Cleveland Sports Forum

Sweep success for Indians
Huff, Carmona lead Indians to wins in day-night matchup

By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published: July 19, 2011 - 12:02 AM


MINNEAPOLIS: It turned out to be more than a spot start for David Huff. More like a chance to revive his career.

Huff threw seven scoreless innings against the Twins after being summoned from Columbus because the Indians needed an extra starter for Monday’s day-night doubleheader. The 5-2 triumph was his first win in the big leagues since May 23 of last year, when he beat the Reds 4-3.

In the second game, won by the Tribe 6-3, the issue was Fausto Carmona. Would he or wouldn’t he be his own worst enemy in his first start after coming off the disabled list earlier in the day.

The Twins had Carmona on the ropes once during his six-inning stint, but he didn’t cave in, giving up only one run on three hits in the third inning, as he cut the damage in a rally that began with Alexi Casilla’s one-out double and continued with singles by the next two batters, Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer.

“Fausto did a very good job,’’ manager Manny Acta said. “At the beginning, he was a little too strong and battled with his control. He was well rested because of the time he spent on the DL, and he was overthrowing at times. But then he started commanding his pitchers.’’

Overall, Carmona (5-10, 5.73 ERA) yielded only two runs and did not walk a batter for the first time since Aug. 7 last year against the Twins (except for a two-inning outing against the Reds in his last start, when he strained his right quad).

“I had no problem with my leg,’’ Carmona said. “Maybe I felt it a little bit in the first inning, but that’s not what I was thinking about. I was thinking about pitching.’’

Indians batsmen were baffled for four innings by lefty Scott Diamond, who was making his major-league debut. But with two outs in the fifth, Lou Marson connected for the Tribe’s third hit of the game, a double to right, and Ezequiel Carrera followed with a walk.

Michael Brantley drove in Carrera with a sharp single to right, and Asdrubal Cabrera delivered an RBI bloop single to center.

Marson hit his first home run of the season to lead off the seventh, and Travis Hafner drove in the fourth run with a single after Carrera reached on an error, stole second and was sacrificed to third by Brantley.

It was the first doubleheader sweep by the Tribe in Minnesota since May 21, 1961, at the old Met.

“The day was well worth it, even with all the heat it being such a long day,’’ said Acta, whose team moved into sole possession of first place in the Central Division, one game in front of the Tigers.

After the opener, Acta and General Manager Chris Antonetti were confronted with a dilemma they didn’t know they would have to face. Until Huff’s stellar performance, the plan was to send Huff back to Triple-A and keep Jeanmar Gomez in the rotation until Mitch Talbot returns form the disabled list.

But after being called up to face the Orioles on Sunday, he gave up five runs and was stung by three home runs, losing 8-3.

Undoubtedly, there were considerations other than one successful start by Huff juxtaposed against one failed start by Gomez. The fact that Huff has considerably more major-league experience and would be the only left-hander among the starters likely weighed in his favor, too.

But Huff wouldn’t have been awarded the roster spot without limiting the Twins to five hits and two walks, striking out five and using only 88 pitches, 54 (61 percent) for strikes.

“It was a nice job by David,’’ Acta said. “He held them down for seven innings, and really pitched well with the lead. I can’t say enough about the job he did.’’

Conditions were far from ideal at Target Field, with a temperature of 90 at first pitch, 96 at last at-bat, and the heat index coming in at a lofty 111.

Did Huff change his shirt?

“You can’t change anything when you’re putting up zeroes,’’ he said.

Carmona, on the other hand, changed hats each inning he was on the mound.

The knock on Huff last year was the inability to command his fastball within the strike zone, a skill that he seemingly had mastered earlier.

“I have the same stuff,’’ Huff said. “I just tried to pump the strike zone.’’

He had not pitched in the majors since last Aug. 8, when he gave up five runs in 4 ·innings to the Twins, causing his earned-run average to balloon to 6.21 and his record to drop to 2-11.

He said his time in the minors wasn’t wasted.

“I worked on my fastball location, developing a cutter and keeping the ball down,’’ Huff said. “I also needed to get comfortable with the new windup they got me doing. I started using it at the end of April or beginning of May. I had been dropping my arm down and didn’t realize it. It almost was like I got lazy with my windup.’’

It was clear last year that Huff had pitched his way into the doghouse, but he eased his way out Monday through a crack in the door.

“He was able to maintain his stuff the whole game, and he had better stuff, throwing 90-92,’’ Acta said. “He also was able to keep his delivery to the arm side, so he could throw down and away to right-handed batters. And he didn’t crumble.’’

Neither did Cabrera, who whacked his 17th home run of the season with two on to give the Indians all the runs they needed.

“I didn’t think too much [about hitting home runs] at the beginning of the season,’’ he said. “I just wanted to play baseball.’’

Now that 20 homers are easily within reach, Cabrera said, “Yeah, that would be good, but it depends on the game and the situation.’’

Cabrera had no qualms about changing his shirt.

“Every three innings,’’ he said. “It was unbelievable out there.’’

Indians Notebook: Durbin plan doesn’t work

By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published: July 19, 2011 - 12:34 AM Indians Notebook: Durbin plan doesn’t work July 19,2011 02:34


MINNEAPOLIS: In an effort to try to save his top two relievers — closer Chris Perez and setup man Vinnie Pestano — manager Manny Acta called on Chad Durbin to pitch the ninth inning of the first game with a 5-0 lead.

It didn’t work, because Durbin gave up a single and a home run to the first two batters he faced. In came Pestano, who retired the side without further damage. Pestano only had to play catch, because he had warmed up the previous inning in anticipation of coming in when the Tribe led 4-0.

But with another game Monday night and a five-run advantage, Acta hurriedly switched to Durbin, who had little time to get loose.

How many warmup pitches did he throw? “Seven or eight,’’ he said, smiling.

Pestano was surprised to be summoned into the game when the lead dwindled to three runs.

“I didn’t know I was in the game,’’ he said. “I thought Chris would go in.’’

DIDN’T TAKE THE HINT ­— Even though David Huff was removed from last Thursday’s start with Columbus after 63 pitches, he didn’t realize he was ticketed to make his 2011 big-league debut Monday afternoon.

“I had no idea why they took me out,’’ he said. “They didn’t tell me [he was starting against the Twins] until two days later.’’

So Huff made Monday’s start on three days’ rest but with a diminished pitch count in his previous outing.

FARM FACTS — [these are Sunday games] Shelley Duncan hit a two-run homer, and Tim Fedroff had two hits and two RBI, as Columbus beat Indianapolis 6-4. … Marty Popham (4-0, 2.56 ERA) pitched 5‚ scoreless innings, giving up three hits and no walks, striking out 11 in Kinston’s 2-0 win over Winston-Salem. Jeremie Tice hit a solo homer. … Giovanny Urshela had a double, two singles and one RBI in Lake County’s 5-4 loss to Burlington. Carlos Moncrief hit his ninth homer of the year with nobody on. … Jordan Smith had three hits, including a double, and Alex Lavisky hit a solo homer, as Mahoning Valley defeated Jamestown 6-5.

Indians report: Sizemore’s injury hurts team
Team does not know how long Grady will be out. More tests needed

By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer

MINNEAPOLIS: How long will Grady Sizemore be out of the Indians’ lineup this time?

So far, his injury is still being described as the same bone bruise of the right knee that put him on the disabled list from May 12 to May 27. But Sizemore was sent back to Cleveland on Monday for further evaluation after he was placed on the 15-day DL again.

The Tribe lineup is painfully thin without Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo, who probably will remain on the DL until early September with a broken thumb.

“Grady plays through pain all the time,” manager Manny Acta said. “He’s done that the last three years pretty much. It’s very hard for him not to be out there with his teammates, and it’s hard for us, too.”

Sizemore reinjured his knee in the first inning of Sunday’s 8-3 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards, when he made the turn at first on his way to second with a double. A bone bruise (which is inside the bone) can become aggravated without bumping the knee or having the knee involved in a collision.

Ever since he returned from the DL, Sizemore probably has been playing with some discomfort.

“I’m not 22 anymore,” he said over the weekend, before tweaking the knee. “I never really feel 100 percent. But I feel good. The last two months everything has been moving forward.”

On Monday, however, he told a reporter that after his latest mishap, his knee felt similar to that of his left knee, which underwent microfracture surgery last year. According to Sizemore, the kind of pain and the location of the pain reminded him of the more serious previous injury.

Tests at the Cleveland Clinic, probably today, will determine if Sizemore’s fears are unfounded or not. If it turns out that his affliction is a deep contusion, he probably will have to manage the pain for the rest of the season. Bone bruises can take months to totally heal.

Acta said that without Sizemore in the lineup, Ezequiel Carrera will get most of the at-bats in center field; Austin Kearns and Travis Buck will platoon in right for Choo.

“You can’t program yourself to not play hard when you’re a guy like Grady,” Acta said. “You see how he throws himself around the outfield and dives for balls. You can’t ask a guy like him to take it easy.”

When Sizemore came off the DL in late May, his timing and rhythm at the plate seemed to have left him. But in his past six games, he was batting .350 (7-for-20) with one home run and two doubles.

Did this guy steal my material about the tribe and its history of the look good offer:

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As Jim Thome is on the precipice of hitting 600 home runs I have finally come to the realization that I am not angry with him anymore. I know I am one of the later holdouts amongst Tribe fans. I am also well aware that nobody was really waiting with baited breath for me to come to this conclusion. It just occurred to me for all the negativity I had regarding Jim Thome and him leaving Cleveland for Philly following the 2002 season, I am no longer feeling angry.

Yes, we’ll always have the infamous quote, “my wife is my rock…” We can always make the argument that Jim Thome chased the last dollar. Many will argue that the Indians offered just enough money to make it look good and guarantee that Thome would leave while still allowing the Indians to defend themselves. We might never know if that was truly the case or not. What we do know is that Thome left for a prospectively better situation for more money.

But none of that really seems all that important to me almost nine years later. I was still holding out that we should boo Jim Thome when he continued his career after leaving Philly. Who could blame me as Thome suited up for the rival White Sox and Twins? As time wore on though, I just didn’t care to bother booing him anymore. Maybe it has something to do with him not playing every day now.

When you consider all that has gone on in the game of baseball over the last decade, it makes a bit more sense. Manny Ramirez has come and gone as a disgrace to his legacy amidst suspensions for illegal substances. An infamous list has taken down guys from Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez to Rafael Palmeiro and Jason Giambi. Maybe Thome somehow skated by and got lucky with all the lists, witch hunts and subsequent testing. Anything is possible in a world where Matt Lawton is guilty of bulking up illegally using veterinary drugs.

As the days pass though, and as the balls keep flying out of the yard it becomes harder and harder to not respect Jim Thome’s career even if the Cleveland portion ended in 2002.

When he was in Cleveland, Jim Thome played 1377 games, scored 917 runs, 1332 hits, 334 home runs, 927 RBI while hitting 0.287 with a 0.414 OBP. He also slugged 0.567 and had an astonishing 20 triples. I can’t even picture Jim Thome sliding into third once let alone 20 times, can you?

I know I am more hard-headed than most. I know a lot of you have been to this point with Jim Thome for quite some time. Just letting you know that I am finally there too. I hope Jim Thome doesn’t hit his 600th homer against the Tribe, but I will be looking forward to seeing the highlight come across my TV screen.

Before any of you even get started, I don’t think I will be writing this same article a decade from now about… well… you know… anyone else. Compared to that level of vitriol, my anger with Jim Thome was only about a 6-7 on a ten point scale. Manny Ramirez was probably an 8. I will never say never, but there would have to be a lot of different things moving in many different directions for me to even consider softening my stance on some people.

Thome = piece of crap. Just has not been caught cheating like his fellow temmates.

Sizemore has MRI, return date unclear

By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | 07/19/11 9:15 PM ET

MINNEAPOLIS -- It remains unclear how much time Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore will miss due to his latest right knee injury.

On Tuesday, Sizemore underwent an MRI exam in Cleveland to evaluate the extent of the injury that sent him to the 15-day disabled list one day earlier. Indians manager Manny Acta said the results did not initially reveal any signs of serious damage.

"There's not much I can say," Acta said, "other than he had the MRI, and it doesn't appear to be anything as serious as we might've feared. ... For now, there's no timetable. Hopefully, we can have him as soon as possible."

Acta indicated that Indians head athletic trainer Lonnie Soloff, who is currently in Cleveland with Sizemore, would be able to provide a more detailed update later this week.

Sizemore injured his knee -- not the surgically-repaired left knee that plagued him last season -- while rounding first base in the first inning of Sunday's 8-3 loss to the Orioles. Cleveland described the center fielder's ailment as a bone bruise, which is the same injury that sidelined him for two weeks earlier this season.

For the time being, rookie outfielder Ezequiel Carrera is filling in as the Indians' regular center fielder. It is a chance for Carrera to show Cleveland if he can continue the success he was having with Triple-A Columbus.

In 81 games for the Clippers, Carrera hit .288 with two home runs, eight doubles, three triples, 25 RBIs, 35 stolen bases and 63 runs scored. He posted a .373 on-base percentage and collected 94 hits.

"I feel bad about what happened to Sizemore," Carrera said. "He's a good guy. For me, I wanted the opportunity to play center field. I want the confidence of the manager and the team. I want to do my job, and make the team happy with how I play."

MINNEAPOLIS: Is Indians manager Manny Acta hoping that General Manager Chris Antonetti can make a trade, specifically for a right-handed hitting outfielder?

“That’s an understatement,” Acta said. “How do you substitute for Shin-Soo Choo and Grady Sizemore? We’re working on it, but it takes two to tango.

“You can make all the Christmas lists you want, but there has to be another team to make it work. It’s easy to say you’re going to grab so-and-so, but they have owners, too. It’s not like going down the aisle of the grocery story and picking things off the shelves.”

Like Antonetti, Acta said certain prospects are off limits to prospective trading partners, confirming that the Tribe has no desire to deal away Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis.

“We’ve made it clear that we’re not going to mortgage our future,” Acta said.

NO BAD NEWS — Sizemore underwent an MRI scan Tuesday at the Cleveland Clinic, and it did nothing to change his diagnosis. The injury is still being called a right knee contusion.

“There’s not much I can say,” Acta said. “It doesn’t appear that the injury is as serious as we might have feared.”

Sizemore reinjured the knee rounding first on the way to second on a double Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles. He said the pain felt much the same as the twinge he experienced in his left knee in May 2010, which eventually led to microfracture surgery.

Nobody has said how long Sizemore is expected to remain on the disabled list.

CUTTING IN LINE — David Huff is in the rotation, but where will he fit?

Acta didn’t say yet, but he and pitching coach Tim Belcher will figure it out shortly.

“We’re going to do some juggling for matchup purposes,” Acta said.

LATE SCRATCH — Michael Brantley failed to answer the bell because of an upset stomach. Ezequiel Carrera took his place at the top of the lineup, and Travis Buck took over in left field.

NEWFOUND RELIEVER — Acta revealed that Mitch Talbot will be used as a reliever for the foreseeable future.

Talbot, on the disabled list with lower back soreness, has begun a rehab assignment at Triple-A Columbus, where he will be assigned to the bullpen.

“We’re just trying to find a way to keep as many arms as we can,” Acta said. “He’s struggled as a starter, so we want to find a way that he can help us out. If it doesn’t work, he can be stretched out as a starter again.”

MINNEAPOLIS: It’s almost as if the Indians and Minnesota Twins were battling to see which team would field the most improbable lineup Tuesday night at Target Field.

The Twins were down three of their best hitters — Denard Span, Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel — who are on the disabled list. The Tribe countered with Shin-Soo Choo and Grady Sizemore, also on the DL.

But going the extra mile, Michael Brantley was scratched from the lineup with an upset stomach, and Travis Buck was forced to leave in the fifth inning when he was struck in the helmet by a Francisco Liriano fastball, by far the scariest moment of the 2-1 win by the Twins.

With nary an outfielder in sight, manager Manny Acta installed Luis Valbuena — the pinch runner for Buck — in left field.

Buck was examined during the game, the conclusion of the medical people being that he had a contusion of the head. There were no signs of a concussion, but at times those kinds of symptoms don’t show up for several days. Undoubtedly, Buck will be watched closely for awhile.

Valbuena had played the outfield only one other time, for an inning against the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 19, 2010. He caught the first out of the ninth inning for his only chance.

Considering that it was just another 94 degree night in Minneapolis, pitching became uncomfortable at best and downright exhausting at worst, but pitchers dominated, surely in part because of the depleted lineups.

Justin Masterson endured the longest, toughing it out for 7‚ scoreless innings and 104 pitches, allowing four hits but no walks.

It was quite a performance, even without factoring in the 109 degree heat index.

On this night, it meant nothing, because Chris Perez gave up two runs in the ninth to take the loss. After walking Joe Mauer with one out, Michael Cuddyer blooped a single to left, putting runners on first and third. Jim Thome was walked intentionally, and Danny Valencia delivered a two-run single to win it.

For awhile, it looked like Masterson might not need most of his infielders or any of his outfielders. All three outs in the first inning came on ground balls to the mound, and by the end of the fourth, five Twins batsmen had been thrown out by Masterson, one short of the Indians’ franchise record.

Tribe outfielders never did have much to do while Masterson was on the mound. Fifteen of his 23 outs came on 14 ground balls, six hitters struck out and one was retired on an infield pop fly. Only one out was made by an outfielder, Buck, who caught Ben Revere’s routine fly in the third.

Four walks pushed Liriano’s pitch count up a little too high (99), and he left after the sixth inning. He didn’t give up much, but he departed trailing by a run, allowed in the fifth.

Lou Marson started the abbreviated rally with a leadoff single, and Liriano struck Buck in the right side of the helmet. Whether hitting a batter in the head affected Liriano’s concentration or not, he gave up a single to Ezequiel Carrera to load the bases with nobody out.

That’s nobody out.

So with the second, third and fourth hitters in the order to follow, a big inning was sure to follow. Except that it didn’t.

Orlando Cabrera popped a 3-and-2 pitch to the shortstop, and Asdrubal Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly to the right fielder, not only scoring Marson with the Indians’ first run but allowing Valbuena and Carrera to advance to second and third.

No matter. Carlos Santana quickly ended the inning on an infield pop fly, leaving Masterson with only a 1-0 lead to protect. Then again, a one-run advantage is better than none.

The glass half full viewpoint:


Feisty Indians are true team
Published: Wednesday, July 20, 2011

By Jim Ingraham
JIngraham@News-Herald.com

Regardless of what happens the rest of the season, this has to go down as one of the feistiest teams in Indians history.

All logic says there is no way they should be anywhere close to first place.

Their best all-around player at the start of the season, Shin-Soo Choo, has basically been a non-factor, and he might not be much of one once he returns — if he returns.

Their best all-around player before Choo, Grady Sizemore, has been on the disabled list three times in four months, has been a shell of his former self when he’s played — and may not play again this year.

The No. 1 starter in their rotation at the beginning of the year, Fausto Carmona, has a record of 5-10.

Their designated hitter, Travis Hafner, the guy they need to anchor the middle of the lineup, has, thanks to time on the disabled list and interleague road games, only started 46 of their 95 games entering Tuesday night.

They’ve gotten almost nothing offensively out of left field and third base — two positions that are traditionally big run-producing positions. Indians third basemen entered Tuesday hitting .223 with six home runs and 26 RBI. Their left fielders have combined to hit three home runs with 28 RBI.

They are 10th in the American League in team batting average, ninth in team ERA, and they have made the fifth-most errors in the league.

Nobody comes to their games — only three AL teams have drawn fewer fans — and they are so financially strapped that their payroll could be met by your babysitter, and in the wintertime they turn their ballpark into a giant toboggan run, ice skating rink and snowball factory in hopes of making a few extra bucks.

Their consensus best player now, Asdrubal Cabrera, ranks only 41st on Elias’ current rankings, behind players such as Danny Espinosa and Neil Walker.

Nevertheless, despite all that, at the start of play Tuesday, the Indians were on pace to win a modest 87 games — and the AL Central title.

Go figure.

You want a feel-good story? How much more feel good can you get? From a sheer talent standpoint, the Indians don’t hit you over the head with marquee names. Most of their players make vanilla ice cream look exotic.

You could walk past Josh Tomlin and Joe Smith on the street and not even know it. Chris Perez can close games, but not open mouths.

Lou Marson hit a home run the other day. That’s makes one.

They are so anonymous that it’s a team with not one, but two Smiths ­­­— Joe and third-base coach Steve.

How many Jack Hannahan posters does your son have hanging in his room?

Don’t you get it? Most of these guys are just guys! That’s what makes what they are doing so unique. So interesting. So appealing.

They have a great bullpen, a couple really good starting pitchers and an All-Star shortstop. The rest are just a bunch of khaki pants.

But they are a team. Maybe the best team, in the purest sense of the word, the Indians have had in many years. They are clearly mentally tough. After losing two straight in Baltimore to the hapless Orioles, they slog their way to Minnesota and on Monday play the dreaded day-night doubleheader, on the road, in desert heat and jungle humidity, behind two huge question mark starting pitchers in David Huff and Fausto Carmona — and win both games.

Team Feisty.

The doubleheader sweep in Minnesota was very impressive, given all the peripheral stuff. It was the kind of situation — two games in one day, on the road, in blistering heat, coming off two demoralizing losses — in which it would have been easy to mail it in.

They didn’t.

They never do.

Another likable quality.

For that, credit must go to Manny Acta, who is well on his way to one of the great managing jobs in Indians history. Barring a complete collapse by his team in the last 2 1/2 months, Acta should be a no-brainer for Manager of the Year in the American League.

His steady, intuitive handling of his injury-riddled roster, hampered further by some underachieving veterans, has been amazing to watch. Acta’s No. 1 starter is 5-10.

Where would the Tigers be if Justin Verlander was 5-10? Or the Yankees if CC Sabathia was 5-10? Or the Phillies if Roy Halladay was 5-10?

That’s not to put Carmona in the class of those pitchers, only to point out the importance of a No. 1 starter. Acta’s No. 1 has been his No. 1 disappointment. Teams whose No. 1 starter have a losing record rarely win.

Acta’s team has. It’s in first place, against all odds, against all logic — and August beckons.

Pretty neat, huh?

Archive BALTIMORE -- Eleven days before the July 31 trading deadline, the Red Sox's position on New York Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran has not changed, despite reports that Boston is aggressively pursuing him.


The Red Sox have made known their interest to the Mets, but at this stage are unwilling to part with the type of top-tier prospects New York is seeking in return, according to a Red Sox source.

If that's what the Mets want, they wont' be getting them from us either

I'm beginning to retreat on wanting the Tribe to make a deal.

I would only favor a long term outfielder or a established SP.

Trade candidates for me would include Sipp, who should be in demand, maybe packaged with something else.

Valbuena?


Sorry 'bout that.

Pardon me, Im on vacation and haven't followed all that closely. Kenm said Sizemore had a hernia?
Is that another injury, and when did it happen?

NO BAD NEWS — Sizemore underwent an MRI scan Tuesday at the Cleveland Clinic, and it did nothing to change his diagnosis. The injury is still being called a right knee contusion.

“There’s not much I can say,” Acta said. “It doesn’t appear that the injury is as serious as we might have feared.”

Sizemore reinjured the knee rounding first on the way to second on a double Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles. He said the pain felt much the same as the twinge he experienced in his left knee in May 2010, which eventually led to microfracture surgery.

Nobody has said how long Sizemore is expected to remain on the disabled list.

OK, I can answer my own question now...

Indians' Sizemore out four to six weeks with hernia

By SHELDON OCKER - Akron Beacon Journal


The Indians probably have lost two-thirds of their starting outfield until early September, if not longer.
Grady Sizemore underwent surgery Thursday - not on his right knee, which ostensibly has been the problem - but for a sports hernia.

Dr. William Meyers performed a 20-minute procedure in Philadelphia to repair a hernia that developed after Sizemore slid into second base May 11 and also banged up his right knee.

Head trainer Lonnie Soloff said the club has known about the hernia all along.

"During the event in May, Grady complained about right-hip (sports hernia) and right-knee pain," he said.

"We knew it (sports hernia) would have to be addressed in the offseason. But he thought he could play with it until then."

The plan changed because Sizemore is on the disabled list anyway with the right-knee contusion.

Expected recovery time from the operation is four to six weeks. "We are cautiously optimistic that Grady will play again this season," Soloff said.

Six weeks would put Sizemore's return about Sept. 1, but there is no guarantee that he will be fully healthy by then and have regained his normal timing and rhythm at the plate.

Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, who is on the disabled list with a fractured thumb, is expected to return to the lineup shortly before or after Sept. 1, but the same cautionary factors apply to him as with Sizemore.
Sizemore tends to put himself in jeopardy because he plays with reckless abandon.

"Grady plays very aggressively, and sometimes injuries result," Soloff said. "But that's what makes Grady Grady. He plays all-out. It's difficult to ask someone to change the way he plays, because that could lead to other compensatory injuries."

In a prepared statement, Sizemore said, "The injury which resulted in today's surgery has been bothering me since the slide in May. Knowing the two areas are related and also learning that my knee condition is not serious gives me peace of mind going forward that I can finish the season healthy and contribute to an exciting pennant chase."

Sizemore began the season almost three weeks late after undergoing microfracture surgery on his left knee last year. He suffered the right-knee contusion May 11 and missed the next 15 days.

Last week in Baltimore, he aggravated the knee bruise rounding first base on his way to running out a double against the Orioles and was placed on the disabled list again.

Was it TFIR who said it here first? FRAGILE!

Head trainer Lonnie Soloff said the club has known about the hernia all along.


So by keeping it a secret, that gave the Indians some sort of competitive advantage!?!