HISTORICAL PLAYER: CF GRADY SIZEMORE now sits at 99 career home runs and 99 career steals and is about to become just the 2nd player in Indians franchise history to hit 100HR and steal 100 bases as an Indian…JOE CARTER (151HR, 126SB) is the only other Indians player to accomplish the feat (1984-89)…Grady currently leads the team in on-base & slugging %, OPS, games, at bats, runs, hits, total bases, triples, homers, walks, steals and extra base hits…He has 9HR in his last 20G & has 13HR in his last 31G… Among AL leaders, Sizemore is 1st in HR (21), 3rd in TB (174), T4th in BB (49), T7th in RS (55), 8th in SB (20) & 7th in slugging % (.534)…He is the only 20HR/20SB player in the AL to date.

TV SWITCH: The following games have been switched on the television schedule… On Saturday, July 5th STO will televise that night’s contest from Minnesota & on Saturday, July 12th vs. Tampa Bay, WKYC will air the 7:05 PM tilt from Progressive Field

HODGES ON OLYMPIC WATCH LIST: Akron 3B WES HODGES has been selected to play in the Futures Game in Yankee Stadium on July 13 for Team USA and is one of 60 players currently being considered for the 24-man United States Olympic Team that will be selected on July 16th…The Olympics begin in Beijing, China on August 9th…Hodges is hitting .307 (94-306) with 15 2B, 9HR & 64 RBI in 82 games this year for Akron…He leads the Eastern League in RBI and is 2nd in hits.

RUNDLES AN ALL-STAR: LHP RICH RUNDLES is the lone representative for the AAA Buffalo Bisons in the Triple A All-Star Game…He is 5-4 this year w/a 3.48 ERA in 32 games (33.2IP, 26H, 13ER, 20BB, 39K).

CHISENHALL SETTLING IN: 2008 First Round pick INF LONNIE CHISENHALL has hit in 6 straight games and over his last 5 contests is 11 for 20 (.550) w/2 2B, 1HR & 4RBI to raise his average to .286 (16-56, 5RBI, 13G) on the season at A Mahoning Valley.

TOREGAS BOMBS: CA WYATT TOREGAS hit 3 homers for Akron last night at Erie (Aeros hit 7 for the game)…He entered the contest with 4 homers on the entire season.

Fri., July 4 at Minnesota (7:10PM ET, WTAM/IRN, STO)

RHP Paul Byrd (3-9, 5.26) vs. RHP Livan Hernandez (8-5, 5.22)

Sat., July 5 at Minnesota (7:10PM ET, WTAM/IRN, STO)

LHP Aaron Laffey (4-5, 3.24) vs. RHP Kevin Slowey (5-6, 3.47)

Sun., July 6 at Minnesota (2:10PM ET, WTAM/IRN, STO)

LHP Cliff Lee (11-1, 2.34) vs. LHP Glen Perkins (4-2, 4.31)

In a season of tough losses, Tuesday night’s 3-2 extra inning loss to the White Sox could very well be right near the top.  The Indians hung in there against a team that they are trying as hard as they can keep pace with, and on a night where they tried to get their deficit back down to 9.5 games, Joe Borowski did what some say he does best - blow a save.

The Indians took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 10th when Casey Blake hit a solo homer to left.  Borowski came on, and gave it back, but of course not till he got the first two outs, making it even tougher to swallow.  He got Joe Crede to ground out, and then struck out Nick Swisher.  Then with the game looking like it belonged to the Tribe, Jo-Bo imploeded, giving up a solo homer to Alexei Ramirez, just his 6th of the year.

As if that was hard enough to watch, the implosion continued.  Pinch-hitter Dewayne Wise singled, stole second, as everyone usually does vs Borowski, then scored when Orlando Cabrera singled to center, and Wise came in with the winning run to make it 3-2.  They don’t come much tougher than this.

As they have done a ton of times this season, the Indians wasted a good outing from Cliff Lee, as he went 8 innings, allowing one earned run on six hits, walking one and striking out three.  Lee dropped his ERA to 2.26, but could not get any run support to move his record past 11-1.  He allowed a run in the 2nd, then the Indians tied it in the 6th when Kelly Shoppach hit a homer to left to make it 1-1.

All that aside, the end was painful to watch.  The team falls to a full 10 games under .500 at 37-47.  Instead of being 9.5 back of the Sox if they could have hung on to win, they now fall 11.5 back, and are still in last in the AL Central.  The time to start making moves is nearing, and games like this one only made that point all the more clear.

Cleveland Indians: The biggest disappointment in the AL save that rainy outpost in the Pacific Northwest has trading deadline decisions like no other. It’s got to be gut wrenching to all but quit by dealing starters C.C. Sabathia, Paul Byrd and perhaps a position player. Especially so soon after finishing one game short of the World Series. But the time is drawing near.

Let the the fishing tournament begin As the trade deadline nears C.C. Sabathia is and continues to be the biggest fish available in the trading market this summer. Also, it must be noted that C.C. has been pitching like it. In the month of June, Sabathia has accrued 44 strikeouts and a measly 1.89 ERA in 38 innings. In each of his last three starts he has struck out 10 or more batters.

All three of those starts were against National League foes, which bodes well for an American League team with World Series hopes like the Red Sox, or the Yankees, or an NL team trying to win its division out right, like the Cubs, or the Phillies. If the Indians are listening to offers and taking them serious, they now have C.C.’s current stats to add to his value and potential. If they choose to trade him, then they should get max value. With so many teams in contention now seems like as good of a time, as any. We have the prized fish, now let’s see who’s going to land him.

CLEVELAND, OH — The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has recalled RHP TOM MASTNY from the AAA Buffalo Bisons. To allow room on the Major League roster for Mastny the Indians have placed RHP SCOTT ELARTON on the Restricted List (personal reasons).

Mastny has split the season between Cleveland and AAA Buffalo. He was with the Indians from April 15-May 11 and again from June 2-4, making a spot start in Texas on June 3 (1.1IP, 6H, 5R/ER). With the Indians he has made 3 appearances (3.0IP, 8H, 7R/ER, 21.00ERA) over his two stints. Tom has been sharp at AAA Buffalo, going 1-0 w/a 1.71 ERA in 19 relief appearances (26.1IP, 20H, 5ER, 8BB, 34K) and has limited Triple A hitters to a .211 average against with 1 HR allowed. He has not allowed an earned run in 9 June appearances (13.0IP, 7H, 1R, 2BB, 17K, .159AVG). He wears #40.

Elarton has been with the club since May 24 and has posted a mark of 0-1 w/a 3.52 ERA in 8 relief appearances (15.1IP, 16H, 6ER).

As the 2008 All Star Game in the Bronx approaches and the season reaches its mid-season point, I wanted to recognize the Indians most consistent force, Cliff Lee. This 29 year old started the season with questions and doubts about even making the rotation and now this presumably All Star holds an 11-1 record with a paltry 2.34 earned run average after 15 starts. Cliff has been dominant, holding opposing hitters to a .247 batting average against. This 6 foot 3 inch, left-hander has given up 2 or more runs in only three of his starts and has been undeniably the best pitcher in all of baseball in the first half. He has also amassed 90 strikeouts in 103.2 innings with only 16 walks.

This is a sign of the work and dedication that Cliff has put in to improving his game and his control. With all of the injuries and troubles that have faced the Tribe this year, Cliff seems to be unfazed and on a mission to go out and give the Indians a quality start each and every time he takes the hill. When July 15th and the All Star Game takes center stage, I look forward to seeing Cliff Lee representing the Indians on the national stage.

While winning the “Ohio Cup” is about as much of a joke as anything when it comes to baseball bragging rights, what will also go down as a joke in the 2008 season is how bad the Indians played against not only their National League rivals, but against the NL as a whole. Following the teams 9-5 loss Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field, the Indians wrap up their season vs the NL with a mark of 6-12, and a pretty sad 1-5 mark against the Reds.

Sunday’s loss drops the team to 37-45, right back to 8 games under .500, and 22-22 at Progressive Field. The offense as usual made a rather bad pitcher, in this case the Reds Bronson Arroyo, look like someone heading for the Cy Young. Entering action vs the Indians, Arroyo was 4-7 with an ERA of 6.52. Instead of pounding him like Indians teams in the past would have done, they went quietly inning by innings, and by the time Arroyo left, he had allowed one earned run on two hits over six innings.

Aaron Laffey got the start for the Indians, and did a nice job till the 5th, when the Reds offense went off against him for five runs on five hits, putting 8 men to the plate. David Ross scored the first run on a wild pitch, then Jeff Keppinger doubled in a run, Brandon Phillips singled in another, and Edwin Encarnacion hit his 13th homer of the year to make it 5-0.

Grady Sizemore got the Indians back into the game with a solo homer in the 6th to make it 5-1, and a Shin-Soo Choo double that was botched in center allowed another run to come across to make it 5-2. Kelly Shoppach had a chance for the inning to continue but struck out, getting Arroyo off the hook. Rick Bauer took the spot of Laffey in the 6th, and ran into trouble in the 7th, then allowing Adam Dunn, who’s been an Indians killer all season, to take him deep for a three-run shot that made it 8-2.

The Indians loaded the bases in the 7th, but a Ben Francisco ground out ended the inning. Shoppach doubled in another run in the 8th when Jhonny Peralta scored to make it 8-3. Francisco made it look somewhat interesting in the 9th with a two-out, two-run homer that made it 9-5, his 6th of the year.

The Indians could for sure have their season for all intensive purposes ended this week as they travel to Chicago to take on the White Sox for three starting on Monday night. Jeremy Sowers (0-3, 5.97) will go for the Indians vs Gavin Floyd (8-4, 3.39) for Chicago at 8:11pm.

Saturday night was one of those nights for the Indians where they strung hits together, but when they needed a big hit to put some runs across, they were futile in that department. The team was 0-for-10 at the plate with runners in scoring position, and it showed on the scoreboard as they dropped a 5-0 decision to the Reds in front of over 39,500 at Progressive Field.

They put base runners on all night long, with the only inning popping by without a runner was the third. In the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th they were able to put multiple runners on, but again, when they needed the big hit they were left with nothing in the tank. Reds starter Johnny Cueto was able to work out of each and every jam he got in, and was good enough to move to 6-8 on the season.

Paul Byrd started for the Indians, and as usual, allowed a homer early, this time as Adam Dunn laced his 19th homer of the season just over the wall in right to make it 1-0 in the first. It was the 21st homer that Byrd as allowed this season, a staggering number. He’s allowed homers in 8 straight starts. The other big hit of the night was a Paul Bako bases clearing double that gave the Reds a 4-0 lead in the 4th.

While Byrd was unable to get any run support with the team leaving runners on all over the place, he was able to pitch well enough to go six innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking three and striking out four. His record now sits at 3-9, and his ERA is at 5.26. Rafael Perez gave up another run in the 7th to make it 5-0 when old pal Brandon Phillips drove in a run.

The loss snaps a modest two-game winning streak for the Indians, as they fall to 36-44 on the season, 8.5 back of the White Sox who won Saturday afternoon vs the Cubs. The Reds improve to 37-45. Sunday the finale of the set kicks off at 1:05pm, as Aaron Laffey (4-4, 2.83) goes for the Indians vs Bronson Arroyo (4-7, 6.52).

Indians ace C.C. Sabathia talks to the media after his lastest outing, a 5-0 shutout win over the Reds. C.C. talks about on-going trade rumors, his early struggles, and getting things under control and just throwing his fastball and doing his job.  Click below to hear C.C.’s postgame comments.