Indians Second Half Schedule

[swerb]

73 games left.

37 home games, 36 road games.

47 of the 73 remaining games are against the AL Central. That's almost 2/3 (64.4%) of their remaining games. We play the Twins 13 more times, the White Sox 13 times, the Tigers 12 times, and the Royals 9 times.

Only non division team we have two series left against is the Rangers, and both three game series are in Arlington. One in early August. The other is in mid-September, and is our only September series against a non-division team.

We play the Mariners five more times because of the two home games that were rained out and must be replayed against them. One of em will be part of a day/night double header against them in late August, the other will be played here in Cleveland on our previously scheduled Sept 19 off day, meaning the Indians will finish the season with 16 consecutive games without an off day.

Other remaining games - 4 at Boston (early August before series at Rangers), 4 at Baltimore (starting Thurs), 4 here vs Oakland in late August, and 3 here vs. the Angels in late July.

Remaining schedule breaks down into four phases ...

OUTTA THE BREAK (JULY 14-31)

Eight game road trip to Baltimore and Minnesota. Twins series includes a makeup of a rain out from earlier this season. Then a nine game home stand against the White Sox, Angels, and Royals.

This homestand is VITAL ... because what follows is ...

THE MEAT GRINDER (AUGUST 1-21)

Seven games on the road against the class of the AL, and then 12 games against the AL Central contenders.


4 at the Red Sox
3 at the Rangers
3 vs. the Tigers
3 vs. the Twins
3 at the White Sox
3 at the Tigers

THE BREATHER (AUGUST 22-SEPTEMBER 4)

A 11 game home stand against sub .500 teams followed by three at KC.

4 vs. the Mariners
3 vs. the Royals
4 vs the A's
3 at the Royals

THE STRETCH RUN (SEPTEMBER 5-28)

22 games to end the season. 18 against the division, 3 at Texas, and the last Mariners makeup game.

3 vs. the Tigers
4 at the White Sox
3 at the Rangers
3 at the Twins
1 here vs. the Mariners
3 vs. the White Sox
3 vs. the Twins
3 at the Tigers to end the season

[Am I Here Again?]

Heard on the radio over the weekend that Olney put the Tribe's Strength of Schedule ranking somewhere in the top 10. Might have been 6th??? but I don't remember for sure. All I know is that they have to play way better than they did these last three games...but you don't have to follow baseball to know that.

[leadpipe]

The big issue in the second half is going to be all the young pitchers who are entering virgin territory as far as volume goes. They in all likelyhood aren't going to carry an offense the last two months of the year.

And that's not being negative concerning the staff. It's been a very pleasant suprise - but 162 is a lotta games for young pitchers.

[RedDawg53]

I see the Indians & Tigers battling for the division on the last days of the season. If we're tied and play a one game playoff, either in CLE or DET, we have a chance to win, except for hitting against Verlander.

Sucks that we have to go back to Arlington twice and Boston again. Those are big hitters.

[skatingtripods]

DET ends their season with 4 @ OAK, 2 @ KC, 4 v. BAL, and then we're in town.

The Indians must capitalize on the rest of July and that August breather at the end of the month. Where we get 7 with TEX and 4 with BOS, the best team DET plays is TB. They get TEX at home for 3.

We'll have to earn it.

[Commodore Perry]

September has real potential to be fun.

Just remember, this is not a world series team, yet. They are early in the cycle. If they can be in contention come september, they're ahead of the curve. Enjoy it for what it is.

[swerb]

OUTTA THE BREAK (JULY 14-31)

Eight game road trip to Baltimore and Minnesota. Twins series includes a makeup of a rain out from earlier this season. Then a nine game home stand against the White Sox, Angels, and Royals.

This homestand is VITAL ... because what follows is ...

2-2 at BAL
1-2 at MIN
0-2 vs CHIW
1-2 vs LAA
1-2 vs KCC

Ugggh. 2-6 and a rainout in the 9 game homestand. 5-10 overall stretch.

Tigers went 8-8 through a tough part of their schedule. White Sox went 8-5. Twins 9-8.

Up next ...

THE MEAT GRINDER (AUGUST 1-21)

Seven games on the road against the class of the AL, and then 12 games against the AL Central contenders.


4 at the Red Sox
3 at the Rangers
3 vs. the Tigers
3 vs. the Twins
3 at the White Sox
3 at the Tigers

[Bigfist]

I think this is a make or break road trip. No doubt we will be underdogs in each and every of the seven games. Doesn't mean we will lose them all, but really..if you were to tell me next Sunday that we went 0-7 on the trip, it would not shock me. Best chance for a win might well be tomorrow, going against Lackey, who has been horrid this year.

We never, ever seem to play well in Texas, even in the years we were good and they were not.

A 3-4 trip would be just fine by me.

[TribeinLA]

I see us being lucky to be .500 with that schedule.

I forsee:

getting pummeled by Detroit
The White Six finally dying out and I think we'll even our gap with them
The Twins getting bested by us
The Royals playing .500 with us the last two series.

Out of divsion, we should do well against the A's and Mariners. The Rangers are gonna be a bitch and will likely continue to dominate us (matchup issues always seem to be an issue w them). With the exception of the upcoming series with Sox, looks like we're done with AL east. I would hate to have 3-6 with the Rays.

I think we're going to end up 84-78. Can that win it? Depends on how the Twins, Royals, White Sox, and US handle the Tigers. They're clearly the better team in the division.

The chips will be stacked against us. We need Choo to get back in the mix FAST or we're going to win 2/5 games just because our pitching is good. We will drift into 4th place by the end of August playing like we've been. It's going to be TOUGH.

[googleeph2]

So?

They look to be in the race through August. They are young enough to be resilient. The pitching keeps the team in most every game. The core is playing, and many of these guys should hit the ground running next year.

This could be the start of the newest generation of Tribe fans' 'good old days'.

No reason to sweat it, especially this year. They're playing with house money.

[Am I Here Again?]

....Best chance for a win might well be tomorrow, going against Lackey, who has been horrid this year....

Except that Lackey has been horrid the first half of this year. If we weren't playing and Lackey was pitching I would be sure to catch his game just for S&Gs. Now it seems like he's finally figured it out and is pitching well, having won his last four games. The preview for tonight's game says that "Lackey has been unbeaten since the All-Star break with a 3.44 ERA." Not getting him at the best time for our guys...

[bookelly]

I think that Ubaldo changes the outlook a bit. Plus Choo, Donald, Kipnis, Chiz, Huff and Grady. This team is gonna be really good for the next 3 years.