Indians Prospect Insider

Sometimes there’s really is no place like home. After an ugly six-game road trip that saw the Indians drop five of their last six, Cleveland got a much needed win Wednesday night in Tribe Town, defeating Cincinnati 5-2. The victory ends the Tribe’s five game losing streak, moving the team just 1.5 games in back of the first place Detroit Tigers in the American League Central Division. Join Jim Berdysz as he recaps Wednesday night's action.

After being shut out on Tuesday night, the Carolina Mudcats returned the favor by shutting out the Wilmington Blue Rocks by a score of 3-0 on Wednesday night. The win brings the Mudcats' record to 19-32 on the season. Left-handed starting pitcher Shawn Morimando dominated the Blue Rocks through six innings, giving up only three hits and two walks. Morimando never allowed a base runner past second base in his six innings of work.

The Lake County Captains (16-33) managed a split of the doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at Classic Park with the Bowling Green Hot Rods (30-22). The Hot Rods won game one 8-5 and the Captains walked off with a 6-5 win in the second game.

The Columbus Clippers dropped their second game of the series against the Louisville Bats 10-7 Wednesday morning. The Clippers have lost six of their seven games in the last week. Despite a decent performance from the Clippers’ bats, it was Louisville making all of the plays from the plate. The Bats scored in six of the eight innings—racking up ten runs in the first six innings of play including four home runs.

The Indians have been an interesting team in 2013. Initially, the starting rotation faltered, and the offense struggled to score runs with consistency. But the bullpen was solid. Then, the offense started clicking, and so did the starters. The bullpen remained solid. Now, the starters are consistent, while the offense has scuffled here and there, and the bullpen is struggling. Join Jim Pete at the Corner of Carnegie and Ontario as he looks at the bullpen...

Apparently, the Lake Erie Crusher hitters are morning people. After struggling to hit with men in scoring position for the first 10 games of the season, the Crushers (4-7) finally woke up as they pounded out 11 runs on 19 hits in their 11-7 victory over the Florence Freedom (6-5).

It was a painful week for the Lake County Captains as they went winless since last Wednesday. The Captains’ offensive woes continue and their starting pitching screams of inconsistency. The team’s youth has made itself clear and once the short-season Mahoning Valley Scrappers’ season starts, some of the current roster may take a trip to Niles, Ohio for some fine-tuning. The IBI's Stephanie Metzger chimes in with her weekly notebook...

The Cleveland Indians have announced that catcher Lou Marson will begin a minor league rehab assignment on Wednesday night with Double-A Akron. If there are no setbacks, his rehab assignment will be transferred to Triple-A Columbus on Friday.

It is time for another edition of “Coach's Corner” hear at the IBI, a monthly piece where Tony sits down with a coach in the Indians minor league system and really break down and discuss several players on the roster as well as some of the general philosophies they are teaching. He recently had a chance to sit down with Low-A Lake County pitching coach Steve Karsay and talked about the strides left-hander Ryan Merritt has made, the changes right-hander Jake Sisco has incorporated, the rise of right-hander Michael Peoples, the full season debuts of right-handers Dylan Baker and Mitch Brown, and tons more.

Zach McAllister did not have his best stuff last night, but he bobbed and weaved his way through five-plus innings and gave the Indians a chance to come back and win. Unfortunately, the bullpen woes continued for the Indians and things fell apart late in the game as the Reds trounced them 8-2. The IBI's Jake Dungan provides his "second thoughts" on another rough loss for the Indians...

The Indians had a quieter night than usual on Tuesday night around the farm thanks to Low-A Lake County's rainout. All three of Columbus, Akron and Carolina were in action and really struggled, and Tony chimes in with the notable performances from all three stops and discusses the struggles of Rob Whitenack.

The Tribe's struggles continued on Tuesday as the team struggled to score runs and fell 8-2 to the Cincinnati Reds at the Great American Ballpark. Zach McAllister was once again effective, but it proved to be a moot point as only Michael Bourn was able to collect more than one hit. Join the IBI's Nathan Kemp as he provides all the play-by-play and recaps the action from the tough Indians loss.

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.