Written by Jonathan Knight

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MAGIC NUMBER: The Tribe's magic number for clinching second place in the AL Central now stands at six. The Indians need five victories in their last seven games to clinch their first winning record since 2007.

ALL-TIME TOTALS: The Indians’ all-time record against the Twins moved to 369-348. Their mark against the Mariners dropped to 201-158 and their record against the White Sox moved to 993-1,035.

TURNING OUT THE LIGHTS A LITTLE LATER: The Indians were officially eliminated from the Central Division race on Friday night, 11 days later than they were mathematically eliminated in 2010.

HUFF HUFFING: After pitching surprisingly well in four of his first five starts - posting a 2.08 ERA - David Huff has struggled mightily in his last four, losing each one with a 7.11 ERA. Consequently, his season ERA has ballooned to 4.20 and his record has dropped to 2-6. Over the last two seasons, he’s 4-17 with a 5.49 ERA in 24 starts.

SHELLEY’S SEPTEMBER: Shelley Duncan has hit six of his 10 home runs this season in the month of September. Since the beginning of July, he’s raised his season batting average from .211 to .261.

GO-GO GOMEZ: In his last five starts, Jeanmar Gomez is 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA. In his other four starts this season he’s 0-2 with a 6.10 ERA.

RARE MILESTONES: By hitting his 25th homer on Thursday night, Asdrubal Cabrera set a new mark for the highest single season home run total by an Indians’ shortstop, just as Carlos Santana had done the night before for Indians’ catchers with his 26th.

NOW NINTH: Now with 35 saves on the season, Chris Perez’s 2011 campaign ranks ninth among the Indians’ all-time single-season save totals, moving ahead of the 32 posted by Doug Jones in 1989 and Bob Wickman in 2001. The next hurdle for Perez is Jones’ total of 37 in 1988.

SEATTLE STRUGGLES: After beating the Mariners in their first four meetings this year, the Indians lost four of the last five, somehow allowing the worst offense in the American League to score 41 runs in those five matchups.

SWEET SWEEP: The Indians’ sweep of the Twins over the weekend was their first over Minnesota since September of 2008. It was their eighth three-game series sweep of 2011, the first since dusting Pittsburgh June 17-19.

MOVING UP THE CHARTS: The home run Jim Thome hit on Friday night in Minnesota was the 336th he’s belted in his career with the Indians. He now has 933 career RBI with Cleveland, pulling within 151 of Earl Averill’s franchise mark (1,084).

SLOPPY SEPTEMBER: In a six-game period between Sept. 14-19, the Indians committed 10 errors and allowed 17 unearned runs.

PROGRESS REPORT: The Indians are averaging 4.32 runs per game and allowing 4.6. Their team batting average is .249 (10th in the AL) and team ERA is 4.16 (10th in the AL).

A YEAR AGO: After 155 games in 2010, the Indians stood at 64-91, fourth place in the AL Central, 28.5 games back of the first-place Twins.

 

MINNESOTA SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Indians outscored the Twins 23-15. Five of Minnesota’s runs and three of the Indians’ runs were unearned. The Indians committed seven errors and the Twins committed three.

Overall Hitting

Cleveland 32 for 113 (.283), 12 walks

Minnesota 29 for 108 (.269), 9 walks

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Cleveland 11 for 35 (.314), 23 left on base

Minnesota 7 for 32 (.219), 24 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Cleveland 10 (4 HR)

Minnesota 7 (1 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

Cleveland 27 IP, 29 H, 9 BB, 17 SO, 10 ER, 3.33 ERA

Minnesota 27 IP, 32 H, 12 BB, 21 SO, 20 ER, 6.67 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Cleveland 3-0; 19 IP, 19 H, 6 BB, 10 SO, 4 ER, 1.89 ERA

Minnesota 0-3; 12.1 IP, 19 H, 2 BB, 8 SO, 13 ER, 9.49 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Cleveland 2 saves; 8 IP, 10 H, 3 BB, 7 SO, 6 ER, 6.75 ERA

Minnesota 14.2 IP, 13 H, 10 BB, 13 SO, 6 ER, 3.68 ERA

 

SEATTLE “SERIES” BY THE NUMBERS:

The Mariners outscored the Indians, 12-6. The Indians committed one error. Four of Seattle’s runs were unearned.

Overall Hitting

Seattle 11 for 32 (.344), 5 walks

Cleveland 11 for 30 (.367), 1 walks

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Seattle 6 for 9 (.667), 4 left on base

Cleveland 2 for 3 (.667), 4 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Seattle 4 (2 HR)

Cleveland 4 (2 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

Seattle 7 IP, 11 H, 1 BB, 11 SO, 6 ER, 7.71 ERA

Cleveland 7 IP, 11 H, 5 BB, 5 SO, 8 ER, 10.29 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Seattle 1-0; 5 IP, 10 H, 1 BB, 8 SO, 6 ER, 10.80 ERA

Cleveland 0-1; 2.2 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 1 SO, 5 ER, 16.85 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Seattle 2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA

Cleveland 4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 SO, 3 ER, 6.24 ERA

 

CHICAGO SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Indians outscored the White Sox, 23-18. One of Chicago’s runs was unearned. The Indians committed two errors.

Overall Hitting

Chicago 30 for 130 (.231), 13 walks

Cleveland 36 for 129 (.279), 13 walks

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Chicago 8 for 32 (.250), 24 left on base

Cleveland 9 for 27 (.333), 21 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Chicago 13 (3 HR)

Cleveland 13 (7 HR)

 

Overall Pitching

Chicago 34 IP, 36 H, 13 BB, 25 SO, 23 ER, 6.09 ERA

Cleveland 36 IP, 30 H, 13 BB, 24 SO, 17 ER, 4.25 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Chicago 1-2; 23.1 IP, 26 H, 8 BB, 16 SO, 17 ER, 6.56 ERA

Cleveland 2-1; 24.1 IP, 23 H, 7 BB, 17 SO, 10 ER, 3.70 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Chicago 1-0, 1 save; 10.2 IP, 10 H, 5 BB, 9 SO, 6 ER, 5.06 ERA

Cleveland 0-1, 1 save; 11.2 IP, 7 H, 6 BB, 7 SO, 7 ER, 5.40 ERA

 

UP NEXT:

Minnesota Twins [60-95]

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

Probable Starters:

Masterson (12-10, 3.15 ERA); Huff (2-6, 4.20 ERA); TBD; Carmona (7-15, 5.23 ERA)

Last year: Twins won, 12-6

This year: Indians lead series, 8-6

 

at Detroit Tigers [90-66]

(Monday 7:05 p.m.; Tuesday 7:05 p.m.; Wednesday 7:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters:

McAllister (0-1, 8.53 ERA), Jimenez (4-3, 4.62 ERA); Gomez (5-2, 3.52 ERA)

Last year: Series tied, 9-9

This year: Tigers lead, 9-6

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