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I watched the Indians - Rays game yesterday. I wanted to see Cody Anderson pitch. And did he pitch! Seven and two thirds innings without giving up a run.

He had a good fastball and change-up throughout and the Tampa hitters could not do much against him. The Rays do not hit well anyways, but Anderson looked pretty tough.

The Indians lineup now has Lindor and Urshela playing everyday while Anderson will be the fifth starter at least for a while. The Tribe is counting on their three best Minor League prospects to get them back in contention. We will see how this works out.

The St. Louis Cardinals have a 26 - 7 record at home. They are far and away the best team in baseball. The NL Central is the toughest division by a long stretch. Both the Pirates and Cubs unless they collapse, will have wild cards.

Will we have  a player hit fifty home runs this season? I think Stanton has a shot along with Bryce Harper. There seems to be a lot of guys capable of hitting at least forty. Let the home runs commence!

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Just hours after my last blog, the Indians sent Jose Ramirez and Lonnie Chisenhall to Triple A. Ramirez was only a matter of time but Chisenhall was a bit of a surprise as he was the guy that tore up American League pitching the first half of 2014. I am wondering if this is the last time we will see Lonnie in a Cleveland uniform.

The Tribe now has Giovani Urshela at third at least for the time being and Zack Walters is back as a utility guy.

The big news came on Saturday as the Indians announced Francisco Lindor would be joining the team in Detroit. This was unexpected as the front office as late as last week said there were no plans to call Lindor up. I would not label it panic time but the team has few options left if they want to contend. I don't expect the new shortstop to hit .400 and play flawless defense but his time has come to show everybody he is the Indians future.

Nick Swisher was put on the DL with sore knees. I am thinking his tenure may be up as well. He is having difficulty running the bases and two weeks rest will probably not work miracles. I would not be shocked if they transferred him to the thirty day list or shut him down for the season.

With so much happening I almost forgot the Indians are now 3-7 in their last ten games. The AL Central is floundering now with all the teams losing on a regular basis. The AL East is becoming interesting with the resurgence of the Blue Jays. The eleven game win streak is amazing. Josh Donaldson continues to lead the team along with Russell Martin. If Bautista and Encarciacion (I know I spelled that wrong) both get hot, Toronto could leave everybody behind.

Who would have thought Texas would be back in the hunt?

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The Indians took two out of three from Kansas City, but then came home to lose two games to the Baltimore Orioles. There was a chance to make up more ground, but the Tribe was not up to the task. The Orioles are not exactly a powerhouse but scored enough runs to win the series. Adam Jones had a couple of home runs to help.

In the last ten games, the Indians went 6-4 while the Royals dropped seven out of ten. Detroit was 2-8 and the Twins managed to split, going 5-5. There is an opportunity to make some noise as the Central Division teams are certainly struggling. The Indians have to up their game.

I was interested to see the Yankees were 7-3 as was Tampa Bay. Mark Texiera is having a great year while Brian McCann is off to a much better start than in 2014. The Rays pitching has been outstanding, particularly Chris Archer.

In the National League, the Cardinals are still rolling. Old friend Johny Peralta is hitting well and the St. Louis starters show no sings of letting up. I still believe the Pirates are a real threat and could challenge here. The Dodgers have Puig back. The next few weeks will be fun in the N.L.

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Tonight the Indians are in Kansas City to take on the first place Royals. A sweep (it could happen) would put the Tribe only three and a half games out of first. The Royals have cooled off a bit and now is the time to make up the ground.

The pitching match ups favor Cleveland. Jeremy Guthrie currently has an ERA over six and Jason Vargas has not been stellar of late. The Royals need to score some runs if they are going to win this series.

I am quite interested to see if Jason Kipnis can keep up his torrid hitting. His play has really elevated the team. The combination of Davis Murphy and Ryan Raburn has been a big surprise. If Yan Gomes can get his swing back in shape, the Indians offense will be a factor.

Right now it looks like the Cardinals are the class of the National League. Despite one injury after another they keep rolling along. The Cubs are still playing good baseball while I think the Pirates are going to move up.  In the American League the Astros are playing like a pennant contender. Who would have thought!

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Last week I thought maybe the Indians had righted themselves. That was an understatement. The hitting has come along and the starting pitching has been quite good. Yan Gomes is back which will help solidify the batting order.

It has been, only one start but Shawn Marcum might just be the next version of Scott Kasmir. If he is for real the American League Central race is far from over. The Royals have slowed down a bit and the Tigers lack of pitching is really showing. June could be an interesting month for the Tribe.

I noticed that Washington has claimed first place and is beginning to pull away. Bryce Harper is putting up some incredible numbers. The Giants have quietly moved back into contention while the Cardinals are doing well without Adam Wainwright. I still think the Pirates have some life in them and the Cubs look to be for real. Tampa Bay in first place? How is that possible?

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