Major League Bastian
Beating the drum with Indians.com reporter Jordan Bastian
Month in review: May

There is an adult-sized chicken costume sitting in the empty locker to the right of Corey Kluber’s stall inside Cleveland’s clubhouse at Progressive Field. Outside the locker room, there is a photo of two adult-sized chickens standing in the outfield of the Indians’ home ballpark.

Through some intense investigative reporting, it has been determined that one of the mystery chickens was reliever Cody Allen, whose nickname among teammates is, in fact, “Chicken.” The other player within the poultry suit was discovered to be Kluber.

“I keep telling you guys,” Kluber said recently. “It wasn’t me. I don’t know who it was.”

Kluber has become known for his stoic persona. A smile from the right-hander is a rare sight. The chicken suit is a glimpse into a side of Kluber that he has not revealed to the public. He has embraced the robotic character that has been created in the public domain. This was never more evident than during an in-game television interview, in which Kluber never flinched amidst a shower of powder and sunflower seeds.

For the Indians, May was Kluber’s coming-out party. He might not have a nationally-recognized name yet, but you better believe that people within baseball know all about Kluber by now. I am always hesitant to slap the label “ace” on anyone, but I will say that I feel Kluber is has the makings of ace material.

Let’s take a look at some factoids about the Klubot’s season to date and strong May:

As of this writing, Kluber has logged six straight starts with at least 6.2 IP and eight strikeouts. That ties an Indians record held by Sudden Sam McDowell (1970), Herb Score (1956-57) and Bob Feller (1938-39).
That’s the longest such streak in the American League since CC Sabathia had seven such outings in a row during the 2011 season.
Kluber’s six-game streak of having at least 6.2 IP, eight strikeouts and no more than two walks tied an AL record, which is shared by Roger Clemens (1997) and Randy Johnson (1995). Johnson holds the NL record for that unique pitching-line streak with eight in a row in 2001. Sandy Koufax went seven straight in 1965, and some guys named R.A. Dickey (2012), Curt Schilling (2002) and Pedro Martinez (1997) had six-game runs.
Kluber is the only pitcher in the past 100 seasons for the Indians to have four straight starts with at least seven innings, eight strikeouts and no more than two walks. That statistical line had been achieved in three consecutive outings 12 times.
Entering Sunday, Kluber led the Major Leagues with eight games with at least eight strikeouts and six games with at least nine strikeouts. The righty also led MLB with 95 strikeouts on the season.
In the AL, Kluber’s ranks among qualified pitchers were as follows: 3.04 ERA (11), six wins (t-4), 95 strikeouts (1), 2.22 FIP (1), 1.23 WHIP (18), 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings (1), 5.28 strikeout-to-walk ratio (4), .671 opponents’ OPS (13), 68 percent strikes (4), 3.59 pitches per plate appearance (t-3), 19.3 swinging-strike percentage (6) and 18 three-pitch strikeouts (3). He’s done all this with the highest batting average on balls in play (.352).
In May, Kluber became the first Indians pitcher since Dennis Eckersley (1976) to have at least 60 strikeouts in one month Kluber joined Yu Darvish as the only Major League pitchers over the past 10 seasons (2005-14) to have at least 60 strikeouts in any one month. Darvish had 64 in Sept/Oct of last season with the Rangers.
Kluber’s May marked only the 20th time in the past 100 years that a Major League pitcher ended one month with at least 60 strikeouts and no more than 43 baserunners. The others: Johnson (six times), Schilling (three), Pedro (twice), Clemens (twice), Koufax, Darvish, Johan Santana, Kerry Wood, Mike Scott, Dwight Gooden.
Kluber became only the fifth pitcher (19 times) to have at least 60 strikeouts in a single month. Besides Eckersley (’76), McDowell (eight times), Score (’56) and Feller (eight times) accomplished the feat. Kluber (eight walks) is the only one of that group to have fewer than 17 walks in the same month. His 12.6 K/9 and 7.50 K:BB are also the highest for any of the 19 occurrences.

Kluber was the highlight of May for the Indians, but the club also endured some ups and downs to produce 15 wins — a solid comeback from a rough April. All-Star second baseman Jason Kipnis missed most of the month due to a right oblique injury, but Mike Aviles performed admirably in his absence and Dr. Smooth (Michael Brantley) and Lonnie Baseball (Lonnie Chisenhall) both continued on their torrid starts.

Here is a glance at the month that was for the Tribe…

AL Central standings heading into June:

1. Tigers 31-21 (–)
2. White Sox 28-29 (5.5)
3. Royals 26-29 (6.5)
4. Twins 25-28 (6.5)
5. Indians 26-30 (7.0)

Record at home: 10-5
Record on road: 5-8

Offense (AL rank)

.273 AVG (t-2)
.344 OBP (t-1)
.428 SLG (3)
.772 OPS (2)
136 R (t-3)
267 H (4)
56 2B (3)
3 3B (t-9)
30 HR (t-5)
127 RBI (4)
12 SB (13)
102 BB (3)
183 K (2)
419 TB (4)

Notes: After a dismal and disappointing April, the Indians enjoyed a solid overall showing this past month. In fact, the last time a Cleveland team posted at least a .770 OPS to go along with at least 130 runs, 100 walks and 410 total bases in one month was August of 2008. If you add the element of having fewer than 200 strikeouts, you have to reach back to May of 2006 to find the last Indians offense to piece together that showing in a single month.

Pitching (AL rank)

15 wins (t-6)
3.86 ERA (7)
4.41 rot. ERA (11)
3.05 rel. ERA (4)
7 saves (10)
254.1 IP (11)
245 H (5)
131 R (14)
109 R (6)
33 HR (14)
93 BB (11)
252 K (2)
.250 AVG (8)
1.33 WHIP (t-8)

Notes: This marked only the eighth time in the past 100 seasons that an Indians’ staff had at least 250 strikeouts in a single month. Cleveland also accomplished the feat in 2013 (May, August, Sept/Oct), 1967 (August), 1965 (Sept/Oct) and 1964 (June, July). This was just the fourth time a Cleveland team had 15 wins and 250 strikeouts in one month and the third time with an ERA of 3.90 or better, plus 15 wins and 250 strikeouts. It also marked the ninth time a Tribe staff finished any one month with at least 200 strikeouts, 95 walks or fewer and 110 earned runs or fewer (once in 2014 and 2010, twice in 1968, and once in each of the 1967, ’66, ’65 and ’63 seasons. The Indians also became the fastest team this season to reach 500 strikeouts this season.

Player of the Month: Brantley
Stats: .345/.405/.564/.969, 5 HR, 7 2B, 1 3B, 19 RBI, 21 R, 27 games

Notes: Among batters with at least 100 at-bats, Brantley’s slash line was the best in one month by an Indians’ hitter since Grady Sizemore’s .377/.455/.642 in June 2005. Prior to that, you’re looking at Roberto Alomar in July 2001, Manny Ramirez in Sept/Oct 2000 and Alomar again in Sept/Oct 2000. If you drop the requirement to 90 at-bats, Kipnis’ June from last season (.419/.517/.699) comes up. The last Tribesman to hit .345 with at least five homers, 19 RBIs and 21 runs in one month was Shin-Soo Choo in Sept/Oct 2008.

Apologies to… Chisenhall, who turned in a .373/.430/.590 slash line to go along with three homers, nine doubles, 14 RBIs and 15 runs in 26 games. I went with Brantley because he had a healthy lead on Chisenhall in at-bats (110 to 83) and Dr. Smooth’s defensive prowess in left field had more of an impact in the field. Chisenhall has also only recently begun to earn trust and playing time against left-handed pitching. Better luck in June, Lonnie Baseball.

Previous ’14 winners: OF David Murphy (April)

Pitcher of the Month: Kluber
Stats: 4-0, 2.09 ERA, 43 IP, 60 K, 8 BB, .217 AVG, 0.98 WHIP, 6 starts

Note: See top section.

Previous ’14 winners: RHP Zach McAllister (April)

Reliever of the Month: RHP Bryan Shaw
Stats: 0.71 ERA, 12.2 IP, 10 K, 0 BB, .191 AVG, 0.71 WHIP, 14 games

Notes: Finishing a month with zero walks with as many appearances as Shaw had in May is a rare feat. In Indians history, only Bob Wickman (July 2001) and Derek Lilliquist (Sept/Oct 1992) previously had no walks with at least 14 games in one month. Only four Major League pitchers accomplished the feat in 2013: Kenley Jensen (June), Mark Melancon (March/April), Wesley Wright (May) and Edward Mujica (May).

Previous ’14 winners: Shaw (April)

Game of the Month (hitter): C George Kottaras
May 4 against White Sox: 2-for-3, 2 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI

Notes: Called up from Triple-A while starting catcher Yan Gomes was on MLB’s paternity list, Kottaras enjoyed one of the most memorable debuts in Indians history. With two homers out of the chute, Kottaras became the only player in Cleveland history to launch a home run in each of his first two career plate appearances with the club. The last Major Leaguer to accomplish that feat was Jeremy Giambi in 2002 with the A’s. That said, King George has nothing on Jamie “Statistical” Quirk. On Sept. 27, 1984, Quirk launched a walk-off homer in his only career plate appearance for Cleveland. No one will ever be able to top his 1.000/1.000/4.000 career slash line in an Indians uniform.

Game of the Month (pitcher): Kluber
May 4 against White Sox: 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R/ER, 2 BB, 13 K, 110 (70), 83 game score

Notes: With this outing, Kluber became the first Indians pitcher to have at least 13 strikeouts in a start of eight or more innings since Bartolo Colon on Sept. 18, 2000. He was the first to have that kind of production in a team loss since Dave Burba did so on July 21, 1999. The last Indians pitcher to go at least eight with 13 strikeouts against the White Sox? You’re looking at Sudden Sam McDowell on May 6, 1970.

———————————————————————————–

Minor League standouts for April

Triple-A Columbus

Player of the Month: OF Matt Carson
Stats: .281/.365/.531/.896, 4 HR, 4 2B, 11 RBI, 15 R, 20 games

Previous ’14 winners: 1B Jesus Aguilar (April)

Pitcher of the Month: LHP Nick Hagadone
Stats: 2.25 ERA, 12 IP, 22 K, 3 BB, .146 AVG, 0.75 WHIP, 8 games

Previous ’14 winners: RHP Trevor Bauer (April)

Double-A Akron

Player of the Month: OF Tyler Naquin
Stats: .328/.370/.434/.805, 2 HR, 5 2B, 1 3B, 17 RBI, 25 R, 6 SB, 29 games

Previous ’14 winners: 3B Giovanny Urshela (April)

Pitcher of the Month: RHP Tyler Sturdevant
Stats: 0.00 ERA, 16 IP, 15 K, 3 BB, .118 AVG, 0.56 WHIP, 3 saves, 10 games

Previous ’14 winners: LHP Kyle Crockett (April)

Class A (high) Carolina

Player of the Month: OF Anthony Gallas
Stats: .300/.379/.500/.879, 3 HR, 13 2B, 16 RBI, 15 R, 13 BB, 4 SB, 30 games

Previous ’14 winners: SS Erik Gonzalez (April)

Pitcher of the Month: LHP Ryan Merritt
Stats: 3-2, 2.54 ERA, 39 IP, 31 K, 5 BB, .236 AVG, 1.03 WHIP, 6 starts

Previous ’14 winners: Merritt (April)

Class A (low) Lake County

Player of the Month: INF Paul Hendrix
Stats: .386/.462/.634/1.095, 5 HR, 8 2B, 1 3B, 16 RBI, 18 R, 14 BB, 27 games

Previous ’14 winners: OF Cody Farrell (April)

Pitcher of the Month: RHP Robbie Aviles
Stats: 1-0, 1.64 ERA, 38.1 IP, 21 K, 7 BB, .180 AVG, 0.81 WHIP, 6 starts

Previous ’14 winners: RHP Jordan Milbrath (April)

T.J. Zuppe
T.J. Zuppe began his broadcasting career in 2008 and has covered major...


CLEVELAND (92.3 The Fan) - Would the real Cleveland Indians please stand up?

Are they the club that just finished off a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies courtesy of Michael Bourn’s first career walk-off homer, or are they the team that was recently swept in a three game series in Chicago at the hands of the White Sox?

Are they the group that took all three from the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field in May, or the squad that still sits three games below .500, now in fourth place in the American League Central?

We are 57 games into the 2014 season and still have more questions than answers about the type of team the Indians truly are.

Their play indicates Cleveland isn’t much more than a .500 club at best. But are they capable of being more than that?

Much like the 2013 edition of the Tribe, Cleveland has ridden a wave of emotions, particularly recently, finishing off a three-game sweep of the Rockies at Progressive Field after losing five of their previous six games.

“We know we have a good team,” Bourn said. “We know we can play baseball. We know we’re athletic. We just have to continue to work at what we have to do. No matter if our hitting is winning or our pitching is winning, we just try to stay behind each other.

“Against Chicago, we were in all the games… It’s not like we weren’t playing good. We just made a couple of mistakes that happened by playing baseball but we always pick up our teammates up no matter what. We just continue to grind out it out.”

In the sweep of Colorado, a great deal of credit is due to the Tribe’s starters in the three-game set: Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin.

The trio tossed 19 innings in the series, striking out 28 batters and walking just three. Their ability to rack up the punch outs were impressive considering Colorado entered Sunday with 390 strikeouts this season, fewest in the National League.

“I think the first couple of days were a byproduct of everybody getting ahead,” Sunday’s starter Tomlin said. “When I was able to get ahead today, I was able to put some guys away… With a pretty aggressive team like they are, if you locate those pitches, you have a pretty good chance.”

Possibly the biggest key to the Indians finding some consistently lies in that starting staff. Two-fifths of the Opening Day rotation have been demoted to the bullpen or the minors, while a third member of the unit, Zach McAllister, currently finds himself on the disabled list with a lower back strain.

Luckily, Kluber has pitched at an All-Star level through the first two months of the season while others, such as McAllister and Justin Masterson have struggled to find their stride.

With Tomlin and Bauer now part of the starting-five, is the Tribe’s rotation on a better path?

“I hope so,” Tomlin said. “I’ve only been up here for the month of May but I feel like guys are throwing the ball well right now. We need to continue to throw the ball well and get deep in the game and save that bullpen a little bit and give our team a chance to win.”

While the starting staff seeks stability, so does an offense that had been plagued by inefficiency earlier this season.

Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana – both suffering through some of the worst stretches of their careers – are both on the disabled list and have been unable to perform the way their career averages would suggest they should.

Still, at least recently, the Wahoo bats have been better in clutch situations, another huge key to finding out what type of club the Indians are.

“We’re doing a little better situationally,” manager Terry Francona said. “We had some sac-flies and moving runners, things like that… It’s a lot easier when you’re keeping the line moving, take your walks.”

For now, the ups and downs of the 2014 season continue as they seek to establish what type of team they will ultimately be.

With much baseball yet to be played, the Tribe is most comfortable betting on themselves.

“We have fun playing baseball,” Tomlin said. “We have fun in this clubhouse. We have fun traveling. It’s a good group of guys and we’ve got to continue to grind it out and keep playing baseball. Hopefully some of those things will kind of even themselves out.”

Pitcher of the Month: LHP Nick Hagadone
Stats: 2.25 ERA, 12 IP, 22 K, 3 BB, .146 AVG, 0.75 WHIP, 8 games

If Hagadone can pitch with that kind of control I'll accept him back with Cleveland.

Too bad, I guess.

The Royals have claimed right-hander Blake Wood off of waivers from the Indians, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (Twitter link). Wood was designated for assignment by the Tribe last week.

Wood was originally drafted by Kansas City in the third round of the 2006 draft and he posted a 4.30 ERA and 1.72 K/BB rate in 119 1/3 relief innings with the team in 2010-11. He missed all of 2012 recovering from Tommy John surgery and was waived by K.C. following the season. Wood struggled with Cleveland this season, posting a 7.11 ERA and issuing an equal number of walks (seven) as strikeouts over 6 1/3 IP of work.

Second Thoughts Game #58: Boston 2, Cleveland 3

The Indians' 3-2 victory over the recently resurgent Boston Red Sox was a time of a great many reunions. Terry Francona, Justin Masterson, and Nick Hagadone all had the chance to face their former club; for Grady Sizemore and Edward Mujica, it was a return to their former home ballpark.

The Cleveland offense was saved far more by the timing of their hits than the quantity; Chisenhall and Asdrubal got hits when a run was on the line, but that was the only offensive performance from either of them, and while Bourn's good day (1B, 3B, BB, SB) led to a run, Murphy's was left out. It's good to see that Murphy's BABIP is ticking back toward career norms (and that Bourn is vastly exceeding it - this author isn't above being greedy), but the story of the day was that grinning bear who made the start for Cleveland.
The Frustrating, Amazing Spectacle of Justin Masterson

It might be said that, due to his often widely varying results, that Justin Masterson is a Jekyll and Hyde pitcher. It's more precise, however, to say that Justin Masterson is a complete inversion of the Jekyll and Hyde tale.

From his side-arm delivery to the extreme results of his fastball/breaking ball arsenal, Justin Masterson is unique. In what may have been the strangest outing since Danny Salazar's 3.2 IP, 10 K, 5 ER paroxysmal performance on April 10th against the White Sox, Justin Masterson shut out his former club in 7 IP; the (modified) line was 7 IP, 26 batters faced, 0 R/ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 10 K, 105 P, 67 strikes, 14 whiffs.

From the modified box line alone, the firsts of a strange game arose. Masteron's 13.3% Swinging Strike rate is extremely high; the fact that both Kluber and Bauer each had 14 whiffs Friday and Saturday as well does not change that fact. It's a top-flight game in terms of bat missing when one can generate 14 whiffs; for context, the average starter garners 8.7 whiffs per 100 pitches.

Additionally, if an Indians starter were to allow four walks in a game, the team's rather conservative pitch counts would not, normally, allow that starter to go more than six. Even if one were to assume a pitcher had an outing with 4 walks over 7 innings, one would guess that those four walks were either distributed evenly, or that they came predominantly at the end of the outing, just as he was nearing the end of his night. What actually happened, that they all occurred in the trying 2 1/3 innings that started the game, makes the line even more bizarre.

Masterson's first two innings were not disastrous in the sense that they visited irredeemable cataclysm upon the team. They were shut-out innings, but they were the shutout innings of a Chris Perez rather than those of a Craig Kimbrel. After three batters in the second, Masterson's K:BB ratio on the night had been an extremely worrying 4:4 - worrying not only in isolation, but within the context of his already highest-in-the-AL 33 walks entering the game. Monday's performance was worse than normal, certainly, but throughout his career, Masterson's walk rate in innings 4-6 (3.8 BB/9) have been worse than his walk rates in innings 1-3 (3.4 BB/9). Every factor suggested that Masterson's game would become worse, mildly better, or quickly over.

In the shadow of this smirking specter, baserunners stood on first and second after Masterson had walked David Ortiz, and A.J. Pierzynski was at the dish with one out in the third. 'At least,' one consoled oneself, 'A.J. Pierzynski will not walk.' Ill-tempered Pierzynski-bot has something of an overriding directive, a very simple one: IF pitch THEN swing. Because of Kluber's robotic personality, it might be said that the Indians' fortunes have hinged on the performance of robots, and Pierzynski only reinforced that; on the first pitch, Pierzynski swung on the first pitch and grounded into a double play, ending the inning, and allowing Justin Masterson to start the game anew.

To understand the scope of the schism resulting from that Pierzynski double play, consider: Masterson's first 2.1 IP - every pitch before the Pierzynski at-bat - took 61 pitches and 31 strikes, averaging 26.1 pitches per inning. Starting with Pierzynski, Masterson's final 4.2 IP took 44 pitches and 36 strikes, averaging 9.4 pitches per inning. A dichotomy this pronounced - throwing 51% strikes, and then throwing 89% strikes - is more characteristic of two separate starts than it is of segments within a start, yet so it was with this seven-inning shutout performance.

And what a tremendous second stage it was. Pierzynski's double play was the first in what would become an incredible 25 consecutive strikes, the longest such streak since June 2012. Included within that 25-strike streak was an equally incredible feat: an immaculate fourth inning, within which Masterson struck out the side on nine pitches. Masterson becomes the 70th pitcher to accomplish the feat, and the first Indians pitcher in history to do so.

Nor is this Masterson's first brush with rare feats against the Red Sox. On August 4th, 2011, Masterson became the55th pitcher to strike out four batters in an inning. He becomes the fifth pitcher to both strikeout four in an inning andrecord an immaculate inning, in a group that includes himself, Steve Delabar, A.J. Burnett, Felix Hernandez, andBob Gibson.

Justin Masterson is a pitcher defined by his dichotomies. Against left-handers, his wOBA against says that Masterson is Jeremy Guthrie; against right-handers, he's in the company of Clayton Kershaw and Felix Hernandez. Masterson led the league in complete game shutouts in 2013; he had the eighth-worst ERA in the league in 2012. Masterson is defined by his extreme contradictions.

In Robert Louis Stevenson's work, Edward Hyde is a conscious creation of Dr. Henry Jekyll, an attempt to distill mankind's evil from its good, an attempt to create a monster of pure evil that Jekyll himself might remain wholly upright; in Jekyll's estimation, the sum of these two creatures' moral accounting would, taken together, be no different from any other human.

The rebuttal of Dr. Jekyll's view forms the basis of Stevenson's allegory; nevertheless, Justin Masterson is the pitching incarnation of Jekyll's ideals. Masterson has tremendous platoon splits; he is prone as much to meltdowns as shutdowns; he has seasons that show hints of ace-level performance and seasons that make one long for the relatively carefree days of Paul Byrd. The sum total of these contradictions, however, is a pitcher who has served as the de facto rock of the Cleveland rotation. That designation came at a time when the team had no other options, certainly, but that's precisely the point: he has moments when he's excellent and moments when he's horrific, such that the sum is neither excellent nor horrific.

It is true that there are sound reasons to mistrust Masterson, both short-term and long-term, and the list of legitimate concerns with Masterson would be a scathing one. Yet after four walks with less than eight outs made, Masterson proceeded to throw a stunning performance the rest of the way.

This stunning juxtaposition is why Monday's game is emblematic of the ethos of Justin Masterson: he has as good a chance as any to turn heads away in frustration, but if you can endure the bad and keep watching, you might just see something amazing.

I had missed that Lowe went down and Hagadone came up for the first time in 2014. He has had great control in the past month for Columbus. It's about time he pitches that way for Cleveland. About his last chance by now.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – John Axford lost the closer's job on May 9. It's still unclear when he might get it back.

The four-head, eight-armed closer-by-committee that replaced Axford – Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw, Marc Rzepczynski and Scott Atchison – is chugging comfortably along. Axford, meanwhile, continues to work on his delivery so he can throw more strikes and fewer balls.

It has not been a smooth path. There have been some good adjustments and some that were abandoned.

"Right now, I've been doing some stuff since the start of the last road trip that is keeping things together for me," said Axford. "I've felt a lot better playing catch and throwing off the mound in Baltimore and Chicago."

In his last three appearances, Axford as pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts and no walks. The key is no walks. When he was closing, Axford showed good stuff, but walked too many people.

"I feel great," said Axford. "I feel calm. I feel relaxed. I feel like I have more control of myself out there. I'm a long guy (6-5) and I can get a lot of arms and legs going. If I can maintain it and keep those things under wraps and focused, the better I'll be."

Axford went into Monday's series against Boston without an appearance in five days. On Monday afternoon, the Indians recalled lefty Nick Hagadone from Class AAA Columbus and optioned right-hander Mark Lowe back to the Clippers.

The reason was twofold, according to manager Terry Francona. Boston has a lot of left-handed hitters and he wanted to get Axford into more games.

"I think in Ax's last couple of outings his delivery has been calmer and the ball is down more and coming out of his hand crisper," said Francona.

As for when he might return to closer, Axford said, "You can't think about that. Things are going well the way they are right now. (But) that's definitely something I want to do. I want that to happen. I had a rough week and that started the fall of some of my mechanics and some of my numbers, but I feel like I'm get back on to it."

Axford knows this will take time, but feels like he's moving in the right direction. "Obviously, you just can't be thrust back into that role," he said. "I have to trust in Tito and what he wants to accomplish. We will obviously discuss where he thinks that will take us. I don't think there will be a set date or particular time.

"I think it's just going to be getting a feel, and feeling like I have the last three times specifically on the mound. If I can continue that, hopefully, it will come back sooner than later."

The Indians have registered six saves since Axford was removed. Allen has four of them, including Monday night's save in a 3-2 victory over Boston.

New lefty: Hagadone joins the Indians on a roll.

"I've worked with Tony Arnold (Columbus pitching coach) on fixing my mechanics," said Hagadone. "They got out of whack toward the end of spring training and it carried over into the first couple weeks of the season.

"I just slowly worked on changing them. My velocity was down and now it's back up and I've been able to throw my breaking ball for strikes."

Hagadone, in 18 appearances at Columbus, struck out 35 and walked nine in 23 1/3 innings. He averaged 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings; striking out 35 of the 96 batters he's faced this year.

Lead the way: In Monday's 3-2 victory over Boston, lead-off man Michael Bourn reached base in his first three plate appearances, scoring two runs, stealing a base and hitting a triple.

In the first, he walked and immediately stole second base. In the third, he tripled to center. The steal and triple were indications that his strained left hamstring is getting back to full strength.

"I'm felling pretty good," said Bourn, 5-for-8 in steal attempts. "The training staff has done a nice job. Right now, I'm just trying to take advantage of every opportunity that's there. When the opportunity presents itself, you have to be aggressive.''

Straight to the heart: Justin Masterson, during Monday's game against the Red Sox, threw 25 straight strikes, including a nine-pitch fourth inning when he struck out the side in order.

On June 24, 2012, Minnesota's Scott Diamond threw 26 straight strikes, according to Elias. On April 18, 2012, Oakland's Bartolo Colon threw 38 straight strikes.

Finally: Blake Wood, designated for assignment on May 27, was claimed on waivers by Kansas City on Monday. "I'm not surprised at all that he was claimed," said Francona. "That was a burden for Chris (Antonetti, general manager) when he did that. You've got a guy who throws 100 mph, but he walked guys here and he walked guys in Triple-A. But if it clicks you've got a guy who can throw at the end of games."

The Indians claimed Wood on waivers from the Royals in 2012. They completed his rehab from Tommy John surgery and made a spot for him on the opening day roster this year.

Forty years ago, 10-cent beer makes memories
Cheap suds, building tension lead to fracas, forfeit on infamous night in Cleveland
Anthony Castrovince By Anthony Castrovince | Archive 6/4/2014 10:00 A.M. ET

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Wielding bats, Rangers coaches and players surround Jeff Burroughs (center) and lead him off the field. (Paul Tepley/AP)

CLEVELAND -- Any discussion of ill-fated promotions inevitably includes mention of June 4, 1974, when cheap beer gave rise to mayhem at Municipal Stadium.

The Indians forfeited that night's game against the Rangers in the midst of a ninth-inning comeback because a crazed crowd had overtaken the events on the field. It is one of just five forfeits since 1954, and the only one known to include a combination of streaking nudists, exploding firecrackers, stolen bases (literally) and an organists' rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" serving as the soundtrack to 50 ballplayers defending themselves from a crowd of unruly drunks.

So, yes, on that level, Ten-Cent Beer Night was unique.

Of course, because time has a way of abstracting outrage, Ten-Cent Beer Night is probably more a source of civic pride than embarrassment in Cleveland. You get a sense of this any time you attend an Indians home game and see the occasional T-shirt celebrating Ten-Cent Beer Night and the old cauldron of a stadium that housed it. Clevelanders wear their bruises remarkably well, and enough time has passed that the arrests, the late-night punchlines and the forfeit are all viewed as little more than hazy, quirky qualities of a hazy, quirky time in American history.

But at the risk of flogging dead horses, let's use the 40th anniversary of Ten-Cent Beer Night as an occasion to correct a misperception about the promotion and all it entailed.

Not to say that the veritable riot wasn't terrible, because what riot is good? But the idea that led to it wasn't as horrendous -- or even as original -- as many presume.
* * * * *

Ten-Cent Beer Night was not a singular event. In fact, the dime drafts aren't even on record as the cheapest of cheap beers that have been offered at a ballpark.

"Multiple teams had picked up on dime-beer night," said Dan Coughlin, a longtime Cleveland sports personality who worked for the Plain Dealer. "The Indians did their first in 1971. It was nickel-beer day. It was a charming Sunday afternoon on Fourth of July weekend. There were strolling musicians in straw hats and blazers. There were no incidents whatsoever."

By 1974, the inflationary effects that had doubled the price of the promotion did not diminish the anticipated impact on attendance in Cleveland. The Brewers were another club known to have held regular dime-beer nights (who knew Milwaukeeans liked beer?). The very Rangers team that would become the beneficiary of the Indians' June 4, 1974, forfeit had hosted its own dime-draft night a week earlier.

"We didn't draw many fans back then," said Tom Grieve, then a Rangers outfielder and now a TV color man. "But at the end of the game, in the right-field seats, there were at least 1,000 University of Texas at Arlington kids. They had stocked up on beer in the ninth inning, and virtually every one of them had two large beers in front of them. We went in, took a shower, got to our cars, and they were still in the stands."

News flash: People like cheap beer.

"It was just a way to get fans to the ballpark," Grieve said. "It seemed like a good idea. [The events on June 4 were] a matter of circumstances that presented themselves throughout the night."

Perhaps the most significant of those circumstances was the fracas that had taken place between the Indians and Rangers on the night of the Rangers' dime-beer promotion. That argument erupted in the eighth inning on May 29, when Texas' Lenny Randle dragged a bunt down the first-base line and intentionally collided with Cleveland reliever Milt Wilcox, who had earlier brushed back Randle with a pitch. The benches cleared, players tackled each other, fans threw beer and food at members of the Tribe, but, strangely, nobody was ejected.

When Rangers manager Billy Martin was asked afterward if he was nervous about retribution from Indians fans on the upcoming trip to Cleveland, he offered a classic Martin quip:

"They don't have enough fans there to worry about."

Well, back on the shores of Lake Erie, the fans of the Indians -- or, at the very least, fans of cold beer -- were listening. Pete Franklin, a pioneer of outspoken sports opinions on the radio airwaves, used his popular "Sportsline" program on Cleveland AM station WWWE to stoke the fires for days.

"He was on the radio every single night promoting vengeance against the Rangers for the brawl," Coughlin recalled.

It was the first game of the series between the Rangers and Indians, and the conditions were ripe for a rowdy crowd. It wasn't just the bad blood between the two clubs or the thinned blood of the buzzed crowd. It was the unusual early-June humidity that contributed to the clog at the concessions and the inordinately youthful makeup of the audience, as the game aligned perfectly with the summer return of many area college kids -- one of whom was the late Tim Russert, then a student at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, who would later remark, "I went with $2 in my pocket. You do the math."

Oh, and we'd be remiss not to mention there was a full moon that night.

"Every bartender will tell you," said Coughlin, "the gravitational attraction of the full moon makes crazy people even crazier."

"That," added Grieve, "is as good an explanation as anything else."
* * * * *

So Ten-Cent Beer Night was a little crazy from the get-go. Many fans were liquored up before they even walked through the gates, and the early-inning zaniness (one woman tried to get a kiss from umpire Nestor Chylak, who declined) eventually gave way to more serious situations, like thrown objects.

Things came to a head in the ninth, after the Indians had tied the game at 5-5 and put the potential winning runner on second. A fan jumped over the outfield wall and flipped the cap off right fielder Jeff Burroughs' head. The story goes that Burroughs, then in the midst of an MVP season, tried to kick the fan and stumbled to the ground. Martin, thinking the fan had tackled Burroughs, told his men to grab bats and rush to Burroughs' defense. The Indians then left their dugout in the Rangers' defense.

That's when Ten-Cent Beer Night got out of control.

"If that fan hadn't tried to get Burroughs' cap, that night would have ended without anything," said Paul Tepley, formerly of the Cleveland Press and the only photographer on the field in the ninth. "That's my outlook on this. When that happened and the players got hurt and some of the fans got hurt, that was enough of that. Game over, Indians lose."

Ten-Cent Beer Night probably sums up the "bad old days" of the Indians (things, thankfully, took a major turn for the better in the 1990s) as well as anything, and it was obviously a big story nationwide. At a press conference the next day, reporters pelted team president Ted Bonda with questions about the promotion and the way it was handled. At one point, an exasperated Bonda threw up his hands.

"Gentlemen!" he said. "You're giving beer a bad name!"

Maybe there's a tiny tinge of truth within that remark, because another fact that gets lost to history is that the infamous Ten-Cent Beer Night wasn't even the last Ten-Cent Beer Night in Cleveland. The Indians held another one that July 18.

That time, the crowd was even larger, but the promotion went off without a hitch.

And if you dig a little deeper, you'll uncover something interesting about July 18, 1974:

There was no full moon.

Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his columns and follow him on Twitter at @Castrovince. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Cleveland Indians Sweep Boston Red Sox, 7-4, 12 innings


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Things get weird at the ballpark once the clock strikes midnight. Hecklers take center stage, the stadium operations crew is forced to run scoreboard videos it never thought would see the light of day and press box discussions turn more and more obscure.

Once Wednesday morphed into Thursday and the Indians and Red Sox continued their war of attrition, talk between reporters focused on favorite and least favorite animals.

Among the praised creatures were elephants, hippos, polar bears, ocelots, wombats and, strangely, squirrels. Ferrets, snakes, skunks and cats were mentioned as some of the least favorite critters. What a productive, significant conversation.

On an unrelated note, the Indians topped the Red Sox, 7-4, in 12, long innings. Here are five observations.

1. Back to even: With their sixth consecutive victory, the Indians improved to 30-30, their first day with a .500 mark since April 24, when they sported an 11-11 record. On four occasions this season, the Indians have dipped to six games under .500. When they plummeted to 11-17, they won two games before falling back to 13-19. Then, they won four straight contests, but stalled out before they could get back to even. When they fell to 19-25, they won four games before again stalling out. Since dropping to 24-30, they have captured six straight victories.

2. Déjà vu: Last season, the Indians stood at 30-30 through 60 games. Then, however, they were in the midst of a downward spiral. They sputtered through an eight-game skid to fall to 30-33.

"I think that kind of falls into the taking it day by day line of thought," said Corey Kluber, who lasted 6 1/3 innings in the Wednesday portion of the series finale against Boston. "I think if you start worrying about your record in May, you're kind of fighting an uphill battle. There's so much of the season left that maybe if you kind of stay the course and continue to play good, you're capable of getting on a roll like we have this homestand and stuff and things can turn out in your favor."

3. Home cooking: The Indians claimed their ninth consecutive victory at Progressive Field. They now boast an American League-best 21-11 home record.

"I think we're playing really good games right now," said shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, who sealed the triumph with a walk-off homer. "This week here at home, we won all six games. That's a good start for getting back."

4. One tough cookie: Carlos "Cookie" Carrasco earned the win after tossing two hitless innings of relief. The right-hander tallied four strikeouts and only needed 23 pitches to dispose of the seven Red Sox he faced. As a reliever, Carrasco has compiled a 2.25 ERA, with 15 strikeouts and only four walks in 16 innings.

5. Sturdy 'pen: Tribe relievers combined for 5 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, with no walks, two hits allowed and 10 strikeouts. John Axford pitched for the first time in more than a week and fanned both batters he faced. For the second consecutive night, Nick Hagadone provided a late-inning lift.

Some really cool stuff going on in Tribe bullpen.

1. They get today off

2. Carrasco could REALLY be a force in there.

3. Axford is pitching well OUT of the closer role. Really - if Cody can close, does it matter if Axford helps set up?

4. Cody is lights out as closer.

5. Shaw is lights out as setup.

But really, if Carrasco can be another impact arm out there, this is gonna be fun.

2 out of 3 nice moves for Tribe.

So far, the letting go of Ubaldo and Joe Smith look like good moves. No reason to use up contract money on those 2.

Kazmir is the obvious 3rd. So far, he has been more than worth his contract with Oakland. Then again, he IS on Oakland which is not hurting his cause. That team is a juggernaut right now.

"Déjà vu: Last season, the Indians stood at 30-30 through 60 games. Then, however, they were in the midst of a downward spiral. They sputtered through an eight-game skid to fall to 30-33."

I'm reasonably optimistic that Hagadone is at last ready to be a major contributor out of the pen, too. He has long been identified as having the "stuff" to be a closer. For a little over a month he also has had the necessary command and Tito has thrown him right out there in key roles in his first two big league outings of 2014 and he's done the job.

I just read a statement by Carrasco. He likes his role and the fact that he can "just turn it loose". He's been topping out in the high 90's. He's hit 99 a couple of times. He's got a nice breaking ball to go with the power stuff. I don't think it will be much longer that Carrasco assumes the closer role.

I don't agree joez, I think Cody has that locked up. He has pretty darn nasty stuff too. But I am thrilled Carrasco can contribute, they definitely need more guys to take the load off the "big 4". More about the bullpen:

'I don't think it worries us': Are the Cleveland Indians overworking the back end of their bullpen?

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Terry Francona apologized to Bryan Shaw as soon as the reliever descended down the dugout steps.

Shaw shouldn't have taken the hill that night. Francona shouldn't have permitted him to even warm up in the bullpen.

After the right-hander exited the game, having surrendered a two-run homer to turn a comfortable, three-run lead into a narrow, one-run edge, Shaw received a message from his skipper.

Francona told Shaw that if he and the Indians go to arbitration this winter -- the 26-year-old will be eligible -- the manager will accompany him as his representative.

"I'll tell them I shouldn't have pitched you that much tonight," Francona said, claiming the earned runs Shaw allowed as his own.

Shaw's outing on Monday night was his third in as many days. He finally earned a night off on Tuesday before re-entering the mix in Wednesday's series finale against Boston.

Shaw and Marc Rzepczynski are tied for second in the major leagues with 31 relief appearances. Cody Allen, with 30, isn't far behind.

"We're pitching well and playing a lot of close ballgames," Rzepczynski said. "When you play a lot of close ballgames, you're going to rack up those appearances quick."

The trio and Scott Atchison have developed into Francona's foursome, a group that quells the manager's fear when handed a slight advantage. All four have pitched masterfully; Rzepczynski's 3.00 ERA is the highest of the bunch. Francona admitted, however, that he has relied upon the four too often. Shaw toed the rubber on Monday, which the skipper deemed a mistake.

"They'll always pitch if you really want them to, but they're pretty honest about how they feel," said pitching coach Mickey Callaway. "Even if we feel they need a day off and they don't, we'll give them a day off just to try to protect them as much as possible."

It's in one's competitive nature to shrug off fatigue or aches when awarded an opportunity to contribute. Francona and Callaway will solicit a player's opinion on his particular state, but the coaching staff ultimately rules.

"I'm honest with them," Rzepczynski said. "If I need a day, I'm going to tell them. Rarely do I feel like I need a day. Most of the time, my job is to get an out or two anyway, so it's not like I need to say, 'I'm good for an out.' But I tell them the truth."

The Indians' recent surge makes it easier for pitchers to ignore their dragging arms. Allen especially has embraced his new ninth-inning role.

"If we're winning the ballgame and I have a chance to go in there and close it out, then heck yeah I'm going to want it," he said. "Everyone in here wants to compete and win, especially when we're playing really good baseball."

Allen had appeared in six of eight games before receiving Wednesday to rest his right arm. That was Francona's decision.

"He's going to have the outside perspective," Allen said, "to say, 'You know what? We're going to stay away from you today because we want you for the full 162, we don't just want you for tonight.'"

So, in place of Allen, the Indians turned to John Axford, who saw his first action since May 27, and Carlos Carrasco, who has rarely pitched in a critical juncture.

Axford fanned both batters he faced. Carrasco earned the win after tossing two scoreless innings and tallying four strikeouts. Can Francona now trust them enough to spare Allen, Shaw and Rzepczynski when the workhorses need a breather?

"They did a really good job," Francona said. "That's a tough situation for both of them. Ax came in and finished an inning and started another one. Carlos, he's our length, but he hasn't pitched. I thought both of them were outstanding. It's almost, you feel as a manager, a little bit unfair. They haven't pitched. You put them in that situation and they were outstanding."

The Indians have shuffled through Mark Lowe, Vinnie Pestano, Blake Wood, C.C. Lee and Kyle Crockett. Nick Hagadone has delivered a pair of scoreless appearances since joining the club from Triple-A Columbus. Eventually, Francona must find complements to his steady but spent stable of four horsemen.

"I don't think it worries us," Callaway said, "just because of the kind of workers they are. That trend probably won't stay. It's happened the last week, where they jumped up to the front. Those things will tend to even themselves out as the season progresses.