The Cleveland Indians aren’t just getting by against former Cy Young winners, they’re beating them up.

Here’s a look at the Cy Young winners the Cleveland Indians have beaten this season:

R.A. Dickey: April 2, 4-1. Dickey gave up three earned runs and four walks in six innings.
David Price: April 7, 13-0. Price gave up eight earned runs in five innings.
Roy Halladay: April 30, 14-2. Halladay gave up eight earned runs in 3.2 innings.
Cliff Lee: May 1, 6-0. Lee gave up four earned runs in six innings.
Bartolo Colon: May 9, 9-2. Colon gave up six earned runs in four innings.
Justin Verlander: May 11, 7-6. Verlander gave up three earned runs in five innings.
Felix Hernandez: May 19, 6-0. Hernandez gave up five earned runs in five innings.

Jake Peavy is the only Cy Young winner to beat the Indians. The White Sox beat Cleveland 3-1 on April 14.

– Rick Green

Here’s a look at Monday’s matchups. The first game is at 12:05 p.m.:

AL
Seattle (Iwakuma 5-1) at Cleveland (Kazmir 2-2), 12:05 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Odorizzi 0-0) at Toronto (Dickey 3-5), 1:07 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 4-3) at Baltimore (F.Garcia 0-2), 7:05 p.m.
Minnesota (Correia 4-3) at Atlanta (Teheran 2-1), 7:10 p.m.
Oakland (Colon 3-2) at Texas (Lindblom 0-0), 8:05 p.m.
Boston (Lester 6-0) at Chicago White Sox (Axelrod 1-3), 8:10 p.m.
Kansas City (Guthrie 5-1) at Houston (Keuchel 0-1), 8:10 p.m.

NL
Cincinnati (Cueto 1-0) at N.Y. Mets (Marcum 0-4), 7:10 p.m.
Minnesota (Correia 4-3) at Atlanta (Teheran 2-1), 7:10 p.m.
Philadelphia (Hamels 1-6) at Miami (Sanabia 2-6), 7:10 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Kershaw 4-2) at Milwaukee (Gallardo 3-3), 8:10 p.m.
Arizona (Corbin 6-0) at Colorado (Garland 3-4), 8:40 p.m.
St. Louis (S.Miller 5-2) at San Diego (Marquis 5-2), 10:10 p.m.
Washington (Duke 0-0) at San Francisco (Vogelsong 1-4), 10:15 p.m.

Here’s who I like — and don’t:
Read the rest of this entry »

Eastern League
Erie 6, Akron 4
Binghamton 8, Portland 5
Bowie 3, Trenton 2
Harrisburg 11, Reading 3
New Hampshire 7, New Britain 4
Richmond 3, Altoona 0

International League
Toledo 4, Syracuse 3

Florida State League
Daytona 5, Lakeland 4

Midwest League
Bowling Green 8, West Michigan 0
West Michigan 5, Bowling Green 1

Venezuelan Summer League
Tigers 5, Phillies 1

–Tom Reisenweber

Fans can vote for the Erie SeaWolves Player of the week on the upper right corner. The poll will last until 4 p.m. Friday each week with the winner being featured in Sunday’s paper. Fans are free to nominate their favorite SeaWolves player each week by sending an e-mail to tom.reisenweber@timesnews.com by 5 p.m. on Saturday night.

James McCann – Started a big week with a three-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Erie a 5-4 comeback win over Reading. He then went 3-for-3 in a 3-1 win over Reading and two hits in the second game of the doubleheader. McCann also had two hits in a 4-1 loss to Akron.
Warwick Saupold – Allowed one run in six quality winnings to earn his third win in a 3-1 win over Reading.
Justin Souza – Had two shutout innings against Reading to get his sixth and seventh saves. He also threw a shutout inning Saturday to get his eighth save against Akron.
Daniel Fields – Went 4-for-4, including two doubles, and drove in three runs in a 10-6 win over Bowie. He also had two hits, including one home run, and two RBIs in a 7-6 loss to Reading. Fields also had two hits in a 4-2 win over Akron.
Tyler Collins – Drove in three runs in a 10-6 win at Bowie.
Wade Gaynor – Had two hits and two RBIs in a 5-4 win over Reading. He also drove in two runs in a 4-2 win over Akron.
Hernan Perez – Went 3-for-5 with an RBI in a 4-2 win over Akron.
Blaine Hardy – Made two appearances this past week and had 2 2/3 shutout innings. He also picked up his first win with the SeaWolves.

Eastern League
Erie 4, Akron 2
Portland 10, Binghamton 7
Richmond 5, Altoona 3
Harrisburg 6, Reading 4
New Hampshire 5, New Britain 0
Trenton 6, Bowie 1

International League
Syracuse 6, Toledo 4

Florida State League
Daytona 6, Lakeland 5

Midwest League
West Michigan 8, Bowling Green 1

Venezuelan League
Mariners 12, Tigers 2

The Erie SeaWolves didn’t have a defined closer heading into the 2013 season, but Justin Souza has certainly filled that role. Souza has collected seven saves this season and is 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA. In his last eight appearances, Souza, 27, has allowed two runs on six hits in 72⁄3 innings for an ERA of 2.35. He picked up his eighth save Saturday night. The reliever came to the Detroit Tigers in a 2009 trade for Jack Hannahan and is having an impressive season. He could be the SeaWolves’ go-to pitcher to close out games the rest of the season.

Former Mercyhurst University player David Lough led off and went 2-for-4 for the Kansas City Royals against the Oakland Athletics Friday night.

Lough’s third-inning double scored Salvador Perez and gave the Royals a 1-0 lead.

The Royals lost 2-1.

Here’s more on Lough from the Kansas City Star.

– Rick Green

Here’s a look at Saturday’s starting pitchers. The first game is at 1:05 p.m.:

AL
Seattle (J.Saunders 3-4) at Cleveland (McAllister 3-3), 1:05 p.m.
Toronto (Morrow 1-2) at N.Y. Yankees (D.Phelps 1-2), 1:05 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (H.Santiago 1-2) at L.A. Angels (Blanton 0-7), 4:05 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Ro.Hernandez 2-4) at Baltimore (Jurrjens 0-0), 4:05 p.m.
Houston (Bedard 0-2) at Pittsburgh (A.J.Burnett 3-4), 7:05 p.m.
Boston (Dempster 2-4) at Minnesota (Diamond 3-3), 7:10 p.m.
Detroit (Ani.Sanchez 4-3) at Texas (Grimm 2-3), 8:05 p.m.
Kansas City (E.Santana 3-2) at Oakland (Milone 3-5), 9:05 p.m.
NL
N.Y. Mets (Hefner 0-4) at Chicago Cubs (Feldman 3-3), 1:05 p.m.
Cincinnati (Arroyo 3-4) at Philadelphia (K.Kendrick 4-1), 4:05 p.m.
Houston (Bedard 0-2) at Pittsburgh (A.J.Burnett 3-4), 7:05 p.m.
Arizona (McCarthy 0-3) at Miami (Koehler 0-1), 7:10 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Capuano 1-2) at Atlanta (Medlen 1-5), 7:10 p.m.
Milwaukee (Estrada 3-2) at St. Louis (Lynn 6-1), 7:15 p.m.
San Francisco (Lincecum 3-2) at Colorado (Chatwood 1-0), 8:10 p.m.
Washington (Zimmermann 7-1) at San Diego (Stults 3-3), 8:40 p.m.

Here’s who I like — and don’t:

Read the rest of this entry »

Eastern League
Akron 4, Erie 1
Binghamton 5, Portland 3
New Hampshire 4, New Britain 3
Bowie 2, Trenton 1
Altoona 2, Richmond 1
Harrisburg 7, Reading 4

International League
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 4, Toledo 3, 10 innings

Florida State League
Daytona 5, Lakeland 1, 1st game
Daytona 7, Lakeland 4, 12 innings, 2nd game

Midwest League
Bowling Green 4, West Michigan 0

The Pittsburgh Pirates are supposed to beat the lowly Houston Astros.

For a while, it didn’t look like it would happen.

Then, Pedro Alvarez stepped to the plate with one on in the bottom of the eighth inning. To tie it at 4.

The Bucs won it in the ninth.

Here’s his blast (estimated at 462 feet):

– Rick Green