Indians Prospect Insider

BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKY- The Lake County Captains (12-20) used two home runs and a two-hitter by the pitching staff to take game one over the Bowling Green Hot Rods (21-12) by a final score of 6-1 on Saturday night.

ZEBULON – The Carolina Mudcats lost a heartbreaker to the Lynchburg Hillcats at Five County Stadium on Saturday night 9-8. Carolina grabbed a big lead early, allowed the Hillcats to tie it up by the middle of the game, and allowed Lynchburg to take the lead late. The Mudcats led 5-1 before allowing eight unanswered runs. The loss dropped the Mudcats record to 13-22 on the year.

READING- The Akron Aeros got their night started off with, what else, a rain delay. After last night’s game was suspended after seven innings due to rain, the Aeros and Fighting Phils were set to make up the final two innings in at 5:35 ET. The start of that game was delayed until about 6:40 pm, but eventually they were able to complete the seemingly endless affair.

The IBI Digest catches you up on anything you might have missed over the past week at Indians Baseball Insider and also notes some of the more popular columns posted at the major news sites and blogs.

In the second week of May one thing is clear, Mark Reynolds was one of the five best acquisitions in baseball this past offseason. Just based on WAR value to date, Reynolds’ 1.3 wins would be worth $6.3 million dollars. More importantly, Reynolds has been one of the best players in baseball through the first month which raises a few questions that should be addressed: how long will this rate of production continue, should the Indians extend him, at what cost, and how will his line look at the end of the season? The IBI's Michael Hattery touches on that as well as a few other topics!

The Indians came into the Motor City riding a four-game winning streak and coming off a sweep against the A’s. They were turning some heads nationwide having won 10 of their last 11 games and leading the league in many statistical categories rocketing them up to one game behind division-leading Detroit. And what happened? Well, the Tigers let the high-flying Tribe know why they are leading the division. The IBI's Jake Dungan provides his second thoughts on the Tigers thumping of the Indians.

It was a quiet night in the farm system as two games were washed away and another was suspended late in the game leaving just Carolina who managed to play a complete nine inning game. The IBI's Arthur Kinney recaps the night and touches on some of the performances in Carolina and what happened in Akron before their game was delayed.

Coming off a double header sweep of the Salem Sox on Thursday, the Carolina Mudcats returned to Five County Stadium on Friday night to face off against the Lynchburg Hillcats looking to extend the winning streak to three games. With the stars of Lizard Lick Towing in attendance, the Mudcats were not able to do that however, falling to the Hillcats by a final score of 10-3.

Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera both slugged home runs off Cleveland starter Corey Kluber as the Tigers beat the Indians 10-4. After Cleveland held a 1-0 first-inning lead, the Tigers plated three runs in the bottom of the second and never looked back. The game was the first of several matchups on the year between the two clubs, and the Tigers took round one.

The Indians have gone 10-1 in their last 11 games and are now in the thick of the American League Central race. Offense has played a huge role in the hot streak, but pitching has been equally impressive. With the rotation impressing, how do Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar fit into the Indians' 2013 plans? Join the IBI's Steve Orbanek as he looks at the rotation and tackles that question in the latest edition of the weekly IBI staple, Orbiting Cleveland.

Jake, Mike and Hayden are back for the fifth weekly episode of Call To The Bullpen! The Indians meet arch division rival Detroit for a 3-game weekend series trailing the division-leading Tigers by one game. The Tribe comes into Motown riding a 10-out-of-11 game winning streak. And are we seeing a revival of the old Scott Kazmir in Cleveland?

All offseason long, Tribe fans heard about that "team up north". Last year the Detroit Tigers were not only the reigning American League Central Division Champions, but won the AL Pennant for the second time in the last seven years. Tonight the Indians and that "team up north" tangle in the first of several Central Division showdowns this weekend, and the IBI's Jim Berdysz preview the important early season series.

It’s been nearly four years since Scott Kazmir last struck out 10 batters in a game. To put that in context, a teenager who was just starting college back then—August 26, 2009, to be exact—could conceivably be preparing for his graduation this weekend. That’s an awful lot of space between two bookends. Andrew Clayman takes a look at Kazmir's resurgence along with whether it is time to jump on board the bandwagon in today's Second Thoughts.

The Clippers unloaded on Thursday with two players in particular having great showings. One of the top prospects in Akron had a huge night, while the Mudcats played a doubleheader and had impressing pitching performances. Did #WashTime come through again? All this and more as contributor Andrew Zajac goes Around the Farm on Thursday, May 8.

The Carolina Mudcats received the clutch hits they had been searching for, and the bullpen held the Salem Red Sox at bay in a doubleheader sweep on Thursday night at LewisGale Field. The Mudcats snapped a five-game losing skid with a 2-1 triumph in game one, and pulled away for a game two victory, 4-1.

Akron began its away series with a close win against the Reading Phils Thursday night 5-4. The Aeros offense overcame weak pitching to clinch their 17th win of the season. First baseman Jesus Aguilar led Akron throughout the game putting up exceptional numbers throughout his five at bats.