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Last Night's Game
MLB Final Score/Recap: Cleveland Indians 4, Miami Marlins 3 - Let's Go Tribe
Cleveland Indians survive ninth-inning scare to beat Marlins, 4-3 | cleveland.com
Cleveland Indians at Miami Marlins - August 3, 2013 | MLB.com CLE Recap
This was one of those games the Indians had to win to stay in the division race. Although the Marlins have been playing much better over the past month, they are a team that is looking towards the future by playing virtually an entire roster of first and second-year players. And with the Tigers playing the Marlins to end the season, they likely won't have to face Jose Fernandez.
If the Indians win today, they go into the big series with Detroit with the possibility of ending up in first place at its conclusion. That's very unlikely, especially if Detroit pulls off a sweep of Chicago, but at least it would be a possibility.
Indians News
Hoynes astutely guesses that Danny Salazar could be in line to start on Wednesday. It does make sense, for the following reasons:
- Salazar would be on his normal rest, and he completely dominated Buffalo in his last start (5 IP, 0 H, 8 SO)
- Jimenez has been awful in his last two starts against the Tigers, and this Wednesday would be the fourth time the Tigers have seen him this year.
- Why waste Salazar against AAA competition when he can help you go to the playoffs? And the Tigers would be facing him for the first time.
Salazar probably has only a couple starts left before the Indians shut him down for the season. Given how well he's been pitching, you might as well use him in the rotation now. From a practical standpoint, that would mean that Ubaldo Jimenez (I presume) would temporarily go into the bullpen or perhaps be push back a day, which would form a 6-man rotation. We're talking rather unconventional roster management here, but I think it makes all the sense in the world.
Top prospect Lindor unlikely to see Triple-A in '13 | indians.com: News
Speaking of high-profile prospects, Ross Atkins comments on whether Francisco Lindor would see Columbus this year:
"There's not much upside to it unless we thought he could impact our big league club this year," Atkins said. "The most likely scenario is that he'd stay at Akron."
I agree. There's no real benefit for Lindor to see AAA this year unless Columbus makes the playoffs and Akron doesn't (at this point neither will). There's not a huge difference between AA and AAA. The only reason to call up Lindor this year is if both Asdrubal Cabrera and Mike Aviles are hurt, and if that happened, they'd just call him up directly from AA, something that isn't that unconventional. Manny Machado was called up by Baltimore last year at age 19 directly from AA, and he's never seen AAA. The difference between Machado and Lindor, though, is that Machado had played 109 with Bowie, and Lindor has yet to play 20 games.
Lindor should end the season in Akron, and if he does well, could start 2014 in Columbus or even Cleveland depending on what the Indians do this winter.
AL Central News
It looks like the Biogenesis hammer is finally going to come down on Monday, which would be good timing for the Indians, as Jhonny Peralta is among those who would be suspended. Jose Iglesias, who the Tigers acquired this week, would be the everyday shortstop down the stretch. Peralta would miss both this upcoming series and the series at the of the month. If Peralta is suspended for just 50 games, he would be eligible to return to the Tigers for their last series of the regular season.
Justin Maxwell's pinch-hit homer gives the Royals a 4-3 win - Royals Review
The Royals have been just as hot as the Indians and Tigers, winning 9 out of their last 10, and have brought themselves into a position to make a run at both the division and one of the Wild Card spots. Depending on happens between the Tigers and Indians this week, they can make up a lot of ground on either team, or perhaps both. However, their schedule is going to get a lot tougher, as after facing the Twins Monday-Wednesday, they four against the Red Sox, and then next weekend play five in Detroit.
Do the White Sox have the bleakest future in baseball? - South Side Sox
The White Sox are compared to other teams whose futures look bleak (Blue Jays, Mets, Angels, Phillies).
Twins Warn Buxton: Triples Are "Showing Off" - Twinkie Town
Need I say this is satire?
Today's Classic Clip
Kenny Griffey, Jr sells out to make an outstanding catch in right-center (1991):