Cody Anderson stars as Cleveland Indians return to form

Indians 7, Royals 1

Phew, I think we all needed that. Cody Anderson was dominant over eight innings as the offense and defense finally managed to get things together in the same game.

Anderson loses perfecto in 7th, but Indians overcome Rays after crazy 9th | Let's Go Tribe (Phil Kehres)
Anderson flirts with perfection in beating Rays | Indians.com

For a while, it looked like Anderson might throw a perfect game, but Grady Sizemore's homer ended the dream.

Bats break out to put tough weekend in rear view mirror | Indians.com

Three hits apiece from "core" players Kipnis, Brantley and Gomes helped the Tribe to 13 in all.

Indians news & notes

Cleveland Indians glad Cody Anderson threw away his bat to concentrate on pitching | cleveland.com

Cody Anderson wanted to be an outfielder until his college coach told him to throw his bat away.

Terry Francona cools off before calling team meeting | cleveland.com

Paul Hoynes reports on Tito's rally meeting yesterday afternoon: "Obviously, I was upset last night and I kind of actually wrote some notes down about how I felt," said Francona. "I told they guys, "I probably don't need these notes, but I took them because I don't want to let emotion get in the way of what I want to say.'

Plenty of blame to go around for Cleveland Indians' lackluster first half | cleveland.com

Zack Meisel tries to dissect where things have gone wrong for the Tribe.

Tidbits from around MLB

Ubaldo Jimenez proving his worth | Fangraphs

Jimenez no longer possesses the fastball of old, but has had great success this year by increasing the use of his very effective sinker.

Was A-Rod worth all that money, Yankees? | FOX Sports

Owen Watson says yes, so far (at least) he has.

Where the Astros have been at their best | FanGraphs

There is plenty to like about the 2015 Astros, but Jeff Sullivan argues that where they really excel is in generating groundballs, and then turning those grounders into outs.

We’re seeing more strikeouts, but it takes many more pitches to get them | FiveThirtyEight

We all love the fact that the Indians starters throw so many strikeouts, but of course there is a trade-off in the form of higher pitch counts, potentially leading to shorter outings.

Signing July 2nd players has gotten even more complicated | FanGraphs

Kiley McDaniel sets the scene for the international signings season, which starts on Thursday.