Official Cleveland Indians Thread

[Auggie]

Detroit gets a lot of support on D.U. Let's give the Indians some too.

Hafner signs his extension and is off to a great second half. When Pronk gets hot it changes everything.

[Auggie]

1. Huge four-game series starts 7-23 against Boston

This could be a preview of one of several A.L. playoff scenarios.

[Auggie]

2. Starter Cliff Lee sent down to AAA. Tribe acquires Kenny Lofton.

Lee's demotion comes after a very poor start against the Red Sox, in which he gave up eight runs on nine hits in just four-plus innings in a 14-9 loss July 26. For the year he is 5-8 with a 6.38 ERA in 16 starts. He missed all of Spring Training and the first month of the season with an abdominal strain. Apparently he never quite found his form.

Loften was acquired on Friday, 7-27, to add some extra offense from the outfield position. He played with Cleveland from 92-96 and 98-01. The Indians have to be hoping the 40 year old still has some game in him -- and maybe he does. Lofton was batting .303 through Thursday. Welcome back K.L.

[Auggie]

3. Not a very impressive July

Cleveland went 12-14 and batted .259. In the last seven games of the month they averaged 3.4 runs -- one of those a blowout win against Minnesota where they scored 10 runs. Take that game out of the equation and the average drops to 2.3 runs a game. Take the 9-14 loss to Boston out and the average drops to a meager one run per game in the last five. Two strong outings by Sabathia were wasted as the Tribe lost to Boston 0-1 on the 24th and Minnesota 1-4 on the 29th (thanks to two errors by the Josh Barfield). Another fine start by Fausto Carmona (two earned-runs) against Texas on July 31st was lost 1-3. These lost opportunities were huge as Detroit was struggling on the road.

Bottom line -- this team isn't winning the games they should despite excellent pitching from Sabathia, Carmona and Paul Byrd, or beating (with regularity) the teams they should, like Kansas City and Texas. Meanwhile the Yankees are getting closer to challenging for the wild card. Detroit comes home on August 3rd for two winnable series against Tampa Bay and Oakland while Cleveland faces Minnesota and the Yankees.

The team failed to strengthen the bullpen before the trading deadline, though Aaron Fultz is coming off the DL on August 1st. Though they picked up Kenny Lofton, they failed to add any real power in the outfield.

Am I wrong to expect a greater sense of urgency on behalf of GM Mark Shapiro and Manager Eric Wedge? I'm certainly not seeing any.

[Pierre.Suave]

4. HEY NOW

they arent doing so well against the Twins now are they?

I have been to all the games, and am going to the last one tonight, another game the Twins will win.

[Auggie]

5. It's getting very interesting in the Central, isn't it? And now the Yankees

are in the wild card race.

[Pierre.Suave]

6. yes

it is very interesting.

[Auggie]

7. One has to wonder why this team is in first place as of August 9th

Over the last 27 games Cleveland has batted .252, second lowest in the A.L., struck out a league high 216 times, and scored 116 runs -- third lowest -- winning 13 and losing 14. Designated hitter Travis Hafner was hitting .225 in that time frame until going down with a knee injury on August 8th. His status is day-to-day.

Pitching has been key - team ERA is 3.76, third best, with Sabathia (3.32), Carmona (1.22), Byrd (3.27) and even Westbrook (3.46) having consistent, quality starts.

To bolster the bench and (hopefully) the offense, Cleveland picked-up utility infielder Chris Gomez off waivers from Baltimore. Gomez is batting .302 in 73 games.

[Auggie]

8. Something stinks in Cleveland. And it ain't the Cuyahoga.

August 21st: The Tribe manages one hit in 26 at bats and loses to arch rival Detroit, 2-1.

Another fine outing from Fausto Carmona wasted. Cleveland is one hit by Jair Jurrjens in only his second major league start.

Carmona is 1-4 in his last five starts despite an ERA of 2.19. C.C. Sabathia is 1-2 after six starts despite an ERA of 2.11. Both pitchers could easily have 16 wins by now with some -- make that any -- run support.

In the last 30 days Cleveland has a league-leading worst average of .234. They're second lowest in runs scored.

Slugger Travis Hafner is batting .200. Catcher Victor Martinez .216. Shortstop Johnny Peralta .242. Newly acquired outfielder Kenny Lofton has truly joined the club, batting just .254. Only Grady Sizemore, at .282, shows life at the plate.

Is this more than a hitting slump? Have other teams discovered Cleveland's Achilles' heel? Is manager Eric Wedge being out-managed? Are the players pushing too hard? Or are they just not that good?

[Auggie]

9. Bats suddenly heat up late August

Since August 21 Cleveland won 9 of 11, winning road series in Detroit and Kansas City and sweeping Minnesota at home. They finished the month with a record of 17-11, opening up a 5.5 game lead over Detroit.

So much for my last rant...

In those last eleven games they averaged almost 10 hits scoring just over 5.6 runs.

More importantly, strikeouts lowered to just over 5 per contest, suggesting newfound patience at the plate. Hallelujah!

Other highlights:

Cleveland turned their first triple play in 15 years against the Twins on August 27th. Paul Byrd had another outstanding start in the 8-3 win.

Asdrubal Cabrera took over second base duties from slumping Josh Barfield after being called up from triple A. In 18 games he's batting .286.

In those last eleven games of August Travis Hafner batted .275 and Victor Martinez .333. When these guys hit it lifts the entire team.

And C.C. Sabathia finally got his 15th win.

[Auggie]

10. Stretch of 23 games in 23 days ends 17-6

Cleveland's resurgence continued through mid September as they won 8 and lost 4, which included a 7-3 road trip through Minnesota (sweep), Anaheim (split) and Chicago (series win).

In 23 games the team posted a 17-6 record. As of September 13 the team leads second-place Detroit by 5.5 games. Their number to clinch is 11.

Starting pitching was outstanding as Paul Byrd posted a record of 4-1, C.C. Sabathia 3-1, Fausto Carmona 2-1, and Aaron Laffey 2-0. Triple A call-up Asdrubal Cabrerra (second base) continues the role of catalyst, batting .341 in September.

What's particularly gratifying is seeing the tendency to play more small ball -- sacrifices, bunts, base-stealing, the hit and run -- crucial in winning series and beating playoff-caliber teams.

Cleveland is 33-21 (.611) against their remaining four opponents this season, though three of those games are against Detroit and three more against an Oakland club fighting for respect. Slumping Seattle is still no pushover. Cleveland faces them four times on the West Coast, including a double header on the 26th. And then there are six games with the Royals, a team that has beaten them 5 times in 12 attempts.

It ain't over till it's over.

[Auggie]

11. Cleveland sweeps Detroit in season finale -- magic number to clinch is 3

In each game Cleveland was out-hit and had to come from behind to win. 2007 season record versus the Tigers ends with 11 victories and 6 defeats.