The Indians were swept over the weekend against the Tigers and they are tied for last place in the A.L. Central with the Royals and White Sox at 2-4 on the year, 3 games behind the Tigers. The Indians have been outscored 30-22 this season and for them to win they are going to have to start hitting better because the pitching staff is not looking too good so far. The Indians play a three game series at home against the Rangers to start this week and then the White Sox invade Progressive Field over the weekend for three games. Hopefully the Indians start hitting better this week.

The Indians are traveling to Detroit this weekend to play the Tigers and they have to be feeling good about themselves. After get shutout on opening day the Indians rebounded to win the last two games of the series. The Indians did it with timely hitting, decent starting pitching and excellent work out of the bullpen. It will be interesting to see how well the Indians respond this weekend against another team that many projected to be better than them.

The 9th inning might usually make Indians’ fans nervous but they don’t have that problem in the 7th and 8th innings.  Rookie lefty Rafael Perez works a lot in the 7th inning and he has been nasty this season.  Perez has pitched in 40 games this season and he is 1-1 with 1 save, a 1.41 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP.  He has worked 57.1 innings this season and he has only allowed 35 hits, walked 14 batters and whiffed 59.  Rafael Betancourt is having the best season of his major league career by far in 2007.  Betancourt has worked in 62 games this season and he is 5-1 with 1 save, a 1.48 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP.  He has worked 73 innings this season and he has only allowed 47 hits, walked 8 batters and whiffed 69.  The Indians are closing in on the Central Division Title as they now lead the Tigers by 6.5 games with a 89-62 record.

The Cleveland Indians have won 4 games in a row and they now have a 85-60 record on the season which has them in first place in the American League Central, 6.5 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers.  The Indians are set up well for the playoffs as C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona, Paul Byrd and Jake Westbrook have all been pitching well which will likely give the Indians an edge.

The Cleveland Indians have been increasing their lead in the American League Central by winning 9 of their last 10 ball games.  The Indians now have a 79-58 record which has them in first place in the American League Central, 6 games ahead of the Tigers.  C.C Sabathia has been the ace of the Indians pitching staff as he is 16-7 with a 3.24 ERA so far this season.  Fausto Carmona has been a huge surprise after having an awful 2006 season out of the bullpen.  He is 14-8 with a 3.31 ERA this year.  Veteran Paul Byrd has also been very good this season as he is 14-5 with a 4.19 ERA this year.  The offense has been hit and miss this season but you can’t blame Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez for that.  Sizemore is hitting .277 (.856 OPS) with 102 runs scored, 23 homers, 70 RBIs and 29 stolen bases.  Victor Martinez has been playing first base when he needs a day off from catching to keep his potent bat in the lineup.  Martinez is hitting .303 with 21 homers and 97 RBIs.  Plus Martinez has really improved his throwing behind the plate to make him less of a liability on defense.  The Tribe is looking good right now as they are getting hot at the right time of the season.