The Cleveland Indians season-long strength has been its starting pitching. However, a mostly disappointing week by the starters saw the team’s  strength turn into a weakness as the team struggled to a 2-5 finish.

There were some bright spots though including a 3-2 loss in New York against the Yankees on August 7 that was highlighted by Carlos Carrasco turning in a decent performance throwing seven innings and giving up three runs on five hits along with two walks and nine Ks was the best performance in a losing effort.

Corey Kluber was also dominant in his start on August 6 when he pitched eight innings against the Yankees and gave up two runs and five hits while walking just one and fanning eight was the best performance of the week as the Tribe won 5-2.

Prior to those two performances, Indians starters failed to pitch at least five innings in five consecutive starts and that triggered a flurry of moves by the front office to bring reinforcements in for a tired bullpen. A lack of offense wasn’t the problem as the team scored 39 runs in seven games to average about 5.5 runs per contest.

The recent poor stretch of games has the Indians at 62-47 and also decreased the Tribe’s lead in the American League Central Division down to just two games against Detroit. The Tigers (61-50)  finished the week with a 4-2 record.

Hopefully, Kluber and Carrasco have righted the ship and the next round through the rotation will be ironed out. Because if the Indians starting pitching isn’t performing well, then the Tribe’s strength is neutralized and it will be much tougher during the stretch run.

After a day off on August 8, the Indians will travel to Washington D.C. to play the Nationals for a quick two-game series on August 9 (start time scheduled for 7:05 p.m.) and August 10 (4:05 p.m.)

Then the Tribe returns home to play the Los Angeles Angels for a four-game series that begins on August 11 with the games on August 11, 12 and 13 scheduled for 7:10 p.m. The August 14 game is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. The series also marks the beginning of an 11-game homestand.

Trevor Bauer (7-5, 4.08 ERA) gets the start on August 9 for the Indians. Max Scherzer (12-6, 2.87 ERA) will take the mound for the Nationals. Scherzer has been one of the top starters in the National League and he last pitched on August 3 against Arizona. During that start, he pitched eight innings to get the win and gave up four hits and three runs, while walking just one and striking out 11.

Bauer wasn’t good in his last start when he pitched just 2.2 innings on August 3 against Minnesota and gave up seven runs, eight hits and walked five while striking out just one. He’s also struggled in his last seven appearances going 2-3 with a 6.23 ERA in 34.2 innings pitched and averaging a tad under five innings per game.

Josh Tomlin (11-4, 3.81 ERA) takes the mound for the Indians on August 10 while the Nationals will counter with Gio Gonzalez (7-9, 4.13 ERA). Gonzalez pitched seven innings in his last start on August 5 against the Giants and he gave up just two hits and one run while striking out seven. He’s pitched well in his last seven games compiling a 4-2 record with a 2.93 ERA in 43 innings.

Tomlin pitched only 4.2 innings during his last start on August 5 against the Yankees. He gave up nine hits and seven runs while walking two and fanning two.

The Indians and the Angels have not announced starters for the four game series.

Who’s Hot – Who’s Not

Mike Napoli was on fire recently and is slashing .333/.438/.778 in his last seven games During that span, he’s hit four home runs, driven in seven runs, walked four times and scored seven runs while hitting 9-for-27.

Jose Ramirez has been on a tear during his last seven games and is slashing .414/.433/.586 during that stretch. He’s hitting 12-for-29 with a home run and two runs batted in while scoring six runs. During his last 30 games, he’s slashing .322/.378/.435.

Abraham Almonte also continues to hit well and is slashing .375/.370/.583 in his last seven games. During that span he’s hitting 9-for-24 with a home run and four RBI with six runs scored. In his last 15 games his slash line is .342/.372/.553 while going 13-for-38.

Tyler Naquin has cooled down a little bit recently, which isn’t completed unexpected for the rookie after his strong start so far. He’s gone 5-for-23 with a home run and three RBI and eight Ks in his last seven games, slashing .217/.333/.348.

It’s not often you’ll say someone has improved their hitting statistics when batting 3-for-20, but that’s what Roberto Perez has done. In his last seven games, Perez has slashed just .150/.261/.200. For the season, he’s now slashing .093/.268/.116, but Perez did get two hits in three at-bats on August 7, so maybe he’s figured something out and can be more productive at the plate.