(Best E Casino) - Entering Monday's series finale in Detroit, the best the
Cleveland Indians can hope for is a 5-6 record to cap their lengthy road trip. And although the team still hasn't been able to find any real consistency, at the very least the offense has shown signs of waking up.
Last week in Texas, the Indians racked up 39 runs in a four-game set. But even with the offensive outburst, they still only managed to split the series. Of course, the bats cooled off over the weekend in Detroit in a battle between AL Central underachievers, and Cleveland needs a win tonight to salvage a split of the four-game set.
Cleveland's offense continues to be MIA on most nights, as the team's collective .241 batting average ranks dead last in the American League. The big sticks in the middle of the lineup -- namely, Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez -- have combined for fewer home runs than Edgar Renteria. Hafner is hitting just .217 with four homers and 22 RBI, and as a result has seen more bench time. Martinez has yet to go yard this season.
And thanks to the surging Chicago White Sox, the Tribe is now staring at an 8 1/2-game deficit in the division standings. Certainly, not too many people would've pegged Cleveland to be seven games below .500 entering the second week of June.
Can they rebound? Or does this team simply have too man problems to overcome?
"There's too many games left in the season to start talking about what we can't do," first baseman Ryan Garko told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
This weekend in Detroit, the bullpen has unraveled -- again. After winning the series opener on Friday, the Tribe ran into trouble in the late innings of Saturday's game. With Cleveland clinging to a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning, Detroit racked up six runs off relievers Masa Kobayashi and Rafael Betancourt.
On Sunday, Jeremy Sowers was tagged for five runs in four innings in his return to the majors. It was the third time this season Sowers has been called up from the minors to fill out the rotation, with each outing ending in disappointment. This time, however, he will be staying up with the Indians while the team tries to overcome a couple of key injuries to the starting rotation.
WITH WESTBROOK FINISHED, SOWERS GETS ANOTHER SHOT
Jake Westbrook is finished. The right-hander will soon undergo Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery and will likely be out of action until sometime next summer. Westbrook had already spent a month on the disabled list this season, and he reported discomfort following his return start on May 28.
Last April, Westbrook signed a three-year, $33 million extension.
With that, in steps Sowers. In Triple-A, the young left-hander's 2.08 ERA ranked third in the International League. But as mentioned, he was not able to carry that over to the big leagues on Sunday.
"I have the most confidence I've ever had on the mound," Sowers said. "I just didn't pitch exceptionally well (Sunday). That's the first start I've had this year that I've looked at as a disappointment."
WHO'S HOT
Garko is hitting .300 over the last month.
WHO'S NOT
The bullpen, having been charged with 12 losses and 10 blown saves in 21 opportunities. The relievers' combined 4.90 ERA is the second highest in the majors.
Setup man Rafael Betancourt is just 1-3 with a 7.27 ERA. Last year, he was 5-1 with a 1.47 ERA.
A LOOK AHEAD
Cliff Lee (9-1, 2.45) will try to enable the Indians to salvage a split in Monday's series finale against Dontrelle Willis (0-0, 4.50) and the Tigers. ON Tuesday, it will be Scott Baker (2-0, 4.03) against Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia (3-8, 4.81) when the Minnesota Twins come to town. Twins rookie Nick Blackburn (4-4, 3.94) and Paul Byrd (3-5, 4.46) will square off on Wednesday, and Livan Hernandez (6-3, 5.32) will take on the Tribe's Aaron Laffey (3-3, 2.98) on Thursday.
Cleveland then continues its homestand with a three-game series against the San Diego Padres beginning Friday.
