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	Friday, July 14
	Midseason report: Cleveland Indians By Marty Bernoski ESPN.com
	The Cleveland Indians' stranglehold on first place is over. Injuries decimated the pitching staff. The good news? The wild card is still within reach. Get the dirty lowdown on Cleveland's troublesome first-half run. First-half MVP: David Justice would have given Jim Thome a run for his money but he ended up in pinstripes. So Thome it is. Through July 6, Thome leads the Indians in homers (23), walks (53) and total bases (167). He was second to Justice in RBI (56). With Manny Ramirez on the disabled list since May 30 and the trade of Justice, Thome's production and veteran leadership will be a crucial part of the Indians' formula to catch the front-running White Sox. Biggest disappointment: The pitching staff. We hate to use injuries as an excuse for poor performance but it applies here. Cleveland probably had the busiest transaction list in the majors this season, tying a 1993 club record by using its 26th different pitcher when Alan Newman made a relief appearance on June 26. The major-league record is 29, set by Anaheim in 1996. As of July 6, the Indians still had six pitchers on the DL: Jaret Wright (right shoulder), Charles Nagy (elbow surgery on May 19), Ricardo Rincon (left elbow surgery), Tom Martin (left rotator cuff), David Riske (back) and Sean DePaula (right elbow). Biggest surprise: Russell Branyan belted 11 homers in his first 77 at-bats since being recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on May 30, where he hit .253 with 16 homers and 46 RBI in 41 games. He slugged his first career grand slam on June 17 and has two multi-homer games this season. Branyan is the Indians' fifth rookie since 1981 to hit 10 or more homers. Second-half goals: Sign Manny Ramirez and maintain a healthy pitching staff. With Nagy and Wright out of the rotation for the time being, Bartolo Colon (8-5, 4.48) needs to pitch like he did in the second half of 1999 (11-2, 2.60). If the Indians are to make a second-half run, they'll more support from the starters. Chuck Finley and Dave Burba, 15 wins combined, will have to pick up the slack. Roberto Alomar needs to ignite the offense like he did last year (.323 BA, 24 HR, 120 RBI, 138 runs). His stats through 83 games are not even close to duplicating last year's performance: .267 average, nine homers, 38 RBIs and 53 runs. Grade: -- You can't kick a team when it's down this far (2nd place), unless you're a White Sox fan. Another month like June (13-16), and the Indians will be history. (Scale: 1 to 4 baseballs; 1 = worst, 4 = best) We told you what we thought of the Indians' first-half performance, now you've told us. Here is what you had to say about what the Indians have to do in the second half.		ALSO SEE Midseason Feedback: Indians MLB midseason reports ESPN.com's All-Star Game coverage Kurkjian: Stories of the first half Ten second-half questions for the AL Ten second-half questions for the NL