Written by Jonathan Knight

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STRUGGLING AGAINST THE WEAK: Though they played their last 12 games against teams with losing records, the Indians won only five. Their record for the season against teams that currently stand below .500 is 28-18.

ALL-TIME TOTALS: The Indians’ all-time record against Baltimore moved to 420-385. Their mark against Minnesota now stands at 363-348.

QUARTET TROUBLES: The Indians have now played six four-game series this season and haven’t won any of them - splitting three times, losing three of four twice, and getting swept once. Their overall record in games played as part of a four-game series this season is 8-16.

DIVISIONAL MATTERS: The Indians’ record against Central Division opponents now stands at 15-14. Detroit has the strongest mark against division opponents (20-10), while Chicago’s struggles against the Central Division (11-19) are the only thing that has kept the White Sox out of first place.

THE RARE ROAD DOUBLE DIP: Monday’s double-win over the Twins marked the first time the Indians had swept a doubleheader on the road since Sept. 20, 2000, against the Red Sox during their frantic - yet ultimately unfruitful - wild-card chase.

RECORD, PART ONE: The Indians are now 17-15 in one-run games but have lost three of their last four.

RECORD, PART TWO: The Tribe is now 15-18 in games in which neither team scores five runs and 4-9 in games in which both teams score at least five runs.

CONTROL: Indians pitchers only walked five Twins during the entire series. Only two of those walks were by Cleveland starters in more than 26 innings pitched.

SNAPPING: Tuesday’s ninth-inning implosion was just Chris Perez’s second blown save of the season, the first since April 21, snapping a string of 16 consecutive save conversions.

A TROUBLING TREND: When Chris Perez pitches after at least one day of rest, his season ERA is 1.86. When he pitches after having pitched the day before, his ERA shoots to 8.10.

LACK OF SUPPORT: The Indians have now scored two runs or less in nine of Justin Masterson’s 20 starts this season and have been shut out four times with Masterson on the hill. Since his 5-0 start, the Tribe is averaging scoring 2.93 runs in each game he’s started.

STRONG STARTS, POOR FINISHES: The Cleveland bullpen tumbled in Minnesota, posting an ERA of 9.39 against the Twins while losing two games and blowing a save. In the last two series against Minnesota, the Indians’ starters have been magnificent, going 3-1 with an ERA of 2.57.

PROGRESS REPORT: The Indians are averaging 4.38 runs per game and allowing 4.32. Their team batting average is .250 (10th in the AL) and team ERA is 4.03 (ninth in the AL).

A YEAR AGO: After 97 games in 2010, the Indians stood at 41-56, last place in the AL Central, 12.5 games back of the first-place White Sox.

 

BALTIMORE SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

 The Orioles outscored the Indians, 23-22. All of the runs scored in the series were earned. The Indians committed two errors.

Overall Hitting

 Cleveland 37 for 138 (.268), 16 walks

Baltimore 32 for 130 (.246), 11 walks

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Cleveland 11 for 39 (.282), 28 left on base

Baltimore 8 for 26 (.308), 19 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

 Cleveland 15 (6 HR)

Baltimore 20 (8 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

 Cleveland 34 IP, 32 H, 11 BB, 28 SO, 23 ER, 6.09 ERA

Baltimore 36 IP, 37 H, 16 BB, 31 SO, 22 ER, 5.50 ERA

 

Staring Pitchers

 Cleveland 2-2; 23.1 IP, 25 H, 6 BB, 19 SO, 17 ER, 6.56 ERA

Baltimore 1-1; 20 IP, 22 H, 10 BB, 14 SO, 16 ER, 7.20 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

 Cleveland 1 save; 11 IP, 7 H, 7 BB, 9 SO, 6 ER, 4.91 ERA

Baltimore 1-1, 1 save; 16 IP, 15 H, 6 BB, 17 SO, 6 ER, 3.38 ERA

 

MINNESOTA SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

 The Indians outscored the Twins, 17-14. Five of the Indians’ runs were unearned. Each team committed three errors.

Overall Hitting

 Cleveland 31 for 134 (.231), 10 walks

Minnesota 35 for 134 (.261), 5 walks

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

 Cleveland 8 for 29 (.276), 24 left on base

Minnesota 7 for 24 (.292), 23 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

 Cleveland 9 (4 HR)

Minnesota 10 (3 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

 Cleveland 34.1 IP, 35 H, 5 BB, 21 SO, 14 ER, 3.67 ERA

Minnesota 36 IP, 31 H, 10 BB, 25 SO, 12 ER, 3.00 ERA

 

Staring Pitchers

 Cleveland 2-0; 26.2 IP, 24 H, 2 BB, 14 SO, 6 ER, 2.03 ERA

Minnesota 0-2; 24.1 IP, 21 H, 8 BB, 17 SO, 8 ER, 2.96 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

 Cleveland 0-2, 1 save; 7.2 IP, 11 H, 3 BB, 7 SO, 8 ER, 9.39 ERA

Minnesota 2-0, 1 save; 11.2 IP, 10 H, 2 BB, 8 SO, 4 ER, 3.09 ERA

 

UP NEXT:

 Chicago White Sox [47-51]

 (Friday 7:05 p.m.; Saturday 7:05 p.m., Sunday 1:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters:

 Carrasco (8-7, 4.25 ERA); Gomez (0-2, 5.70 ERA); Carmona (5-10, 5.63 ERA)

Last year: Series tied, 9-9

This year: White Sox lead series, 4-1

 

Los Angeles Angels [53-46]

 (Monday 7:05 p.m., Tuesday 7:05 p.m., Wednesday 12:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters:

 Masterson (8-6, 2.64 ERA); Tomlin (11-4, 4.12 ERA); Carrasco

Last year: Indians won series, 5-4

This year: Angels lead series, 4-2