American League Central News

There is still an awful lot of baseball to be played in 2013, and the playoff picture won't begin to really take shape until after the All-Star break.

Back at Fenway Park as a manager for the first time since being let go by the Boston Red Sox in 2011, he was calm and occasionally funny while wearing the cap of the Cleveland Indians.

Despite two home runs by the Josh Willingham of the Minnesota Twins, the Tigers came from three runs down late in the game to beat the Twins 7-6 - handing them their ninth consecutive loss in the process.

After emerging as one of the most dominant setup men in baseball last year, right-hander Kelvin Herrera was sent to Triple-A Omaha by the Royals on Thursday.

When it comes to generating excitement around baseball prospects one attribute jumps off the page: power.

The first place Cleveland Indians are coming to town for a four-game set with the Boston Red Sox .

Yan Gomes hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning and the Cleveland Indians, twice revived by Seattle's fielding errors, beat the Mariners 10-8 on Monday to complete a four-game sweep.

Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the 'Jamie and Wojo' show at 6 p.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM , blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers.

Verlander returned to the mound after sitting through a 62-minute rain delay to get his fifth win and Miguel Cabrera hit another homer - maybe the luckiest of his career - as the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians 11-7 on Wednesday night, sweeping the two-game series between the AL Central's top teams.

For a little while during Spring Training John Danks thought he would make his Chicago White Sox return within five games of opening day.

The Chicago White Sox are still in fourth place in the American League Central. But if it wasn't for the way Jesse Crain has pitched out of the bullpen this season, the Pale Hose would likely be dead last in the American League.

Five times in the previous 10 years, they carried a record of .500 or better after 44 games.

Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera is among the batting leaders in the American League, leading in batting average and RBI .

For the first time as an opposing manager, Francona will walk into famed Fenway Park to face the Red Sox, the team he led to two World Series titles during eight seasons.

MINNEAPOLIS David Ortiz homered twice and drove in six runs to torment his former team once again, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 12-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night.

Atlanta Braves second baseman Dan Uggla checks in on the Minnesota Twins' Trevor Plouffe after he was injured on a forceout at second base in the ninth inning Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Atlanta.

At this point, the Twins are so close to the Super Two cutoff, that it might actually make sense to wait.

Today on the Baseball Reporters, Tony Massarotti discuss the Boston Red Sox recent games against the American League Central.

The Associated Press 5/21/13 Undated- The Cleveland Indians aim for their sixth straight win tonight, but they'll be facing an unbeaten pitcher from their closest pursuer in the American League Central race.

Indians closer Chris Perez deactivated his Twitter account following two rough outings, and after receiving a slew of negative comments.