Felix Hernandez came into tonight's game with an ERA of 2.29, allowing just 7.0 hits per 9 innings, with batters hitting .216/.279/.305 against him. His history against the Indians has also been very good; he's thrown 10 straight Quality Starts against the Indians.

Ubaldo Jimenez, meanwhile, had been mainly Mr. Hyde since his arrival in Cleveland. His occasional turns as Dr. Jekyll seemed only to emphasize that he could be a good or even great pitcher. Could. That's what's made his struggles so maddening; if you knew that a pitcher was terrible, and not likely to be anything but terrible, you could live with that, but seeing a pitcher with the potential to be one of the best in game struggle?

Tonight we had a role reversal. Not quite, as Jimenez wasn't exactly Felix Hernandez on his normal days. But Hernandez was definitely Jimenez on one his worse days.

The oddity started with the bottom of the first, for the game started with Jimenez giving up an early run, though not due to wildness. Ubaldo actually threw mostly strikes in his first inning, with the damage done via the base hit. Dustin Ackley, who seems poised to break out any time now, started the game with a solid single, and went to third on a Michael Saunders single. A run scored on an Ichiro! ground out, but that's all the damage that was incurred. Jimenez had to throw a lot of pitches to get out of the inning, but again, most of those pitches were strikes.

The weirdness really started in the bottom of the inning. The last time the Indians faced Hernandez, they were just a couple of outs from being shut out, but thanks to really bad defense from Jesus Montero and wildness from Felix Hernandez, they scored four runs in the first inning without an RBI hit. Shin-Soo Choo, who is in his third game as leadoff hitter, singled to start the inning, and Jason Kipnis followed him with a single. So far, just like in the top of the inning, but with Hernandez, wildness exacerbated the inning, while Jimenez minimized it by throwing strikes. Hernandez hit Asdrubal Cabrera to load the bases, then uncorked what was ruled a passed ball, allowing the tying run to score. He then allowed a rocket hit right at second baseman Ackley off the bat of Travis Hafner. Pronk was thrown out, but a run scored, and the Indians did in 1/3 an inning what took them practically the entire game to do last month: score two runs off Felix Hernandez.

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Tribe Makes a Pair of Moves at AAA Columbus

The Cleveland Indians have released right-handed pitcher Robinson Tejeda and outrighted right-handed pitcher Dan Wheeler to the AAA Columbus Clippers, according to the team:

AAA Clippers transactions: Outrighted RHP DAN WHEELER to Columbus. Released RHP ROBINSON TEJEDA.

— Cleveland Indians(@tribeinsider) May 16, 2012

Tejeda, 30, last saw Major League action with the Kansas City Royals in 2011, going just 7 innings and pitching at a 6.14 ERA. At AAA Columbus this season, he's seen even less -- just one inning, where he gave up two runs. Tejeda has a career ERA of 4.42 in 442 innings over seven pro seasons. He signed a minor league contract with the Indians this off-season.

Wheeler, 34, will join the Clippers after seeing twelve innings and racking up a 8.76 ERA this season. He was with the Boston Red Sox last season and pitched nearly 50 innings of 4.38 ERA relief. Wheeler has 13 seasons of pro experience across five organizations, seven of which were with the Tampa Rays.

Derek Lowe threw a six-hit shutout without a strikeout, in as easy a victory as the Indians have had all season. I guess you never expect a pitcher to toss a shutout, but the combination of Lowe and the Twins seemed destined for that outcome.

So how does a pitcher shut out a team while allowing 10 base runners and not striking out a batter? First, the lineup he's facing has to be terrible (check). Secondly, that terrible lineup has to hit the ball on the ground (22 ground outs). And thirdly, that terrible lineup hitting lots of grounders have to be hitting them at defenders with runners on base (four double plays).

Meanwhile, the Indians battered around Twins starter Jason Marquis, who I thought had retired several years ago. Marquis had, until this season, spent his entire career in the National League. Perhaps he thought that the spacious Target Field would counter the better lineups he'd be facing, but he's been as terrible at home as on the road. The Indians tagged him for five runs in five innings, three of those runs coming via solo home runs in the fifth inning.

Source: FanGraphs

The Indians seemed poised to cruise to a quick 4-1 victory over the Twins, but wildness and a dropped throw made the game a lot more interesting than it should be.

The Minnesota Twins are baseball's worst club. They're a dual threat, ranking last in the AL in runs scored and ERA, and of their 10 victories, 7 of them have been by 1 run. So after struggling in Fenway Park, this short two-game series in spacious Target Field in theory should be a nice reprieve for a team that's started to show some flaws.

Jeanmar Gomez made short work of the Twins, allowing one (unearned) run on three in seven innings. Given the makeup of the Twins' lineup, it's probably folly to make much out of Gomez's outing. The lone Twins run off Gomez came in the third inning when Carlos Santana threw wildly to third base, allowing Darin Mastoianni to score. Jeanmar did walk three Twins, but for the most part was economical with his pitches, getting through seven with only 97 pitches thrown.

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The Indians are going with Jeremy Accardo to replace Dan Wheeler in the bullpen:

The Indians announced Monday they have purchased the contract of right-hander Jeremy Accardo from Triple-A Columbus and designated right-hander Dan Wheeler for assignment.

Accardo, 30, has spent the entire season with the Clippers and has posted an ERA of 2.76 in 13 relief appearances (16 1/3 innings) while holding International League hitters to a .207 batting average. He is 4-for-4 in save opportunities.