Philadelphia Phillies (12-14) at Cleveland Indians (10-13) 
Series 9, Games 24 and 25
Progressive Field, Cleveland: 1.061, Hitters park

Series Overview
Heading into this season, the Phillies are caught in an in-between state and like the Indians, should rebuild in my opinion. No matter what happened last year, the presence of Hamels, Halladay and Lee makes them a dangerous team. After all, we all know that pitching wins. Much like the Yankees, these are not the typical Phillies that we grew up with. Although most of their star players are still on the 25 man roster, they are older and more prone to injury. Halladay is 35. Lee is 34. Ryan Howard is 33 and had a terrible 2012 season. Jimmy Rollins is 34. Chase Utley is 34, and hasn't played more than 115 games in the last three seasons. Carlos Ruiz is 34. Even new third baseman Michael Young is anything but for a professional athlete, at 36.  None of their offensive players are elite at his position anymore, but the trio of aces should keep them in the race this season.

Tuesday, April 30, 7:05 EDT (STO)
Zach McAllister (1-3, 3.52 ERA)  vs. Roy Halladay (2-2, 5.08 ERA)

Halladay, in his last outing, held the Pirates to just one run on one hit while striking out eight over six innings. According to ESPN Stats and Info, Halladay fell behind most of the batters he faced (only 57 of 95 pitches for strikes), but battled to force the Bucs to either strike out or make bad contact. Despite the strong outing, he did not get the win because the Phillies bullpen and defense blew the lead. After a rough start to the season, Halladay has started to pitch like his normal self. He has put up a 1.71 ERA with a 16:5 K:BB ration over his last three starts. Jason Giambi should DH in this game, as he has enjoyed wonderful success against Halladay; he is hitting .306/.375/.486 with four homeruns in 72 at-bats against the former CY Young award winner.

Player of the Game

In a solid Indians win, two player who are not usually brought up in the Player of the Game discussion took the contest to the wire. Starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez had his best start of the year, lasting 7+ innings and allowing just three hits, but he was bested by utility man Ryan Raburn, who was playing right field in tonight's contest. Raburn went 4-4 with two singles and more importantly two home runs, for a total of 4 RBI. Jimenez finished the game with a POG score of 8.18 while Raburn edged hit with a 9.67.

Feathers Up

Asdrubal Cabrera continued his small hot streak tonight, knocking in a run in the third inning with a single that extended his hitting streak to 8 games, the longest streak on the Indians so far this year.

The Indians were able to come up with some clutch hits for the second day in a row. In addition to the Cabrera single already mentioned, Asdrubal had an RBI double in the 5th, which was follow by an RBI single from Mark Reynolds and an RBI double by Carlos Santana, each with two outs. Ryan Raburn put and end to the Royals misery with a three run home run to end the scoring in the fifth.

After three straight disappointing starts, Ubaldo Jimenez threw seven strong innings against the Royals, pitching a one hit shut-out. Even the one hit he allowed was an infield single that Asdrubal Cabrera could have possibly gotten an out on. His success stemmed first from his ability to keep runners off the bases, but even when he did allow his three base runners, he was able to keep his composure and not allow further hits from the stretch. He did allow two hits without retiring a batter in the 8th inning, but this came with a 9 run lead and after he had thrown 100 pitches.

Ubaldo Jimenez has a way of making you eat your words if you say anything positive about him, so I will simply state that his start tonight made his season stats look slightly better. He now holds an ERA of 7.77 and a WHIP of 1.32 through 22 innings.

There may be no stat for what he did tonight, but Nick Hagadone deserves credit for coming in in the 8th inning with two runners on and no outs and preserving the shut out. The Indians lefty struck out two and forced a weak infield ground out for the other out.

Feathers Down

The Royals didn't let Carlos Santana get another walking steal after last night's debacle. Tonight, Santana tried to get a jump as part of a hit and run, but Ryan Raburn swung through the pitch and Santana was out by a distance. Of course, according to the rules of baseball, Raburn hit a single on the next pitch.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 9 - Kansas City Royals 0

Player of the Game

Mike Aviles set a new career high with 5 RBI and generally lead the offense in their best game since scoring 19 against Houston more than a week ago (4/20). The RBI came mostly from a three run home run, but also during a fielder's choice in the first and a sacrifice fly in the seventh. The award is Aviles' third of the season, each at a different position. With his early season success and the struggles of Jason Kipnis, you may see more of Aviles at second until Kipnis gets back on his feet.

Feathers Up

The Indians had no problem scoring runs early in the night game, making one wonder what has been going on during the past two games. In the fourth inning the Indians had a runner on third with no outs and he actually scored (on a Drew Stubbs sacrifice fly) instead of ending the inning there. They even hit a home run the inning before. These are strange happenings for a team that was unable to score just this afternoon against Jeremie Guthrie. The six runs in four innings match the total runs scored by the Indians in their last four games combined, just showing another example of the Indians spotty offense.

The Indians scored a very unconventional run in the seventh inning on a Ryan Raburn strike out. With runners at the corners, Raburn check swung on a full count pitch. Carlos Santana headed to second, thinking it was a walk and dodged the tag after George Kottaras threw to second to catch him stealing. The return throw from first during the run down blew by the short stop and Mark Reynolds was able to score from third as Santana was safe at second. Santana was credited with a (walking) steal and Chris Getz earned the error for the wild throw.

In general, Corey Kluber looked fantastic tonight, and like Justin Masterson in the early game, made it very easy for the Indians to get through the double header with limited damage to the pitching staff. Most importantly for Kluber, he didn't walk anybody, while his six strike outs should be considered a bonus. His season numbers look just as impressive as he has allowed just three runs in 12 innings while striking out 11.

Yan Gomes hit another triple tonight, his second in as many games, giving him three extra base hits in seven games. For some reason Indians management has stated that Gomes needs to play every day in the minors rather than a few times a week for the Indians, but he is only one year younger than Marson who has been the Indians reserve catcher for four dismal years. The newest Marson injury is great news for the Indians as it means they will actually have a productive reserve catcher for at least two more weeks. It may be even longer if Indians management wakes up at some point.

Feathers Down

Corey Kluber was playing with fire early on, giving up six hits in the first four innings including three doubles. It finally caught up to him in the fourth when he gave up a two run, two out bloop single to Chris Getz.

The Indians won the game and can split the series tomorrow, but it only came after another three game losing streak. Thus far in 2013, the Tribe is yet to lose a single game between wins. It has been at least two, with three losing streaks of three or more.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 10 - Kansas City Royals 3

Roster Update: With a double header scheduled today, the Indians and Royals were allowed to add a 26th man to the roster. The Indians chose to add left handed reliever Scott Barnes, which should be very useful after they used the entire bullpen in last night's loss. The Indians made another move as well, placing Lou Marson back on the 15 day DL and bringing back Yan Gomes after just two games in Columbus.

Player of the Game

Asdrubal Cabrera takes the Player of the Game for the atrocious game one loss with his 3-4 performance. He was the only player in the lineup with more than two hits and one of two with an extra base hit. His double helped him to a POG score of 1.03. Justin Masterson had his worst game of the year with a score of -4.05.

Feathers Up

Essentially, the Indians have 11 pitchers to throw 18 innings today with a further (expected) stipulation that no pitcher will be allowed to pitch in both games. Justin Masterson helped the Indians make the most of this situation by throwing the first 6.1 innings by himself. While he did allow six runs, he still pitched well and could have won the game with a little offensive support.

One of the Indians struggling top of the lineup hitters seems to be pulling through a little bit as Asdrubal Cabrera was the sole productive member of the Indians offense today, going three for four with a double. The outburst raised his batting average to an impressive .194.

Feathers Down

In the second and fourth innings Justin Masterson got two quick outs before walking Mike Moustakas on four straight pitches. Each time the following two batters each got hits, scoring the Royals first three runs, all of which were knocked in with two outs.

The Indians were unable to do anything today against their former first round draft pick, Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie threw the Royals first 6.2 innings and allowed just six hits while shutting out the Tribe.

Matt Albers hit a batter and walked in a run (the fifth time the Royals have accomplished this in 2013), when he was brought into the game for Masterson. To this point in the season, Albers has definitely been the weakest part of a fantastic bullpen. It was the third run allowed by Indians pitching somehow related to a walk, something the staff must avoid until the Indians learn how to hit the ball.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 0 - Kansas City Royals 9

Player of the Game

Michael Brantley had the hot stick tonight, knocking in the Indians only two runs in the ninth inning and giving them their other great scoring opportunity as well. He ended the game two for five with a double and a triple in addition to the two RBI. If there was one player who truly deserved absolutely no blame for tonight's loss, it was Brantley.

Feathers Up

After an off day and a rain out, the Indians are just happy to be playing baseball. The time off allowed a few Indians to fully recover from their individual ailments and the Indians used their entire starting lineup for the first time in four games. It also allowed the bullpen to rest, making sure they will be strong going into the rest of the series. For tomorrow's games the Indians will be allowed to add a 26th player.

Scott Kazmir was much better this time out than his first start this year. He admited he was nervous his last time out after taking more than a year away from Major League Baseball, but those jitters seemed to have gone away. He pitched five solid innings tonight against Kansas City, allowing just two runs on a two run home run by Salvador Perez.

Cody Allen has seen a change in usage under manager Terry Francona. After skyrocketing through the minors last year, he was used primarily as a single inning (or less) pitcher. This year, he has pitched more than one inning in three of his last four games and four of his seven total outings. He has taken to his new role quite well, pitching 6.1 scoreless innings with 11 strike outs.

Milestone Update: Scott Kazmir struck out his 1,000th batter tonight, making him the 461st player to do so. Ubaldo Jimenez is just 7 strike outs away from the same milestone so excuse me for not mentioning it when he does so within his next two starts.

Feathers Down

Despite having the full starting lineup on the field, the Indians were unable to score against the Royals. Of course, much of this could have to do with facing Ervin Santana who, while with the Angels, threw the only no-hitter in the history of Jacob's and Progressive Field.

Bryan Shaw showed the first chink in his armor this season, walking the only two batters he faced in the seventh inning and uncorking a wild pitch. Shaw was brought in to face Alcides Escobar with one on and two out and ended up putting his replacement, Rich Hill in a very precarious positition. Hill walked his batter to give the Royals a three run lead and needed Joe Smith to finally put an end to a very messy inning.

Nick Swisher has had the chances, but he just hasn't been the Matt LaPorta type of hero the Indians have needed. Early in the game Swishalicious grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to end the third. Then, in the 8th inning he came to bat with a runner on third, but was unable to score him when he took a walk.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 - Kansas City Royals 3

Cleveland Indians (8-11) at Kansas City Royals (10-8) 
Series 8, Games 20, 21, 22 and 23
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City: 0.863, Extreme pitchers park.  

The Cleveland Indians were Francona's third team after leaving the military in 1955. He came to the team in 1959 when he was traded for Larry Doby the second time (the first time was from the Orioles to the White Sox) this time coming from Detroit. While he played his first season in Cleveland in centerfield, he soon moved to left and then to first base. By the end of his career Tito played in more than 100 games at four different positions (LF, RF, CF and 1B). 

From 1959 through 1963 Francona was one of the top offensive performers on the Indians along with catcher Johnny Romano and first baseman Vic Power (in fact, Francona took over first in 1962 when Power left the team). He hit at least 10 home runs each of those seasons as a light hitting outfielder, topping out with 20 in 1959. He also batted .363 that season, his career high. In 1961 he had his most productive season, setting career highs in runs, RBI and triples.

After a subpar 1964 season, Francona was purchased by the St. Louis Cardinals, his first of five more teams before ending his career. In his entire career he hit 125 home runs, 85 of which were with the Indians. His offensive contributions were enough on their own to make him one of the greatest Indians left fielders in team history. His son Terry followed in his father's footsteps in 1988 by joining the Indians himself. The younger Francona came back in 2012 and is the current manager of the Indians.

Roster Update: The did something very dumb today as they brought back Lou Marson from the DL in exchange for Yan Gomes, who went back to Columbus. The Indians claim they sent Gomes back to AAA because they want him to play everyday, but with Carlos Santana and Nick Swisher signed long term, it is unlikely that Gomes would ever be the starting catcher for the Indians and he is already better than Marson both offensively and defensively. There was absolutely no good reason for this move.

Player of the Game

Jason Kipnis wins his first Player of the Game of 2013 with a single, two steals and one of two Indians RBI. He also made a great diving catch early in the game. His final score was 1.99.

Feathers Up

Jason Kipnis came through in the clutch in the sixth inning, knocking Jose Quintana out of the game after he had pitched just under 19 consecutive shut out innings. Kipnis singled after Drew Stubbs and Michael Brantley had already reached base and knocked in Stubbs for the first run of the game. It was just his third RBI of the season and his 9th hit, so, like Asdrubal Cabrera yesterday, it was good to see him do something positive.

In other good Kipnis news, Jason has three stolen bases in the past two games after just one in his first 11 games. A couple of close games against the White Sox have shown the team speed off more than in the first two weeks of the season with Stubbs, Brantley and Kipnis standing out particularly by taking extra bases in both Chicago games.

The bullpen was great again today, but it was a slightly different cast than normal. Rich Hill took over with two outs in the sixth and struck out both batters he faced. Bryan Shaw then took over for Hill in the 7th and also promptly recorded two outs. Shaw did give up two baserunners in the 8th, but Nick Hagadone came in and struck out the only batter he faced, following which, Joe Smith induced an inning ending double play. The Indians currently have six members of the bullpen who have an ERA sub 2.00 with at least 4 innings pitched.

Feathers Down

Lou Marson is back with the team and already cost the Indians a run. In the first inning tonight, Marson almost threw the ball into centerfield, allowing Alejandro De Aza to steal second easily. De Aza later scored on a single that was followed by a double play. A decent throw (like those made by Yan Gomes earlier this week) would have caught De Aza at second and ended the inning after the double play.

Ryan Raburn (batting fifth for some ungodly reason) had two chances to tie the game today, once with the bases loaded in the fourth inning (down 1-0) and later with a runner on third in the sixth (down 3-2). In the first instance he swung at the first pitch and grounded into an easy double play, ending the inning and the scoring threat. Learning from his early mistake, he swung at the first pitch again in the sixth, flying out to left to end the inning. Of course this isn't Raburn's fault, he is a .177 hitter over the past two seasons. He shouldn't be on the roster at all, let alone batting fifth, but there he was, batting ahead of starters Lonnie Chisenhall and Drew Stubbs as well as Mike Aviles.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 - Chicago White Sox 3

The first prospect report of 2013 featured upper level prospects who were likely to make their Major League debuts this year. They weren't necessarily the prospects with the highest ceiling however. This is the first top ten based on stats from the 2013 season. Only a few of the teams are in season now, so just Columbus Clippers, Akron Aeroes, Carolina Mudcats and Lake County Captains will be included in this list. As always, a player is not considered a prospect once they have played a single game in the Majors and players are only eligible to be ranked once per season. Special notice should go to Jesus Aguilar who was ranked 5th in the first set of ten prospects and now leads all Indians minor leaguers with 22 RBI for Akron.

1. Francisco Lindor - SS - Advanced A Carolina - Drafted Round 1 in 2011

Lindor is considered not just the Indians top prospect, but one of the best short stops coming up in all of Minor League Baseball. He is so good, the Indians are already considering moving Dorssys Paulino (another great short stop prospect) to second or third so they can both play on the same team together. This also pushed another top infield prospect, Tony Wolters to be switched to catcher. 

So far early this Spring, Lindor is batting .321 with 3 triples and 7 steals (stats through 4/21) If he continues his progression at this pace he could finish the year in Akron and be starting in Columbus as early as 2014. As of now he definitely seems the heir apparant for Asdrubal Cabrera. I've saw him play in a few games in Spring Training and he is definitely Major League ready defensively and is closer than his current level would make him seem with the bat. 

2. Cody Anderson - SP - Advanced A Carolina - Drafted Round 14 in 2011

Anderson was the ace for the Lake County Captains lase season and has been even better so far this year in Akron. This is his third season with Cleveland and he looks to be one of the Indians top starting pitching prospects. In three starts he has allowed just four runs (2.25 ERA) and is 2-0. While the Indians have a glut of middle infield prospects, they aren't very deep in starting pitching at the minor league level, so Anderson should be particularly exciting. He will likely spend the entire season in Carolina, so he is still a few years away from the pros, but will be one to watch over the next few years.

3. Joseph Wendle - 2B - Advanced A Carolina - Drafted Round 6 in 2012

Just drafted last season, Wendle is yet to play a significant amount in the minors, but is already an exciting prospect. So far this year he is batting over .400 in a very impressive Mudcat offense, most of which is also on this top ten list. He has been a productive member of that offense, knocking in and scoring ten runs each. In 75 MiLB games since being drafted last season, he has a .342 average and 100 hits. He has played some at third base as well as second over the past two seasons, but is significantly better defensively at second.

4. Matt Langwell - P - AAA Columbus - Drafted Round 11 in 2008

The only member of the Clippers to make this month's list, mostly because the rest of the team is ineligible as they have already played in the Majors. Langwell started in the starting rotation, but was bumped out after injuries and roster moves stacked the Columbus rotation. In 5 games (8 innings), he is yet to allow a single run, and has only allowed 6 base runners (3 walks, 3 hits). With at least four starters ahead of him on the depth chart (Daisuke Matsuzaka, David Huff, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer), he is unlikely to see the Majors this year as a starter, but could be used as a short term reliever if an Ubaldo Jimenez start forces the Indians to use 8 innings of relief pitching in a single game.

5. Tyler Naquin - OF - Advanced A Carolina - Drafted Round 1 in 2012

Similar to Wendle, Naquin was drafted last season and is now a big part of the Mudcats offense. He is batting just over .300 this season with 10 RBI and 10 runs of his own. Naquin played well this Spring for the Indians and should see an early call-up to AA as the most advanced player from the 2012 draft.

6. Michael Peoples - RP - A Lake County - Drafted Round 14 in 2012

Peoples has come up quick as a right handed reliever, holding an ERA of 1.65 in 32 career innings (0.00 ERA in 9 this year). Most impressively, he has struck out 12 batters already this year, giving him a K/9 of 12 (do the math on that one). He has also walked just two, giving him 6-1 K-BB ratio. He did have some issues defensively last season with three errors out of six fielding chances, but so far he fielded two balls in 2013 and is yet to make an error.

7. Toru Murata - SP - AA Akron - 2011 International Free Agent

Murata is going into his third season with the Indians at the ripe old age of 27 and has become a starter after initially being used in relief. This has been his best season (at least early on) at his highest level, averaging almost 6 innings and 5 strike outs per start. At his age, he will need a quick promotion to AAA before he gets to far past his prime to be a real Major League prospect.

8. Giovanny Urshela -  3B - AA Akron - 2008 International Free Agent

Urshela is one of the Indians top third base prospects at this point. He was the starting third baseman for his home country of Colombia in the 2012 World Baseball Classic qualifier and is now one of the top hitters on the Aeroes. Through less than a month he already has 5 doubles and 8 RBI. To go along with his production he has a line of .300/.333/.433, one of the best on the team. 

9. Eric Haase - C - A Lake County - Drafted Round 7 in 2011

Haase is having the best year to this point of his minor league career, batting almost .300 with 7 early season RBI. This is also the highest level Haase has played at. The Indians are incredibly weak at catcher below the Yan Gomes level, so any positive is huge for the organization.

10. Jacob Lee - SP - Advanced A Carolina - Drafted Round 9 in 2012

Lee was used mostly as a reliever in his first half season last year, but has been moved to the starting rotation and has impressed. He leads all Mudcats with his 16 strike outs and in his two years has struck out 63 in just 60 innings pitched.  The large amount of recent draft picks (from 2011 and 2012) on this list are from a combination of a weak upper level of the Indians system and great draft picks over the last two years. 

Player of the Game

Justin Masterson won his team tying third Player of the Game of the season with his fourth win. His ERA actually increased, despite allowing just two runs, to a hefty 1.85. Masterson struck out five batters while allowing just four hits in 7 innings. His final POG score was 4.43, making it his worst win of the year from a statistical stand point.

Feathers Up

A bad hop and some hustle lead to the Indians first run as Jason Giambi scored from second on what should have been a Lonnie Chisenhall single. Alejandro De Aza completely whiffed on the ball, allowing Chisenhall to reach second, knocking in the Indians first run.

With the White Sox threatening in the seventh inning with two on and nobody out, Carlos Santana caught pinch runner Blake Tekotte out at second while De Aza was trying to sacrifice bunt. The pressure off, Justin Masterson induced an easy double play to Jason Kipnis.

The Indians had a new hero tonight as Asdrubal Cabrera came through in the clutch for the first time in a long time. With runners on second and third after a botched pick off, Cabrera knocked a single to center to score both Drew Stubbs and Michael Brantley with two outs. The hit brought his average up to .156 and the RBI were his first that didn't come from a home run. Stubbs deserves a lot of the credit as well as his prior steal of second caused the throw to second that moved both him and Brantley up a base. Because of this meddlesome base running, the Indians were able to score both the tying and the go ahead runs on Asdrubal's single.

Feathers Down

Justin Masterson had some control issues early allowing two base runners in each of the first two innings and his first home run of the season. Masterson still had a nice line (7 IP, 2 ER, 4H), but many of his outs were fly or line outs, something he generally tries to avoid.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Chicago White Sox 2