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To be continued …

It wasn’t a sweep, but it wasn’t all that bad for the Cleveland Indians in their series with Detroit this week.

The Tribe took 2-of-3 to shave a game off the Tigers’ lead heading into a weekend series with the Twins.

“It was a great series,” manager Manny Acta said in published reports. “We came in trying to shorten up the distance and we did. The goal was to sweep them, but if you can’t sweep them, two out of three isn’t bad.”

The Indians probably did as much as they could against Detroit’s Justin Verlander, somehow scoring three runs on just three hits.

And while he couldn’t match Verlander, Fausto Carmona wasn’t that bad. He gave up all four runs and seven hits in as many innings of work, but he struck out six and only walked two.

“Fausto threw the ball really well,” Acta said. “He gave up those runs on ground balls. He had very good rhythm after the second inning. I can’t say enough about him.”

Carmona has posted a 2.85 ERA in his past six starts – a sign that he is finally turning his season around?

You can tell things are starting to heat up, as Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santanta got into an argument in the dugout after the top of the first inning.

Santana failed to catch a high throw from third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall, which led to Detroit taking a 1-0 lead, and Cabrera took charge when they reached the dugout, letting Santana know those kind of plays can’t happen with the team in a pennant race.

“I like it,” Acta said. “It means people around here want to win. Asdrubal confronted Carlos about not catching the throw. Carlos didn’t like the way he talked to him. That’s fire. I like it. People care.”

So the Tribe picked up an important game in the standings this series, and Detroit had to turn to their ace to salvage a game. So that’s good.

Now the Indians need to make sure they don’t give it back this weekend with the Twins in town.

The Indians are only 3-6 against Minnesota this season; there can’t be a letdown as they close out the home stand.

After Minnesota comes a three-game series in Chicago against the White Sox before another huge three-game series in Detroit.

“They’re not going anywhere,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said of the Indians. “They’re for real. They’re going to be there. We know that.”

With the way things are going, would anyone really be surprised if this division came down to the final weekend of the season, when the Indians travel to Detroit for a three-game series?

***

The Indians had good news on Friday, as they activated Shin-Soo Choo from the disabled list and designated Austin Kearns for assignment.

Choo is coming back about four weeks earlier than what was estimated at the time of his injury. One concern is that his timing will be off for a while, as he only had six at-bats at low-Class A Lake County during his rehab.

But if Choo can work the kinks out this weekend against the Twins and next week against the ChiSox, his bat could be a boost to the lineup by next weekend in Detroit.

Tribe releases the Kipnis on Detroit

The Cleveland Indians may have found the bat they were looking for to wake up their slumbering offense – and it was right in their backyard all along.

Jason Kipnis put a charge into Progressive Field Wednesday night against Detroit, going 5-for-5 with a home run and three RBI on the night. In his past 10 games, dating to July 31, Kipnis is batting .364 (16-for-44) with two doubles and 10 RBI.

Kipnis also showed the kind of hustle that is quickly turning him into a favorite among Tribe fans. Twice he went from first to third on singles, the second time drawing a bad throw from center fielder Andy Dirks that allowed Kipnis to score and ignite a four-run inning.

“He’s a dirtbag,” Indians manager Manny Acta said in published reports. “A dirtbag is one of those guys who’ll run through a wall to win. His uniform is always dirty. He’s not concerned about how he looks on the field. He just wants to win. I feel like we’ve found our own Dustin Pedroia or Chase Utley.”

Where were the Indians hiding this guy in June and July?

Just as important, stater Ubaldo Jimenez went eight innings, giving the bullpen a much-needed rest after Tuesday night’s 12-inning effort.

“I commanded my fastball much better tonight,” Jimenez in published reports. “From the first pitch I was able to throw everything down in the zone, especially the fastball.”

So the Indians now sit two games back of Detroit as they head into tonight’s game against Justin Verlander, who is 16-5 on the season, although his career record at Progressive Field is only 4-8 with an ERA of 6.31.

Even if the Tribe can’t pull off the sweep, they will have shaved a game off the Tigers’ lead and planted some doubt in the minds of the Detroit players. The Indians just need to keep chipping away at Detroit.

And no matter what happens, it’s so nice after a four-year wait (that felt like 40) to have the Indians playing games in August that matter once again.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

Are closers overrated in baseball?

The Cleveland Indians reconfirmed something last week that we’ve long known to be true – that you are only as good as your bullpen.

The Tribe bullpen had a week to forget, going 2-4 with two blown saves on the seven-game trip through Boston and Texas.

Those four losses were all painful, last at-bat defeats, twice in Boston (Jacoby Ellsbury on back-to-back nights) and twice in Texas (Friday night and Sunday night).

The road trip implosion by the pen was pretty much universal. Joe Smith gave up a winning home run in Boston and blew up Josh Tomlin’s excellent start Sunday night; Vinnie Pestano couldn’t hold a tie game against Boston, and Rafael Perez did his part.

But a lot of the focus is on Chris Perez after he gave up a game-tying home run Friday night with the Indians leading 7-5 in the ninth, and barely held on to a two-run lead in the ninth on Saturday night.

According to Indians Prospect Insider, this season “Perez has taken a noticeable step back in all of his numbers. He is still throwing 93-95 MPH, so the velocity is there, but he is getting hit a lot more and not missing bats this season as he is 2-5 with a 3.40 ERA and has a 7.3 H/9, 0.9 HR/9, and 4.3 BB/9, and also has just a 5.9 K/9 and 1.37 K/BB. The biggest concern is the jump in his hit rate where he is allowing almost two more hits every nine innings and the drop in his strikeout rate where he is striking out almost three less batters every nine innings.”

Which leads us back to our question: are closers overrated in baseball?

Certainly the stat of a save is not a reliable indicator of a closer’s value.

But the closer’s role isn’t overrated as much as it’s misunderstood by most fans.

The closer’s job is to get the final three outs (sometimes less) of the game – nothing more. If it’s a one-run game or a three- or four-run game, the job description is still the same.

But over the years fans have somehow decided that unless you shut down the other team 1-2-3 (think Mariano Rivera) you have somehow failed

Go back to Saturday night’s performance by Perez. He quickly got the first two Rangers out, but then gave up two hits and a run before finally sealing the deal.

Was it pretty? No. Did it give Cleveland a collective case of agita? Yes. But the end result was the Tribe won and, really, that’s all that matters.

Bob Wickman used to drive people batty when he closed for the Tribe, but in his own way he got the job done. If he wanted to pitch around a batter – or two – in a one-run game, that was OK as long as he finished the game with the Indians leading.

If a starting pitcher throws six innings and litters the bases with runners, but somehow gets out with only giving up a run or two, he’s praised for “pitching out of a jam.”

But if a closer puts a runner on base it’s the end of the world for some fans.

We’ve learned over the years that when the Indians have a solid bullpen, they generally do well. Bullpen stinks? There goes the season.

This year’s bullpen has been a real strength for the Tribe. Unfortunately the bullpen picked a bad week to have a collective slump.

Now, with the Indians trailing Detroit by four games and the Tigers coming to town for a three-game series, the Tribe needs the pen to bounce back from the mess that was this road trip.

Because if the Indians are going to stay in this pennant race, they are going to need Raffy Perez, Pestano, Smith and especially Chris Perez on their game starting Tuesday night and as long as the team stays in the running for the division title.

And there’s no way to overrate that.

A whole week of the other 42

Early in the season, Indians manager Manny Acta pointed out that every team wins 60 games and loses 60 games – it’s what you do with the other 42 that count.

Well, we’ve just spent quite the week learning about those other 42 and it hasn’t been good news for the Tribe.

Tuesday night it was Jarrod Saltalamacchia scoring from second on a single in the bottom of the night to beat the Indians. Wednesday, it was a Jacoby Ellsbury home run with two outs in the ninth.

But that was nothing compared to Friday night.

The Indians blew leads of 3-0, 6-2 and 7-2 before finally falling to the Rangers in extra innings as Elvis Andrus somehow scored from second base on a ground ball to shortstop in the bottom of the 11th.

There was plenty of blame to go around Friday night.

The offense shut down after the third inning.

Closer Chris Perez gave up a two-out, game-tying two run homer to Michael Young in the bottom of the ninth.

Rafael Perez threw a wild pitch – the Indians second on the night – in the 11th to allow Andrus to get into scoring position.

Then there was Matt LaPorta.

On Andrus’ game-winning score, LaPorta fielded Asbrubal Cabrera’s throw which just missed nailing a sliding Josh Hamilton for the third out. LaPorta looked at first base umpire Derryl Cousins before throwing to the plate, and that split second allowed Andrus time to score.

LaPorta’s ongoing lack of baseball sense proved costly – and was not missed by Acta.

“You catch the ball and throw home,” Acta said in published reports. “You don’t worry about whether the guy is going to be safe or out, you come off the bag and you throw home — that’s the winning run. That’s what you do.”

Acta has to take his share of the blame as well.

With two on and one out in the 10th, Acta let Shelley Duncan – back on the team because Jack Hannahan is on paternity leave – bat rather than pinch-hit Travis Hafner.

Duncan had homered in the third inning and had two hits on the night, so expecting him to come through again was really pushing the odds. Predictably, Duncan hit into a double play.

“It was a complete day off for Travis,” Acta said. “Hafner shouldn’t even have been a temptation in the 10th. We should have won it in the ninth.”

We get that you want to give someone a day off, but shouldn’t the game situation play a role in your decision? Last night was not Actaball at its finest.

The Indians are now four back of the Tigers, having lost three games in the standings over the past 10. The season isn’t lost by any means, but things are starting to get serious.

With the Tigers coming to town next week for three games, the Tribe really can’t afford to fall any further back in the standings than they already are.

As it is, they are looking at needing a sweep next week because, even if they take two-of-three, that only shaves one game off the deficit.

After the way this week played out, it’s getting harder and harder to see that happening.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

On the fence about Ubaldo

A day later and we’re still trying to sort out our feelings about the Indians trading for Ubaldo Jimenez.

We were hoping the team would try to do something before Sunday’s non-waiver trade deadline, but we weren’t expecting this.

When your offense is batting .191 in its last 10 games … and the team has gone 6-10 since the All-Star break … and just finished the month of July 11-15 … and has only scored more than 3 runs three times in the last 13 games … and just lost 2-of-3 to the last place Royals … and finished a homestand with a 2-6 record

Well, let’s just say, adding pitching wasn’t the first thing that popped into our minds.

We understand that you have to give up prospects to acquire major league talent, but we do have to wonder if the Tribe overpaid by giving up both Drew Pomeranz and Alex White – the top two pitching prospects in the organization.

On the other hand, the financial aspect of the trade can’t be overlooked. This isn’t a two-month rental as Jimenez is under contract for $4.2 million in 2012 and a club option for $5.75 ($1 million guaranteed) in 2013. That kind of reasonably priced player simply can’t be underestimated for a small-market team like the Indians.

The question becomes, then, is Jimenez worth the price the Indians paid?

As Jayson Stark pointed out on ESPN:

(The Indians) know the guy they traded for isn’t the same Ubaldo who hit the 2010 All-Star break at 15-1 with an ERA barely above 2. Since then, this fellow has won just 10 of his past 36 starts, his velocity his down, and his ERA has more than doubled.

However, Stark goes on to say:

Nevertheless, in Jimenez’s 10 starts between June 1, which was about the time he finally began to get his strength back after some early-season issues, and the third week of July, at about the time the trade rumors began to swirl, the Great Ubaldo had a 2.58 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings. Want to put those numbers in better perspective?

The only starters in the big leagues with a better ERA and a better strikeout rate over that period were Justin Verlander, CC Sabathia and Gio Gonzalez.

Well the sounds pretty good. And Jimenez did that while pitching his home games at Coors Field, not exactly a pitcher’s park.

One nagging question we can’t shake is, if Jimenez is so good with such a team-friendly contract, why did the Rockies trade him?

Also, according to this article in The Denver Post, the team originally floated out the idea of trading Jimenez as a way to motivate him. Does that sound like the kind of pitcher who is going to hold up during a pennant race?

But what’s done is done; the trade has gone through and Jimenez is an Indian. As long as his uniform says Cleveland on it we’re behind him.

Even if we’re still not totally sold on the trade.

Busy day on the transactions desk


Lots going on today in the world of Cleveland sports, starting with the Indians trading with Chicago for outfielder Kosuke Fukudome.

We’ll admit our first reaction was “that’s it?” as Fukodome isn’t the big bat the Tribe needs right now, but we came to realize that, at a minimum, Fukodome is an upgrade over Austin Kearns and Travis Buck (who was designated for assignment after the trade).

As the always reliable DiaTribe points out, Fukodome’s .742 OPS would put him fourth among current Indians behind Travis Hafner, Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana.

Fukodome doesn’t hit for power, only 20 extra-base hits and three home runs this season, but he does get on base at a consistent level and, as having runners on the bases greatly enhances your chances of scoring, that’s a good thing – especially with this team.

***

Not to be outdone by the Indians, the Browns made several moves of their own on Wednesday.

To no one’s surprise, they released quarterback Jake Delhomme, who injured his ankle in the season opener last year and was never able to get what was left of his game back on track.

The team also reportedly signed second-round draft picks Jabaal Sheard and Greg Little; having them in camp from day one will be nothing but positive.

The Browns also agreed to a contract with Usama Young, a safety and former Kent State Golden Flash who played the past four years with New Orleans.

Young was a third-round draft pick of the Saints, playing safety the past two years and contributing on special teams for the past four. He recorded three interceptions and one sack in limited duty on defense.

Young played with current Browns linebacker Scott Fujita in New Orleans and with Josh Cribbs at Kent State. No doubt Cribbs and Fujita briefed the coaching staff and front office on what Young brings to the table.

And as Kent State has produced more Pro Bowlers in recent years than Ohio State – and did it without cheating – what’s not to like about the signing?

Finally, the Browns reached a deal with Brandon Jackson, who should fit nicely as a third-down back in the West Coast offense.

Jackson caught 43 passes with Green Bay last season and has 110 receptions in four years wiht the Packers. He also rushed for 703 yards last year.

He’s also only 25, so he comes to the Browns without a lot of mileage.

***

The Arizona Cardinals took the bait and traded for Philadelphia quarterback Kevin Kolb on Thursday, surrendering a second-round pick and staring cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, a Pro Bowler in 2009.

In addition (as if that wasn’t enough) the Cardinals are expected to sign Kolb to a $63 million, five-year contract that includes $23 million guaranteed.

All for a quarterback that has seven career starts in the NFL.

For those fans who think the Browns should have pulled the trigger on a deal for Kolb, chew on this for a moment: current Browns quarterback Colt McCoy has eight career starts. Looking at the numbers for the two finds that:

  • They both have completed 60.8 percent of their passes
  • McCoy’s yards per attempt is 7.40; Kolb’s is 6.53
  • Kolb has 11 touchdowns to McCoy’s six
  • Kolb has 14 interceptions to McCoy’s nine
  • McCoy’s quarterback rating is 74.5 to Kolb’s 73.2

So why would anyone think that Kolb is an upgrade over McCoy, especially at $63 million?

***

We were shocked at the news that Bob Bradley has been relieved of his coaching duties for the U.S. national soccer team.

“We want to thank Bob Bradley for his service and dedication to U.S. Soccer during the past five years,” federation president Sunil Gulati in a press release. “During his time as the head coach of our Men’s National Team he led the team to a number of accomplishments, but we felt now was the right time for us to make a change. It is always hard to make these decisions, especially when it involves someone we respect as much as Bob. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

As we’ve learned over the decades here in Cleveland, firing the coach is the easy part. The hard part comes when you have to find a replacement that will take the team to the next level.

According to Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated, the next coach “will not be a surprise,” which means that German legend Jürgen Klinsmann is probably on tap to replace Bradley.

If Gulati is targeting Klinsmann, he better hope he can seal the deal; Klinsmann has turned down opportunities to coach the U.S. team after each of the last two World Cups.

The one thing we’ll say is, if you have to make a move, you want to do it now before the next World Cup qualifying cycle begins.

You have to laugh …

… to keep from crying.

It probably should come as no surprise that the Indians were no-hit on Wednesday by Ervin Santana. The offense has been in such a prolonged slump that it feels almost inevitable that they be on the wrong end of a no-hitter.

Oh, and did we mention that Santana came into the game 0-6 with a 4.98 ERA in 10 career starts against the Indians?

And that left-handed batters entered the game hitting almost 20 points higher than right-handers? Naturally, the Indians lineup featured seven lefties who combined to go 0-for-22 with six strikeouts.

“Lots of guys get to five, six innings, but that’s when things get a little complicated,” Santana said after the game.

Not against this Indians lineup, they don’t.

The way things are currently going, it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine it happening again this season.

In the three-game series against the Angels, Tribe starters David Huff, Josh Tomlin and Fausto Carmona threw 19.2 innings and gave up just three earned runs – a 1.37 ERA – but the Indians found a way to lose two-of-three.

Tuesday night it was failing to score with the bases loaded and no outs in the ninth; Wednesday it was the first no-hitter in the 17-year history of the Tribe’s home park.

Over the past nine games, the Indians have gone 3-6 despite receiving the kind of starting pitching that would make most teams green with envy:

  • Huff has a 0.71 ERA over 12.2 innings of work, but is only 1-1
  • Tomlin has a 3.86 ERA over 14 innings of work, but is 0-1 with a no decision
  • Fausto Carmona has a 1.50 ERA over 12 innings of work, but is 1-0 with a no decision
  • Justin Masterson has a 0.61 ERA over 14.2 innings of work, but is 0-1 with a no decision
  • Carlos Carrasco has a 4.26 ERA in 6.1 innings of work (but that was the result of a single bad pitch against the White Sox) and is 0-1

How is that even possible?

And no trade before Sunday’s non-waiver deadline is going to make much of a difference. Unless the Tribe is getting Manny Ramirez or Jim Thome in their prime, no one they acquire is going to be able to get this offense turned around.

No, the Tribe lineup is going to have to do it itself, starting this weekend against Kansas City. The Royals are scheduled to start Jeff Francis (3-11, 4.65 ERA), Felipe Paulino (1-8, 4.54 ERA) and Kyle Davies (1-9, 6.75 ERA).

If the Indians can’t get it going offensively against that trio, they may never get it together.

And with training camp opening this weekend for the Browns, the Tribe picked the worst possible time to go into a funk.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Iceberg, dead ahead captain!

Another day, another loss as the HMS Wahoo drifts ever closer to the iceberg that will sink their season.

Somehow, the White Sox scored four earned runs this weekend and were still able to take the abbreviated two-game series from the Tribe. Chicago stinks but the Indians make them look like the best team in baseball.

Friday night, Carlos Carrasco made one bad pitch, Carlos Quentin deposited it for a three-run homer and that was the ball game.

Sunday, Justin Masterson gives up one earned run in seven innings of work, but three Tribe errors helped give the White Sox three unearned runs and take the win.

What must it be like as a starting pitcher for the Tribe knowing, every time you take the mound, if you give up more than one or two runs it’s game over, man?

The only saving grace in all of this is the AL Central is full of mediocrity. Even with Sunday’s loss, the Indians head into the three-game series with the Angels only two games out of first. A good week and they could be back on top of the division.

But with the offense in its current state of distress, it’s hard to see how that can happen. If you can’t win with the kind of pitching the Tribe received this weekend, when will you win?

With the non-waiver trading deadline coming up at the end of the month, fans will be wanting the Indians to make a move to save the season. But who is out there that can save the team? Who will be the Tribe’s Leonardo DiCaprio when they are floating adrift in the North Atlantic?

Someone at The Plain Dealer was obviously paying attention when we wrote earlier this week that the Indians don’t exactly have a stellar track record when it comes to deadline deals. Today the paper ran an article detailing every trade deadline deal the Indians have made since 1994 and it’s not pretty.

It turns out that sellers come out ahead of the game far more often than buyers in these deals.

And with no real reason to believe that this year will be any different, it may be time to accept that Tribe fans will be rooting for the team they currently have, rather than the one they think they want.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

You can’t win if you can’t score

The Tribe was shut out by the White Sox Friday night, falling 1.5 games behind first-place Detroit.

It’s the farthest the Indians have been out of first place since the first week of the season.

“There’s not much you can do when you don’t score any runs,” Indians manager Manny Acta told The Plain Dealer. “We’ve had to battle all year with our offense.”

“I could care less how many times we’ve been shut out as long as we’re winning games,” Acta told The Beacon Journal. “If we win 100 and lose 62 by shutout, that’s fine with me.”

What else is there to say at this point?

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Are the Indians at the breaking point?

We have to say, the Indians have us left us feeling extremely bipolar the past few weeks.

Two weeks ago tonight, Travis Hafner’s grand slam in the bottom of the ninth beat the Blue Jays (up).

Then the Tribe lost three in a row (down).

Coming out of the All Star break, the Indians took the first two games from Baltimore (up).

They then lost the next two (down).

We were worried going into Monday’s double header with the Twins because David Huff and Fausto Carmona were scheduled to start. But the Indians swept the day (up).

But then they lost the past two games with their best pitchers, Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin on the mound (down).

Against the Twins, the Tribe’s starters had a 2.03 ERA, giving up six earned runs in 26 2/3 innings (up).

The bullpen, however, had a 9.40 ERA (down).

Well, you get the picture

Now we’re left wondering if the team is finally reaching its breaking point.

Because of injuries, the Indians fielded an outfield the past two games of Austin Kearns, Ezequiel Carrera and Luis Valbuena, which obviously isn’t going to get it done.

Grady Sizemore joined Shin-Soo Choo on the disabled list this week and now will be out 4-6 weeks after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia.

It seems unrealistic to expect either Sizemore or Choo to come back and make any kind of positive impact on the team the rest of this season, and the Indians are running out of other options.

They dipped into the minor leagues again on Thursday, promoting second baseman Jason Kipnis from Class AAA Columbus. Kipnis hit .279 (95-341) with 64 runs, 15 doubles, nine triples, 12 homers, 55 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 91 games at Columbus this year.

While it is certainly nice to have another bat in the lineup, Kipnis doesn’t solve the outgoing issue with the outfield.

With the trading deadline coming up next week, there will be calls for the Tribe to “do something” and make a trade. But for who? There’s no guarantee that anyone they trade for will make that big of a difference, and we are nervous about the price the Indians would potentially have to pay.

We still remember the late ’90s when the team traded away prospects to bring in players like Kevin Seitzer, Jeff Kent and Ken Hill, among others, in an attempt to win a World Series. Of all the moves the team made, Hill really is the only one that made a difference and it could be argued the Indians would have reached the World Series in ’95 even without him.

We’d hate to see the team give up any of its top prospects when there’s no guarantee the Indians will make the playoffs even with a move.

Plus, people get excited about getting the best (pitcher, hitter, outfielder, etc.) available without stopping to ask if that player is any good. If you draw up a list of anything, someone has to be at the top, that doesn’t mean the Indians have to be the ones to overpay for someone.

The Indians certainly have issues – they wouldn’t be just five games over .500 if that wasn’t the case – and it’s also true that the AL Central is there for the taking this year. But the front office has worked hard to build this team the right way and we’d hate to see them sacrifice their long-term potential for a short-term game.

But check back in a few days. With the ongoing bipolar issues, we may feel differently come the weekend.

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