This One's Big—Really, Really Big

It's time to play that game again...
What If...the Indians win this series with the Tigers?
Photo from brianpenzone of Flickr

So the Indians managed to salvage one of four games from Baltimore with their ace on the mound to start and the best 1-2 bullpen punch in the league to close it out.

I don't think it can be understated how big of a win that was for the Wahoos. It broke a four-game losing streak, it prevented a four-game sweep, it brought the team back to .500, and it gave the team a little wave of momentum to ride into a huge three-game series with the Detroit Tigers.

While we've been patiently waiting for GM Chris Antonetti to give us a Christmas present in July, the Fat Cats went out and made themselves just a bit fatter by acquiring second baseman Omar Infante and starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez from the Miami Marlins. They gave up their top pitching prospect in Jacob Turner, but this is the right type of move for a hot team that would like to stay hot.

Infante stabilizes a second base position for the Tigs that has been a situation analogous to the Indians' left field in terms of offensive production, and it also gives them an above-average pitcher that can help the rotation. It really reminds me a lot of the move the Tigers made last year in trading for Doug Fister a bit before the deadline.

Fister was thought of as an above-average pitcher at the time of the trade, but it proved to be a very shrewd move by Detroit GM Dave Dombrowski. Fister ended up going 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA in 10 starts (11 overall appearances) for the 2011 Tigers, and undoubtedly helped that team run away with the AL Central crown.

Now that's not to say that Sanchez is all of a sudden going to pitch like Cy Young, but anytime you can acquire an above-average starter and second baseman when you're in position to contend for a World Series, it's a pretty good move. Well, at least on paper.

So here's the deal—and don't stop me when you realize you've heard this one before—the Indians will play these Tiggies for three games in late July starting tonight at 7:05. The Tribe comes into the game four games behind Detroit in the Central, and 3.5 games back of the second Wild Card spot (but since Manny Acta said "how dare anyone" talk about the Wild Card when we're only four games out in the Central with 60+ games left, I guess we shouldn't talk about it).

I'll be blunt—I don't think the Indians will make the playoffs, whether they acquire a player (or two...or five) from a trade or not.

Here's a stat for you—in 9 of the 11 games since the All-Star break, the Indians have scored three runs or less. That's right, only twice in eleven games have they scored more than three runs.

There's no other word I can come up with for that than pathetic.

Want to know how many times the Tigers have scored three runs or less in their 10 games since the break?

Once.

Yes just one time, and it came in a clunker of a 12-0 shutout loss to the Angels. You can go back even further and the numbers don't get any worse for Detroit. In July, that shutout is the only time that team hasn't scored at least four runs. In fact, you have to go all the way back to June 29, when the Tigers lost 4-2 to the Rays, to find another game where they scored less than three runs.

With an Indians pitching staff that ranks second last in the American League—not to mention 27th overall—and an anemic (at best) offense, we as Indians fans have reason to be worried coming into these three games. This is not the same Tigers team the Indians swept May by scores of 5-3, 4-2, and 2-1.

Yes, this Indians team has looked bad since the All-Star break with a paltry record of 4-7, and the Tigers have looked great going 8-2 in the same span, but that's why they have to go out and play the games, right?

I hate to call it a make or break series for the Indians, but let's face it—they need a big series win or the team's postseason chances will quickly start to slip away.

~MAS