Travis Hafner turned it on in September, but Grady Sizemore slumped. Ryan Garko's defense worried the Indians, but his bat (.289/.359/.483) and walk-off heroics kept him in the lineup.
Franklin Gutierrez took Trot Nixon's job in June and refused to return it. Jhonny Peralta continues to decline, collecting half the homers and RBI post-all star break as he did pre-all star break: 14 HR, 50 RBI versus 7 HR, 22 RBI.
As is common with catchers, Victor Martinez did his best hitting during the first half of the season. However, he is still extremely dangerous, hitting .301 with 25 homers and 114 RBI on the season. Martinez leads Cleveland regulars in all three categories.
Probable Lineup
Sizemore
Cabrera
Hafner
Martinez
Garko
Peralta
Lofton
Gutierrez
Blake
The starting rotation, as everybody understands, is a two-horse race with Sabathia and Carmona leaving Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd in the rear-view. However, the bullpen is an interesting topic as Cleveland's two young setup men (Betancourt and Perez) totally outclass their closer.
Joe Borowski may have 45 saves on the season, but he also compiled an ERA over 5.00 and a 1.43 WHIP. He has a losing 4-5 record, blew eight saves, served up nine homers and allowed 11 more hits than innings-pitched.
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