Tribe Watch '13 (Week 18)

Record: 62 - 49

Standing: 2nd in AL Central (3 games behind Detroit)

As I type, the Indians are in the middle of the first of four HUGE games against division rival, the Detroit Tigers. But before we talk about that series, let's discuss how we got here since this is my first opportunity to discuss the Tribe since before the All Star Break. The Indians had me worried when they got off to a shaky start to begin the second half of the season. Unimpressive outings against Minnesota and Seattle had me concerned that we were in line for yet another second half collapse. Since, then however, the team has played much better. They looked red hot during a homestand that saw the team sweep both the Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox series was particularly fun since it involved a couple of walk-off wins (one of which I had the good fortune of seeing in person). This past weekend the team went down to Miami and managed to take two out of three from a Marlins team that is better than what their record suggest thanks to a good crop of young pitchers. All in all, the team is finding ways to win even when they aren't playing their best. The frustrating thing about this recent run is that the Tigers, currently in first in the AL Central, and the Royals, currently third, have played just as well so there really has been no change to the standings. The one positive about our recent good play is that we have managed to move up into sole possession of the second wild card spot. If the season were to end today, we would be in the playoffs. All of that brings us to the start of this series with Detroit. It is a four game series that could shake up the division depending on how many games we win. This is the last time the Tigers will be playing in Cleveland this season so we'll want to have as good of a showing as possible. After Detroit leaves, the Angels come into town for a weekend series. Anaheim had high hopes coming into the season but have struggled all year. Still they are not a team to take lightly and we'll need to avoid having any sort of hangover effect after the Detroit series. This a VERY big week for the Indians and I hope everyone comes out to support this team. Win or lose I'm going to be loving every minute of it. Go Tribe!

Tribe Watch '13 (Week 14)

Record: 46 - 42

Standing: Second in AL Central (2.5 games behind Detroit)

It looked like the Indians were going to continue their winning ways after that impressive four game sweep of the White Sox the weekend before. The Tribe managed to win the first game of the series against the Kansas City Royals, but then dropped the last two to end their long road trip on a bit of a down note. Upon returning home, it appeared as if the team had some jet lag and they went on to lose the first two games against the Tigers. Things would have been very bleak had the Indians not managed to pull off a victory yesterday. With that win, the team still now has a chance at earning a split with Detroit if they manage to win tonight. One of the key issues during the losing streak this past week was poor pitching. In some cases it was the starters not having good outings. When they did have a good start, then it seemed to be the bullpen that struggled. Even though we won yesterday, the bullpen still blew a 5-run lead before the Indians managed to come back and win it for good. Clearly, our staff has to step up their game if they want to remain competitive in the division. But it's also time to start thinking about who we can possibly get in a trade to help shore up this staff. As we hit the halfway point in the season, it's time for us to make the moves needed in order to make sure we play postseason baseball. Speaking of the halfway point, this is the final week of the season before the All Star Break. After tonight's game with Detroit, we have a pair of three game series at home with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Kansas City Royals. The Jays have been steadily improving since getting off to a horrendous start, so it would be nice if we could cool them off again. Plus, we need to start playing better against teams from the AL East. As for the Royals, we've played them very well thus far this season, so let's hope we can keep that up. We certainly don't want them to gain any ground on us and believe they still have a chance in the division. It certainly would be nice to head into the break being in first place, so let's cheer on this team and make it happen. Go Tribe!

Tribe Watch '13 (Week 13)

Record: 44 - 38

Standing: Tied for first place in the AL Central

It was looking initially like it would be another uneventful week. We began by splitting the four game set with the Orioles in which we looked like we could have easily won all four games or lost all four games. Still, splitting against a solid team like Baltimore was positive. The start of the four game series with the White Sox made it seem as if we were in for an ominous weekend. In the first game of a double-header, our starter is unable to get out of the first inning and put the Indians in an early five-run deficit. However, the Tribe finally woke up and managed to clobber Chicago 19-10 in the first game. Then then had a four run 9th inning in the second game that allowed to come back and win that won as well. The Indians then proceed to sweep the entire four games capping it off today with a shutout victory by Justin Masterson. Those first three games against Chicago showed the Indians tenacity. They not only came from behind in each of those games, but they did so when it would have been much easier to just throw in the towel. Friday's double header lasted over seven hours to get those two games in. Between the length of the games and the amount of innings that the bullpen had to throw because of poor starting pitching, it's amazing we came away with any wins. And yet, this team pulled through and had an amazing weekend. To do it against those losers from Chicago made it even sweeter. Perhaps the best news of all to come out of the Tribe's successful weekend is the fact that they have climbed back up into first place, now tied with Detroit, who had a rough week. We're starting to see guys like Nick Swisher get hot again, so it seems like this team isn't about to die like they have the past years. We can improve our standing in the division further this week as we play another pair of divisional opponents. This long road trip finishes up this week as we make a stop in Kansas City to play the Royals for 3 games. Then we head home this weekend for a big series against the Tigers. The outcome of that series could really cement who's the best in this division as we head into the All Star Break. As we head into the 4th of July, let's hope the Indians provide some fireworks of their own. Go Tribe!

Tribe Watch '13 (Week 11)

Record: 34-34

Standing: Second in AL Central (4.5 games behind Detroit)

The Indians had hit rock bottom the week prior as they were in the midst of an eight game losing streak and an even longer losing streak on the road. Thankfully this past week has seen some improvement in the team, at least as it relates to winning. The Tribe manages to take two out of three from both the Rangers in Texas and against the Nationals at home. I would not say that the wins were dominating, but the key for this team right now is to win series. If they do that on a consistent basis, they can compete. Clearly there are still guys offensively who are slumping. The good news is that slumps don't last forever, so they'll start to get hot again before you know it. The other positive for this team is that the schedule gets a lot easier from here on out. Only about a third of the Indians' remaining games will be against teams who currently have a winning record. It's important though that we continue to stay competitive right now for several reasons. One is because you don't want to fall too far behind Detroit. If they gain too much of a lead in the division, we'll lose some of our motivation to win. Second, if the front office feels like we are close, they'll be more compelled to be active near the trading deadline, which would mean hopefully making a move that would bring in a key piece to help fill in the gaps. Winning this week will be particularly important since we'll be facing off against a pair of divisional rivals. First, we begin a three-game set with the Kansas City Royals starting tonight. Kansas City has been on a roll recently and they are only a half game behind us in the standings. It'll be important to beat them so as to remain in second place. Then this weekend we take on the Minnesota Twins. The Twins are a team that we should beat on paper, but when it comes to divisional rivals, there's no such thing as a guarantee. Both series will be in Cleveland, where we've played much better. Let's hope the city of Cleveland keeps coming out to support this team. I'd love to see Progressive Field to be rocking all week long. Go Tribe!

Tribe Watch (Week 6)

Record: 23-18

Standing: First in AL Central

Closer Chris Perez gained some press yesterday by chastising the Cleveland fans for not supporting this team more and he has a point. Despite a loss today, this team won 5 out of 7 games this week and remain in first place by three games. However, I'm not going to be too hard on the fans since the Indians do having a losing record at home (we've been tremendous on the road for some reason) and I still don't think the team has played as well as it could be playing. The frustrating thing is that we're not seeing multiple guys get hot at the same time. It seems like one person each game has a breakout performance while everyone else struggles. If we can be more consistent, who knows how far this team can go. As happy as I am with their success this week, I know that this upcoming week is going to be a major swing week. We get an off day tomorrow and then play the two teams right behind us in the standings - a three game set against Detroit at home and then a 3 game series in Chicago against the White Sox. If we play well this week, we could give ourselves some real distance in the standings heading into June. If we struggle, we could easily see ourselves out of first place by next Sunday. For now though, let's listen to Chris Perez and support this team. Let's show them that this truly is Believe-land and that we love our Indians. Go Tribe!

Tribe Watch (Week 19)

Record: 60 - 57

Standing: 2nd in AL Central

It's been a fairly positive week for the Tribe. After a tough road trip against two divisional leaders, they came back home and responded well against a couple of key AL Central opponents. We took two out of three from Detroit, including a wild game that saw us win it in 14 innings on a walk-off hit by pitch. The only game we lost was against Justin Verlander and there's no shame in losing to him. We then defeated Minnesota twice before having the last game of that series get rained out on Sunday. The rainout was doubly frustrating as it killed some momentum we were building and it means we're going to be playing a lot of games in a short amount of time since that will not be the only double header we have between now and the end of the season. This week the team deals with another difficult set of divisional opponents - this time on the road. We begin tonight in Chicago, who is breathing down our neck. I really want to sweep them so that we create some separation between us and also insure that there's no chance of them potentially winning this division. Then it's off to Detroit to once again play the Tigers. Any time you play divisional opponents, you have the opportunity to make a lot of movement in the standings, forward or backward. For our sake, let's hope it's all forward movement this week. And as we continue to watch those standings, I know we'll all be cheering on our team, Go Tribe!

Tribe Watch (Week 18)

Record: 56 - 56

Standing: Second in AL Central

So what to make out of a week that saw us go 3-4 against the AL East and West divisional leaders? Well you could be positive and say that we were competitive in both series and saw our offense show some signs of improvement. There will naturally be those who take a more pessimistic perspective and say that we could have and should have won more considering each of the four losses came in the final at-bat for the other team. It was disappointing to say the least to see our bullpen, which had been very strong to this point, give away victories. I think the thing that we need to take away from this series is that it didn't appear as if this team is playing like it's in a pennant race. I wanted to see both more passion and more consideration in the moves and play calling. I believe this team has the talent to win the division, but they're going to have to show they want it. They will get the biggest chance to prove that this week as there is a season-defining series against the Detroit Tigers beginning tonight. If we sweep the series, it puts us right back in the thick of things. If we win 1 or 2, that just puts more pressure on us to make sure we sweep Minnesota who comes in to play us this weekend. If we get swept, I'd hate to say it, but I think we can write off this team's chances at winning the division. I hope that this team is up to the challenge and I also hope that the city of Cleveland comes out to support this team and show them that we want October baseball. I can't be up in Cleveland, but you know I'll be rooting for them just as hard from the comfort of my own home this week. Go Tribe!