CLEVELAND, Ohio — Asdrubal Cabrera was denied gold, but won silver.

Cabrera became the first Indians shortstop to win a Silver Slugger award Wednesday night when the awards were announced on MLB Network. Tuesday night he was a finalist for the AL Gold Glove for shortstops, but lost to the Angels’ Erick Aybar.

The Silver Slugger honors the top offensive player at each position in the American and National leagues. Cabrera is the first Indians infielder to win the award since Hall of Famer Robby Alomar in 2000.

Managers and coaches vote for the award. 

Cabrera, 25, had the best offensive season of his career. He led the team with 165 hits, 87 runs, 32 doubles, 25 homers, 92 RBI, 151 games players and a .792 OPS.

He led AL shortstops in RBI and was tied for first in hits, while ranking second in runs, doubles and homers. Cabrera’s 25 homers set a single-season franchise record for shortstops. Cabrera hit 18 homers in his career before 2011.

The 25 homers gave him the record for Venezuelan-born shortstops for one season, while his 92 RBI were the most by an Indians shortstop since Lou Boudreau had 106 in 1948 when he won the AL MVP award.

Cabrera was a finalist for the Silver Slugger with former double-play partner Jhonny Peralta of Detroit and Baltimore’s J.J. Hardy. Cabrera broke Peralta’s franchise home run record for shortstops.

Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki won the award in the NL.

Cabrera is eligible for arbitration this off-season. He salary could jump from $2.025 million to an estimated $5 million. He earned a $50,000 bonus for winning the Silver Slugger award.

Roster moves: Outfielder Trevor Crowe, who missed much of last season recovering from right shoulder surgery, was outrighted to Class AAA Columbus on Wednesday. The Indians activated Michael Brantley, Carlos Carrasco, Shin-Soo Choo and Josh Tomlin from the 60-day disabled list. The 40-man roster is at 38.

 

CLEVELAND – Asdrubal Cabrera’s 20th homer put him in rare company in Cleveland Indians history. More importantly for him, it helped his team keep pace in the AL Central.

Cabrera hit a three-run homer and Josh Tomlin pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning, leading Cleveland to a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night.

The Indians remained three games behind division-leading Detroit, which rallied for a 6-5 victory at Baltimore.

“We have an opportunity here and I want to play hard and just win,” Cabrera said. “We are playing good baseball, getting good pitching and I want everybody to feel we’re there.”

Cabrera joined Woodie Held and Jhonny Peralta as the only Indians shortstops with 20-homer seasons. He entered this year with 18 in his career. Held and Peralta both hit 20-plus homers three times.

“Cabby was our offensive hero again,” manager Manny Acta said. “He’s done it for us pretty much all year.”

Tomlin (12-5) combined with four relievers for a five-hitter, helping Cleveland to its fourth win in five games.

Twins designated hitter Jim Thome went 0-for-3 with a walk and remained two shy of 600 career homers as Minnesota lost for the 11th time in 13 games.

Chris Perez, who pitched a perfect ninth for his 25th save in 28 chances, said Cleveland is pushing for a possible run to retake the lead from the Tigers.

“This is how we played in April,” Perez said. “We’re getting the lead, the starters keep us close and then the bullpen does its thing.”

The Indians used an eight-game winning streak to start the year 8-2 and by May 23 had a seven-game lead in the division. Injuries started to mount and Cleveland dropped out of first during a 1-7 stretch from July 19-29.

By taking the first two of three games against Minnesota after winning two of three from the Tigers, Cleveland has won consecutive series for the first time since winning three sets in a row over Arizona, Cincinnati and the New York Yankees from June 27 to July 6.

“Let’s try to finish the deal tomorrow,” Acta said, hopeful of a three-game sweep before going to Chicago for three games against the White Sox followed by a key three-game set in Detroit.

Cabrera connected in the third, driving a 1-0 pitch from Brian Duensing (8-11) over the wall in left after Shin-Soo Choo hit a leadoff single and Jason Donald walked.

Tomlin moved to 1-1 in five starts since losing 7-5 at Minnesota on July 20. The right-hander was charged with one run and four hits in 6 Zc innings, leaving with Twins on first and second after issuing his only walk, to Thome.

Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire was impressed with Tomlin, who has worked at least five innings in all 36 of his career starts.

“I think you saw him working ahead for the most part,” Gardenhire said. “He has a nice little sinker, he pitches to contact and changes speeds. I think add and subtract is what he does best.”

Joe Smith came in and got Danny Valencia on a short fly to right-center before Delmon Young blooped an RBI single to right, scoring Justin Morneau from second to make it 3-1. Rafael Perez then struck out Tsuyoshi Nishioka to strand two runners.

Tony Sipp worked a perfect eighth to get the ball to Perez.

Duensing fell to 3-1 in four career starts against Cleveland. The left-hander gave up three runs and nine hits in 6 Xc innings, striking out a career-high nine.

Minnesota Cleveland

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Span cf 4 0 1 0 Choo rf 3 1 0 0

Tolbert 2b 4 0 0 0 Donald 2b 4 1 2 0

Mauer c 4 0 1 0 ACarer ss 3 1 2 3

Mornea 1b 4 1 1 0 CSantn c 4 0 0 0

Kubel rf 4 0 0 0 Duncan dh 3 0 1 0

Thome dh 3 0 0 0 Chshl ph-dh 1 0 0 0

Valenci 3b 3 0 0 0 Fukdm cf 3 0 2 0

DYong lf 3 0 1 1 LaPort 1b 4 0 2 0

Nishiok ss 3 0 1 0 Hannhn 3b 4 0 1 0

Carrer lf 3 0 0 0

Totals 32 1 5 1 Totals 32 3 10 3

Minnesota 000 000 100— 1

Cleveland 003 000 00x— 3

E—Tolbert (4). DP—Minnesota 1. LOB—Minnesota 5, Cleveland 8. 2B—Morneau (13). 3B—Donald (1). HR—A.Cabrera (20). SB—A.Cabrera (16). CS—Fukudome (3). S—Fukudome.

IP H R ER BB SO

Minnesota

Duensing L,8-11 6Xc 9 3 3 2 9

Al.Burnett Zc 0 0 0 0 1

Dumatrait Zc 1 0 0 0 0

Capps Xc 0 0 0 0 1

Cleveland

Tomlin W,12-5 6Zc 4 1 1 1 2

J.Smith H,9 Zc 1 0 0 0 0

R.Perez H,10 Zc 0 0 0 0 1

Sipp H,20 1 0 0 0 0 0

C.Perez S,25-28 1 0 0 0 0 1

PB—Mauer.

T—2:34. A—30,619 (43,441).

Tags:
sports, twins, baseball

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Asdrubal Cabrera will start for the American League at Tuesday’s All-Star Game, the Indians announced Friday night. He will replace injured Derek Jeter, who will not play.

‘Jeter, the Yankees’ star who won the fan voting for the starting position, ‘recently returned from a stay on the disabled list for a calf injury and felt it would be best to rest.

Cabrera was second to Jeter in the fan voting and was voted on to the squad by the players. The decision on a starter and a replacement for Jeter is at the discretion of manager Ron Washington, according to a Major League Baseball representative.

The Tigers’ Jhonny Peralta, who formerly played for the Indians, will replace Jeter on the roster.

Cabrera will be featured in a profile in Sunday’s Plain Dealer.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — The Indians traded infielder Jayson Nix to Toronto for cash considerations.

Nix was informed on Monday that he did not make the Indians’ final 25-man roster. He was out of options and could have refused an outright assignment to Class AAA Columbus if he passed through waivers.

“If we can find a big-league situation for Jayson, we will,” said GM Chris Antonetti.

The Indians claimed Nix on waivers last year from the White Sox. He hit .234 with 14 doubles, 13 homers and 29 RBI with the Tribe last year. A second baseman by trade, the Indians moved him to third after the trade of Jhonny Peralta where he made 11 errors.

He hit .176 (6-for-34)  with one homer and two RBI this spring.    

Glendale, Ariz. – Scribbles in my notebook as the Tribe beat the Dodgers, 6-1, on Sunday . . .

1. The Indians’ projected starting infield — Matt LaPorta (1B), Orlando Cabrera (2B), Asdrubal Cabrera (SS) and Jack Hannahan (3B) — has made only one error all spring. It was by Orlando Cabrera early in camp. Last season, the Indians had the worst infield defense in the American League, according to their own internal statistics. They ranked 12th out of 14 teams in fielding average.

2. The real trouble spot was the left side. The shortstops had 25 errors. Asdrubal Cabrera had 12 in 95 games, Jason Donald added nine in 47 games and Luis Valbuena chipped in with four in five games. With Orlando Cabrera and possibly Adam Everett (if he makes the team) as backup shortstops, that spot should be solid — both veterans are above-average shortstops.

3. Third base was even worse, with 27 errors: Jhonny Peralta (five in 91 games), Jayson Nix (11 in 40 games), Andy Marte (nine in 45 games) and Valbuena (two in nine games). Hannahan has only 19 errors in 251 career games at third. The question is whether Hannahan (lifetime .224 batting average) can hit enough to keep the position. Donald (broken finger) has not been playing and is expected to be out at least for a few more weeks.

4. While manager Manny Acta hasn’t talked a lot about the need for his team to get off to a fast start, he has managed that way since March 21. The regulars have been playing most games, all in the same positions and regular spots in the batting order. He has been stressing to the players that you can’t just “hit the switch and turn it on for April 1 [Opening Day].” The Indians have won seven of nine games, raising their spring record to 14-13-2. They were 19-9-3 last spring.

5. That’s why it has been so disturbing to watch LaPorta for a week. I haven’t seen him get a hit. Against the Dodgers Sunday, he struck out three times, flied out and popped up with the bases loaded. He is hitting .148. He looks as if he’s having trouble connecting on a good fastball.

6. Acta said there are no restrictions on how much Travis Hafner can play this season. After the All-Star break last season, he never played more than three days in a row. Not sure what it means when Valbuena and Travis Buck lead the Indians with four homers and Hafner has just one. Hafner said his often-cranky shoulder has not caused him any problems.

7. While Josh Tomlin had his worst outing of the spring on Saturday — five runs in five innings — Acta liked how the right-hander “stopped the bleeding” by wiggling out of the fifth inning by allowing only three runs. It was an inning where the first five men reached base. He walked only two in 13 innings this spring.

8. Former Indian Aaron Laffey has had what he calls “the best spring of my life.” He has allowed two runs in 10 innings for a 1.80 ERA and has made Seattle’s Opening Day roster. The Indians received minor-league infielder Ty Lawson for Laffey.

9. Carmona (one unearned run in five innings Sunday) never walked more than two batters in any of his seven starts this spring. In 2008-09, Carmona had major control problems. He was better last season, but in his past four starts — five earned runs in 21 innings — he has looked more like the pitcher who won 19 games in 2007.

10. Austin Kearns (.300) has quietly had a good camp. But Lou Marson (.143) has struggled. He also was 0-of-7 in minor-league games last week. And all six runners who tried to steal on him were successful. The Indians are trying to decide if they should keep Marson, or go with Luke Carlin as a backup — allowing Marson to go to Class AAA to see if he can hit by being in the lineup every day.

Glendale, Ariz. – Scribbles in my notebook as the Tribe beat the Dodgers, 6-1, on Sunday . . .

1. The Indians’ projected starting infield — Matt LaPorta (1B), Orlando Cabrera (2B), Asdrubal Cabrera (SS) and Jack Hannahan (3B) — has made only one error all spring. It was by Orlando Cabrera early in camp. Last season, the Indians had the worst infield defense in the American League, according to their own internal statistics. They ranked 12th out of 14 teams in fielding average.

2. The real trouble spot was the left side. The shortstops had 25 errors. Asdrubal Cabrera had 12 in 95 games, Jason Donald added nine in 47 games and Luis Valbuena chipped in with four in five games. With Orlando Cabrera and possibly Adam Everett (if he makes the team) as backup shortstops, that spot should be solid — both veterans are above-average shortstops.

3. Third base was even worse, with 27 errors: Jhonny Peralta (five in 91 games), Jayson Nix (11 in 40 games), Andy Marte (nine in 45 games) and Valbuena (two in nine games). Hannahan has only 19 errors in 251 career games at third. The question is whether Hannahan (lifetime .224 batting average) can hit enough to keep the position. Donald (broken finger) has not been playing and is expected to be out at least for a few more weeks.

4. While manager Manny Acta hasn’t talked a lot about the need for his team to get off to a fast start, he has managed that way since March 21. The regulars have been playing most games, all in the same positions and regular spots in the batting order. He has been stressing to the players that you can’t just “hit the switch and turn it on for April 1 [Opening Day].” The Indians have won seven of nine games, raising their spring record to 14-13-2. They were 19-9-3 last spring.

5. That’s why it has been so disturbing to watch LaPorta for a week. I haven’t seen him get a hit. Against the Dodgers Sunday, he struck out three times, flied out and popped up with the bases loaded. He is hitting .148. He looks as if he’s having trouble connecting on a good fastball.

6. Acta said there are no restrictions on how much Travis Hafner can play this season. After the All-Star break last season, he never played more than three days in a row. Not sure what it means when Valbuena and Travis Buck lead the Indians with four homers and Hafner has just one. Hafner said his often-cranky shoulder has not caused him any problems.

7. While Josh Tomlin had his worst outing of the spring on Saturday — five runs in five innings — Acta liked how the right-hander “stopped the bleeding” by wiggling out of the fifth inning by allowing only three runs. It was an inning where the first five men reached base. He walked only two in 13 innings this spring.

8. Former Indian Aaron Laffey has had what he calls “the best spring of my life.” He has allowed two runs in 10 innings for a 1.80 ERA and has made Seattle’s Opening Day roster. The Indians received minor-league infielder Ty Lawson for Laffey.

9. Carmona (one unearned run in five innings Sunday) never walked more than two batters in any of his seven starts this spring. In 2008-09, Carmona had major control problems. He was better last season, but in his past four starts — five earned runs in 21 innings — he has looked more like the pitcher who won 19 games in 2007.

10. Austin Kearns (.300) has quietly had a good camp. But Lou Marson (.143) has struggled. He also was 0-of-7 in minor-league games last week. And all six runners who tried to steal on him were successful. The Indians are trying to decide if they should keep Marson, or go with Luke Carlin as a backup — allowing Marson to go to Class AAA to see if he can hit by being in the lineup every day.