Written by Jonathan Knight

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PUNKING THE PLAYOFF TEAMS: The Indians are now 9-3 this year against teams that made the playoffs in 2011. This is a dramatic improvement over last year, when they went 12-30 against teams that wound up in the postseason (and went 14-36 in 2011 against teams that reached the playoffs in 2010). 

HITTING BETTER THAN THE HITTERS: In the St. Louis and Cincinnati series, Tribe pitchers got five hits in 15 at bats - an average of .333. That statistic becomes all the more impressive (or depressing) considering the Indians hit a combined .235 as a team in those two series.

ALL-TIME TOTALS: The Indians’ all-time record against the Cardinals improved to 14-6, while their mark against the Reds dropped to 39-39.

HERE WE GO AGAIN: Since Memorial Day, the Indians are 5-9. Last year they went on a 4-10 skid after Memorial Day.

EIGHT IS ENOUGH: Tuesday night marked the eighth time this season the Indians have been held to one run or less.

DRAGGING US DOWN: Indians’ starting pitchers now have a combined record of 23-26 for the season.

SLUMPING: In his last four starts, Jeanmar Gomez is 1-3 with a 7.84 ERA, allowing 10 walks and 29 hits. His season ERA has jumped from 3.19 to 4.71 during this period.

BEAT ME IN ST. LOUIS: The Indians have won all seven series they’ve played against the St. Louis Cardinals and are now 8-4 against the Cards in St. Louis.

TOMLIN’S TIMBER: Collecting a hit on Friday and another on Thursday, Josh Tomlin is now 4 for 7 at the plate in his career with a run scored and an RBI.

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS: The Indians have lost nine of the 13 games Justin Masterson has started this year. While he’s only won one of his last five outings, four have been quality starts, and his ERA in this stretch is 3.82.

GOOSE-EGGED: Saturday night marked the first time the Indians had been shut out since last Sept. 26 in Detroit, ending a string of 59 straight games without a shutout.

HITTING BETTER THAN THE HITTERS: In the St. Louis and Cincinnati series, Tribe pitchers got five hits in 15 at bats - an average of .333. That statistic becomes all the more impressive (or depressing) considering the Indians hit a combined .235 as a team in those two series. 

MORE DRAMATICS: Sunday was the Indians’ 15th come-from-behind win and sixth in their last at-bat.

HISTORIC PACE: Picking up his 20th save in the 59th game of the season, Chris Perez is ahead of Joe Borowski’s pace in 2007 - Borowski didn’t get his 20th until the 68th game. He’s just off the pace of Jose Mesa’s 1995 campaign, as Mesa notched his 20th in the 58th game.

ELITE COMPANY: Chris Perez has joined Doug Jones as the only Indians’ closers to pick up at least 20 saves in three straight seasons.

PATHETIC: In St. Louis and Cincinnati series, the Indians hit a combined.133 (6 for 45) with runners in scoring position.

DON’T WALK, PART ONE: Sunday marked the first time in Ubaldo Jimenez’s career with the Indians that he didn’t allow a walk. The last time he pulled it off was with the Rockies last June 7 in San Diego, 32 starts ago.

DON’T WALK, PART TWO: Indians’ starting pitchers only allowed one walk in 21 innings last weekend in St. Louis. (Then they permitted 12 in 15 innings in Cincinnati.)

STILL WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: The Indians are now 10-2 in one-run games.

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN: In the Tribe’s three-game set in Cincinnati, former Indian Brandon Phillips went 8 for 12 with two homers, three runs scored, and seven RBI. Just as a reminder, in his four years in Cleveland, Phillips hit .206 with six homers and 38 RBI in 135 games.

KNOCKING OFF THE CHAMPS: Friday night’s win over St. Louis marked the first time the Indians had defeated the defending world champions since knocking off the Yankees in July of 2010. The Tribe had lost five straight games and 14 of their last 17 when playing the team that had won the World Series the year before. They hadn’t won a series over the defending world champions since taking two of three from the White Sox in September of 2006.

BLAZING BRANTLEY: Since May 9, Michael Brantley has raised his season batting average from .233 to .285.

A YEAR AGO: After 62 games in 2011, the Indians stood at 34-28, tied for first in the AL Central with Detroit.

 

PROGRESS REPORT:

The Indians are averaging 4.36 runs per game and allowing 4.86.

Batting average: .250 (10th in AL)

Slugging percentage: .378 (12th in AL)

On-base percentage: .327 (4th in AL)

Walks: 229 (1st in AL)

Stolen bases: 49 (1st in AL)

Strikeouts: 399 (3rd-fewest in AL)

With runners in scoring position: .247 (131 for 530)

 

Team ERA: 4.55 (13th in AL)

Walks allowed: 221 (2nd-fewest in AL)

Strikeouts: 395 (2nd-fewest in AL)

Opponents with runners in scoring position: .293 (169 for 576)

Errors: 33 (5th-fewest in AL)

 

STARTING PITCHERS:

23-26, 4.61 ERA

(368.2 IP, 189 ER)

 

RELIEF PITCHERS:

9-4, 22 saves, 3 blown saves, 4.42 ERA

(191.1 IP, 94 ER)

 

INDIANS’ OVERALL RECORD IN GAMES STARTED BY:

Lowe 7-6 (10 quality starts)

Jimenez 7-5 (7 quality starts)

Gomez 6-5 (4 quality starts)

Tomlin 5-4 (4 quality starts)

Masterson 4-9 (8 quality starts)

McAllister 3-1 (2 quality starts)

 

INDIANS’ RECORD WHEN GETTING QUALITY START: 25-10

INDIANS’ RECORD WHEN NOT GETTING QUALITY START: 7-20

 

INDIANS’ RECORD BY UNIFORM:

White Script “Indians”: 8-7

Blue Script “Indians”: 12-9

Gray Block “Cleveland”: 7-7

Creamy white home alternate: 5-7

 

INDIANS’ RECORD BY CAP:

Chief Wahoo Cap: 20-16

Block C Blue Cap: 7-7

Block C Red Cap: 4-7

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

 

INDIANS’ RECORD BY DAY OF THE WEEK:

Sunday: 5-5

Monday: 4-1

Tuesday: 5-4

Wednesday: 4-6

Thursday: 5-4

Friday: 6-3

Saturday: 3-7

 

ATTENDANCE WATCH: The Indians are averaging 17,159 fans per home game - last in the AL

 

ST. LOUIS SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Indians outscored the Cardinals, 10-5. The Cardinals committed four errors. One of the Indians’ runs was unearned.

 

Overall Hitting

Cleveland 24 for 106 (.226), 7 walks, 1 SF (.272 on-base percentage)

St. Louis 23 for 96 (.240), 5 walks, 1 SF (.275 on-base percentage)

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Cleveland 4 for 25 (.160), 23 left on base

St. Louis 1 for 13 (.077), 20 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Cleveland 5 (2 HR)

St. Louis 6 (2 HR)

 

Stolen Bases

Cleveland 1 (1 caught stealing)

St. Louis 1 (1 caught stealing)

 

Overall Pitching

Cleveland 26 IP, 23 H, 5 BB, 21 SO, 5 ER, 1.73 ERA

St. Louis 27 IP, 24 H, 7 BB, 21 SO, 9 ER, 3.00 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Cleveland 1-1; 21 IP, 18 H, 1 BB, 14 SO, 4 ER, 1.71 ERA

St. Louis 1-1; 18.2 IP, 18 H, 4 BB, 15 SO, 4 ER, 1.93 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Cleveland 1-0, 1 save; 5 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 12 SO, 1 ER, 1.80 ERA 

St. Louis 0-1, 1 save; 8.1 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 SO, 5 ER, 5.40 ERA

 

CINCINNATI SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Reds outscored the Indians, 24-9. The Indians committed four errors and the Reds committed two. Each team scored one unearned run.

 

Overall Hitting

Cleveland 26 for 107 (.243), 4 walks (.270 on-base percentage)

Cincinnati 37 for 105 (.352), 14 walks, 2 HBP, 3 SF (.427 on-base percentage)

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Cleveland 2 for 20 (.100), 21 left on base

Cincinnati 12 for 39 (.308), 28 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Cleveland 8 (3 HR)

Cincinnati 10 (5 HR)

 

Stolen Bases

Cleveland 0 (1 caught stealing)

Cincinnati 1 (1 caught stealing)

 

Overall Pitching

Cleveland 24 IP, 37 H, 14 BB, 21 SO, 22 ER, 8.25 ERA

Cincinnati 27 IP, 26 H, 4 BB, 27 SO, 9 ER, 3.00 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Cleveland 0-3; 15 IP, 21 H, 12 BB, 7 SO, 10 ER, 6.00 ERA

Cincinnati 2-0; 20.1 IP, 20 H, 3 BB, 20 SO, 6 ER, 2.66 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Cleveland 9 IP, 16 H, 2 BB, 14 SO, 12 ER, 12.00 ERA

Cincinnati 1 save; 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 SO, 3 ER, 4.05 ERA

 

UP NEXT: 

Pittsburgh Pirates [32-30]

(Friday 7:05 p.m.; Saturday 4:05 p.m., Sunday 1:05 p.m.)

Last year: Indians won season series, 3-0

 

Cincinnati Reds [35-27]

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

Last year: Indians won season series, 5-1

This year: Reds lead, 3-0

 

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