For the first few weeks of the season, it looked as if the Indians might have caught lightning in a bottle with Derek Lowe. A few weeks later. not so much.
In the Indians' 10-9 win over Cincinnati on Monday, Lowe was not involved in the decision, but he was involved in giving up plenty of hits and runs. Lowe pitched five innings and was charged with seven runs on 11 hits.
The ugly start was the continuation of a nasty run for Lowe. In his first eight starts of the season, Lowe was 6-1 with a 2.05 ERA. However, in his last six starts, he is 1-4 with a 8.13 ERA.
The recent slump has caused Lowe's season ERA to go from 2.05 to 4.30. The one constant lately has been inconsistency with his sinking fastball. He's not getting the groundballs he was getting earlier in the season.
"You can tell early in the game," manager Manny Acta said. "When a sinkerballer is giving up fly balls, that's not a good sign."
Lowe gave up a high percentage of fly balls in his five innings Monday, and it got very ugly for him very fast.
The Indians need for Lowe to emerge from his slump as quickly as possible. Even with the win, they've lost seven of their past 11 games, and poor pitching has been the common denominator. The Indians have the second-highest ERA in the American League.
NOTES, QUOTES
Chisenhall hits single, triple and homer
--3B Lonnie Chisenhall fell a double shy of hitting for the cycle Monday. In his last at-bat, in the eighth inning, Chisenhall flied out to right field. The last Indians player to hit for the cycle was Travis Hafner, at Minnesota on Aug. 14, 2003.
--RHP Chris Perez converted his 22nd consecutive save opportunity. That's the second-longest single-season streak in Indians history. The franchise record, since the save became an official statistic in 1969, is 38, set by Jose Mesa in 1995.
--C Carlos Santana hit sixth in the batting order, the first time he'd been placed below No. 5 this season, and he went 2-for-4. He entered the game batting .154 (6-for-39) in 11 games since coming off the seven-day concussion disabled list. "He's been scuffling a little, so we wanted to take a little pressure off him," manager Manny Acta said.
--SS Asdrubal Cabrera had a meeting with manager Manny Acta following Sunday's game, in which Cabrera hit a ball off the right field wall but did not run hard out of the box and was thrown out at second base. Cabrera, who also made three errors in the game, said he thought Pirates OF Jose Tabata was going to catch the ball. "I spoke with him about it," Acta said.
--2B Jason Kipnis, with team-leading totals of 11 home runs and 17 stolen bases, has a chance to become the second second baseman in Indians history to have 20 of each. Roberto Alomar did it in 1999 (24 homers, 37 steals) and 2001 (20 homers, 30 steals).
BY THE NUMBERS: 8 -- Extra-base hits by the Indians in their 10-9 win over Cincinnati on Monday, a season-high total.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It would have been interesting to see what the score would have been if they had left us both in there for nine innings." -- RHP Derek Lowe, speaking of himself and Reds RHP Mat Latos, who pitched five and four innings respectively and combined to give up 14 runs on 19 hits in the Indians' 10-9 victory Monday.
ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
--DH Travis Hafner (sore right knee) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 24. He had surgery May 31 to repair a frayed meniscus, and he will be out until late June or early July.
--LHP Rafael Perez (strained left lat muscle) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 26, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 26.
--OF Grady Sizemore (back surgery in March 2012) went on the 60-day disabled list April 4. He was cleared to begin baseball activities in late April and took live batting practice May 16. His rehab was slowed again in early June, and there was no timetable for his return.
--RHP Carlos Carrasco (Tommy John surgery in September 2011) went on the 60-day disabled list March 26. He might miss the entire season.
