Written by Jonathan Knight

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IMPROVEMENT: The two wins against Detroit this week guaranteed the Indians will not have a losing record against the Tigers this season. The Tribe was 6-12 against Detroit last year.

HISTORICALLY BAD: The Indians finished August with a pornographic 5-24 record, their worst month in team history, “topping” the 6-24 mark in July of 1914.

NO CLEAN LAUNDRY: The Indians now have a losing record for the season in each of their four jerseys.

OTHER WOEFUL MONTHS: August was the 27th 20-loss month in Tribe history - the last came in September of 2009 when the Indians went 7-21. The team also won less than 10 games in only 14 of those 27 months.

ALL-TIME TOTALS: The Indians’ all-time record against the Rangers dropped to 192-235, while their mark against the Tigers jumped to 1,037-1,069.

SLIGHTLY BETTER IN THE CLUTCH: The Indians’ .318 average with runners in scoring position against Texas was their best clip for a series since they hit .350 in Los Angeles Aug. 13-15 - which was also the last time they hit better than their opponent in a series.

BACK-TO-BACK: Tuesday and Wednesday marked the Indians’ first back-to-back victories since Aug. 8-9. Incredibly, the last time they beat the same team in two straight games was when they topped the Angels July 3-4.

CLIMBING UP THE LADDER: With his 94th career save with the Indians on Tuesday night, Chris Perez tied Mike Jackson for fourth place on the Tribe’s all-time save list. He needs 10 more to catch Jose Mesa for third place.

SAME AS YESTERDAY: Monday and Tuesday’s wins by the identical score of 3-2 marked the first time the Tribe won back-to-back games by the same count since it beat Pittsburgh 5-1 on consecutive nights in June of 2011. This year, they lost back-to-back games by the identical score of 3-1 to Seattle and New York Aug. 22 and Aug. 24 and the first two games of the season 7-4 to Toronto.

UP AND DOWN: Over the past two months, Justin Masterson has been dramatically schizophrenic from one start to the next:

July 1 at Baltimore: 7 IP, 1 ER

July 6 vs. Tampa Bay: 4.1 IP, 8 ER

July 13 at Toronto: 7 IP, 0 ER

July 18 at Tampa Bay: 4.1 IP, 4 ER

July 23 vs Baltimore: 7.1 IP, 1 ER

July 28 at Minnesota: 5.2 IP, 8 ER

Aug. 3 at Detroit: 4 IP, 7 ER

Aug. 8 vs Minnesota: 7 IP, 2 ER

Aug. 13 at Los Angeles: 6 IP, 0 ER

Aug. 19 at Oakland: 5.2 IP, 7 ER

Aug. 25 vs New York: 6.2 IP, 1 ER

Aug. 30 vs Oakland: 4 IP, 8 ER

Sept. 4 at Detroit: 6 IP, 2 ER

Over this period, his season ERA has jumped from 4.09 to 4.84.

GO FIGURE: The Tigers and Angels - both playoff contenders - are the only American League teams against which the Indians hold a winning record this season.

GOOD START: Monday marked the Tribe’s first win in the opening game of a series since Aug. 13 in Los Angeles - five series ago. 

FINALLY GETTING HIS DUE: Though Monday marked Corey Kluber’s first career victory, it was his third quality start of the season.

SINKING FAST: Prior to taking the series in Detroit, the Indians had failed to win 15 of their previous 16 series.

HOLIDAY SWEEP: By winning on Monday, the Indians completed a baseball holiday sweep for 2012, winning games on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day.

BAD UBALDO, PART 1: In his last 11 decisions, Ubaldo Jimenez is 2-9. In the last 13 games he’s started, the Indians are 3-10.

AS GOES KIPNIS...: Jason Kipnis has quietly put together a five-game hitting streak, and is hitting .345 over his last seven games.

BAD UBALDO, PART 2: Ubaldo Jimenez has now gone without a quality start in five straight outings and seven of his last eight.

FINALLY, A CLOSE ONE: Saturday marked the Tribe’s first one-run victory since July 24.

VINNIE SLAMS THE DOOR: By closing out Saturday night’s win, Vinnie Pestano notched the fourth save of his career, his first since July of last season.

GOMEZ STILL GOING: Until Saturday, Jeanmar Gomez hadn’t won a game for the Indians since June 6. Though he picked up a win, he extended his string without a quality start with the Tribe to eight straight starts. He racked up four quality starts in his first seven starts this season.

THE DIVIDING LINE: When the Indians allow more than three runs in a game this year, they’re 11-70. The last time they won a game in which their opponent scored more than three runs was their 10-6 triumph in Tampa on July 18.

A YEAR AGO: After 137 games in 2011, the Indians stood at 70-67, second place in the AL Central, 6.5 games behind Detroit.

 

PROGRESS REPORT: 

The Indians are averaging 4.01 runs per game and allowing 5.19.

Batting average: .248 (9th in AL)

Slugging percentage: .383 (13th in AL)

On-base percentage: .320 (7th in AL)

OPS average: .703 (12th in AL)

Walks: 456 (2nd in AL)

Stolen bases: 93 (8th in AL)

Strikeouts: 902 (3rd-fewest in AL)

With runners in scoring position: .232 (265 for 1,142)

 

Team ERA: 4.83 (last in AL)

Walks allowed: 461 (2nd-fewest in AL)

Strikeouts: 915 (2nd-fewest in AL)

Opponents with runners in scoring position: .289 (358 for 1,241)

Errors: 76 (5th-fewest in AL)

 

STARTING PITCHERS:

44-66, 5.21 ERA

(788 IP, 456 ER)

 

RELIEF PITCHERS:

14-13, 38 saves, 7 blown saves, 4.02 ERA

(418.2 IP, 187 ER)

 

INDIANS’ OVERALL RECORD IN GAMES STARTED BY:

Masterson 14-15 (17 quality starts)

Jimenez 11-17 (12 quality starts)

Lowe 9-12 (13 quality starts)

McAllister 8-9 (8 quality starts)

Tomlin 8-8 (7 quality starts)

Gomez 7-7 (4 quality starts)

Kluber 1-6 (3 quality starts)

Seddon 0-2 (1 quality start)

Hernandez 0-3 (0 quality starts)

 

INDIANS’ RECORD WHEN GETTING QUALITY START: 46-19

INDIANS’ RECORD WHEN NOT GETTING QUALITY START: 12-60

 

INDIANS’ RECORD BY UNIFORM:

White Script “Indians”: 17-18

Blue Script “Indians”: 19-23

Gray Block “Cleveland”: 13-23

Creamy white home alternate: 9-15

 

INDIANS’ RECORD BY CAP:

Chief Wahoo Cap: 35-41

Block C Blue Cap: 13-23

Block C Red Cap: 8-15

Red, White & Blue Block C Red Cap: 1-0

Silver Chief Wahoo Cap: 1-0

 

INDIANS’ RECORD BY DAY OF THE WEEK:

Sunday: 6-16

Monday: 9-6

Tuesday: 9-11

Wednesday: 8-13

Thursday: 9-7

Friday: 9-12

Saturday: 8-14

 

ATTENDANCE WATCH: The Indians are averaging 20,539 fans per home game - 12th in the AL

 

TEXAS SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Rangers outscored the Indians, 16-10. The Rangers committed three errors. All of the runs scored in the series were earned.

 

Overall Hitting

Texas 35 for 113 (.310), 7 walks, 1 SF (.347 on-base percentage)

Cleveland 21 for 96 (.219), 8 walks, 1 HBP (.286 on-base percentage)

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Texas 8 for 33 (.242), 24 left on base

Cleveland 7 for 22 (.318), 17 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Texas 14 (6 HR)

Cleveland 8 (2 HR)

 

Stolen Bases

Texas 2

Cleveland 2 (1 caught stealing, 1 pickoff)

 

Overall Pitching

Texas 26 IP, 21 H, 8 BB, 24 SO, 9 ER, 3.12 ERA

Cleveland 27 IP, 35 H, 7 BB, 27 SO, 16 ER, 5.33 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Texas 2-1; 19 IP, 15 H, 6 BB, 18 SO, 6 ER, 2.84 ERA

Cleveland 1-2; 16.1 IP, 23 H, 7 BB, 16 SO, 14 ER, 7.72 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Texas 1 save; 7 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 SO, 3 ER, 3.86 ERA 

Cleveland 1 save; 10.2 IP, 12 H, 0 BB, 11 SO, 2 ER, 1.69 ERA

 

DETROIT SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Tigers outscored the Indians, 11-7. Each team committed one error. Two of the Indians’ runs were unearned.

 

Overall Hitting

Cleveland 24 for 98 (.245), 10 walks, 1 SF (.312 on-base percentage)

Detroit 21 for 95 (.221), 4 walks, 3 HBP, 1 SF (.272 on-base percentage)

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Cleveland 5 for 20 (.250), 21 left on base 

Detroit 5 for 19 (.263), 14 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Cleveland 3 (0 HR)

Detroit 8 (3 HR)

 

Stolen Bases

Cleveland 4 (1 caught stealing)

Detroit 1 (1 caught stealing)

 

Overall Pitching

Cleveland 26 IP, 21 H, 4 BB, 17 SO, 11 ER, 3.81 ERA

Detroit 27 IP, 24 H, 10 BB, 17 SO, 5 ER, 1.67 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Cleveland 2-1; 19.1 IP, 16 H, 3 BB, 11 SO, 8 ER, 3.72 ERA

Detroit 1-1; 18.2 IP, 20 H, 4 BB, 10 SO, 4 ER, 1.93 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Cleveland 2 saves; 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 SO, 3 ER, 4.05 ERA 

Detroit 0-1; 8.1 IP, 4 H, 6 BB, 7 SO, 1 ER, 1.08 ERA

 

UP NEXT: 

at Minnesota Twins [56-81]

(Friday 8:10 p.m.; Saturday 7:10 p.m.; Sunday 2:10 p.m., Monday 8:10 p.m.)

Last year: Indians won season series, 11-7

This year: Twins lead season series, 7-4

 

at Texas Rangers [81-55]

(Tuesday 8:05 p.m.; Wednesday 8:05 p.m.; Thursday 8:05 p.m.)

Last year: Tigers won season series, 12-6

This year: Season series tied, 3-3

 

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