Indians Prospect Insider

LOUISVILLE, KY – The Columbus Clippers fell to the Louisville Bats 5-2 Tuesday night to the bring the series to a 1-1 standstill. After a Monday night slugfest — where the two clubs combined for 39 hits in the game — the two teams mustered only 15 hits on Tuesday. The Clippers’ inconsistency at the plate led them to go 6-for-32 while the Bats went 9-for-31 on the night.

Much to the delight of the kids sitting on the hill in left field, Freedom shortstop Junior Arrojo led off the sixth with a solo home run to left field. In hot pursuit, one young boy appeared to be hit by the Florence lead off man’s shot; the Crushers felt his pain the rest of the night.

Akron, OH – Looking to put a stop to their three-game skid, the Akron Aeros were unable to and dropped a difficult 9-1 contest to the Harrisburg Senators on Tuesday night at Canal Park.

ZEBULON, N.C.—John Lamb and the Wilmington Blue Rocks held the Carolina Mudcats scoreless in a 6-0 win at Five County Stadium Tuesday night. Lamb (4-4) threw seven innings and allowed five hits and two walks. The Mudcats dropped to 18-32 and were shutout for the third time this season.

There have been few bright spots in an otherwise bleak season for the Carolina Mudcats, but one of the brightest spots has been the maturation of right handed starting pitcher Cody Anderson. The Quincy, California native, the owner of a Carolina League-leading five wins and the league’s fourth best ERA at 2.47 has been the ace of the Carolina staff thus far in his ten starts this season. The IBI's Zachary Francis recently caught up with him and gets us up to date on his season.

IBI draft guru Jeff Ellis always gets questions about the local talent in Ohio. Sometimes it is from people who want to see these players live, or because there just is a natural interest in the local talent. The state of Ohio baseball in general is a bit down this season as this will be the first time since 2009 a player from Ohio won't go in round one. Jeff targets a few players and gives each a label that explains why you should watch for these players during the draft this year.

The Akron Aeros stumbled over the past week, dropping five of seven games and falling to a 22-29 record. After the team's recent string of losses, the Aeros are 10 games behind the Erie SeaWolves and only 1.5 games ahead of the last-place Altoona Curve. The Aeros may be fading, but that does not mean the entire team performed badly. A newly-added outfielder put on a show, a pitcher left his early season struggles far behind, and a top prospect just may be turning the corner. To find out who these players are and everything you need to know about the team, join Jim Piascik and go Launching off with the Aeros.

The first meeting of the two Ohio teams in 2013 produced a great game and the foundation for an interesting final three. When all was said and done, the Indians found themselves on the short end of the stick (a recent trend), thanks to their reeling bullpen (another recent trend). The IBI's Kevin Dean shares his "second thoughts" on what was yet another tough loss for the Indians...

Smoke Signals is back on the cyberwaves tonight from 10:00pm – 11:00pm EST. In tonight's episode, Tony and Jim discuss the rough week the Indians had losing six of their last seven and four in a row going into Tuesday's game, the issues with Pestano and Perez at the backend of the bullpen, the lack of left-handed relief, the play of Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes and when/if a change will eventually come at catcher, and much more.

There's few better ways to celebrate Memorial Day than by taking in a good ole ball game, and all four of the Indians' minor league affiliates were in action on Monday. Bo Greenwell came a single shy of the cycle for the Carolina Mudcats while Justin Toole had a brilliant performance for the Akron Aeros. Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco was also on the mound for the Columbus Clippers. Join the IBI's Steve Orbanek as he recaps all these performances and more as he takes you Around the Farm.

LOUISVILLE, KY – The Columbus Clippers ended their four-game losing streak with a 12-inning marathon win over the Louisville Bats, 13-11 on Monday. It took the Clippers 12 innings and 19 hits to beat the Bats in the first game of the series Monday night. The teams combined for 34 hits on the game.

The Cleveland Indians are in the midst of a four game losing streak and losers of six of their last seven. After a good start, things are falling apart, and it makes the IBI's James Keene wonder if once again Cleveland fans are being set up for disappointment. Somehow, someway, for Clevelanders, something always goes wrong.

Zebulon, N.C.—Bo Greenwell fell a single shy of the cycle on Monday afternoon, and drove in five runs, as the Carolina Mudcats toppled the Wilmington Blue Rocks 13-8 at Five County Stadium. The Mudcats won their fourth home game in the last five tries, and improved to 18-31 overall.

The struggles continued for the Cleveland Indians on Monday as Joey Votto hit a tie-breaking, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Tribe 4-2 in the first game of two at Great American Ballpark. Join the IBI's Nathan Kemp as he recaps all the action and provides all the play-by-play from the Memorial Day Battle of Ohio.

ERIE- It was a battle of the offenses Monday evening when the Akron Aeros faced the Erie SeaWolves for the final game of the four-game series. It was a fight all the way through the tenth inning, but Erie would ultimately come out on top, winning 9-8.

The Whitecaps swept the Captains on Monday, making the 5-3 loss the seventh consecutive loss for Lake County. The Captains struggled most of the game, but came back for a fight in the bottom of the eighth and ninth, and scored all three of their runs within those two innings.