Indians News: Carlos Carrasco had his suspension lowered from 8 games to seven after his atrocious start yesterday, so the Indians will be able to continue on with the current rotation without making any further moves until Zach McAllister returns. Also, despite any other distractions, Chris Perez is continuing on his rehab and has begun throwing on the mound. As of now it is expected he should return the team and originally anticipated.
Player of the Game
Ryan Raburn won his second consecutive Player of the Game, the second time he has done so this year. Although, he struck out with the tying run on deck in the ninth, his solo home run was the only run scored by the Indians today.
Feathers Up
The Indians may have caught a break when the Tigers best starting pitcher so far this year, Anibal Sanchez, was scratched from the start today and was replaced by rookie Jose Alvarez making his Major League debut. Of course, the Indians have struggled with pitchers they haven't seen before all season, so this may not have been as good for the Tribe as it seems.
Feathers Down
Jose Alvarez got lucky facing the Tribe in his debut as he was able to set him K/9 high to start off his career. Although they aren't going to set any records this year, the Indians are prolific at striking out and did so against Alvarez. Four Indians struck out the first time through the lineup and seven total in his six innings. The Tigers have to be happy with Alvarez's debut as it was only marred by a solo home run.
Justin Masterson discovered a new way to get beat by the Tigers today. Instead of allowing the top of the lineup to reach base and have Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder knock them in, he let Fielder and Cabrera on, only to be knocked in by a Don Kelly three run home run. With the hit, Kelly is now batting .198 with 10 RBI.
Mark Reynolds had another tough day, leaving another runner stranded at second (continuing his streak of no RBI [other than home runs] in past 15 games) and committing an error at third. With all this, there has been no talk from the Indians front office of bringing back Lonnie Chisenhall who is dominating at AAA. With Chisenhall back in the fold, Reynolds could move back to DH and concentrate just on hitting.
Reynolds is not the only one to blame for the Indians recent offensive problems, however, as the team has dropped to just 3.5 runs per game during their recent losing stretch (3-13 over last 16 games). Prior to that, the offense had been an asset to the team, scoring 5.2 runs per game during the team's first 46 games. The biggest difference between the two groupings has been the offensive play of Reynolds and Carlos Santana who were amazing during April, but have since cooled down.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 – Detroit Tigers 4
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