Player of the Game

Fausto Carmona won his first 'Player of the Game' award since May 8th for his performance in tonight's game. Carmona earned 5.06 'POG' points by pitching 6 scoreless innings, only allowing 4 hits and striking out 3. This marks three positive outings in a row for Carmona who seems to be turning things around after having a rough time in June and spending much of July on the disabled list. He probably should have had a win as well, but the Indians bats didn't show up until the 9th and the bullpen wasn't as perfect as it has been most of the season.

Feathers Up

Jason Kipnis made his first Major League hit a special one as the Indians used it to beat the Angels in walk off fashion. Kipnis becomes the third Indians rookie to make their first hit count as Ezequiel Carrera drove in a run with his first hit and Lonnie Chisenhall's was a double (later in that game he hit an RBI single). 

The Indians ended their losing streak in style with Kipnis' walk off single. The Indians 4 game losing streak seemed longer than it actually was, since the last time they won was July 18th. This series becomes important because the Indians lost two to the White Sox who are now in contention and are currently in a series against the Tigers. As long as the Indians win this series, they will gain at least a game on the loser of the White Sox/Tigers series.

Feathers Down

How about earning a starting pitcher a win every once in awhile. The last time through the rotation every starter pitched well except for Josh Tomlin, but not a single one earned a win. The offense is mostly to blame as during the last five games they have only scored 5 runs once scored 3 or less the other 4 games.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2

Summary:

The Angels just finished taking two of three games in Baltimore.

...they have defeated the Indians three times by one run this season

...overall run differential in six games is zero (17-17).

... Weaver has pitched 12 consecutive quality starts (six-plus innings, three or fewer earned runs). His ERA is lowest in club history after 21 starts. He has worked at least seven innings and allowed no more than one run in 11 games. On May 7 against Cleveland, Weaver gave up four runs in six innings of a 4-3 loss.

... the Indians are hitting .180 (37-for-205) against Angels this season; no player with 10-plus official at-bats is hitting better than .250.

Pitching Matchups:

RHP Fausto Carmona (5-10, 5.63 ERA) vs. RHP Dan Haren (10-6, 3.10), Tonight at 7:05

RHP Josh Tomlin (11-4, 4.12) vs. RHP Jered Weaver (13-4, 1.81), Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.

LHP David Huff (1-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Ervin Santana (5-8, 3.69), Wednesday at 12:05 p.m.

Angels Medical Watch:

• RHP Francisco Rodriguez (right shoulder inflammation) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 10. He will treat the problem with rest and rehab.

• 3B Freddy Sandoval (left side muscle strain) was injured March 3, and he went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22. He began a rehab assignment with the Angels' affiliate in the rookie-level Arizona League on July 5, and he moved his rehab to Class AAA Salt Lake on July 16.

• 1B Kendrys Morales (fractured left ankle) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22. He was never able to progress to running the bases in workouts, let alone playing in games during spring training or on a rehab assignment. He had a second surgery on his ankle May 26 to address continued discomfort and lack of mobility. Morales, who was transferred to the 60-day DL on July 20, will not play until the 2012 season.

Angels News/Notes:

• RHP Tyler Chatwood went seven innings for the victory Sunday over Baltimore, allowing two runs on a home run by Adam Jones but not walking a batter. It was the first time in 19 major league starts Chatwood has not walked at least one batter. He went into Sunday's start third in the American League with 53 walks.

• OF Mike Trout hit his first major league home run, a three-run shot off Orioles reliever Mark Worrell in the eighth inning Sunday. Trout's family was at the game. He grew up in Millville, N.J., and Baltimore is the closest AL city. The 19-year-old is the first teenager to homer in a major league game since Diamondbacks OF Justin Upton on August 7, 2007.

• OF Torii Hunter went into Sunday's game with just two hits in his past 31 at-bats. But he doubled off the center field wall in the third inning (missing a home run by a few feet) then cleared the left-field wall with a two-run home run in the eighth inning.

• 3B Alberto Callaspo was 3-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored Sunday. He is batting .375 (27 for 72) in his past 21 games.

• OF Peter Bourjos entered Sunday's game as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning with OF Mike Trout moving from center field to left field. The Angels will have a decision to make in the future on how to play those two speedy outfielders together. But Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Sunday's move was just to "get Vernon (Wells) off his feet." Wells was the only position player to start all three games in the field during the series in Baltimore where temperatures were over 100 degrees each day.

• .179—Rookie OF Mike Trout's average through Sunday, when he went 1-for-5 against Baltimore and hit his first major league home run.

Angels Ace Jered Weaver will pitch against the Tribe on Tuesday night.

Player of the Game

Justin Masterson took the loss and the 'Player of the Game' today as somehow he only allowed one earned run, but lost 4-2. Masterson pitched 7 innings and only allowed 4 hits while striking out 6. He was even able to get out of the base runners he allowed out by pitching out on a hit and run. When the game was over, Masterson had a 'POG' score of 5.48, 4 points higher than the next best player. Joe Smith, Asdrubal Cabrera, Travis Hafner and Matt LaPorta all had scores over 1.00.

Feathers Up

Lonnie Chisenhall has begun to come around, especially looking good on low inside pitches. Last series the Chiz kid took a ball on the inside corner at his knees out of the ball park, two days ago he hit a double and today he had a strong single on an inside fastball. You need a lot of bat speed and quick reflexes to put balls that far inside into fair territory and Chisenall has it.

Some oddities in the Indians schedule (the All-Star break, off days and rain outs), have lead to Justin Masterson pitching in 5 of the Indians last 15 games. The Indians know who their best pitcher is and they have used him well. Masterson has responded by pitching 29.2 innings during that span, only allowing 5 earned runs and striking out 27. If it weren't for the unearned runs, Masterson would probably have gotten his 3rd win in those 5 games.

Feathers Down

Ezequiel Carrera's 2 run dropped catch error brings up the idea that maybe Michael Brantley should be playing center field. Brantley has a lot more Major League experience in center than Carrera and has about equal speed with better off-the-bat instincts. It also seems at this point that Grady Sizemore will never really be able to play center field again at 100%. This means that if the Indians care more about winning than about offending Grady (and they seem to since Manny Acta did not shy away from dropping him down in the lineup), they will move him to left field upon his return and use Brantley in center field. If this is going to happen anyway, there is no reason Brantley shouldn't be playing center right now. If this option is unsuitable, the Indians could always put Rick Manning back out there as he's always ready to play.

After Carrera's error, two more Indians errors combined to allow another run. Asdrubal Cabrera misplayed a ball at short, then Carlos Santana threw the ball into center field when trying to catch Alex Rios stealing allowing the runner, who shouldn't have been on in the first place to get to third. Add in a single by Mark Teahan and you have one of the least earned runs you will ever see. Asdrubal needs to tighten his defense up if he wants serious attention as a possible Gold Glover. This was his second error in the last 4 games.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 2 - Chicago White Sox 4

Two former Indians are being inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame today, although neither player is being inducted as an Indian. Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar each left their mark on the Tribe and are both very deserving of this honor. They will be the 28^th annd 29^th players to have played for the Indians and make it into the Hall of Fame.

Bert Blyleven

Before he was “Circle Me Bert” Blyleven pitched five seasons for the Cleveland Indians as well as doing time with the Twins (whose hat he will be wearing on his plaque), the Rangers, the Pirates and the Angels. During his time on the Tribe (1981-1985) Bert was the Indians ace, winning 48 games, more than any other Indians pitcher through those years. Blyleven's 760 innings pitched place him at 52^nd in Indians history. This may not seem very high, but the Indians have a long history of fantastic pitchers, many of whom played on the team for a decade or longer. His 7.3 innings per game is in the top ten all time for the Indians and his 3.23 ERA and 2.32 BAA place him in the middle of some of the best Indians pitchers ever. His 1.19 WHIP is 16^th all time for an Indian and his winning percentage of .565 is very impressive. Bert was the best pitcher on the Indians in 1981, 1984 and 1985 earning him 3^rd place in the Cy Young voting in his last two years with the Tribe. His best season with the Tribe came in 1984 when he won 19 game in 32 starts, with an ERA of 2.87 and 170 strikeouts in 245 innings pitched. Now, Bert Blyleven is best known as the Minnesota Twins silly color commentator who uses a telestrator to circle Twins fans holding signs with his name on them during Twins broadcasts.

Roberto Alomar

Indians fans should have a more recent recollection of Alomar since he played for the Tribe just a decade ago. While he only played three years in an Indians uniform, they were just about the best three years for any player in Indians history. Robby joined the Indians as a free agent in 1999 and immediately got to work. During his three year tenure on the Tribe, Roberto won three gold gloves, was an All-Star three times and won two silver sluggers at second base. His defense was probably his most impressive talent and it was shown off in all its glory with Omar Vizquel playing short stop and Travis Fryman at third base. In 2000 all three won gold gloves and Omar won one every year that Robby did. Robby's brother Sandy (current Indians first base coach) played for the Indians from 1990 to 2000, making them another of the many family members to play for the Tribe including the Bell's, the Bagby's, the Sewells and currently the Duncan's.

In his three years with the Tribe Alomar never had less than 30 steals, 19 home runs, 89 RBI, 34 doubles, 182 hits ans 111 runs scored. While he didn't play long enough to acrue the counting stats to be included among the greats as far as entire careers go, his rate numbers are among the best. Robby is among the top ten all time Indians in on-base percentage (.405), batting average (.323) and OPS (.920). His 106 steals compared to only 16 times caught give him the best stolen base percentage (86.9%) of all time for the Indians of players with more than 50 attempts. Another bonus to the Tribe given to them by Roberto Alomar was the introduction of Matt Lawton and Billy Traber to Indians lore as both players were gained from the Mets in the trade that also brought Jerrod Riggan, Alex Escobar, and Earl Snyder to the team. This trade basically marked the end of the All-Star portion of Alomar's career.

Included at the bottom are the ability ratings for Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven. These are a representation of a players average season compared to every other player in Indians history. The ratings are based on a scale of 0-99. Alomar has the highest average score of all time with a 73 average and is tied with Tris Speaker and Shoeless Joe Jackson. Bert Blyleven is the 11^th best starting pitcher by with a single season average of 70. One reason both of these players are among the best Indians of all time is because they both came to the Tribe in their prime and did not go through the first couple rough seasons with the Indians. Congratulations to both Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven as both have done far more than is necessary to be enshrined in baseball's Hall of Fame.

Player of the Game

With an amazing score of 1.27, Joe Smith was tonight's Player of the Game. Smith pitched one scoreless inning with a strikeout, earning him his second "Player of the Game" award this season. With a single and a double, Lonnie Chisenhall was a close second with a score of 0.93.

Feathers Up

Jason Kipnis made his much anticipated Major League debut at second base for the Indians. Though he did not do much on offense, Kipnis showed off his defensive skills with a great play up the middle to retire Mark Teahan at first. Kipnis also showed how much of a team player he could be when he took one for the team: he refused to move out of the way of an inside pitch in the 8th inning, which brought Carlos Santana, the tying run, to the plate.

Lonnie Chisenhall tried to jump start the Indians offense in the 5th inning with a 2-out double. Austin Kearns followed with an infield single. The Indians were unable to capitalize, and remained shut out through 5.

Carlos Carrasco pitched a solid game, despite giving up a 3-run shot to Carlos Quentin in the 5th. Carrasco ended up pitching 6.1 innings, allowing 3 walks, 6 hits, and striking out 6.

The bullpen was able to keep the Indians in the game. Rafael Perez, Joe Smith, and Frank Herrmann pitched a combine 2.2 innings, allowing a total of 2 hits, 2 walks.

Feathers Down

Carlos Carrasco had a slow start to the game, walking the first 2 batters he faced. Though he got out of the inning with no damage, it is never good to see a pitcher start a game with control issues. In the first inning alone, Carrasco made 23 pitches (9 Strikes, 14 Balls).

Cleveland's offense lacked the entire game. The Indians only had 3 base runners through 6, with only one of those (Lonnie Chisenhall) able to get into scoring position. The Indians ended the game with just 5 hits.

Final Score: Chicago White Sox 3 - Cleveland Indians 0

Grady Sizemore, Sports Hernia Surgery.

In a surprising move, it was announced that Sizemore had surgery on a sports hernia and not on his knee. Sizemore let on that his hernia had been bothering him since a slide in May, and this is his second time undergoing sports hernia surgery in the last three years. In 2009, he suffered a sports hernia in spring training, but he labored through the season until undergoing surgery in September. Sports hernias simply aren’t something that most people can play with for long before the pain becomes too intense and needs to become addressed. Most players that have hernia surgery will miss around 50 games; this suggests that performance suffers during the period before the move to the disabled list and improves after the problem has been addressed. Sizemore's hernia will keep him out for the next six to eight weeks, which will give both his abdomen and knee a chance to heal.

Grady and club trainer Lonnie Soloff. Both reasonably dejected.

Summary:

Having dropped their finale against the Twins on Wednesday and are now a half game behind the Tigers atop the division, the Indians return home just 4 1/2 games up on the White Sox, a team that they will see plenty of in the second half.

...Sox leadoff batter Juan Pierre has a 12-game hitting streak.

...Reliever Brian Bruney hasn't allowed a run in his last nine appearances.

...Designated hitter Adam Dunn is 7-for-79 (.089) with 40 strikeouts in his last 22 games. I added him onto my fantasy team... I'm smart aye?

Pitching Matchups:

RH Gavin Floyd (7-9, 4.37 ERA) vs. RH Carlos Carrasco (8-7, 4.25). Tonight 7:05pm.

 RH Edwin Jackson (6-7, 3.97) vs. LH *David Huff (5-10, 5.63). Saturday night 7:05pm.

RH Phillip Humber (8-6, 3.27) vs. RH Justin Masterson (8-6, 2.64) Sunday afternoon 1:05pm.

* The Indians, with the ability to juggle the rotation because of off days Thursday and July 28, will have Fausto Carmona face the Angels instead of the White Sox this weekend. This year, Carmona is 0-2 with a 20.25 ERA (18 earned runs in eight innings) against the White Sox.

Sox Injury News:

• LHP John Danks (right oblique strain) went on the 15-day disabled list June 26. He began throwing on July 1. He made rehab starts for Class AAA Charlotte on July 10 and July 15, and he was activated on July 20.

• RHP Jake Peavy (right arm fatigue) had his scheduled July 17 start pushed back to July 19 and pitched six innings against the Royals.

• C Ramon Castro (broken right hand) went on the 15-day disabled list July 10. He may miss the rest of the season.

• RHP Tony Pena (right elbow tendinitis) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 28. He began a rehab assignment with Class AAA Charlotte on June 16. After making a solid appearance June 24, Pena informed trainers that there was further soreness, prompting him to be shut down. He resumed throwing on July 16, but on a rehab assignment with Class AAA Charlotte on July 20, he suffered yet another setback in the right elbow after just four pitches.

Sox News/Notes:

• 3B Brent Morel did get the start at third base on Wednesday, going 1-for-2 in the loss to Kansas City, but he is still only 1-for-13 in his last five games, and third base now seems to be more of a platoon than simply Morel's job. Manager Ozzie Guillen indicated that Mark Teahen would start on Friday and Saturday in Cleveland, with the Indians pitching righties Carlos Carrasco and Justin Masterson. Teahen started the first four games coming out of the All-Star Break, going 4-for-16. Guillen wants the best chance to help out the offense, and as of right now that means Morel and Teahen will split time based on pitching match-ups.

• OF Juan Pierre has ended all the talk about the White Sox needing more production from the leadoff spot, as the veteran hit .385 from June 26 through Wednesday's game, the best in the majors over that time while riding the aforementioned 12 game hitting streak Pierre was 30-for-78 with three doubles, two triples, 10 RBI and 11 runs in that stretch. It was manager Ozzie Guillen who fought off critics that wanted Pierre replaced in mid-June, and now the White Sox are at least getting some productivity from the top of the lineup.

• C A.J. Pierzynski was hoping to have a second half with a few more off days than he had in the first half, but manager Ozzie Guillen indicated that is no longer an option. With the news on Wednesday that C Ramon Castro and his broken hand will like need the remainder of the regular season to heal, C Tyler Flowers will hold down the back-up role. Guillen has used Flowers only once since the injury to Castro right before the All-Star break, and Pierzynski has seen the rest of the playing time. The White Sox might use Flowers more if they feel like they are out of it, but as long as they remain a handful of games out of first place they will lean heavily on Pierzynski.

• Manager Ozzie Guillen wasn't the only member of the White Sox coaching staff that was in a bad mood the last 48 hours. It was Guillen who made news with his critical comments of his team after a Wednesday loss to the Royals, and then on Thursday it was pitching coach Don Cooper's turn. Cooper was doing a phone interview on a Chicago radio station, and was asked by the host about the White Sox calling up Dayan Viciedo to help get a spark from the offense. "I have no clue about that; I'm a coach," Cooper fumed. "Do I feel like something (needs to be done)? Yeah, we have to score some runs. That's what's got to be done. And if we do, we have a chance to win. And if we don't, we won't. … Nice try, asking me to bring up (bleeping) Viciedo. I'm not in charge of making moves, I'm in charge of coaching." Cooper then hung up on the host.

• DH Adam Dunn was nursing a sore knee, according to manager Ozzie Guillen, but was scheduled to start the game Friday in Cleveland. Dunn missed the last two games against Kansas City, but that was because the Royals were starting two left-handers. The Indians were scheduled to start RHP Carlos Carrasco.

"If I'm not having fun anymore, I'll go home; "Flat out. I'll go home. ... How many games can you play doing this? This is ridiculous."-  Adam Dunn on his recent struggles.

Jason Kipnis is being called up to Cleveland for Friday's game against the White Sox.

 Via twitter: @TheJK_Kid Jason Kipnis: "I'm Coming Cleveland!!"

It is unknown as of yet who will be removed from the roster to make room for Kipnis or whether he will be playing primarily second base or outfield when he is on the team. There is a good chance he will be taking over starting second base duties from Orlando Cabrera for the time being. Be excited people! If this works out, Kipnis, Cabrera, Chisenhall will be the starting infield for the next five years. Check back later for updates on exactly how Kipnis will fit on this team.

UPDATE: (7:00 EST) The Indians have just made the official announcement: Jason Kipnis will join the team tomorrow wearing number 22. Both Manny Acta and Chris Antonetti were unavailable to give statements on the move because of the off day, so it is still uncertain whether Kipnis will be making his debut at second base or in the outfield. In order to make room for him on the big league team, utility man Luis Valbuena has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus. Because Kipnis was not part of the 40-man roster, the Indians had to designate Jared Goedert for assignment. The Indians will have 10 days to either trade or release Goedert. After 10 days, Goedert will have to clear waivers if the Indians want to keep him.

Player of the Game

Lonnie Chisenhall takes home his first career 'Player of the Game' for a meaningless home run hit while down 3 in the 9th inning. The Chiz Kid also hit a single earlier in the game making this only his 3rd multi-hit game of the season. The home run was the second of his career and it came off Twins closer Joe Nathan. He earned 3.31 'POG' points in this game and his season average of 0.85 points per game is already better than Jack Hannahan (0.79) Ezequiel Carrera (0.69), Lou Marson (0.66) and Austin Kearns (0.55).

Feathers Up

If the Indians can keep playing .500 ball while half the roster is out, they should be fine. Grady Sizemore, Michael Brantley, Travis Buck, Trevor Crowe and Mitch Talbot should all be back soon, so the guys playing right now just have to keep the team afloat until their return.

Travis Hafner was able to score on a passed ball after he doubled thanks to some aggressive baserunning. This was huge when it happened as it tied the game and with two outs in the inning. Carlos Santana ended up grounding out after the passed ball, so had Hafner not scored then, he never would have. It was Pronk's great baserunning instincts and his sneaky speed that surprised Drew Butera and allowed him to score.

Hopefully by beating the Twins in the first two games, but letting them win the last two the Indians have heated up the Twins bats as they will go on to face the Tigers next. Of course if the Twins beat the Tigers, we will have to start rooting for the Twins to lose as well.

Feathers Down

The Indians outfield problems hurt the team again today as Luis Valbuena was forced to play left field with the absence of Shin-Soo Choo, Sizemore, Brantley and Buck. Both Brantley's (stomach sickness) and Buck's (headache) ailments are not serious so they should be fine to play on Friday with an off day tomorrow. If either one can not play then the Indians may make another roster move to bring up another outfielder. This could be either Shelley Duncan, Jared Head or Chad Huffman. There is a 99% chance it would be Duncan, but I just thought I'd throw some other names out there just to be sure.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 - Minnesota Twins 7

Player of the Game

With 6 strikeouts and only 4 hits allowed during his 7.2 innings pitched, Justin Masterson dominated the Twins tonight. The biggest trouble Masterson had during the night was caused by an error on a ground ball, followed by a seeing-eye single. This threat was handled with ease with a strike out of Jim Thome and a double play. Masterson has been the rock of the Indians rotation this season and deserved another win that he was robbed of. Even without the win, he earned 8.56 'POG' points for his 9th 'Player of the Game' of the season. This puts him firmly in second behind Asdrubal Cabrera who has 12.

Feathers Up

Since there was no offense to speak of, here are a couple more feathers you can add to Justin Masterson's cap. According to Pitch/FX, Masterson threw only one breaking ball the entire night, splitting his 103 other pitches pretty evenly between 4-seam fastballs and sinkers. This change change in strategy worked well and seems to be a growing trend with Masterson as he sticks with the pitches that work the best. Justin did a great job keeping the ball down which, along with his good downward movement lead to...

...a ridiculous amount of ground outs. 15 of Masterson's 23 outs recorded were on the ground including just one double play. Most of these were easy outs although a couple ground balls were turned into singles and there was one error. Of course if you want something done right you have to...

...do it yourself, and Masterson did. 5 of those 15 ground outs were recorded by Masterson himself on easy bouncers to the pitcher. This shows how big of a ball hog Masterson is and how he doesn't trust anyone else on his defense. Three of the 5 outs made by the pitcher were in the first inning, starting the game off in impressive fashion.

Luis Valbuena's versatility was a huge asset to the Indians tonight as Michael Brantley was pulled from the game before it started with an illness and Travis Buck was removed after being struck by a pitch. This left the Indians with their only two outfielders, Austin Kearns and Ezequiel Carrera in the field already, meaning an infielder would have to play left-field. Luckily, the Indians and Clippers have been working Valbuena in the outfield all year and he was able to play there without incident. Of course with the way Justin Masterson pitched, a rock could have played left field and there wouldn't have been much difference.

Feathers Down

The lineup was pretty weak today showing the Indians lack of depth with the injuries to Shin-Soo Choo and Grady Sizemore. With Michael Brantley out as well, the outfield consisted of Carrera, Buck and Kearns, none of whom deserve to be starting on any Major League team. The lineup was also missing Travis Hafner who had a scheduled day off and was replaced indirectly by Lou Marson in the lineup. Looking at the starting lineup, it isn't very surprising they were only able to score a single run tonight.

Credit given were credit is due: Glenn Perkins had an extremely easy time mowing through the Indians lineup in the top of the 9th. While he was not that much of a starting pitcher, he looks like a force to be reckoned with coming out of the bullpen.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Minnesota Twins 2