After a third consecutive sweep, this one to the Detroit Tigers, the Indians postseason hopes have been officially demolished. As we move into "there's always next year" mode, focus should switch to the young players like recent call-up Ezequiel Carrera and future all-star Jason Kipnis. It will be interesting now to see how Corey Kluber and Chris Seddon pitch for the rest of the year as next years starting rotation seems to be completely up in the air after Justin Masterson. 

One interesting point to the rest of the season will be if the Indians bother bringing back a number of injured/suspended players including Grady Sizemore, Rafael Perez, Carlos Carrasco and Roberto Hernandez (Fausto Carmona). In the cases of players who should be back next season (Perez and Carrasco) they should probably try to at least get them back by September, but there is little point in the other two players who are not signed through 2013. If the Indians brain trust has any brains left that we can trust, Grady will have to be released post 2012 and Hernandez probably should be as well.

August 6th, 7:05 PM EDT: Scott Diamond, LHP, 9-5, 2.93 ERA vs Zach McAllister, RHP, 4-3, 3.42 ERA

Looking at the Indians successes against left handed pitching so far this season, I see no reason to believe the Indians current losing streak won't continue on to ten games. This year Diamond has faced the Tribe twice, going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA. One game was a complete game shutout, while in the other he allowed 3 unearned runs in 7 innings. It is possible with the recent roster changes and the extra motivation of a lost season and an extremely long losing streak that the Indians may be able to change their fortunes and actually win this game, however unlikely.

August 7th, 7:05 PM EDT: Sam Deduno, RHP, 3-0, 2.48 ERA vs Corey Kluber, RHP, 0-0, 12.46 ERA

Don't worry about Kluber's ERA. He has only made one start and really calmed down after the first inning. What you should worry about is Deduno's. After throwing a two hit, one run game against the Tribe, Deduno stepped it up and didn't allow a run to score against Boston in his next start. This ancient (29) Dominican hasn't had a bad start this year and seems to be getting better each time out.

August 8th, 12:05 PM EDT: Brian Duensing, RHP, 2-6, 4.39 vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 7-10, 4.78 ERA

The Indians have a shot at winning this one with their ace throwing and a right hander opposing. At most this losing streak should last 11 games. If the Indians losing streak continues through this game Manny Acta will possibly start using Vinnie Pestano in the second or third innings and leaving him in until the ninth.

Coming off sweeps to the two worst teams in the AL Central, the Indians are in a bad place. With Detroit and Chicago off last night the Tribe had a chance to make up one paltry game after already pushing themselves to the brink, but they were unable to and now sit 7.5 games behind the Central leading White Sox. The chances of winning the central division are slipping away with every loss.

White-Flag Report: This is going to be a short lived segment of the site that will tell you when the Indians (and you) should give up on the season. While things look bad right now, there is still significant time to come back, if the Indians play with their heads on fire for the rest of the year. The Indians Magic Number is now 51 (yes we're bringing back the Magic Number box), meaning any combination of 51 White Sox wins and Indians losses will lead to their elimination from the division title. With 57 games left, this means the Indians can no longer afford to play .500 (or under it). The Indians have 19 series left ( a couple of them 4 game series), meaning they only have to make up a game every two to three series. Assuming the White Sox continue playing as they have (a .548 winning percent) they will win about 32 more games. They do have one more game left than the Indians, so the Indians will have to win 8 more games with one less attempt. To get another Central Division flag at this point, the Indians will have to win around 40 games out of their next 57. This means if they win every single series for the rest of the season, they would probably take the crown.

Wild Card Update: I haven't mentioned the Wild Cards all year to this point with good reason. There are only five teams in the AL Central, three of which are actively competing for the title. There are currently 9 teams competing for two Wild Cards within 10 games of the leaders. Those 9 teams include both the Indians and Tigers, so unless both teams were to win Wild Cards (not going to happen), the Indians would still have to pass Detroit. There are also 6 teams within 5 games of the Wild Card. This makes the situation very volatile and will probably lead to a lot of disappointed teams at the end of the season who thought they should have made it. With the Indians 6.5 back sitting behind 7 other teams, they are virtually out of the Wild Card race already. Of course if this particular half of the AL starts to lose every game (impossible since they will be playing each other half the time) the Indians could technically win, but don't count on it. The Indians playoff hopes lie in the Central Division where they always have.

Before even thinking about the White Sox, Cleveland has to catch Detroit. The good news is that the Tigers are not as smoking hot as the White Sox have been of late and are just 5 games ahead of the Tribe. With a sweep in this upcoming series (almost a necessity for staying in the race at this point) the Indians would just be two games in back of second place with two more series left against the Motor City Kitties.

August 3rd, 7:05 PM EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 7-9. 4.47 ERA vs Anibal Sanchez, 0-1, 7.50 ERA

I won't go as in depth as normal on the starting pitchers, because you have seen these guys all year. It is also past the point where the Indians can take two out of three against Detroit and be happy, so it is slightly pointless to decide who has the edge in each game. I will however, tell you about the new guys like...

Anibal Sanchez is the newest Tiger starting pitcher, coming over in a big deal from the Miami Marlins. While his numbers for the season look bad, it is simply because stats don't transfer leagues after a trade is made so his 7.50 ERA is solely based on a game against the Blue Jays in which he struggled. While with the Marlins this year, Sanchez threw well with a 3.94 ERA and 110 strike outs over 19 starts. Over his career he was basically always their second best pitcher, behind Josh Johnson, and holds a 3.75 career ERA with the Marlins. He should end up being a very good pitcher for Detroit, but if the Indians can take advantage of his struggles in transitioning to the American League then all the better for them. 

August 4th, 7:05 PM EDT: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 8-10, 5.08 ERA vs Doug Fister, RHP, 5-7. 3.77 ERA

August 5th, 1:05 PM EDT: TBD, RHP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA vs Max Scherzer, RHP, 10-6, 4.62

I'm just assuming that Derek Lowe's replacement will be a right handed AAA pitcher. Although it has been posted ad nauseum throughout Lowe and Tomlin's struggles, here is the list of possible replacements: 

Jeanmar Gomez: RHP 4-2, 3.54 ERA (AAA); 4-7, 5.18 ERA (MLB)

The first choice would be Gomez who has pitched in the Majors this year with the Indians. He pitched fairly well early in the season, but was replaced by Zach McAllister at the first sign of struggle. Gomez hasn't imploded since being sent down and deserves another chance at the Major League level.

Chris Seddon: LHP 11-5, 3.44 ERA (AAA)

Seddon was a MiLB free agent roster invitee to Spring Training that stayed on with the Clippers after not making the Major League team. Although he was signed as a reliever, he has spent the entire season starting for Columbus and has been their most consistent starter (outside of McAllister and Corey Kluber who are already on the team).

David Huff: LHP, 5-5, 5.15 ERA (AAA)

To finish out the list, we'll include a former Indian who has struggled in his return to the minors. Huff had a below average season in 2011 for the Tribe and was kept out of the rotation this year because of a good Spring by Gomez. Now would be a good time to give Huff one last chance as he is usually good for about 4 great starts immediately after being recalled and it will give the Indians a chance to see if he should be considered as part of the mix in 2013.

*Edit: It's Seddon that will start on Sunday. I'll still leave the rest of this here for future reference.

Since I previewed the wrong pitcher last week (Francisco Liriano for the Twins when they actually started Brian Duensing) I will take a few extra precautions in this weeks preview. Of course the trade deadline is tomorrow so we will know by the end of the first game of the series if either team will be making any more moves.

July 31st, 8:10 PM EDT: Derek Lowe, Chris Seddon or Josh Johnson vs Luke Hochevar, RHP, 6-9, 5.26 ERA

Derek Lowe has continued on his path to retirement as so far in July he has given up 19 runs in 21 innings. He will almost certainly make this start but the rest of his season is in jeopardy. If he can somehow manage to decrease his monthly ERA from 8.14 to somewhere near 6.75 he could earn himself another start or two in the rotation. If the Indians do pull the trigger on a big name trade and bring in two starters, Lowe would be the second man out of the rotation after Josh Tomlin. Josh Johnson would be a fantastic pick up, even better than Zach Greinke was for the Angels as he is under control for more than this year.

Hochevar started the year pitching against the Tribe in two very different outings. Two of his first four starts came against the Indians and in the first game he was shown an early exit, allowing 7 runs on 9 hits through just four innings. His second start was the complete opposite as he threw 6.1 and just allowed two runs. He has pitched many times against Cleveland (13 starts) and the results have been more like the first game in general (5-8, 5.57 ERA against CLE) than the second.

August 1st, 8:10 EDT: Zach McAllister, RHP, 4-2, 3.18 ERA vs Luis Mendoza, RHP, 4-7, 4.47 ERA

The new Indians ace will do his best to salvage the season as he goes up against a pitcher that could be considered the Royals best. McAllister continues his great rookie season as he has yet to have a bad start (only bad offensive support behind him). Mendoza has the best ERA out of the current Royals rotation, but that isn't saying much as they have struggled all year with starting pitching, possibly even more than the Indians have.

August 2nd, 8:10 EDT: Josh Tomlin, James Shields, Joe Blanton or Corey Kluber vs Jeremy Guthrie or Jake Odorizzi

The Indians are unlikely to make a huge move at this point, but they have been rumored in the discussions of James Shields and there has been talks within the team about the immediate demotion of Josh Tomlin. They are basically waiting to see if a deal is made, in which case the new pitcher would certainly take Tomlin's spot in the rotation. If a deal is not made there is still no guarantee that Tomlin will make this start as he was absolutely obliterated in his last game against the Twins. Corey Kluber (a September call-up from 2011) and Chris Seddon will likely be the first selections if the Indians decide to bring someone up from AAA.

The Royals just picked up former Indians farm hand Jeremy Guthrie, but he doesn't really fit the style of their team so he could possibly be moved again before the trade deadline in order to pick up some more talent for their run at the Central that always seems to be three years in the future. Odorizzi is a young stud that Royals fans can't wait to see, so why not bring him up now and give him a couple month head start on 2013.

This series preview has been a "stick your head in the sand" version of a normal series preview. Burning River Baseball will reassess the season more realistically after the series with the Royals and tell you if it's worth sticking around for.

After a great series win by the Tribe over Detroit, the Indians are now just 3 games back, although still in third place, behind the Tigers and White Sox who are both tied for first. As the Tigers go on to face the Blue Jays, the Indians will be heading to Minnesota to take on the worst team in the American League. This looks like a positive time for the Tribe to make up some more ground as the Indians will face the Royals after the Twins. Cleveland has to be looking to win four or five of the next six games to keep with the Tigers when they travel to Detroit on August 3rd.

The Twins have already given up this season, but certainly will not just lay down for the Indians when they enter Target Field. Minnesota did just get swept by Chicago and have given up at least 5 runs in each of their last five games. This should bode well for the Indians new found offense that they discovered in the 7th inning of the final game against Detroit. While he didn't have a lot of hits, Travis Hafner made his count as he went 3-10 with 11 total bases (two home runs and a triple). Carlos Santana seems to be heating up as well bringing some much needed power to the middle of the lineup. With the big bats heading back to normal and the addition of Brent Lillibridge, how could they lose?

July 27th, 8:10 PM EDT: Josh Tomlin, RHP, 5-7, 5.34 ERA vs Scott Diamond, LHP, 8-4, 3.16 ERA

Josh Tomlin will be pitching for his life as the Indians series win over the Tigers keeps them in contention. If Tomlin struggles he will likely be the next one out of the rotation if the Indians promote a player from Columbus or make a trade for Zach Greinke (Josh Johnson is out there too). His last time out wasn't bad (2 earned runs over 6 innings), but he did allow eight hits and his season numbers are less than desirable. If he can't beat the worst offensive team in the Majors, he can't be trusted to beat anyone.

The Indians have already faced Diamond once this year and the results were less than stellar. The Twins won that game as Diamond threw 7 innings against a Tribe team that looked like they had never seen a human being throw a ball with their other arm. They did manage to get a couple of unearned runs across, but it wasn't enough as Diamond took home the win. Since then the Indians have learned to hit lefties and have even won a game or two against south paws. It will be interesting to see them take their revised strategy (more Lou Marson and Jose Lopez, less Casey Kotchman and Jack Hannahan) against an old opponent.

July 28th, 7:10 PM EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 7-8, 4.12 ERA vs Sam Deduno, RHP, 1-0, 3.94 ERA

Masterson had another good outing in his last start, holding the Orioles to a single earned run in 8 innings. That means he has allowed one or fewer earned runs in 6 of his last 9 starts. Of course his tendency to alternate between great and terrible starts has also continued through his last 6 games, meaning he is lined up for a bad one. Hopefully he can take advantage of the situation and win the middle game for the Tribe as it should be the easiest of the three.

Deduno is an older fella who will be making his debut against the Tribe in this series. The 29 year old has pitched a total of nine games since he made his debut with Colorado in 2010. This is his first year attempting to be a starter and it is still too early to tell how well that is going. In his first game he was one out shy of matching his entire career innings pitched to that point and has only thrown twice since then, against Baltimore and Kansas City. He did win his last game against the Royals, his first career win.

July 29th, 2:10 PM EDT: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 8-9, 4.97 ERA vs Francisco Liriano, LHP, 3-10, 5.31 ERA

For those of you who think talking about the Indians trading for Josh Johnson is far fetched, you must have a short memory. This time last year there was one pitcher that everyone wanted. It looked like he was going to be signed by Detroit, but somehow he will be starting this game for the Cleveland Indians. The team that every one says never make any big moves. The results of the trade are unimportant when considering the context of the trade itself. 

Jimenez pitched the opener against Detroit and threw his third scoreless outing of the year. He is completely unpredictable at this point, but as with the other starters, will be facing a AAAA team offensively (outside of Mauer and Morneau) so it will be a good game for him to keep things going.

If only Roberto Hernandez could be back in time to make this start against Liriano. The two pitchers are very much alike, both started as very promising talents, throwing out of the bullpen in the late 2000's and were quickly made into solid starters. After one great season by each, they fell victim to problems that kept them out of the Majors. Liriano had shoulder surgery and missed all of 2007 while Carmona (at the time) had a mental breakdown and missed parts of 2008 and 2009. Liriano is still pitching for the Twins, although nowhere near his old level and Fausto, now Roberto will be back with the Indians soon. Luckily the Indians play the Twins two more times this year after Hernandez will be back so we may get to see these two former phenoms match up again.

Indians set up man Vinnie Pestano said after yesterday's win over Baltimore, "By the way biggest series of the year starts tomorrow. Want this place shakin the next three days." He is close to write as the next 12 games is going to make or break this Indians season. I hate to put an ultimatum forward this early in the season, but I can at least say this much. If the Indians don't at least split the two series against Detroit and between the next 12 games gain at least one game on the Tigers, their chances of winning the Central Division will be greatly diminished.

That run starts today as the Tigers are coming into town to face the Tribe after the Indians barely staved off a sweep from the Baltimore Orioles. The Tigers themselves are on a hot streak (8-2 in their last ten) and the Indians will need to step up, especially offensively in order to beat them. While some players are getting back on track (Shin-Soo Choo and Johnny Damon) others have fallen off (Travis Hafner and Jason Kipnis). The Indians will need every player in the top of the lineup hitting at their best to score off the Tigers hard throwing starters and efficient bullpen. They will also need to keep up with the run scoring machine that is Detroit's offense.

Roster Update: Rafael Perez, LHP, is due back in Cleveland at some point during this series and the Indians definitely need him. Look for recent call-up Cody Allen or Jeremy Accardo to be sent back to Columbus to complete the move. Another option would be to finally end the Aaron Cunningham experiment as he has been completely useless during his time with the Tribe.

July 24th, 7:05 PM EDT: Doug Fister, RHP, 4-6, 4.04 ERA vs Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 8-9, 5.24 ERA

Fister is coming off two fantastic starts that have lowered his ERA .70 points. Of course these came after three terrible starts that pushed it up there in the first place as he had an ERA of 2.72 just a month ago. His lone start against the Tribe this year came in a Tigers loss. Fister allowed two runs and the bullpen allowed two more as that was all the Indians needed to secure victory. Remember that two series the Indians have played against Detroit, a sweep in late May and a series win in early June, came when the Tigers were a terrible third place team, not like now when they are a juggernaut first place team that has the exact same players (for the most part) that they have had for the entire season.

Drew Pomeranz got roughed up his last two times out, but before that had only given up 7 earned runs in his last 6 starts. Oops, wrong alternate future. Ubaldo Jimenez has given up 13 runs in his past two starts, covering just 8 innings pitched. As you can expect, he lost both games and continues on his trend of getting a decision in every start, good or bad (he only has two this year without either a win or loss). At least with him you know the outcome of the game as soon as he leaves. The Indians bullpen in wins (Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez) is so strong that there is no doubt of victory if he can leave the game with a lead, but more often than not, he has left the game with a deficit, usually at some point between the 5th and 6th innings.

July 25th, 7:05 PM EDT: Max Scherzer, RHP, 9-5, 4.61 ERA vs Derek Lowe, RHP, 8-8, 5.04 ERA

Scherzer is a hard thrower and although he has been inconsistent at times, looks to be on the right track this year. His last truly bad game came against the Indians on June 6th and he has been stellar since then, pitching at least through the fifth in every game and never allowing more than four runs in a game. Most of Scherzer's issues occurred early in the season when he went 1-3 over his first five games with a 7.77 ERA. Since then he has went 8-2 and is pitching like the pitcher Detroit thought they were getting when they traded Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson for him and Austin Jackson.

Derek Lowe continues his push towards forced retirement as he struggled yet again in his last start. He has went from being the Indians best pitcher, from the start of the season until May 26th, to being their absolute worst. His last start set a new low for him (it was hard, but he was up to the challenge) as he threw into the fourth and allowed 9 earned runs. Whenever the Indians decide to make a move for a new pitcher, whether it be via trade, from AAA (most likely Corey Kluber, Chris Seddon or Jeanmar Gomez) or Fausto Carmona returning as Roberto Hernandez, Lowe needs to be the one to go.

July 26th, 7:05 PM EDT: Justin Verlander, RHP, 11-5, 2.42 ERA vs Zach McAllister, RHP, RHP, 4-2, 3.21 ERA

Verlander is currently in a tight race for his second consecutive AL Cy Young award, competing with the likes of Jered Weaver, David Price and Chris Sale. He is within the top four in all the triple crown stats(wins, strike outs and ERA) and could very well compete for that rarity again this season. Verlander has pitched 28 games against the Indians, the most against any team, and if you took those 28 games as one season he would be laughed at as a Cy Young candidate. Since his debut, Verlander has gone 13-12 with a 4.70 ERA against the Tribe. He has also hit 16 Indians and thrown 15 wild pitches against Cleveland when he doesn't even have double digits against any other team in either stat. Indians hitters have also walked ten more times than any other team, showing a relaxation of control when Verlander faces the Indians. This season they have played one game against each other, which was won by Cleveland although they only scored two runs off Justin. This game is nowhere near unwinnable and is essential to the Tribe's postseason hopes.

McAllister will do his job on the mound when Verlander is sitting and he has been the epitome of consistency this year. Zach is yet to have a bad start and he continued his streak of excellence his last time out, even though he lost the game. He has faced the Tigers twice in his career, giving up a total of 2 earned runs in 11.1 innings. He has only walked one batter in those games and struck out seven. The Indians know they can depend on McAllister even while every other member of the starting rotation struggles.

The Indians will be returning home after a rough road trip following the All-Star break. The Tribe is just 3-4 since the break and just split a series 2-2 with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Indians remain in 3rd place in the AL Central, 3 games behind 1st place Chicago and 1.5 games behind Detroit. The Indians should be better off in the upcoming series, facing 3 right handed pitchers and just one lefty. The Orioles come into the series in 2nd place in the AL East, but they have a 9 game distance between them and the Yankees.

July 20, 7:05 PM EDT: Miguel Gonzalez, RHP, 1-1, 2.59 ERA vs Derek Lowe, RHP, 8-7, 4.43 ERA

Derek Lowe is coming off of 2 solid starts. He has thrown quality games, but usually has one rough inning where multiple runs are scored off him. His July starts have been consistent to his season stats, holding a 4.50 ERA for the month. His record of 5-1 and 2.86 ERA at home may prove advantageous to him this series.

Miguel Gonzalez will be making just his 3rd start of the season. He has only pitched in 5 games so far this season, but he can go deep into games when needed. Gonzalez walks 2-4 batters per appearance and is not a strike out pitcher. This will be the first time he faces the Indians.

July 21, 7:05 PM EDT: Chris Tillman, RHP, 1-1, 1.00 ERA vs Zach McAllister, RHP, 4-1, 3.17 ERA

Zach McAllister has had nothing but great starts since he was called up from Columbus. He took the win in his last start, pitching 6 innings and allowing no runs on 3 hits. McAllister finds himself in a good position to stay in the Majors the remainder of the season as the rest of the rotation has lacked his consistency.

Chris Tillman is another youngster, making just his 3rd start of his Major League career. In his first start against Seattle, he pitched 8.1 innings of shut out baseball. In his most recent start against Minnesota, he wasn't able to pitch out of the first inning. That, however, should be no indication of his pitching ability, since only one of the 7 runs the Twins scored was earned. Tillman does not walk a lot of batters, but he is capable getting strike outs. 

July 22, 3:05 PM EDT: Zach Britton, LHP, 0-0, 9.00 ERA vs Josh Tomlin, RHP, 5-6, 5.51 ERA

Josh Tomln has been inconsistent of late. He usually alternates good starts and bad, but luckily for the Indians, he is due for another quality start. July has been his best month this season, with a 3.55 ERA and a .188 batting average against. If Tomlin stays focused, he should have no trouble against the Orioles.

Zach Britton will be making his 2nd start of the season on Sunday. He is a lefty, so the Tribe bats may be fearful. His only start this year came against the Twins. He gave up 4 runs in 4 innings. He appears to throw a lot of pitches, averaging 25 pitches per inning. In his last outing, he walked 6 batters and only struck out one, so if the Tribe is patient, they may overcome Britton's left-handedness.

July 23, 7:05 PM EDT: Tommy Hunter, RHP, 4-4, 5.71 ERA vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 6-8, 4.29 ERA

Justin Masterson appears to be in the same pattern as Josh Tomlin, throwing a quality game every other start. Of late, Masterson has been either phenomenal or really bad. His last start proved to be awful as allowed 4 runs on 7 hits and walked 7 in just 4.1 innings pitched. The next outing, however, should be masterful.

Tommy Hunter is the seasoned veteran for the Orioles this weekend. He is coming off a quality start against the Twin in which he only gave up one run in 7.1 innings. He will not strike out many batters, but he won't walk them, either. He usually gives up at least one home run a game; he has only had one outing in his past 10 games when he has not allowed a homer. 

The Indians will be going to St. Petersburg for the first time this season coming off a tough series loss to the Blue Jays. The loss dropped the Indians behind Detroit for the first time in a long time and puts them 4 games behind Chicago for the lead in the AL Central. It isn't exactly what the Indians wanted, but it also wasn't big enough to make a big deal of. The Blue Jays did throw out a left handed starter in each of the games they won, continuing on with a trend it looked like the Indians had at least slowed down. The Rays will have two lefties going in the four game series, one of which is the currently unbeatable David Price.

July 16, 7:10 PM EDT: Zach McAllister, RHP, 3-1, 3.40 ERA vs Alex Cobb, RHP, 4-5, 4.89 ERA

McAllister had one of his better starts this year in his last time out, even though the results wouldn't show that. Errors lead to four unearned runs, but outside of that he struck out 8 and didn't allow an earned run. During the game he pushed his ERA to a season low. He continues to impress in just his second Major League season.

Alex Cobb has also been impressive in his second MLB season, although less so. His last game out was a win against the Indians in the series before the All-Star break, but the win was mostly due to a large outpouring of run support. The Indians did manage to score three of the right hander on six hits in six innings. 

July 17, 7:10 PM EDT: Josh Tomlin, RHP, 5-5, 5.45 ERA vs Matt Moore, LHP, 5-6, 4.42 ERA

Tomlin has earned wins in each of his last two starts, the last of which came against these Rays. He now has decisions in 7 of his last 8 starts, a testament to him staying in late in the game or getting blown out early. He will need to keep things close late in this game as the Rays will be throwing one of their top starters out there and a left hander to boot.

The Indians did beat Moore in his last outing, scoring 5 runs in less than 5 innings against the lefty, giving some reassurance that they had gotten over their south paw issue. Since this theory has been thoroughly eradicated during the Toronto series, look out.

July 18, 7:10 PM EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 6-8, 4.14 ERA vs Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, 4-6, 3.48 ERA

Looking into the second half it was obvious that the Indians #1 and #2 starting pitchers would need to step up. One did and the other fell backwards. Hard. Masterson was great in his performance to begin the second half. Masterson threw 7 shut out innings, a great reponse to his last bad start against Tampa. He will face Tampa again and they know what to expect, so he will need to bring his A game. Last time out he walked four and gave up two home runs in route to the rout. In order to avoid that he will need to throw more quality strikes, by getting his sinker ball to sink and keeping it low in the zone.

Hellickson has lost four consecutive starts and all of his last six decisions after starting the season 4-0. He has seen some bad luck in his last couple as he did throw 6 innings in each but lost 3-1 in both games against the Indians and Red Sox. He will look to get back in the win column, but it should be hard as the Indians have their ace going and the left handed batters should be ready to go after taking a day off and expecting another day off after this game.

July 19, 12:10 PM EDT: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 8-8, 5.09 ERA vs David Price, LHP, 12-4, 2.80 ERA

I could write a paragraph here about how the Indians should just forfeit this game rather than be made to look silly, but then I may be the one to look silly when Jimenez throws 7 shut out innings. Ubaldo has become impossible to predict and the fact that almost every hitter on the Tribe has now had some success against left handers means you can't predict any one game anymore. That being said, the odds are stacked against the Indians in the series finale.

The Indians have reorganised their starting rotation going into the second half of the season, in order to keep the cream on top. The new order will be Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Derek Lowe, Zach McAllister and Josh Tomlin. The main changes are that McAllister has been bumped ahead of Tomlin and McAllister, Lowe and Tomlin are being skipped for this turn in the rotation.

The Indians started the first half of the season against Toronto and will now start the second half against them as well. The first time around didn't go very well as the Tribe lost the first two games of the year in extra innings as they looked to set a new record for most innings played in a season. The first loss was Chris Perez's only blown save until he blew the last game of the half against Tampa Bay. He will certainly be in fine form and raging as he was kept out of the All-Star game and will be looking to make up for those two blown save. His beard may even catch on fire if he makes it into the opener.

July 13th, 7:07 EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 5-8, 4.40 ERA vs Ricky Romero, LHP, 8-4, 5.22 ERA

Masterson's goal for the rest of the season should be to make his win-loss record further away from his height (6-6) and get his ERA closer to his weight (250). Excelling in the land of snow and socialized medicine will be his first step in proving to management that he deserves their faith in him. Masterson was blown out in his last start, but the six prior to that were all good, so at this point we can assume the game against Tampa was an outlier. After facing Toronto this week he will have to pitch against Tampa again so these games should be a good show of whether it was a one game hiccough or something more serious.

Romero opened the season against the Indians (in fact this is a rematch of opening day) and allowed 4 runs in 5 innings. Although he didn't get a decision in that game, Romero went on to win 8 of his next 9 decisions. Since then he has lost three in a row and raised his ERA from 4.94 to 5.32. Going back slightly further, over the last 10 games he has raised it from 3.64. Overall the Blue Jays ace seems to be tanking a little bit as his rate stats (ERA, K/BB and WHIP) are all at their lowest point in his career since his rookie season. The walks are especially bothersome as he currently leads the league with 58. This is a great sign for a very patient Tribe team and should help the most selective hitters like Carlos Santana and Travis Hafner force him to throw pitches they like.

July 14th, 1:07 EDT:  Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 8-7, 4.50 ERA vs Aaron Laffey, LHP, 0-1, 2.67 ERA

Jimenez has finally fixed his control problems and with it, the rest of his game has come around as well. He hasn't allowed 5 or more walks in a game since May when he did so four separate times. Going perfectly with that, he hasn't allowed 5 or more runs in a game since May either, when he allowed 7 twice. The opposite of Romero, Jimenez has been lowering his ERA and it is now at it's lowest point since his May 26th, 7 inning shut out of Texas. He has dropped it about 10 points in each of his last three games alone. Ubaldo should have no trouble dominating a team that has three of the American League's top 20 strike out victims in it's starting lineup.

I miss Aaron Laffey and wouldn't mind one bit if the Indians traded to get him back, even if they only used him for long relief. The Indians trading him to Seattle to make room for Chad Durbin on the active roster was one of the biggest mistakes in recent memory. Laffey started this season out of the bullpen, but was pulled to be a starter on June 26th. He has since made three starts and has pitched 6 innings in each and allowed a total of 5 runs. This could be a tough test for the Tribe as they generally fare poorly against soft throwing left handers, but as long as Lou Marson and Shelley Duncan (as they have in recent games against LHP) can pick up the slack, the Indians should be fine.

July 15th: 107 EDT: Derek Lowe, 8-6, 4.43 ERA vs Carlos Villanueva, RHP, 3-0, 3.05 ERA

Derk Lowe had a terrible June and things aren't particularly looking up in July, but it's possible the extra long break will give the old man's arm some time to rest. As I have been saying, the Indians need to keep Lowe on a very short leash and if he is struggling in the 6th inning at all, he should be pulled immediately. He doesn't have the stamina he once had and it has seemed this season that once it starts to go bad for him, it goes really bad.

Villanueva has also been in the bullpen most of the year and in fact had earned a hold and two wins in 22 relief appearances before being converted to a starter on June 26th. This will be his third start of the year, so it is hard to know what to expect out of him. He did start 13 games last season, but still pitched the majority of the time out of the bullpen. He does not have the control of a great reliever and he has allowed more than 1.30 base runners per inning this season.

The Indians will be sending two players to the midsummer classic this year, a lot like last year when they sent the exact same two players. They are actually the only two players on the current 25 man roster that have any All-Star experience at all. The Indians are lucky to even have two players going as 6 of the last 10 years they have just sent one representitive. The Indians did have a few more deserving players as the Tribe currently holds the best offensive shortstop and second baseman along with the top closer and set up man. It would have been nice to see Jason Kipnis and Vinnie Pestano also get picked for this year's team, but being the best at your position has nothing to do with getting into the All-Star game. Just like hitting home runs has nothing to do with the Home Run Derby. Right Robbie Cano, don't ya know?

Last year Asdrubal Cabrera started at short stop after Derek Jeter stepped down and didn't even go to the game after being voted in. This year Jeter will not make the same mistake and will be starting, with Cabrera the reserve short stop. Elvis Andrus is also on the team as a back up short stop so each player will likely get 3 innings a piece or less. Cabrera has been far more productive offensively than Andrus with 10 more home runs and 7 more RBI (on a team that scores less runs) so he should be the first short stop in the game after Jeter.

Chris Perez threw a scoreless inning of relief in the 2011 All-Star game and you couldn't have asked much more out of him. In a game where starting pitchers only pitch from 1-3 innings, it's amazing they let a closer get more than one out. Perez struck out one and allowed a hit in that inning. This year along with Pure Rage are relievers Ryan Cook (Oakland), Joe Nathan (Texas), Jim Johnson (Baltimore), and Fernando Rodney (Tampa Bay). Before his last game out, Perez was by far the leader of this group and should get enough respect to get his inning in this year's contest.

Enjoy the game and remember, this one kind of counts.

A very impressive series win over the usually tough Angels has kept the Indians virtually where they were before at two games behind the Chicago White Sox. This isn't a bad place to be as the Tribe just got Travis Hafner and Carlos Santana back and are looking to make a move to bring in another offensive player within the coming weeks. The starting pitching has also gotten back to strength, most recently with Derek Lowe going 6 innings and only allowing 3 runs. Keeping the Angels to just 11 runs for the series was a feat in itself, made more impressive by the fact that the Indians scored 12 in the final game alone.

The Tribe will head into the final series of the half with the Rays next. They have already played half their games this year and are three games above .500 through 81. The All-Star break is the unofficial half way mark and will be a good respite for most of the Tribe as Michael Brantley, Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana have been forced to play just about every game this season. Asdrubal Cabrera and Chris Perez won't be getting a break this year, but I'm sure they don't mind either as they will be heading to Kansas City for the game itself. On to the matchups.

July 5th, 7:05 EDT: Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, 4-4, 3.44 ERA vs Josh Tomlin, RHP, 4-5, 5.84 ERA

Hellickson was removed from his last start after being hit by a batted ball and in fact has not thrown more than four innings in his last three starts. The worst start of the group was against the Mets where he threw 3.2 innings and allowed 8 earned runs. This was by far his worst start of the season and ballooned his ERA from 2.65 to 3.45.

Tomlin has pretty much been the same pitcher this season that he was last year and there isn't a whole lot more to expect from him. As long as he controls the things he can by keeping his pitches in the strike zone he will be as successful as he can be. He will always give up hits and home runs, but by not walking batters he should be able to keep those home runs to solo shots.

July 6th, 7:05 EDT: Alex Cobb, RHP, 3-5, 4.94 ERA vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 5-7, 3.92 ERA

Cobb's last two starts have come against the AL Central and and have been short of magnificent. He gave up four against Detroit and somehow 8 against Kansas City. This is just Cobb's second season for Tampa and his 18th career start.

By only allowing a single run against Baltimore, Masterson lowered his ERA to its lowest point since his third game this season. He will look to continue this trend against the tough AL East opponent.

July 7th, 6:05 EDT: Matt Moore, LHP, 5-5, 4.17 ERA vs Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 7-7, 4.59 ERA

Moore is also in his second season and is pitching fairly well after just one start in his career prior to this season. He has been very consistant on a game by game basis, keeping opponents under four runs scored in all but two games.

Ubaldo lost the one game of the Angels series that the Indians were unable to take, but it wasn't completely his fault as the Indians were held scoreless. He did keep LA to just three runs, which is a feat in itself.

July 8th, 1:05 EDT: James Shields, RHP, 8-5, 4.11 ERA vs Zach McAllister, RHP, 3-1, 3.93 ERA

Shields is the Rays ace and a former All-Star, but he has fallen off a bit this season. His ERA is currently about a run and half above last years career best and his WHIP is also almost a half a base runner worse than last year. He is still a formidable pitcher, but the Indians should be happy just to play against three righties out of the four games this series.

McAllister has been almost perfect this year, giving the Indians a chance to win every time out. If he can keep throwing strikes and only use his secondary pitches in good situations, he will continue on his positive run. The only trouble he got into last time out was after a two base error by Jack Hannahan on an attempted double play elongated an inning and allowed 5 runs to score.