TORONTO — Fausto Carmona is being called a lot of things by Indians fans these days. Inconsistent is among the mildest terms being used, but not by manager Manny Acta.

“He’s had more good starts than bad ones,” said Acta. “So I can’t call him inconsistent. When he’s struggled, he has struggled badly.”

Carmona struggled Monday night against Toronto. He allowed nine runs on nine hits in four innings. Seven of the runs were unearned as the Indians lost for the fifth time in the last six games.

“In his previous start before Monday, Fausto threw eight innings against a very good Boston team and only gave up four runs,” said Acta. “Monday he couldn’t make pitches and his breaking balls were non existent. That’s what hurt him.

“But we didn’t play good defense and that’s what hurt him. As long as he’s around the zone, I think he’s going to be OK.”

Carmona couldn’t really explain what happened against the Jays.

“I don’t know, man,” he said. “I couldn’t keep the ball down. I left a couple of pitches up. I was behind on a couple of guys and left the ball down the middle.”

Carmona is 3-6 with a 5.31 ERA in 12 starts. He’s struck out 50, walked 22 and allowed 74 hits in 76 1/3 innings.

He’s 0-3 with a 10.06 ERA (19 earned runs in 17 innings) in his last three starts. Acta says he’s done a good job controlling his emotions on the mound, but when Toronto scored seven runs in the fourth inning, Carmona was visibly upset.

“I wasn’t mad at the umpire, I was mad at myself,” said Carmona.
 
Player of the week: Class AA Akron’s first baseman Matt McBride has been named the Indians minor league player of the week.

McBride hit .370 (10-27) with four ruins, two doubles, two homers and seven RBI in seven games last week. He had four multi-hit games and an OPS of 1.100 (.433 on-base percentage + .667 slugging percentage). McBride, 26, is hitting .269 (50-for-186) with 28 runs, 11 doubles, eight homers and 26 RBI in 52 games.

The Indians selected McBride between the second and third rounds of the 2006 draft as a compensation pick. He was originally drafted as a catcher.

Tonight’s lineups:

Indians (31-20): DH Michael Brantley (L), SS Asdrubal Cabrera (S), RF Shin-Soo Choo (L), LF Travis Buck (L), C Carlos Santana (S), CF Grady Sizemore (L), 2B Orlando Cabrera (R), 1B Matt LaPorta (R), 3B Jack Hannahan (L), RHP Mitch Talbot (1-1, 5.87).

Blue Jays (28-26): SS Yunel Escobar (R), LF Corey Patterson (L), RF Juan Bautisa (R), 1B Juan Rivera (R), C J.P. Arencibia (R), 2B Aaron Hill (R), DH Eric Thames (R), CF Rafai Davis (R), 3B Jayson Nix (R), RHP Brandon Morrow (2-2, 4.38).

Him vs. me: Hill is 2-for-4 with a double against Talbot. LaPorta is 3-for-6 with a homer against Morrow.

Left vs. right: Lefties are hitting .436 (17-for-39) and righties .192 (5-for-26)
with one homer against Talbot. The Blue Jays have only one left-handed hitter in their lineup.

Lefties are hitting .273 (21-for-77) and righties .200 (14-for-70) against Morrow. The Indians have five lefties and two switch-hitters in their lineup.

Quote of the day:  “The worst thing is the day you realize you want to win more than the players do,” former big-league manager Gene Mauch.

Umpires: H Ted Barrett, 1B Tim McClelland, 2B D.J. Reyburn, 3B Marvin Hudson.  McClelland, crew chief.

Next: RHP Josh Tomlin (6-2, 2.74) vs. RHP Kyle Drabek (3-3, 4.16) Wednesday at 7:07 p.m. STO and WTAM/1100 will carry the game.

 

As unusual as it is, the
Cleveland Indians are back on top.

Many of us devoted baseball fans have
not seen the American League Central Division standings like this since 2007,
which was the last time the Indians led the division.

With a total of 97 wins and 66 losses
(.595) in 2007, not only did the Indians lead the division, but they were the
number one team overall.

The Indians went on to postseason
play to win the league divisional series against the Yankees, but fell short
against the Red Sox for the American League Championship Series.

Since then, the Indians have not been
able to recreate the commendable standings that they established in 2007, until
now.

For the second time in four years,
Cleveland is leading the ALCD and the league overall. They sit at the top with
31 wins and 20 losses and are five games ahead of the Detroit Tigers in their
division.

As a Michigan native, it is only
natural that I am disappointed to see the Indians in such good standing.
Putting my hometown bias aside, the Indians’ run this early season has been
impressive.

Even with their recent struggles,
they still have the best winning percentage in the American League. Their
slugging percentage (.411), batting average (.259) and runs scored (243) is
ranked fifth in the AL.

On the other side of the ball,
Cleveland is eighth in the ALCD in ERA (3.80), which went up most recently due
to allowing 14 runs to Boston last week.

With excellence comes injuries, and
the Indians have been on the mend since the season started.

One of the Indians’ most well-known
players, Grady Sizemore, has been hit or miss on the field due to a knee
injury. Any time you hear “Grady Sizemore” and “knee” in the same sentence, it
undoubtedly causes Tribe fans to cringe, considering his history with knee
issues.

Despite the early season successes,
it has only been natural that people continue to doubt them, considering the
struggles of the last two seasons.

Recent struggles by the team, most
recently losing a pair of three-game series’ to Boston and Tampa Bay, have only
fueled people’s doubts about them. Even so, they still hold the best record in
the ALCD after two months of baseball have been played.

Who
would have thought?

May 31, 2011 – Eastern League (EL) Akron Aeros
AKRON, OH – The Cleveland Indians today announced Aeros 1B MATT McBRIDE has been named the Indians Minor League Player of the Week for the week of May 22-28.

This past week, McBride, 26, hit .370 (10-27) with 4 runs scored, 2 doubles, 2HR and 7RBI in 7 games for the Akron Aeros as he collected four (4) multi-hit games and had an OPS of 1.100 (.433 OBP, .667 SLG). On the year he is batting .269 (50-186) with 28 runs scored, 11 doubles, a triple, 8HR and 26RBI in 52 games. He currently ranks T7th in the Eastern League in home runs (8), 14th in slugging percentage (.468), T14th in RBI (26) and 20th in OPS (.803).

A native of Bethlehem, PA, McBride was the Indians sandwich selection (75th overall) between the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the 2006 June draft out of Lehigh University where he earned a degree in political science. Originally drafted as a catcher, McBride was converted to an outfielder/first baseman prior to the 2009 season. Last year, he finished 2nd among all Indians farmhands in HR (21) and was 4th in RBI (75).

The Cleveland Indians Player of the Week award recognizes an individual performance from within the Indians Player Development System and will be announced each Tuesday thru the end of the minor league baseball season. All players from the Tribe’s minor league affiliates are eligible for the weekly award.

• Discuss this story on the Eastern League message board…

• Digg this story

• Add to Del.icio.us

• Thunder Add Baker, Madrigal to the D.L. – Trenton Thunder

• Senators to Host 25-Cent Hot Dog Night this Wednesday – Harrisburg Senators

• Aeros Return Home to Canal Park for Lots of Fun this Weekend – Akron Aeros

• Erie SeaWolves at Binghamton Mets (DH)…Game One/Two of Four…Game Notes – Erie SeaWolves

• Akron Aeros 1B Matt McBride Named Indians Minor League Player of the Week – Akron Aeros

• Tyler Moore Named Eastern League Player of the Week – Harrisburg Senators

• Baysox Welcome America’s Favorite Principal – Bowie Baysox

• Rock Cats Have 5 Player Transactions Over Holiday Weekend – New Britain Rock Cats

• Eastern League Names Pitcher and Player of the Week – EL

• Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes – Richmond Flying Squirrels

• Hall Named Pitcher of the Week – Trenton Thunder

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

TORONTO —
Whatever happened to the high-flying Cleveland Indians? Or to put it another way, April showers don’t always bring May flowers.

Yes the Indians are still in first place by a healthy margin, mostly because its Central Division rivals seem to have fallen off the earth. But the banner month that began the Wahoos’ season has dissipated into a win-one, lose-one ordeal in May, which ended Monday night with an 11-1 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

This time, there was no debating the quality of Fausto Carmona’s start: He was horrid, just as he was two starts ago when he gave up eight runs to the White Sox. In between, he held the Red Sox to four runs in eight innings, but his team needed him to be better against Josh Beckett.

Carmona (3-6, 5.31 ERA) hasn’t won since May 3. After that, he endured two no-decisions and now three consecutive defeats.

“It was hard for me to keep the ball down,” Carmona said. “I missed with a couple of pitches up. When I was down in the count, I threw it down the middle.”

At one point in the seven-run fourth, manager Manny Acta walked to the mound and seemed to deliver a stern lecture. The next batter hit the first pitch for a single. The batter after that hit the first pitch for a double.

Acta didn’t characterize his talk with Carmona as anything but business as usual.

“I could tell from the dugout that he was fighting himself,” the manager said. “I told him just to let the ball do the movement and not to get upset. But he kept putting himself in hitters’ counts.”

Carmona said he didn’t allow his emotions to sail out of control.

“I didn’t put my head down,” he said. “I just kept going.”

For the record, in four innings Carmona allowed nine runs (seven earned) on nine hits and two walks. Among the most lethal blows he permitted was a two-run homer by former Indians infielder Jayson Nix in the third inning; two doubles by Rajai Davis, the second driving in two runs in the fourth, and a two-run double by Jose Bautista, also in the fourth.

Not everything should be laid at the feet of Carmona. The final out in the fourth might have been made earlier had Orlando Cabrera not muffed a ground ball with the bases loaded then knelt on one knee with his back to the infield, undoubtedly scolding himself, while Blue Jays kept running around the bases. That’s when the two unearned runs occurred.

“I don’t think that happened because he was upset,” Acta said. “I don’t think he would let a run score like that. He just had a brain cramp.

“The error didn’t help Fausto, but his job is to pick up Orlando out there. Instead, they hit him around.”

The Indians couldn’t deliver against starter Jo-Jo Reyes (1-4, 4.15 ERA), who came into the game with an 0-4 record, a 4.70 earned-run average and a losing streak (28 starts) that stretched to 2008. He threw the first complete game of his career, giving up eight hits and four walks.

How bad was the Indians’ attack? Asdrubal Cabrera, the team’s most consistent hitter, came to the plate in the first and third innings with a runner on first and twice bounced into double plays.

Michael Brantley also grounded into a double play with runners on first and second and nobody out in the fifth. That’s the way things went for the Indians, whose only meaningful hit came off the bat of Shelley Duncan, who became the 15th batter to hit a ball to the fifth level of seats at Rogers Centre. Unfortunately for the Indians, it still counted as a solo homer.

So here is the rundown on the sinking fortunes of the Indians, who need a vibrant Grady Sizemore and a healthy Travis Hafner in the lineup and a revived Fausto Carmona on the mound. After all, he is alleged to be the ace of the staff.

The Indians’ record in April: 18-8, in May 13-12.

In the season’s first 40 games, Indians pitchers gave up seven or more runs five times; in the past 11 games they have done it four times.

During the past 11 games, the offense has been held to two or fewer runs seven times. The club’s record over this span is 5-6.

Also in the past 11 games, the defense has committed 12 errors that have turned into (only) six unearned runs. In the first 40 games, the defense made only 16 errors and eight unearned runs.

“We were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position,” Acta said. “The whole week we’ve struggled offensively whether we’ve face good pitchers or not.”

Is the team’s current malaise about to be the norm? Or is it just a minor slump?

“I don’t know; there is no way to know,” Acta said. “We haven’t lost more than three straight. We’re scuffling this week, but we still have a substantial lead. We’re trying to bide our time until the offense comes back.”

AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Jayson Nix, right, celebrates with teammate Rajai Davis after hitting a tow-run home run against the Cleveland Indians during the third inning of a baseball game, Monday, May 30, 2011, in Toronto.

Jo-Jo Reyes won for the first time in 29 starts by throwing his first career complete game and Jayson Nix hit a two-run home run to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to an 11-1 rout of the Cleveland Indians on Monday night.
Reyes (1-4) allowed one run and eight hits, earning a win for the first time in nearly three years. His previous victory came with Atlanta against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 13, 2008. The left-hander went 0-13 with a 6.59 ERA in his 28 starts between wins.
The crowd of 12,902 stood and cheered “Jo-Jo, Jo-Jo” as Cleveland’s Jack Hannahan batted with two outs in the ninth. Catcher J.P. Arencibia embraced Reyes after Hannahan struck out. One fan held up a sign reading “I believe in Jo-Jo.”
Reyes avoided becoming the first pitcher to go winless in 29 starts. Oakland’s Matt Keough went 28 starts between wins in 1978 and 1979, matching the dubious mark first set by Boston’s Cliff Curtis in 1910 and 1911.
Rajai Davis went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and scored three runs as Toronto won its fourth straight.
Shelley Duncan’s solo homer was the only offense for the Indians, who have lost five of six.
Reyes almost ended his streak on May 20, pitching seven shutout innings against Houston and leaving with a 2-0 lead, but Hunter Pence’s two-run double off reliever Jon Rauch kept Reyes waiting a little longer.
Thanks to an offensive explosion from the Blue Jays, there was little doubt of a bullpen meltdown costing Reyes this one.
Nix got the barrage started with a two-run homer to left in the third, his third, and the Blue Jays pounded Cleveland right-hander Fausto Carmona for seven runs in the fourth, their biggest inning of the season.
Arencibia led off the fourth with a single, Aaron Hill was hit by a pitch and Eric Thames singled to load the bases for Davis, who hit a two-run double to left. Nix struck out and Yunel Escobar walked before Corey Patterson hit a bouncer to second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, who couldn’t come up with the ball as Thames scored. A frustrated Cabrera kept his back turned as Davis streaked around from second.
The Blue Jays still weren’t done. Jose Bautista hit a two-run double to right and, after Juan Rivera grounded out, Arencibia capped it with his second hit of the inning, an RBI double to left.
Carmona (3-6) lost his third straight outing and has not won since May 3, a span of five starts. He allowed nine runs, seven earned, and nine hits in four innings, walked two and struck out three.
Duncan hit a towering homer into the fifth deck in the fourth inning, his second. The blast was the 15th homer to reach the highest level seating of Rogers Centre, which opened as SkyDome in 1989.
NOTES: After playing DH in his first three games since returning from a right knee injury, Cleveland OF Grady Sizemore got the day off Monday and will return to the outfield Tuesday. Sizemore has gone 0 for 12 with seven strikeouts since coming off the DL last week. … Blue Jays 1B Adam Lind (back) went 1 for 4 with a triple and a walk as the DH in an extended spring training game Monday. He is set to DH again Tuesday. … Rivera went 0 for 4, ending his hitting streak at 11 games.