The Indians series win over the Orioles combined with the White Sox loss to the Yankees has put the Indians back into the passing lane for the Central Division title. Now only 1.5 games back, the Tribe will come back home to face the hot Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Angels have won 7 of their last 10 and made up for a terrible start by getting back within 5.5 games of the AL West leading Texas Rangers.

The biggest news going into the series is that Travis Hafner is scheduled to return for tomorrow's game. It is likely that Jason Donald will be sent back down to AAA now that he has given Asdrubal Cabrera a half game off, but it is also possible that the Indians could end the Aaron Cunningham experiment.

July 2nd, 7:05 PM EDT: Jared Weaver, RHP, 8-1, 2.31 ERA vs Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 7-6, 4.69 ERA

The perennial Cy Young candidate will be facing the Indians for the 14th time and to this point he has been fairly successful. During his career against the Tribe he has allowed 2.56 runs per 9 innings and kept Cleveland to a .258 batting average. This game may be tough to score in, but the Indians are hot and the return of Travis Hafner and Carlos Santana can only help. Santana and Shin-Soo Choo already have fairly good numbers against Weaver and they should be happy just to see some right handed pitching.

Jimenez had a slight set back against New York, but it wasn't enough to ruin his great month of June. The Indians ace #2 is finally pitching like it and will need it against the vaunted Angels offense. Two of the hottest hitters on the Angels this year will be new to the Indians as two rookies, Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout have never played against Cleveland. The one hitter Jimenez has the most experience against, former National Leaguer Albert Pujols, he has actually pitched well against, keeping the three time MVP to a .267 batting average over 15 at bats.

July 3rd, 7:05 PM EDT: Dan Haren, RHP, 6-7, 4.53 ERA vs Zach McAllister, RHP, 2-1, 3.82 ERA

The Angels Ace #2 has not been performing up to his abilities as of late and the Indians may be able to take advantage. Haren has allowed at least 5 runs in his last three starts against some not so amazing offenses (meaning the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays). If the Indians can put 5 on the board against the starter, they have to feel good about their chances with their All-Star closer and his bullpen mafia.

McAllister threw well in his last outing and in fact has thrown well all season. Manny Acta has given Zach his confidence and stated that the starting job could be his for the rest of the season if he deserves it. He will certainly want to be at his best against the Angels to prove to everyone he deserves his spot on the pro team and avoid a return to Columbus this year.

July 4th, 4:05 EDT: Ervin Santana, RHP, 4-8, 5.12 ERA vs Derek Lowe, RHP, 7-6, 4.42 ERA

Santana has struggled as well this year, making it a little easier to understand how a team with this much star power could be in second place. Already he has given up 19 home runs, just 8 less than the most he has ever given up in a single season. This game will be number 81 for the Indians and 82 for the Angels so it can be expected that he will roughly double his numbers for the rest of the year. Basically what I am saying is that if Santana doesn't figure things out quickly, 2012 will be by far the worst season of his career.

This would be a great game for the Indians to show off how deep their bullpen is by getting Lowe out of the game early. In his last time out Derek was pitching fine until he was asked to throw the sixth inning. Lowe is an old man at this point and the Indians should start being very careful with him. If the other Indians starters are able to pitch an average of 6-7 innings per game the bullpen could easily take up the extra slack from Lowe's start.

The good news is, Casey Kotchman broke Andy Pettitte's ankle and he will be out for 6 weeks. You can't cheat your way out of a fractured leg. And now for something completely different.

June 28th, 7:05 PM EDT: Zach McAllister, RHP, 1-1, 3.96 ERA vs Wei-Yin Chen, LHP, 7-3, 3.38 ERA

McAllister will be making his triumphant return to the big leagues in place of Jeanmar Gomez this time through the rotation. He is out of luck as the Indians will be facing rookie phenom Wei-Yan Chen who throws with his left hand, thus making him unstoppable. I wish this weren't so, but it has proven infallible that the Indians cannot beat a left handed starting pitcher. With a loss the Tribe would move under .500 for the first time this season since game 9.

June 29th, 7:05 PM EDT: Derek Lowe, RHP, 7-6, 4.28 ERA vs Jake Arrieta, RHP, 3-9, 5.55 ERA

While the rest of the starting rotation has started putting things back together in the month of June, Derek Lowe has allowed them to fall apart. Already in 5 starts this month Lowe has allowed 21 runs and he will get one more in before it is over. Since he was able to hold one of the worst offenses in the National League to just three runs last time out, we can only guess what will happen against the AL East tested offense of the Baltimore Orioles. 

Arrieta currently leads the league in runs allowed and losses, plus he has the all important feature of throwing the ball with his right hand so the Indians have a good chance at this one. They will probably be looking to end their 6 game losing streak by this time and there will be no better time to end it then here.

June 30th, 4:05 PM EDT: Josh Tomlin, RHP, 3-5, 5.70 ERA vs Tommy Hunter, RHP, 3-4, 5.67 ERA

Josh Tomlin got blown up by the Yankees, but who didn't. Let's forgive and forget. Let's forget the whole series ever happened actually. Tomlin threw well in two of the three starts before that game, so he seemed to be getting back on track. Against a much easier foe in a much easier ballpark, Tomlin should be able to find success.

Hunter missed his last start in the rotation and was used in relief against the Orioles on the 26th. He has only pitched 2 innings since June 19th, but has remained on the MLB roster the whole time. He is expected to make this start even though he has been unofficially removed from the rotation.

July 1st, 1:35 PM EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 4-7, 4.09 vs Brian Matusz, LHP, 5-9, 5.24

Like every other pitcher, Masterson saw a little regression in New York. He should fare much better this time out against a team that isn't made up of a roster filled with people who were on BALCO's e-mail list.

Like much of Baltimore's pitching staff, Matusz has struggled this season. Lucky for him he will be pitching against the Indians and primarily using his left arm to do so. Hopefully Travis Hafner has been studying left-handers during his time off and will be ready for him so the Tribe can at least make this game interesting.

Possible Roster Moves: There will likely be a few changes to the Indians 25 man roster this series as they will need to make a move to bring up Zach McAllister for game one. Scott Barnes was the most recent addition to the bullpen, so he is an obvious choice, but the Indians are not limited to him. Tony Sipp should also be on a short leash as he has struggled with the long ball this season and the Indians are very deep in left handed relievers. Another move likely to occur before the end of the month is the return of Travis Hafner. Pronk has missed a month already, but is ready to come back as soon as he finishes a short minor league rehab assignment. The return of Hafner will likely see the demotion of an outfielder, possibly Aaron Cunningham or less likely, Shelley Duncan.

The Indians come out of the final series in Interleague play with a series loss to Houston, pushing them back to second place in the AL Central. The Indians struggles against left-handers have been largely to blame for the last few losses and without the addition of a right handed bat (or a lefty who can hit other left handers) they will likely continue. Since Mark Shapiro has stated that Manny Ramirez is not an option and the Indians have given up on Matt LaPorta they will likely have to find someone through trade. 

The Indians will be traveling to New York for the next three games and Indians fans need to prepare for a few things. The rules change a little when you enter the Big Apple, especially against the Yankees. First, Derek Jeter cannot make an error. Any ball hit to him, no matter how badly he botches it will be called a hit. The corollary to this rule is that everything Jeter hits will be considered a hit. Even if an outfielder drops an easy pop fly it will be considered a double. Second rule change is that all close plays go for the Yankees. When the Yanks are on offense just assume that first base extends towards home about five feet. Part of this rule is that any Yankee hit within 5 feet of the foul line counts as fair and the opposite is true for the opposing team (just ask Joe Mauer). Rule three: swing at everything because every pitch a Yankee pitcher throws will be a strike and every pitch against them is a ball. Keeping these few simple rules in mind will make watching this series much less frustrating for Indians fans.

June 25th, 7:05 PM EDT: Josh Tomlin, RHP, 3-4, 5.12 ERA vs Hiroki Kuroda, RHP, 6-7, 3.57 ERA

Josh Tomlin pitched well during his last outing, winning one of the games in the three game sweep of the Reds. Tomlin only allowed a single earned run and 8 baserunners during 6.2 innings. He and Justin Masterson are the perfect type of pitcher to throw against the Yankees at their home field as they are sinker ball specialists and should be able to keep the Yankees in the park.

Hiroki Kuroda throws with his right hand. The Indians have proven that this is the only thing that matters in a pitcher. Velocity is unimportant as is control or movement. The Indians are now 32-19 against right handers and 5-15 against lefties. There doesn't seem to be much reason to dig any deeper with splits like that.

June 26th, 7:05 PM EDT: Justin Masterson, RHP, 4-6, 3.98 ERA vs Phil Hughes, RHP, 7-6, 4.94 ERA

Only R.A. Dickey could match Justin Masterson's last three starts as he 23 innings and only allowed a single earned run. He also struck out 24 and only walked three. The single run came off a home run. The Indians ace has earned that moniker of late and will look to continue his success against New York. New Yankee Stadium is a band box and Justin will need to keep the ball on the ground against the powerful Yankees to continue his good stretch.

Phil Hughes is pretty much just a waste of a human being. He was touched up for six runs against Atlanta his last time out and has allowed 6 or more runs in four starts already this year. Hughes is pretty much the only prospect turned pro left from the 2009 championship Yankees as they have managed to disperse almost their entire minor league system throughout the rest of the league through blockbuster trades. This has filled the Yankees rotation with aging veterans, never-will-bes and one fat over paid former Indian.

June 27th, 1:05 PM EDT: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 7-5, 4.95 vs Andy Pettite, LHP, 3-3, 3.92 ERA

Ubaldo Jimenez has been fantastic in June and if he can continue his improvements he could possibly make the Indians not regret the trade for him. Already this month he has lowered his ERA a full run per 9 innings. Jimenez has only walked 7 batters this month after 42 in the first two months and has had his three best strikeout totals this season in his last three games. 

Ubaldo will be going up against Roger Clemens' steroid spotter, Andy Pettite's zombie. The only things that can explain Pettitte's resurgence in his 17th season after taking a year off are HGH and his diet of unborn fetuses. Hopefully at some point during this game his arm will fall off and be reattached like Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The first place Indians look to stay in first place as they go down south to play the Houston Astros. With a sweep of the Cincinnati Reds, the Tribe managed to maintain a half game lead over the White Sox. It's been a decade since the Indians have played the Astros due to the uneven numbers in the National League Central, but the two teams will be playing each other much more often starting next season as the Astros will be moving the the AL West. Currently the Astros sit at second to last in the NL Central and are the fourth worst team in the Major Leagues. If the Indians can get past the Astros secret weapon (two left handed starters the Indians have never faced) they should be able to win this series and maintain their lead in the AL Central.

Injury Updates: Travis Hafner is hitting and running (pretty much the only things he needs to be able to do) and could possibly return for the series in Baltimore at the end of the month. Grady Sizemore, Rafael Perez and Carlos Carrasco all made significant strides in their rehab work over the past week and remain on schedule. Sizemore and Perez should be back sometime in July and Carrasco could possibly return in late September from Tommy John surgery (more likely he will wait until next Spring Training, but it is good to hear he is throwing again.)

June 22st, 8:05 PM EDT: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 6-5, 5.00 ERA vs Lucas Harrell, RHP, 6-5, 5.07 ERA

Both starting pitchers seem to be almost equivalent this season with identical win-loss records and ERAs that are close as well, but there is one difference. Ubaldo's last three starts have been some of his best work on the season (he lowered his ERA 0.79 points over the three starts) while Harrell has had the exact opposite reality. Over his last four starts, Lucas has increased his ERA from 3.72 to it's current 5.07 as he threw his three worst starts of the season within four games. Two of these starts came against American League powerhouses, Texas and Chicago during interleague play. With the Indians bats heating up over the last series they look to continue their success against the struggling right hander. 

June 23nd, 4:05 PM EDT: Jeanmar Gomez, RHP, 4-6, 4.95 ERA  vs Dallas Kuechel, LHP, 0-0, 1.80 ERA

If there is one pitcher in danger of losing his spot in the rotation it is Gomez. With so many starters banging on the door down in AAA (Zach McAllister, recent pick-up Chris Schwinden and even recent call-up Scott Barnes are all options), Jeanmar will have to really pick up his game against one of the worst offenses in the Majors. Even though he was hurt by errors last game, he still gave up 4 earned runs (8 total) and has given up 22 runs in his last 5 starts for an ERA of 7.92 in 25 innings. During this span he only struck out 9 batters as well. While he was lights out at the beginning of the season, a player with options often has to deal with a lot of "what have you done for me lately."

Kuechel pitched well in his MLB debut against interleague rival Texas. He threw an impressive 5 innings, only allowing a single run and 4 hits. If there was a weakness to his game, he walked 4 batters and only struck out two. This could be a positive sign for the Tribe as they generally excel against pitchers with control issues. If they can get past the point that he is a left hander and be patient, they should be able to compete in this game.

June 24, 2:05 PM EDT: Derek Lowe, RHP, 7-5, 4.30 ERA vs J.A. Happ, LHP, 5-7, 5.15 ERA

The Indians could possibly strike out more than 10 times in this game and still win. While James Anthony is a left hander that averages a strikeout an inning, he also allows more than a hit per inning (WHIP of 1.54). The Indians do have a few hitters that can play well against lefties (Asdrubal Cabrera, Michael Brantley and a few others) and it should be enough to carry the team if Lowe pitches well. The Indians did just mount a comeback against flame-throwing, left-handed closer Aroldis Chapman. A big part of that game was Shin-Soo Choo, who has increased his batting average against lefties by 54 points since June 4th.

After a series loss to the Pirates, the Indians will play the Reds again, this time at home. The Indians will need to sweep this time if they want a tie for the Ohio Cup as they were swept in Cincinatti. The Tribe have also fallen back to 1.5 games behind Chicago, so they will need to start winning to keep near the top of the Central.

7/18, 7:05 PM EDT: Mat Latos, RHP, 5-2, 4.64 ERA vs Derek Lowe, RHP, 7-5, 3.78 ERA

This is a repeat matchup of last week when Latos threw inside to Lowe who in turn intentionally hit Brandon Phillips. This time the pair will pitch with big boy rules and each team will have a designated hitter to bat for the pitcher. This should keep any further retaliation down to a minimum. Lowe has been the Indians rock this year and will look to get the Indians back on track with a win in game one.

7/19, 7:05 PM EDT: Mike Leake, RHP, 2-5, 5.05 ERA vs Josh Tomlin, RHP, 3-5. 5.56 ERA

Neither pitcher played well the last time these two matched up, but Tomlin was by far the worse of the two, allowing 6 runs in only 4 innings. He will need to do better in the rematch if he expects to win, although he doesn't have Scott Barnes around to make it even worse this time.

7/20, 7:05 EDT: Bronson Arroyo, RHP, 3-4, 3.84 ERA vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 3-6, 4.38 ERA

This will be the only game of the series that is not a rematch of the last series. Justin Masterson is the only starting pitcher to win his start the last time through the rotation and will look to continue the success he had against the Pirates when he pitches against the Reds. Arroyo has been consistent this season, going into the 7th in almost every game and never allowing more than 5 runs in a single game. This should be the most well pitched game of the season, giving the Indians an advantage as they have excelled in low scoring, close games.

The Indians were just swept by the first place Cincinnati Reds in a 3 game series and hope to turn things around as they return home to play the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates are also coming off a 3-game losing steak after being swept by the Baltimore Orioles. Tribe pitching was not as dominating against the Reds as it had been in the previous series with the Cardinals. Jeanmar Gomez and Derek Lowe had average starts, but Josh Tomlin had his worst start of the year, going just 4 innings and giving up 6 runs. The bullpen was also rough the last series, giving up 11 runs in 9 innings pitched. The worst bullpen outing was yesterday by Scott Barnes, who gave up 5 runs and recorded just one out. On a positive note, the Indians added Esmil Rogers to their pen, who had 2 solid outings last series.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are sitting in 2nd place in the NL Central Division, 3 games behind the Cincinnati Reds. Their offense is led by Andrew McCutchen, who is leading the team in every offensive category with a .326 batting average, 11 home runs, and 37 RBI. He is also a threat on the bases with 13 stolen bases this year. Their starting pitching is above average and their closer, Joel Hanrahan, is tied for 5th in the Majors with 17 saves.

June 15th, 7:05 PM EST: James McDonald, RHP, 5-2, 2.39 ERA vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 2-6, 4.76 ERA

Justin Masterson is coming off a strong outing. In his last start against the Cardinals, Masterson pitched 7 innings and gave up just one run. Though he took the loss, this start was promising since he had horrible outings the 2 starts prior. Masterson still has just 2 wins on the season as the Tribe ace. In two games against the NL this season, Masterson has given up just 3 runs in 14 innings, good for a 1.93 ERA. He has also struck out 11 NL batters.

Jame McDonald went just 4 innings in his last start against the Kansas City Royals. He gave up 3 runs on 5 hits before being removed from the game. He is currently ranked 7th in the NL with a 2.39 ERA and 3rd in the NL with a WHIP of 1.00. McDonald's main pitch is his 4-seam fast ball with speeds ranging from 91-94 MPH. He also adds a 2-seam fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup to his pitch variety. McDonald is not over-powering, but he has had much success this season. He is coming off his worst start of the year, so he will be looking to dominate Tribe hitters.

June 16th, 4:05 PM EST: A.J. Burnett, RHP, 6-2, 3.61 ERA vs Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 6-4, 4.91 ERA

Ubaldo Jimenez has been dominating in his last 2 starts. He combined for 13.2 innings pitched against the Tigers and Cardinals and gave up just 2 runs. In his last start against the Cardinals, he gave up just 5 hits: 4 singles and a home run. Jimenez had great control; this was his first game all season without allowing a walk. Ubaldo looks to continue his streak of quality starts as he faces off against the Pirates.

A.J. Burnett has been struggling on the road this year. Away from PNC Park, Burnett is 2-2 with an ERA over 8. On the road, opponents are batting .349 against him. Progressive Field is considered to be a hitter-friendly park, so the Indians can definitely take advantage of his woes on the road. Burnett has recently been pitching well with 5 straight wins. His go-to pitch is the 4-seam fastball, but he also has a knucklecurve, a cutter, and a sinker. His speed on his fastball is in the low 90s. You can expect him to walk just 2-4 batters a game and strike out 4-6.

June 17th, 1:05 PM EST: Brad Lincoln, RHP, 3-2, 3.15 ERA vs Jeanmar Gomez, RHP, 4-5, 4.71 ERA

The last 4 starts have not been great for Jeanmar Gomez after being solid for the first part of the season. His last start against the Reds was average, and his 4 starts previous to that were terrible. This will be his 3rd start against the NL this season. In his first 2 starts against NL teams, he has given up just one earned run and has 6 strikeouts. His success against the National League looks promising going into Sunday's game.

Right-handed pitcher Brad Lincoln has been bouncing back and forth between the bullpen and starting roles this season. He will get the start on Sunday after coming off of 2 rocky starts, in which he combined for 8.1 innings pitched and gave up 9 runs. He has only started 3 games this year, so the Indians may be able to take advantage of the fact that he can't go late into ballgames. Right handed batters have more success against Lincoln. He has given up 5 home runs to righties and none to lefties. This may be advantageous to him as the Indians have a lefty-heavy line up.

The Indians won their series in St. Louis on the strength of their starting pitching. This comes as a surprise as most of the starters have struggled of late, but at least for the last three games, they played magnificently. Ubaldo Jimenez ended the series with his most dominant start of the season. Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin were also successful as no starting pitcher allowed more than two runs. They will now go on to face Cincinnati at the Great American Ballpark, one of the most power friendly stadiums in the Majors. 

The Reds have been slightly successful offensively this year and the majority of their scoring has come from their stellar trio, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips. Their success (currently tied for first in the NL Central) has come from a variety of factors. In fact they are built slightly like the Indians with sufficient starting pitching, a strong group of middle of the lineup hittings and an excellent bullpen. Their closer, Aroldis Chapman, seems to have finally gotten his delivery under control and has been absolutely dominating all year. Even though he has blown two saves he has an ERA of 0.87 and 55 strike outs in 31 innings.

June 12th, 7:10 PM EST: Jeanmar Gomez, RHP, 4-4, 4.97 ERA vs Johnny Cueto, RHP, 6-3, 2.63 ERA

Over his last three starts, Gomez has pitched 15.2 innings and allowed a 9.77 ERA. This comes after a pretty strong start to the season. In those last three starts Gomez allowed a total of 17 runs, while he has only allowed 32 all season. A positive note is that all three starts came against Central Division teams that have seen Gomez at least a couple of times each. He has never faced the Reds before and may be able to take them by surprise.

Cueto is the Reds ace and leads the team in wins, ERA, innings pitched and WHIP. He was always projected to be this dominant and now he is. In fact, he has only had two bad games all season, both of which have occurred recently against the Rockies and Braves. All three of his losses happened in May when he was 2-3 with a 3.49 ERA after going 3-0 with a 1.39 ERA in April.

June 13th, 7:10 PM EST: Derek Lowe, RHP, 7-4, 3.72 ERA vs Mike Leake, RHP, 2-5, 4.97

Lowe's last start was a bad one as he was destroyed by the Tigers for 7 runs in 5 innings. Two starts before that he was beaten by the White Sox when he allowed 8 runs in 2.1 innings. If this every other time out pattern continues, he should pitch very well tonight, but look out next time. Some of this scoring had to do with bad luck as he was getting ground balls against the Tigers, they just weren't finding gloves. If he can continue to keep his sinker down, the odds will work back in his favor and he should be successful most of the time as the season goes on.

Mike Leake looks a lot like Bill Schultz. Like Schultz, he regularly puts out a very average performance without playing too well or too poorly in any particular game. His last two games were two of his strongest this season as he went into the 7th in both, but he still allowed 4 runs in the game against division leading Pittsburgh.

June 14th, 12:35 PM EST: Josh Tomlin, RHP, 3-3, 4.96 ERA vs Mat Latos, RHP, 4-2. 4.85 ERA

Tomlin pitched in the first win against the Cardinals in the last season and will look to build on that success. He allowed just 2 runs on 8 hits and most importantly, didn't allow a home run to Carlos Beltran (or anyone else for that matter). In order for him to maintain this level of play and be a more important part of the Indians starting rotation, Tomlin will need to keep the ball down and inside the ballpark when he faces Cincinnati.

Latos was considered the Reds ace going into the season, but quickly removed himself from that role as he posted a 5.97 ERA during April. He has pitched two games this season where he didn't allow a run, but more often his results have not been as pleasant. In two recent games he allowed 5 home runs to Colorado in 7.1 as part of a record setting day for the two teams and he allowed 7 runs to Houston. Latos has never pitched against Cleveland as he had been part of the Padres prior to this season. 

With the series win over Detroit (5-1 record against the Tigers so far in 2012) and the White Sox loss to Toronto the Indians move back to 1.5 games back in the Central behind Chicago. The Tribe will now go on to face St. Louis as interleague baseball rears its ugly head once again. The Indians do have a more flexible roster than last time around as Travis Hafner is on the DL and his replacement, Matt LaPorta can play first, left field or pinch hit if necessary. They also have two third basemen, one of which can play second or first as well. This leaves plenty of room for Manny Acta to play around with double switches and pinch hitters. With Indians starters rarely going past the 6th of late, they probably won't see more than 2 at bats anyway.

Josh Tomlin will especially looking forward to getting a bat in his hands as he was the most successful Indians pitcher offensively last season. He went 2-2 with an RBI on two singles. He was later used as a pinch runner and scored a run as well. He will start in the first game of this series and could possibly give the Indians a surprise boost from the 9 hole. Of course since the Indians are playing in St. Louis, maybe they should bat Tomlin 8th. He does have a better track record over the last two years than Johnny Damon.

June 8th, 8:15 EST: Josh Tomlin, RHP, 2-3, 5.32 ERA vs Jake Westbrook, RHP, 4-5, 4.23

I wonder if Josh Tomlin ever looks in the mirror and thinks he's Jake Westbrook. Both pitchers came up as young players with the Tribe and are ground ball specialists that have a fastball that tops out around 89 MPH. Hopefully Tomlin can avoid any further comparison so he doesn't need to get Tommy John surgery and get traded to the Cardinals. This will be the first time Westbrook has faced his old team and Tomlin's first time against the Redbirds as well.

Westbrook had an ERA of 1.76 through his first 6 games and he seemed to be at his career best, but it has all fallen apart recently. Over his last five games he has allowed at least 4 runs in each game and an uncharacteristic 5 home runs. Apparently the sinker isn't sinking and the Indians will need to do everything they can to take advantage of him in this current state.

June 9th, 7:15 EST: Justin Masterson, RHP, 2-5, 5.09 ERA vs Kyle Lohse, RHP, 5-1, 3.21 ERA

Justin Masterson was better his last time out than he was the time before that and we'll just have to say he is improving. He will not be facing as weak an offense as the Twins this time out, but at least the no longer have Albert Pujols in St. Louis. Even without Pujols and Lance Berkman (out with a knee injury) the Cardinals still have some strong offensive pieces. Carlos Beltran is seeing a resurgence in his career as he already has 16 home runs and 44 RBI. David Freese is not too far behind with 12 homers and 40 RBI (two of the homeruns and 6 of the RBI came in yesterday's rout of the Astros). The Indians luck out again as one of the Cardinals best average hitters, John Jay is on the DL as well.

The Indians know Kyle Lohse very well from his time in Minnesota. He has pitched almost 100 innings against the Tribe and is 7-9 with an ERA well over 5.00. This year his numbers have seemed to improve a little bit, but like Westbrook, he has been falling off a little as of late. Through his first 7 games he had an ERA of 2.08 and had only given up more than a single run twice. Since then he has given up 5 runs on two separate occasions, but most recently he found himself again as he threw a two hitter against the Mets.

June 10th, 2:15 EST: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 6-4, 5.31 ERA vs Joe Kelly, RHP, 2-5, 2.86 ERA (AAA stats)

Ubaldo has pitched two great games this season and four good games. He has won all but one of these outings (he lost his first start of the year) and four of them occurred in his last six outings. His last game, which he pitched on long rest, was his second best of the season and it happened against a Tiger team that he has struggled with in the past. He is showing some signs of finding his form again and hopefully he can keep improving now that he is back in the regular 5 day rotation.

This spot in the Cardinals rotation was taken by Jaime Garcia to this point in the season, but he injured his shoulder during his last start and has been placed on the DL. Joe Kelly will be making his Major League debut in this start.

The Indians and Tigers each lost their last series while the White Sox won, making the top of the AL Central look like this:

The Indians are in no danger of falling into third at this point, but need to end this current losing skid (2-7 in their last 9 games) if they want to regain control of the Central. The good news is their last winning streak came against the Tigers (a three game sweep). The bad news, the Tigers are throwing out two left handed pitchers of their three starters this series. The Indians have epically struggled against left handers this season (expect a more in depth article later today), especially young ones and they will face two in Smyly and Crosby.

The real good news going into this series is that Carlos Santana should be back for tomorrow's (6/5) game. He is going to DH in Lake County today and if everything goes well could be activated for the opener. The Indians should announce a corresponding roster move later today or tomorrow. It will likely see either Luke Carlin or Juan Diaz being sent back down to AAA (or AA). Since coming back from injury Lou Marson has played better than he's ever played before, almost like his career depended on it (and it did), so he will most certainly remain as the back-up.

Finally, the Major League draft starts tonight and the Indians have the 15th pick in the first round. They will likely choose a college pitcher to replace all the other college pitchers they have drafted in recent years, then traded away.

June 5th, 7:05 PM EST: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP, 5-4, 5.79 ERA vs Drew Smyly, LHP, 2-1, 3.46 ERA

The thing the Indians traded all their draft picks for will be starting this game after getting destroyed his last time out. An interesting point here is that Ubaldo has only allowed more than 4 runs in a game three times and each time he allowed 7 runs against some kind of Sox (twice against White, once against Red). He did beat the Tigers the last time he faced them, going 6 innings and only allowing 3 runs also known as a miracle in Cleveland. Incredibly, Jimenez has a decision in every start this season except his first. When he starts, the game is over by the time he leaves it. It is extremely important for the Indians that he put up a good showing in game one to try to regain some ground against the Tigers.

The Indians have yet to face Drew Smyly and he is putting in a Rookie of the Year type performance so far this year. This could end badly for the Tribe. If it is any consolation at all, Smyly is yet to pitch through the 7th, so the Indians should get a couple innings against the Tiger bullpen after Smyly shuts them out for the first half of the game. Seriously, this one doesn't look good.

June 6th, 7:05 PM: Jeanmar Gomez, RHP, 3-4, 4.42 ERA vs Max Scherzer, RHP, 5-3, 5.55 ERA

Gomez's last two starts (against Kansas City and Chicago) were his worst two combined starts of the season, but they followed his best start and the Indians only win against the Marlins this year. Jeanmar is yet to face the Tigers this year and in his career he has pitched 20+ innings against them with an ERA of over 7.00. He will have to turn things around as this game is the Indians best chance for a win in this series.

Scherzer has not faced the Indians to this point in the season, but has faced them many times over the past few years. He currently has a career ERA against the Tribe of about 5.00. Adding to that the return of Santana and the first right hander that the will play against in four days, the Indians should have no trouble scoring runs in this game.

June 7th, 1:05 PM: Derek Lowe, RHP, 7-3, 3.06 ERA vs Casey Crosby, LHP, 0-1, 16.20 ERA

As predicted, Derek Lowe destroyed the Twins and wouldn't have allowed a single earned run if the game was scored properly. It will be interesting to see what the old man can do this time out as he has yet to face the Tigers this year.

Hopefully Matt LaPorta will stay on the roster for this game, even though Johnny Damon is scheduled to return on the 5th. Nobody hits AAA pitchers like Matt LaPorta. Over his minor league career, Matt hit .311/.400/.569 in 159 games at the AAA level and this season had already hit 14 home runs, 8 doubles and knocked in 32. Crosby is recent enough out of the minors that LaPorta may be able to hit him still. He just made his Major League debut against the Yankees and was rocked to the tune of 6 runs in 3.1 innings.

Wow, that was a mess. The Indians starting pitching staff continues to struggle as the Tribe just lost a three game series to the Kansas City Royals. Now, we at Burning River Baseball aren't like the rest of the media who think that the Royals are terrible just because Mike Moustakas hasn't become a household name yet, but the Indians should still have won the series.

The Indians also found out during the last series that Travis Hafner will be out until mid-July as will Grady Sizemore. Hafner had surgery today (5/31) to repair his right meniscus, while Sizemore has yet to begin what will surely be a lengthy rehab process. The Indians will go ahead with Lonnie Chisenhall and Jose Lopez splitting time at third and DH. The Indians should be getting some good news off the DL soon as well as Carlos Santana has been cleared to run and is eligible to come off the DL this weekend. With his return the Indians should be able to either place Lou Marson on the DL for the needlework in his face or send him down to Columbus. Keeping Marson and sending Luke Carlin back to AAA would be a huge mistake.

With the Indians firmly entrenched in second place, 1.5 games behind the White Sox and 4 ahead of the Tigers, I think we all need a little positivity to get us back on track. For that reason the rest of this preview will be written with as much homerism as if I worked for WGN.

June 1st 7:05 PM: Carl Pavano, RHP, 2-4, 5.46 ERA vs Derek Lowe, RHP, 6-3, 3.25 ERA

The Indians scored 4 runs against their old teammate Carl Pavano the last time out. Look for them to double it this time while playing in the friendly confines of Progressive Field. Look for Derek Lowe to get back on track against the second worse offense in the league as he will surely get his 7th win of the season.

June 2nd 7:15 PM: P.J. Walters, RHP, P, 2-1, 2.96 ERA vs Josh Tomlin, RHP, 2-2, 4.99 ERA

The Indians have never faced Walters before and since he is a right handed pitcher, they should have no problem. Carlos Santana will be eligible to come of the disabled list by this game and will probably play and hit about three home runs. Tomlin will be making his second start back from the DL and everyone knows that the second start back is the good one. The Indians should take this game easily.

June 3rd 3:05 PM: Scott Diamond, LHP, 3-1, 2.27 ERA vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 2-4, 5.14 ERA

Scott Diamond is a lefty so the Indians best bet will be to take a lot of pitches and foul off the strikes to get his pitch count to 100 before the 5th. Then they can take apart the Twins bullpen so Justin Masterson can get that third win that he so rightfully deserves.

There you have it. Indians sweep and since the White Sox are going to get swept by the Mariners this weekend as well, the Tribe should be back in first by Monday. This is all incredibly stupid, I don't know how Hawk does it.