Written by Jonathan Knight

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SWEEPING CINCY: The dusting of the Reds marked the fourth time the Indians have swept Cincinnati (along with 2011 and 2004 in Cleveland and 1999 in Cincinnati).

MASTERFUL MASTERSON: Over his last four starts, Justin Masterson has an ERA of 1.24 with 27 strikeouts and six walks while allowing only one home run. He now hasn’t allowed an earned run in 20.1 innings and has only allowed one earned run in his last 25.2 innings. Over these four starts, he’s dropped his season ERA from 5.14 to 3.98.

ALL-TIME TOTALS: The Indians’ all-time record against the Pirates dropped to 16-17, while their mark against the Reds jumped to 42-39.

SHUTOUT SIMILARITY: Justin Masterson’s gem on Friday night against the Pirates resulted in the Tribe’s fourth shutout of the year, matching their total for the entire 2011 season. Interestingly, last year the Indians collected all four goose-eggs by mid-June, then none the remainder of the season.

LOWE POINT: Since his complete-game shutout in Minnesota on May 15, Derek Lowe is 1-4 with an 8.13 ERA. He’s allowed at least seven earned runs in three of his last five starts.

FINALLY: The weekend series with Pittsburgh drew 89,716 to Progressive Field - the Indians’ best series of the season in terms of attendance. Friday night’s crowd of 31,920 was their second-best single-game draw of the season behind opening day. 

PERSEVERING: The Indians’ pitching staff has the second-worst ERA in the American League.

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD: Monday night’s 10-run explosion in the slugfest with Cincinnati was the Indians’ third-best scoring game of the season, trailing only the 13- and 11-run displays in Kansas City in mid-April.

TRIBE IN THE TIGHT ONES: The Indians are now 12-2 in one-run games. Monday and Tuesday signified the Tribe’s 16th and 17th come-from-behind triumphs of the season, and Asdrubal Cabrera’s bomb Tuesday night was the Indians’ seventh win in their last at-bat, but only their third walk-off victory.

HOME AND AWAY: The Cincy sweep stretched the Indians’ home winning streak over the Reds to seven games. By contrast, they’ve lost 13 of their last 18 games to the Reds in Cincinnati.

STILL GETTING IN DONE: Monday night marked the third time this season Chris Perez allowed a run but still converted a save.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEKEND MAKES: The three-game set with Cincinnati drew just 60,705. A year ago, when the Indians hosted the Reds on a weekend, they drew a total of 99,086.

BIG LEAGUE CHOO: In six games against the Reds this year, Shin-Soo Choo hit .407 (11 for 27) with five doubles, three home runs, four RBI and six runs scored.

THE CHIZ KID: On Monday night Lonnie Chisenhall drove in as many runs as he’d knocked in in his 16 previous games this season. By driving in three more on Wednesday, he had tripled his season RBI total in 48 hours.

LOUSY THIEVES: Neither the Reds or the Indians successfully stole a base in this week’s series. In their first set in Cincinnati, the Reds managed one steal while the Indians had none.

GASPING GOMEZ: In Jeanmar Gomez’s last five starts, he’s 1-4 with an ERA of 7.92.

STILL HOT: Despite the sloppy weekend, the Indians have still won nine of their last 12 games against the Pirates in Cleveland.

WEEKEND GAP: The Indians are now 7-3 in games played on Friday, but just 3-8 on Saturdays.

CONTRAST: Since 1999, the Indians have defeated the Pirates 13 times in 27 games. By contrast, in that same period, the Browns have defeated the Steelers four times in 27 games.

A YEAR AGO: After 68 games in 2011, the Indians stood at 37-31, tied for first in the AL Central with Detroit.

 

PROGRESS REPORT:

The Indians are averaging 4.41 runs per game and allowing 4.87.

Batting average: .253 (9th in AL)

Slugging percentage: .389 (11th in AL)

On-base percentage: .328 (5th in AL)

Walks: 248 (2nd in AL)

Stolen bases: 53 (3rd in AL)

Strikeouts: 434 (2nd-fewest in AL)

With runners in scoring position: .243 (144 for 593)

 

Team ERA: 4.51 (13th in AL)

Walks allowed: 241 (3rd-fewest in AL)

Strikeouts: 440 (3rd-fewest in AL)

Opponents with runners in scoring position: .294 (182 for 619)

Errors: 40 (7th-fewest in AL)

 

STARTING PITCHERS:

25-28, 4.54 ERA

(406.2 IP, 205 ER)

 

RELIEF PITCHERS:

11-4, 24 saves, 3 blown saves, 4.45 ERA

(208.1 IP, 103 ER)

 

INDIANS’ OVERALL RECORD IN GAMES STARTED BY:

Lowe 8-6 (10 quality starts)

Jimenez 7-6 (7 quality starts)

Tomlin 6-4 (5 quality starts)

Gomez 6-6 (4 quality starts)

Masterson 6-9 (10 quality starts)

McAllister 3-1 (2 quality starts)

 

INDIANS’ RECORD WHEN GETTING QUALITY START: 28-10

INDIANS’ RECORD WHEN NOT GETTING QUALITY START: 8-22

 

INDIANS’ RECORD BY UNIFORM:

White Script “Indians”: 11-7

Blue Script “Indians”: 13-9

Gray Block “Cleveland”: 7-7

Creamy white home alternate: 5-9

 

INDIANS’ RECORD BY CAP:

Chief Wahoo Cap: 24-16

Block C Blue Cap: 7-7

Block C Red Cap: 4-9

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

 

INDIANS’ RECORD BY DAY OF THE WEEK:

Sunday: 5-6

Monday: 5-1

Tuesday: 6-4

Wednesday: 5-6

Thursday: 5-4

Friday: 7-3

Saturday: 3-8

 

ATTENDANCE WATCH: Indians are averaging 18,408 fans per home game - 14th in the AL

 

PITTSBURGH SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Pirates outscored the Indians, 18-9. The Indians committed four errors. Four of Pittsburgh’s runs were unearned.

 

Overall Hitting

Pittsburgh 27 for 105 (.257), 14 walks, 2 HBP (.387 on-base percentage)

Cleveland 24 for 98 (.245), 11 walks (.321 on-base percentage)

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Pittsburgh 5 for 19 (.263), 22 left on base

Cleveland 4 for 26 (.154), 22 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Pittsburgh 11 (7 HR)

Cleveland 8 (3 HR)

 

Stolen Bases

Pittsburgh 3 (1 caught stealing)

Cleveland 4

 

Overall Pitching

Pittsburgh 26 IP, 24 H, 11 BB, 16 SO, 9 ER, 3.12 ERA

Cleveland 27 IP, 27 H, 14 BB, 26 SO, 14 ER, 4.67 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Pittsburgh 1-1; 16 IP, 17 H, 7 BB, 9 SO, 7 ER, 3.94 ERA

Cleveland 1-2; 17.1 IP, 18 H, 7 BB, 16 SO, 8 ER, 4.16 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Pittsburgh 10 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 7 SO, 2 ER, 1.80 ERA 

Cleveland 1 save; 9.2 IP, 9 H, 7 BB, 10 SO, 6 ER, 5.58 ERA

 

CINCINNATI SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:

The Indians outscored the Reds, 21-12. The Indians committed three errors and the Reds committed two. Three of the Indians’ runs were unearned.

 

Overall Hitting

Cincinnati 26 for 105 (.248), 6 walks, 1 HBP (.295 on-base percentage)

Cleveland 34 for 107 (.318), 8 walks, 1 SF (.362 on-base percentage)

 

With Runners in Scoring Position

Cincinnati 8 for 24 (.333), 16 left on base

Cleveland 9 for 37 (.243), 19 left on base

 

Extra-Base Hits

Cincinnati 10 (2 HR)

Cleveland 17 (6 HR)

 

Stolen Bases

Cincinnati 0 (1 caught stealing)

Cleveland 0 (1 caught stealing)

 

Overall Pitching

Cincinnati 25.1 IP, 34 H, 8 BB, 19 SO, 18 ER, 6.40 ERA

Cleveland 28 IP, 26 H, 6 BB, 19 SO, 11 ER, 3.54 ERA

 

Starting Pitchers

Cincinnati 0-1; 15 IP, 22 H, 3 BB, 10 SO, 13 ER, 7.88 ERA

Cleveland 1-0; 20.2 IP, 20 H, 3 BB, 13 SO, 8 ER, 3.48 ERA

 

Relief Pitchers

Cincinnati 0-2, 1 blown save; 10.1 IP, 12 H, 5 BB, 9 SO, 5 ER, 4.36 ERA

Cleveland 2-0; 1 save; 7.1 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 SO, 3 ER, 3.68 ERA

 

UP NEXT: 

at Houston Astros [28-41]

(Friday 8:05 p.m.; Saturday 4:05 p.m., Sunday 2:05 p.m.)

Last year: Didn’t play (Astros won season series 2-1 in 2001)

 

at New York Yankees [41-27]

(Monday 7:05 p.m.; Tuesday 7:05 p.m.; Wednesday 1:05 p.m.)

Last year: Yankees won season series, 4-3

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