It all came together last week for the Cleveland Indians as they went 6-1!  The Tribe outscored their opponents 44-29 last week.  The bullpen pitched a little better than they have been last week and the Indians underrated rotation pitched very well.  The Indians are now 14-8 which is good for first place in the American League East, 1.5 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins.

Travis Hafner is killing the baseball for the Cleveland Indians so far this season.  In 19 games this season Hafner is 25 for 70 (.357 avg, 1.089 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 5 homers and 16 RBIs.  Hafner has also walked 17 times this season and if other teams continue to pitch around him that should benefit Victor Martinez who is a fine hitter who usually bats right behind Hafner in the batting order.

The Indians have placed Andy Marte on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring.  He has played in 13 games so far this season and he’s 7 for 39 (.179 avg, .553 OPS) with runs scored, 1 homer and 8 RBIs.  His injury will set off a domino effect in the Indians lineup.  Casey Blake will take his spot over at thirdbase fulltime which means Ryan Garko will now start everyday at first base.  The Indians have recalled outfielder Shin-Soo Choo who will be a reserve outfielder for the Indians.  This also means that Jason Michaels should see a bump in his playing time.

The Indians knew it might take a little bit of time for Barfield to adjust to American League pitching but this is getting absurd!  In 14 games so far this season Barfield is 7 for 53 (.132 avg, .390 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer, 6 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  The Indians need Barfield to become the player he was as a rookie with the San Diego Padres or the Tribe might have a problem with the lower portion of their batting order.

The Indians were only 2-4 last week and they were outscored 40-26.  The Indians got lucky yesterday to beat the D-Rays with a Ryan Garko 9th inning homer or their week would have been even worse than it was.  The Indians are now tied for third place in the American League Central with the Chicago White Sox, 1.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins.