feel as bad about this trade as the Indians do about the Ubaldo Jimenez trade.

August 15th, 10:05 PM EDT: Roberto Hernandez, RHP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA vs Ervin Santana, RHP, 5-10, 5.82 ERA

Just 105 games into the season and Mr. Hernandez is finally ready to join us. His punishment is finally over (both those of the Dominican Republic and Major League Baseball) as is his "Summer Training" session and he has been deemed to be just as good as any other Indians starter. The fact that he will be starting at all this season is a travesty and reeks of the Indians front office trying to make up for two awful off-season re-signings. We might as well see what he has left now, because there is no way Roberto Hernandez should be pitching in Cleveland after this season.

Thankfully the Angels will be throwing their whipping boy against the Indians again this time around and not either of their two aces, Dan Haren or Jared Weaver. The Indians have beaten Santana already twice this season (not unlike most of the rest of the league) and last time he was thoroughly shellacked. This game has the makings of a barn burner. Everyone make sure you bring your hitting shoes to California! Don't worry Zeke, you can borrow a pair from Rick Manning, he always brings extras.

The Indians have a lot of tough decisions to make throughout the rest of the season and will need to use the rest of 2012 like an extended try out for 2013. The biggest decision is Travis Hafner, who will most certainly not be extended with his current option. He could however be released and re-signed like Grady Sizemore and Fausto Carmona were last season, but we can all see how well each of those deals worked out. Both of those players are also on the list of players the Indians need to judge. There is no reasonable way that Sizemore will return for next season, but the effort they have put into Roberto Hernandez already this year makes it worth at least giving him a shot for next year.

At least the Indians did win a single game against Minnesota so they can get off that losing streak kick. On to the matchups.

August 9th, 7:05 PM EDT: Felix Doubront, LHP, 10-5, 4.56 ERA vs Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 8-11, 5.29 ERA

This start, and every other for the rest of the season, will be all about trying to turn Ubaldo back into the Cy Young candidate he once was. He is extremely important to any playoff chances the Indians could have next season and shoulders more than his share of the blame for this seasons collapse. If he had pitched like the ace he was supposed to, he would have at least cut the losing streak in half. As of right now he has thrown 11 decent games and 11 bad games. With the type of talent the Indians gave away for him, that ratio should be more like 16:6.

Another thing the Indians need to get together before the end of the season is hitting against left handed pitching, and they can work on that in this game as well. Another of the main points of blame was the fact that the Indians have looked hapless against just about every left hander they have faced. It is time to play all the starters, especially Travis Hafner and Jason Kipnis, against left handed starters to give them as many chances to figure out how to hit them.

August 10th, 7:05 PM EDT: Clay Buchholz, RHP, 9-3, 4.48 ERA vs Chris Seddon, LHP, 0-0, 7.71 ERA

The Chris Seddon experiment took an odd turn the other day when he was used in relief instead of his usual starting role. He is slated to start on Friday so the Indians have apparently not given up on him yet. Seddon has only made one start that didn't go well. He was thrown right into the middle of the biggest Indians losing streak of recent memory. He only allowed 4 runs against Detroit, but was pulled in the 5th as Manny Acta was doing everything he could to get the Indians a win. The pressure will be off this time around, so we should see what Seddon is capable of. There is a good chance he will not be part of 2013, but if he pitches well the rest of the year, he will at least deserve a thought.

August 11th, 6:05 PM EDT: Franklin Morales, LHP, 3-2, 3.14 ERA vs Zach McAllister, RHP, 4-4, 3.60 ERA

On June 17th, Morales was converted from reliever to starter and has since been back and forth between the bullpen and starting rotation. He will be making his second start in a row after about a month in the bullpen this time. Of course he is a lefthander so this could be another low scoring affair by the Indians.

McAllister has been the Indians most consistent pitcher this season and should easily make next year's rotation even with the additions of Carlos Carrasco and Roberto Hernandez. He does need to keep up his excellent production so far this year to prove that he can finish out a season well. His last start was his first bad one this year, but some of that can be forgiven by the fact that every other starting pitcher was even worse.

August 12th, 1:05 PM EDT: Jon Lester, LHP, 5-10, 5.36 ERA vs Corey Kluber, RHP, 0-0, 6.10 ERA

Lester has a lot of experience against the Tribe, most of it good for him. He is 4-1 in his career against Cleveland with a 3.53 ERA. This could be a tough series against three strong left handers, but if the Indians can even split the series, they can take it as some momentum moving on for the rest of the season.

Kluber will be making his second start this year in much the same situation as Seddon. The two pitchers took over for Josh Tomlin and Derek Lowe after they were removed from the rotation.