Kritik und Lob » The Cleveland Indians may not boast as many victori

CHICAGO — es as their fellow American League divisional leaders Mitch Haniger Jersey , but that doesn’t mean their confidence as they head for the postseason is lacking.The Indians have 88 victories heading into Wednesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. Although they are well off the pace for regular-season victories as others in their position after seeing their three-game winning streak snapped with a 5-4 loss on Tuesday, Cleveland may be well-suited for a lengthy postseason run just the same.“Our record, we might not have as many wins as what we had in previous years,” Indians general manager Mike Chernoff said, according the team’s official website. “But, it does feel like over the past several weeks, we’ve seen a lot of things come together in ways that we hadn’t seen for the majority of the season. So, we do feel like we’re sort of on an upward trajectory heading into the postseason.”Article continues below ...After surrendering a ninth-inning lead in Tuesday’s loss, the Indians will attempt to bounce back Wednesday behind Shane Bieber (10-5, 4.80 ERA. Bieber has dropped back-to-back decisions and is coming off a rough outing against the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 21, when he surrendered six runs and eight hits over just 4 2/3 innings while pitching in a relief effort. Bieber was scheduled to return to the starting rotation on Thursday against the Kansas City Royals but was bumped up a day to give Josh Tomlin another day of rest after he was needed in a relief appearance on Sunday.Bieber is 0-0 in one career start against the White Sox after he threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out eight earlier this season.The White Sox ended their three-game losing streak on Tuesday when Daniel Palka delivered a one-out, two run single that provided Chicago with a dramatic victory. After struggling to score runs, Chicago came up with three runs in the bottom of the ninth to bring an end to Cleveland’s winning streak. Yet as much excitement as victories like Tuesday’s generates, the White Sox continue to build for the future. On Tuesday, right fielder Avisail Garcia told reporters that he put off knee surgery for most of the season and will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee next week.Garcia said that the procedure was “nothing major http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey ,” according to the Chicago Tribune. Manager Rick Renteria said the surgery just involved “cleaning (the knee) up” and that the surgery was not being done to make any major repairs.Garcia, who hit his career-best 19th home run in Tuesday’s victory, has been on the disabled list twice this season — both times for a strained knee.“Early in the season, opening day, I (felt) something in my knee,” Garcia said, according to the Tribune. “I’ve been feeling something, something, something.”Jace Fry (2-2, 4.32) will make his first major league start for the White Sox on Wednesday. In 57 games this season, Fry has pitched 50 innings and will get his chance to demonstrate what he can do in a starting role. In 11 career relief appearances against the Indians, Fry is 1-0 with a 4.09 ERA. NEW YORK (AP) — Speedy outfielder Billy Hamilton and 2017 All-Stars Avisail Garcia and Jonathan Schoop became free agents Friday when they were among 43 players cut loose by teams that failed to offer 2019 contracts, but the Chicago Cubs hung onto shortstop Addison Russell despite his 40-game domestic violence suspension that extends until May.Cubs president of president of baseball operations Theo Epstein called the decision a procedural step and said it “does not represent the finish line nor rubber-stamp his future” with them.“It does however reflect our support for him as long as he continues to make progress and demonstrates his commitment to these important issues,” Epstein added.Russell accepted the suspension following allegations made by his ex-wife Melisa Reidy. Though Russell has denied the allegations, he apologized to Reidy and his family for “my past behavior.”“Since accepting my suspension Alex Colome Jersey , I’ve had time to reflect on my past behavior and think about the next steps I need to take to grow as a person,” Russell said in a statement issued by the Cubs.Russell said he will meet regularly with experts and counselors mandated by his treatment plan. He said he also plans to keep working with his own therapist, whom he has been seeing several times a week the past two months.He also hopes to work with non-profit groups in his hometown of Pensacola, Florida, as well as Chicago and Arizona.“I am just in the early stages of this process,” Russell said. “It is work that goes far beyond being a baseball player. It goes to my core values of being the best family man, partner, and teammate that I can be, and giving back to the community and the less fortunate. While there is a lot of work ahead for me to earn back the trust of the Cubs fans, my teammates, and the entire organization, it’s work that I am 110 percent committed to doing.”Teams had a Friday evening deadline to offer contracts to unsigned players on their 40-man rosters, the last chance to in effect release salary arbitration-eligible players at no cost.The 28-year-old Hamilton hit .236 with four homers and 29 RBIs this year for last-place Cincinnati as his stolen bases dropped to 34, and the Reds did not want to pay the raise he would get in arbitration from his $4.6 million salary. He swiped 56 bases and in 2014 and increased his total by one annually in each of the next three seasons.Garcia was limited to 93 games last season for the White Sox because of discomfort in his right knee that led to surgery in October, and his batting average dropped from .330 to .236 http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , too much of a decline for Chicago given the $6.7 million he won at a salary arbitration hearing last February.Schoop spent his entire career with Baltimore before Milwaukee acquired the second baseman at the July 31 trade deadline for second baseman Jonathan Villar and a pair of prospects. Schoop hit .202 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 46 games for the Brewers, then was 0 for 8 in the postseason. He made $8.5 million.“We looked at what was a best-educated prediction of what we could expect going forward and the potential price tag for that, then compared that to some of our internal alternatives and what is potentially available externally and we decided to go in this direction,” Brewers general manager David Stearns said. “Look, it was a bad deal, and that’s on me. We made a trade for a player we thought was going to be here for basically a year and a half, and I was wrong.”Others set free included Baltimore third baseman Tim Beckham and catcher Caleb Joseph; Detroit catcher James McCann and pitcher Alex Wilson; Los Angeles Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker; Minnesota outfielder Robbie Grossman; Oakland pitchers Mike Fiers, Cory Gearrin and Kendall Graveman; New York Mets infielder Wilmer Flores; Philadelphia first baseman Justin Bour; and San Francisco pitcher Hunter Strickland.Among players who agreed to one-year contracts ahead of the deadline were Minnesota first baseman C.J. Cron, who hit 30 home runs for Tampa Bay, then was claimed off waivers. He got a $4.8 million deal.San Francisco reached agreements with reliever Sam Dyson at $5 million and second baseman Joe Panik at $3.85 million.Others agreeing included Cleveland right-hander Danny Salazar ($4.5 million), Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Anthony Cingrani ($2.65 million), Atlanta left-hander Jonny Venters ($2.25 million) and Oakland right-hander Liam Hendriks ($2.15 million).