After a third consecutive sweep, this one to the Detroit Tigers, the Indians postseason hopes have been officially demolished. As we move into “there’s always next year” mode, focus should switch to the young players like recent call-up Ezequiel Carrera and future all-star Jason Kipnis. It will be interesting now to see how Corey Kluber and Chris Seddon pitch for the rest of the year as next years starting rotation seems to be completely up in the air after Justin Masterson.
One interesting point to the rest of the season will be if the Indians bother bringing back a number of injured/suspended players including Grady Sizemore, Rafael Perez, Carlos Carrasco and Roberto Hernandez (Fausto Carmona). In the cases of players who should be back next season (Perez and Carrasco) they should probably try to at least get them back by September, but there is little point in the other two players who are not signed through 2013. If the Indians brain trust has any brains left that we can trust, Grady will have to be released post 2012 and Hernandez probably should be as well.
August 6th, 7:05 PM EDT: Scott Diamond, LHP, 9-5, 2.93 ERA vs Zach McAllister, RHP, 4-3, 3.42 ERA
Looking at the Indians successes against left handed pitching so far this season, I see no reason to believe the Indians current losing streak won’t continue on to ten games. This year Diamond has faced the Tribe twice, going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA. One game was a complete game shutout, while in the other he allowed 3 unearned runs in 7 innings. It is possible with the recent roster changes and the extra motivation of a lost season and an extremely long losing streak that the Indians may be able to change their fortunes and actually win this game, however unlikely.
August 7th, 7:05 PM EDT: Sam Deduno, RHP, 3-0, 2.48 ERA vs Corey Kluber, RHP, 0-0, 12.46 ERA
Don’t worry about Kluber’s ERA. He has only made one start and really calmed down after the first inning. What you should worry about is Deduno’s. After throwing a two hit, one run game against the Tribe, Deduno stepped it up and didn’t allow a run to score against Boston in his next start. This ancient (29) Dominican hasn’t had a bad start this year and seems to be getting better each time out.
August 8th, 12:05 PM EDT: Brian Duensing, RHP, 2-6, 4.39 vs Justin Masterson, RHP, 7-10, 4.78 ERA
The Indians have a shot at winning this one with their ace throwing and a right hander opposing. At most this losing streak should last 11 games. If the Indians losing streak continues through this game Manny Acta will possibly start using Vinnie Pestano in the second or third innings and leaving him in until the ninth.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
