Series Recap: Indians Leave Arizona With Share of Lead in the Central

The Indians arrived in Arizona after a terrible series in San Francisco. It was a series in which they scored a total of 4 runs and played very poorly on national televison. The pitching did well, but the offense was nearly non-existent.

The Indians front office finally made a roster change on Monday as they called up Lonnie Chisenhall and had Adam Everett designated for assignment. It was a move that many Indians fans were waiting for all season, and one that had to be done.

Chisenhall’s promotion paid off early, as he went 2-4 with an RBI in his first major league game. On Tuesday, he went 1-4 and came around to score once. He got the day off on Wednesday, but he will surely see more time at third now that he has shown what he is capable of doing.

The Indians got the win on Monday after Orlando Cabrera came through with a clutch home run with two outs in the ninth to go up 5-4. He had 4 hits on Wednesday, which might result in O-Cab regaining his spot at second and Cord Phelps going back to Columbus. The spot at second in Columbus is currently occupied by Jason Kipnis, who is next in line to come to Cleveland. The only problem is that he would have to take Orlando’s spot, which is the whole reason Phelps was called up.

Another possibility for Kipnis would be to put him in right field, and just release or try to trade Austin Kearns, although I do not know of any teams who would want him. It would give Kipnis major league experience, as Choo will not be ready to return until September.

Tuesday’s game saw another Indians player get his first major league hit. This time it was pitcher Josh Tomlin who got his first career hit, which came on a perfect bunt that went right past the pitcher. He followed that up in his second at-bat with an RBI single. That means that Tomlin will finish the season with an average of 1.000.

Tomlin went 7 innings while allowing 2 runs, and finished with a ND. He is currently 9-4 and the true ace of the pitching staff. He also became the second pitcher since 1920, the other being Daisuke Matzuzaka, to pitch at least 5 innings in the first 28 starts of his career.

Tuesday’s game ended in a walk-off home run by Willy Mo Pena off of Tony Sipp, but the Indians were able to win on Wednesday to take the series.

Carlos Carrasco pitched, and continued to be dominant. Just like Tomlin, Carrasco went 7 innings while allowing 2 runs. The difference was that Carlos got the win and improved his record to 8-4 on the year.

He got early help from the offense, as the Tribe jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings. The Indians added two more runs later in the game, and went on to win 6-2. The offense produced 15 hits, as Orlando and Asdrubal Cabrera combined for 7. It was a great change from the poor offensive performance in San Francisco, and hopefully the team can keep this up as they head into Cincinnati to take on the Reds.