Indians Confidential

The Indians today outrighted INF JORGE VELANDIA off of the 40-man roster to AAA Buffalo. Please note that TOMORROW the Indians will recall INF ASDRUBAL CABRERA from AAA Buffalo. He will join the team tonight in time for the 5PM workout in Progressive Field before the team flies on to Seattle, WA.

In addition, Kinston OF NICK WEGLARZ has been named to the Canadian Olympic Baseball Team, joining Akron LHP TJ BURTON. OF MATT LaPORTA (AA Akron) & RHP JEFF STEVENS (AAA Buffalo) have been named to the United States 24-man Olympic roster.

Fri., July 18 at Seattle (10:10PM ET, WTAM/IRN, STO)

LHP Aaron Laffey vs. RHP Felix Hernandez

Sat., July 19 at Seattle (3:55PM ET, WTAM/IRN, NO TV)

LHP Jeremy Sowers vs. LHP Jarrod Washburn

Sun., July 20 at Seattle (4:10PM ET, WTAM/IRN, STO)

LHP Cliff Lee vs. RHP Carlos Silva

Below is a quick look at all the news around the Indians Tuesday:

* Miguel Cabrera went 4-for-4, clubbing two homers and plating three, as Detroit crushed the Indians, 9-2, on Tuesday night. Marcus Thames and Curtis Granderson had three RBI apiece, with two of Thames’ RBI coming off his 17th long ball of the season. Ivan Rodriguez added a solo shot in the win. Justin Verlander tossed seven solid innings, allowing two runs and fanning seven to improve to 6-and-9 for Detroit, which has won two in-a-row to move to 45-and-44 on the season. Jeremy Sowers absorbed the loss for the Indians after yielding seven runs, six earned, over 5.2 innings of work. Jhonny Peralta clubbed a two-run homer for the Tribe, which has dropped a season-high nine straight games. The Indians will conclude their series with the Tigers tonight. Paul Byrd, who’s 3-and-10 with a 5.53 ERA, will start for the Indians. The Tigers will send out Eddie Bonine, who’s 2-and-1 with a 4.30 ERA. First pitch at Comerica Park is set for 7:05 p.m.

* The Akron debut of outfielder Matt LaPorta was delayed as the Aeros had their game against the Bowie Baysox rained out on Tuesday night. LaPorta is the main piece the Indians received from Milwaukee as they sent pitcher C.C. Sabathia to the Brewers. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader tonight. The first pitch of the first game at Canal Park is set for 6:05 p.m.

* The Indians are expected to call up from Triple-A Buffalo today relief pitcher Juan Rincon. He will take the roster spot left vacant by the trading of Sabathia to the Brewers on Monday. The Indians will need a starter to take Sabathia’s turn on Saturday and could call up Matt Ginter from the minors.

* The Indians placed pitcher Scott Elarton on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday for a non-baseball medical condition. Elarton had been on the restricted list because of personal issues. Manager Eric Wedge said that Elarton is out indefinitely. Elarton was 0-and-1 with a 3.52 ERA out of the bullpen.

* As for the debut of Sabathia in a Brewers uniform – he picked up the win as Milwaukee edged Colorado 7-3 at Miller Park. Sabathia allowed two earned runs while fanning five and walking five over six innings to pick up the victory. Ryan Braun smashed his 22nd homer of the year, and Bill Hall plated two for Milwaukee, which has won seven-of-nine. Prince Fielder and Corey Hart had an RBI apiece in the win. Yorvit Torrealba doubled in two runs in defeat for Colorado. Mark Redman gave up four runs over five frames to fall to 2-and-4.

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.

While the white flag has not officially been raised, let’s just says it’s on the pole and in position. The Indians have reached a point in the 2008 season many thought they would never get to – last place in the division, and basically ready to call it quits and get ready for a fire sale to start building for the 2009 campaign. Last night at Progressive Field, the team lost their 6th game out of their last 8, making Barry Zito look like the Barry Zito of old, falling to the Giants 4-1.

Coming in with a mark of 2-11, Zito threw one-run ball over 6.2 innings, making the Indians batters look more like a Double A club, because calling them a Triple A club at this point would be too generous. Yes, many agreed that Zito had his best stuff Wednesday night, commanding the plate and throwing well to both sides of the plate, but again, this is Barry Zito – a pitcher that has been back and forth from starter to bullpen, and a pitcher that was 2-11 coming in.

While Zito controlled the Indians at the plate, Jeremy Sowers did what he could to keep the Indians in the game. He ran into trouble right away in the first, allowing two quick runs, but settled down from there. His main enemy at the plate was Jose Castillo, who was a triple away from the cycle, hitting a double, homer and single in four at-bats. His solo homer in the third put the Giants up 3-0, and with the Indians offense going quietly in the night, that was more than enough for Zito.

The offense finally broke through with their only run of the game in the 7th, when Shin-Soo Choo singled in Kelly Shoppach to make it 3-1. It was all the offense the team would show vs Zito, and four Giants relief pitchers. The team put up 6 hits, and against Zito, a pitcher who averages three walks per outing, they never got a free pass the entire night.

The loss puts them at 35-43, and with the Royals beating the Rockies, a team the Indians were swept by over the weekend, the team is now in last place in the division by .5 game. They are 7.5 back of the White Sox, who lost on Wednesday night. Tonight is the finale of the set, with Cliff Lee at 10-and-1 with a 2.45 ERA going for the Indians. The Giants will send out Matt Cain, who’s 4-and-5 with a 4.31 ERA. First pitch at Progressive Field is set for 7:05 p.m.

I can’t really think of any positives that can come of getting swept by a team that coming into this past series was 14 games under .500. Let’s just say that it may have given GM Mark Shapiro enough indication to pull the plug on the 2008 season and start looking more at becoming a seller instead of a buyer as the trading deadline starts to creep closer.

Last night the Indians storyline against the Colorado Rockies was almost the same as it was the past two nights – allow a struggling pitcher to right himself against a weak Indians offense, allow some no-name like Jeff Baker to hit another homer (third straight game vs the Indians), and have shots to win it with a big hit, but in the end come up short. Sounds like the same recipe for a loss we’ve heard quite a bit this season.

To think that entering this stretch the Indians looked as if they finally may have righted the ship following a 4-2 homestand, now it looks like it’s back to square one. They allowed Jorge De La Rosa, who had a 6.89 ERA entering the game Thursday to strike out 10 Indians batters, allow just four hits, three runs and walk one in six innings. Jeremy Sowers was okay at best, allowing four runs, three earned, 10 hits, four strikeouts in six innings. He takes the loss to fall to 0-2.

The Indians actually had a first inning lead as Ben Francisco hit a two-run homer to make it 2-0. Sowers gave half of it right back in the bottom of the first on a Matt Holliday single to make it 2-1. Colorado then chipped away and built a lead with single runs in the 4th and 5th to make it 3-2. Casey Blake his a solo homer in the 6th to tie the game at 3, but then a Baker homer, and two more Rockies runs in the 7th iced it for the 6-3 win.

After Blake’s homer in the 6th, the Indians managed just one more base runner the rest of the night, and that was Blake again, who doubled in the 9th with one out. Overall three Rockies relief pitchers threw three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two. Masa Kobayashi gave up two runs in that critical 7th, and Joe Borowski did throw a scoreless 9th.

Things have gone from bad to worse this week, as the team drops 7 games under .500 at 33-40. They are now a whopping 8.5 back of the White Sox, who beat the awful Pirates again, and 1.5 back of third place Detroit, 4 back of the 2nd place Twins. Could a roster tweaking in terms of deals be far behind at this point?

Tonight the team moves to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers in the first of a three-game weekend series starting at 10:40pm. Cliff Lee, who’s 10-and-1 with a 2.55 ERA, will start for the Indians. The Dodgers will send out Clayton Kershaw, who’s 0-and-1 with a 3.75 ERA. First pitch at Dodger Stadium is set for 10:40 p.m.

In a game that felt more like a double feature at the local drive-in, the Indians used two big Grady Sizemore homers and some clutch pitching from the bullpen to win their fourth game in five days, topping the Padres from San Diego 7-5.  The game got off to an interesting start, as after Jeremy Sowers got out of the first with a 1-2-3 inning, the Indians jumped up 1-0 on a Sizemore homer to start off the game.  Then the heavens opened.

The delay seemed to last forever, starting at 7:17 and going all the way till 10pm, two hours and 43 minutes in total.  It probably made it seem just like home to the Padres, playing a west coast game on the East, starting at 10pm eastern, 7pm San Diego time.  For the fans that braved out the delay, they were treated to a rather entertaining back and forth game.

The Indians went up 3-0 vs Padres pitcher Josh Banks with a two-run homer from Kelly Shoppach in the third inning.  San Diego clawed their way back vs Sowers starting in the fourth with a two runs, then taking the lead in the 5th 4-3 when Adrian Gonzalez slammed his 19th homer of the year to give them their first lead on the night.  Sowers went 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on 9 hits, walking none and striking out one.

Not to be denied, the Indians rallied for two runs in the 6th to make it 5-4, as Shin-Soo Choo came through with a clutch two-out single past first to put the Tribe ahead for good.  Sizemore wrapped up his big night with his second homer of the game in the 7th to make it 7-4.  Former Indians now Padre Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a solo shot in the 8th to make it 7-5.

The Indians wrapped up the scoring with Jamey Carroll’s RBI single to make it 8-5 in the 8th, then Ben Francisco hit a sac fly to give them even more breathing room at 9-5.  The bullpen accounted for 4.2 innings, allowing just one run on five hits.  Rafael Betancourt went 1.2 allowing just one hit, he gets the win to move to 2-3 on the season.  Masa Kobayashi worked the final 1.1 innings, allowing two hits and a walk and earned his 3rd save.

The win moves the Indians to 32-36 on the season, winners in 6 of their last 10 games.  They are now 3-1 on this homestand with two more vs San Diego.  They are still 6.5 back of the White Sox who won on Friday night, and one game back of second of the Twins.

With a short turnaround, the team will throw 10-1 Cliff Lee Saturday night at 7:05pm vs Cha Seung Baek (1-1, 3.97) for San Diego.

The back and forth from Buffalo to Cleveland that has been the season for pitcher Jeremy Sowers continued on Sunday, and it seemed to drag on him, as he was ineffective and somewhat wild as the Tigers topped the Indians 5-2 at Comerica Park.  Sowers went over 90 innings in just four innings, giving up five runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out two.  He was 4-3 with the Indians Triple-A club, but that did not translate over Sunday in the heat in Detroit.

“[The Tigers] made him work all the way through,” manager Eric Wedge said. “A big part of that was he just wasn’t throwing his fastball where he wanted to. They’re a veteran club, a club you need to be aggressive with. You put them on the defense early in the count if you can.”

Armando Galarraga, who had already topped the Indians once this season in Cleveland, did it again on Sunday, keeping Indians bats silent most of the day.  He allowed just two runs on four hits in 5.2 innings.  Grady Sizemore had a RBI single in the 3rd that made it 2-1, and then Ryan Garko singled to center in the 6th to score Sizemore, but by then the team trailed 5-1 and the wind was out of their sails.

The only other Indians batter that really showed a pulse was Shin Soo-Choo, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored and is now batting .333 on the season.  If your looking for bright spots on this steam bath of a Sunday, the Indians two relief pitchers, Scott Elarton and Edward Mujica came up and only allowed one hit over the last four innings for Detroit while striking out four.

Monday the four-game series concludes at 7:05pm as the team, now 28-35, will try to at least get out of Motown with a split as Cliff Lee at 9-1 takes on Dontrelle Willis (0-0, 4.50).

From The Indians:

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has recalled LHP JEREMY SOWERS from the AAA Buffalo Bisons. To allow room for Sowers on the Major League roster the Indians optioned RHP BRIAN SLOCUM to AAA Buffalo.

Slocum was recalled from AAA Buffalo on June 4th and did not appear in a game for the Indians.