Indians Vs. Chicago Final: Tribe Sinking Like A Stone...Or A Dropped Fly Ball; Chicago Wins 4-2

The Indians came into a vital nine-game homestand hoping to stay in — or perhaps to take control of again — the Central Division race.

But two games and a rain-out in to what is now an eight-game stand at Progressive Field, the Tribe is sinking exactly when a team that needs to improve by the trade deadline cannot afford to sink.

Justin Masterson gave up one earned run in seven innings, allowing only four hits, but fell to 8-7 on the year when the defense gave up three runs all by itself — the difference as Chicago made it 6-of-7 this year against The Good Guys with a 4-2 win.

Edwin Jackson (7-7) improved to 9-1 lifetime against the Tribe, while Sergio Santos earned his 20th save to complete a parade of three White Sox relievers, but Jackson might well have lost if the Indians had only been able to catch — or properly throw — the ball.

Chicago scored in the first when Juan Pierre led off with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Paul Konerko ground out.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth, when, with two outs, Ezequiel Carrera singled to score Matt LaPorta from second and tie the game at 1-1.

But in the White Sox sixth, with two outs and two on, Adam Dunn hit a fly ball to the warning track in center. Carrera got back on it, then might have lost it in the sun. Regardless, Carrera dropped what should have been out number three, and Chicago led 3-1 as Omar Vizquel and Konerko scored.

The Indians got one back in the bottom of the sixth when Asdrubal Cabrera scored from first on a Travis Hafner single with nobody out. But Carlos Santana hit into a double play, and the Tribe offense was for all intents and purposes done for the day.

The White Sox added a run in the seventh on another gift. Well, actually, on two gifts.

With one out, Alex Rios reached on an error when Asdrubal Cabrera backed up on a one-hopper that might have been able to be caught on the fly and mishandled the bounce. Then Rios took off for second on a steal attempt and Santana sailed the ball into center field, with Rios going to third. Mark Teahan came through with an RBI single, and Chicago had their final 4-2 margin.

The Indians’ offense basically shut down in the last three innings, with the only baserunner in the last nine outs coming on a ninth-inning walk to Santana, after which Orlando Cabrera and Lonnie Chisenhall were both retired by Santos to end it. But oh how Chisenhall was retired, and what bittersweet memories it evoked!

Vizquel, playing second base, ranged far to his left onto the outfield grass to corral Chisenhall's grounder with a dive, and came up with the throw to Konerko to beat Chisenhall by half a step to complete the White Sox mini-sweep.

The Tribe now gets the dubious thrill of having the Los Angeles Angels come to town ready to perhaps trot out their three best pitchers — Dan Haren, All-Star Game starter Jered Weaver and Ervin Santana, although Wednesday’s starter is as yet undecided for the Angels.

Cleveland will counter with Fausto Carmona, Josh Tomlin and David Huff against a team that took 4-of-6 from the Tribe earlier this year in two trips to Anaheim.

Let us hope that the Indians are not sporting a seven-game losing streak and a .500 record heading into their day off on Thursday.

Tribe Goes For Split Of Abbreviated Series Sunday At 1:05

The Indians will go for a split of what has become a two-game series when they take on the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon at 1:05, after last night’s game was called after a two-hour wait to get started by rain.

David Huff, who had been scheduled to start last night, is evidently being skipped for a turn, as Sunday’s originally-scheduled starter, Justin Masterson, will indeed face the ChiSox.

Will Huff pitch in the series beginning tomorrow against the Angels? From what I have seen so far — and of course, all things could be subject to change — Fausto Carmona is supposed to go on Monday, Josh Tomlin on Tuesday, and it would follow that Carlos Carrasco would start on Wednesday before a day-off Thursday.

If Huff is therefore held back until next weekend against Kansas City, will he be ready and good to go after having had an almost-two week layoff?

I guess we shall see, although when a pitcher gives you seven scoreless innings in his first appearance of the season, it would seem politic to get his his next start in as timely a fashion as possible.

I guess this is why I write, and other people manage — they must know the ins and outs much better than I do.

Be that as it may…on to today’s game.

Masterson last appeared on Tuesday in Minnesota, when he was brilliant for 7.2 innings, allowing no runs on four hits, walking none and striking out six but being denied a win when Chris Perez lost a 1-0 lead and the game in the bottom of the ninth.

Masterson (8-6, 2.64 ERA) is 1-1 vs. Chicago this year, winning 7-1 on April 3 (the Indians’ first win of the season) but losing in Chicago on May 18, when he gave up but one run in eight innings of a 1-0 White Sox win.

For his career, Masterson is 2-3 against the Sox, but with a brilliant 2.09 ERA in 56 innings.

Chicago will start Edwin Jackson (6-7, 3.97 ERA) in the series finale. Jackson beat the Tribe on April 2, going six innings and allowing two earned runs in an 8-3 Chicago win.

For his career, Jackson is a sterling 8-1 vs. The Good Guys, with a 2.70 ERA in 12 starts and 76.2 innings.

The Indians crept to within a game of Detroit last night when the Tigers lost to the Twins. Should Cleveland win and Detroit lose today, the Tribe would once again slip into a virtual tie for the lead in the American League Central.

Chicago Is Creeping Close To The Indians; A Cleveland Win Saturday Would Stall That

• Preview via SB Nation and Sports Network *

(Sports Network) – With the Detroit Tigers heating up, the Cleveland Indians have picked the wrong time to fall into a three-game losing streak. Now 1 1/2 games behind the Tigers for first place in the American League Central, the Tribe try to get back on the horse as it takes on the Chicago White Sox in the second of a three-game set at Progressive Field.

As the only team in the division on the plus side when it comes to run differential (plus-5) heading into the weekend, one would figure that the Indians would be at or near the top of the standings and that remains the case even though the squad was shut out last night, 3-0.

Cleveland finished with a total of only five hits, two of those coming from Lonnie Chisenhall who registered the lone extra-base hit for the club with a double. Batting in front of Chisenhall in the lineup, Matt LaPorta didn’t help matters with his three strikeouts in four at-bats.

Starter Carlos Carrasco was saddled with his eighth loss of the season as he allowed all three runs on six hits, walking four and striking out six over the course of 6 1/3 innings.

Chicago’s Gavin Floyd was awarded the win, his eighth, as he held Cleveland scoreless through 7 2/3 innings, permitting just four hits and fanning five on 99 pitches.

Carlos Quentin accounted for all of the offense for the White Sox as he belted his 20th home run of the season, a three-run shot, in the fifth inning. Quentin accounted for three of the club’s eight hits, while Adam Dunn tallied two hits but is still struggling with a woeful .163 batting average with his new club.

“I gave my team a chance to win today, so that’s all I could ask for out of myself,” said Quentin. “You know, the story is Gavin. He did unbelievable.”

Heading back out to the mound for the Indians tonight is David Huff, following up his season debut earlier in the week against the Twins when he threw seven scoreless innings. Now in his third major league campaign, the lefty is actually 2-0 in his career versus Chicago, despite sporting a lofty 8.04 ERA in three previous appearances.

As for the White Sox, they’ll be turning to Edwin Jackson in hopes that he can even his personal record on the season with another victory. The right-hander, who is four games under .500 (54-58) for his career thus far, last pitched a week ago when he threw a shutout against Detroit on the road. During the 9-0 victory for Chicago, Jackson scattered nine hits and a pair of walks, striking out just two as he dropped his season ERA below 4.00.

Already 1-0 this season against the Tribe, Jackson has a sterling 8-1 mark, to go along with a 2.70 ERA, in 12 career appearances against Cleveland.

Travis Hafner, who played in the 1,000th game of his major league career on Friday, had been riding a minor four-game hitting streak for the Indians before going hitless in four appearances. Nevertheless, he is still hitting .314 on the season, despite playing in just 59 of the team’s games, an average which is considerably better than his lifetime mark of .283.

Over on the other side of the ledger, Paul Konerko continues to lead the White Sox in home runs with 22, but he’s gone deep just once in the month of July and has just that lone long ball since June 21 when he ended a stretch of five straight games with a home run. He is batting just .254 this month and has only eight RBI to show for his efforts.

Indians Vs. Chicago Final: Gavin Floyd And 2 Relievers Blank Tribe 3-0

Carlos Quentin hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning, Gavin Floyd shut down the Indians on four hits into the eighth inning, and the Chicago White Sox took the opener of a three-game series at Progressive Field, 3-0.

Cleveland starter and loser Carlos Carrasco (8-8, 4.25 ERA) worked out of trouble early, but could not escape the fifth, when Quentin went deep with two aboard and one out.

The Indians threatened to get right back in it when they put two aboard in the bottom of the fifth, but Jason Kipnis, in only his second career at-bat, flied out to end the threat.

The Tribe also put two on with one out in the eighth, but pinch-hitter Carlos Santana grounded out, and Chicago reliever Matt Thornton got pinch-hitter Orlando Cabrera to fly out.

Sergio Santos came on in the ninth with two outs and one on and got Matt LaPorta to strike out to end the game.

Floyd went 7.2 innings to lower his ERA to 4.11 as the White Sox improved to 5-1 against Cleveland in 2011.

The Detroit Tigers were having their way with the Minnesota Twins, so the Indians are likely to fall a game and a half behind the Tigers. The Tribe has not trailed in the AL Central by that much since early April.

Indians Will Try To Fend Off White Sox In 3-Game Series That Begins Friday Evening In Cleveland

*** Preview via SB Nation and Sports Network ***

(Sports Network) - The Cleveland Indians are in the thick of an AL Central race and will try to fend off the division-rival Chicago White Sox tonight in the opener of a three-game series from Progressive Field.

Cleveland is just a half-game behind Detroit in the AL Central, while the White Sox are five games off the pace and Minnesota sits six behind the Tigers.

The Indians have lost two in a row, four of six and seven of their last 11 games, including Wednesday's 7-5 loss to the Twins in the finale of a four- game series at Target Field. Lonnie Chisenhall homered and Orlando Cabrera drove in a run for the Indians, who split the series with the Twins. Tribe starter Josh Tomlin gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings of work and Tony Sipp was dealt the loss, permitting three runs in relief.

"It's always good to win four games of an eight-game stretch on the road," Tomlin said. "We would have like to take these last two games we played."

Carlos Carrasco gets the start for Cleveland on Friday and he's 8-7 with a 4.25 ERA in 18 outings this season. He has lost three straight and four of five starts, and is coming off Saturday's 6-5 loss at Baltimore. Carrasco allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings against the Orioles. He had won three straight and six of seven starts prior to his previous five trips to the hill.

The right-hander is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in three career starts against the White Sox, who reached him for seven runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings of an 8-3 decision back on April 2 at Progressive Field.

Chicago has lost two straight, three of four and fell to 3-3 on a nine-game road trip following Wednesday's 2-1 loss in 11 innings to Kansas City in the finale of a three-game series from Kauffman Stadium.

John Danks returned from the disabled list to throw seven shutout innings in the no-decision, while Chris Sale pitched three innings of relief and allowed the go-ahead run to suffer the loss. Sergio Gordon threw a wild pitch, allowing Alex Gordon to score the winning run. Gordon was walked by Sale before coming around to score.

Carlos Quentin had a home run in the fifth inning for the White Sox. Juan Pierre had a hit to extend his streak to 12 games and is batting .373 over his past 20 contests.

"One day we're good. Three days, we're bad," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said among his profanity-laced postgame comments. "We have no energy in the dugout. A (expletive) approach at the plate. If we go to Cleveland the way we go there? Good luck."

Gavin Floyd will start for Guillen's club tonight and he's 7-9 with a 4.37 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) this season. He was 0-4 in six starts before beating Detroit last Friday with 7 2/3 solid innings. He allowed two runs - one earned - and six hits. Floyd defeated Cleveland in an 8-2 win on May 19, when he fired seven innings of one-run ball.

The right-hander is 5-3 with a 4.88 ERA in nine career starts against the Indians.

Chicago has won four of five meetings with Cleveland this season and is 10-2 in the past 12 matchups between the two ballclubs