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The undercover officer asked Melanie Perez if the packages were meant for that address and was told that they were for the dog, the report said.

Shortly after, Chris Perez came home in a black Audi, and the two left for a restaurant in Lakewood, leaving the packages behind. While they were away, officers searched the house. A babysitter was present along with two napping children. The packages were found on a back patio.

At around 4 p.m. the Perezes came home. They were read their rights. At one point, according the report, Perez asked about Ohio's laws concerning marijuana and said he wanted to speak to a lawyer.

The report said officers found "numerous drug paraphernalia and suspected marijuana" already in the home and Perez told them it was his and for his own personal use. They said Perez also opened a drawer and showed them a metal marijuana grinder.

Police interviewed Melanie Perez who said she did not know the contents of the packages and she hadn't ordered ordered anything for her dog recently. She suggested a fan may have sent the parcels without the couple's knowledge.

When asked if the packages were intended for her husband, she said: "What did Chris say?"

Melanie Perez said she does not smoke marijuana but confirmed that her husband had drug paraphernalia in the house.
Perez, 27, and his wife, 29, were released on their own recognizance. A hearing is scheduled for June 19.

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Who the hell leaves their house when their 2 children are sleeping being watched by a baysitter and the police are searching the house ?
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Oh, yeah, that guy !






This guy is a first class jerk and now you know one more reason why the Cardinals got rid of him.

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Grady Sizemore has resumed baseball activities, and there's a "strong belief" that the Twins will be interested when ready to sign with a team in a month or two. The Twins did their due diligence on Sizemore in March, but Sizemore made it clear in January that he preferred not to sign until he was able to play in games.

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How has Perez been passing the cup test ???
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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Bigger news:

DETROIT -- It is hardly an ideal situation, but the Indians have found a way to navigate around the eight-game suspension handed to pitcher Carlos Carrasco nearly two months ago.

Prior to Saturday's game against the Tigers, Cleveland placed right-hander Zach McAllister on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right middle finger and promoted Carrasco from Triple-A Columbus to start against Detroit. Carrasco makes the start in Detroit while technically appealing his suspension.

Manager Terry Francona indicated that McAllister could miss at least two to four weeks with the finger injury. McAllister flew to Cleveland earlier this week to undergo an MRI and was examined by hand specialist Dr. Thomas Graham.

"The timetable is when he feels better," Francona cautioned on Saturday. "Nobody really knows. When it's better, he'll pitch. Obviously, we don't know exactly, neither does he, and neither do the doctors. But when he's good to go, we'll pitch him."

The transaction will have a two-pronged effect: McAllister can rest his sore finger, and Carrasco can hopefully put the suspension behind him.

Due to an upcoming off-day on Thursday, Carrasco can make one start before dropping his appeal and accepting the suspension. He would then be eligible to start for the Indians against the Royals on June 18, which also happens to be the same day that McAllister (whose DL stint is retroactive to Monday) would be able to be activated.

With Carrasco now starting on Saturday, sinkerballer Justin Masterson (originally slated to start on Saturday) will be pushed back one game, as will the other three starters. Masterson will pitch on Sunday against the Tigers, with Scott Kazmir (Monday), Corey Kluber (Tuesday) and Ubaldo Jimenez (Wednesday) the probable pitchers for the upcoming series against the Rangers.

"There's some things that were obviously involved," Francona said. "First and foremost, we took Zach back to Cleveland and had him looked at. We want to make sure this finger doesn't get to the point where it gets in the way of his pitching, and it's not something to play around with. So we decided that he needed to go on the DL."

The 25-year-old McAllister began experiencing irritation in the finger between his past two starts, and the issue flared during his outing against Tampa Bay on Sunday. In 4 1/3 innings, he allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits, no strikeouts and four walks. He was unable to throw his curveball the eay he wanted due to the injury.

Francona said that McAllister has been gripping his curveball harder this season -- possibly contributing to the injury. The team's medical staff, along with McAllister himself, do not believe that the increased use of a split-finger fastball has played a role. His only symptoms have come while throwing his breaking pitch.

Over his past three starts, McAllister has gone 1-2 with a 6.14 ERA and .349 opponents' batting average. In those outings he has logged just 14 2/3 innings, during which he has given up 22 hits and issued eight walks. He went 3-3 with a 2.65 ERA and a .236 opponents' average in his previous eight outings this season, and he is 4-5 with a 3.42 ERA in 11 games overall.

"We're just being cautious with it," McAllister said. "We don't want it to lead to anything major that can last any longer. So we're just being safe and getting healthy."

Carrasco, 26, has been forced to deal with a pair of suspensions this year. He began the season on the Opening Day roster with the sole purpose of serving a five-game suspension for throwing at the head of Royals designated hitter Billy Butler on June 29, 2011. He had to wait until this year to serve the punishment after missing all of last season while recovering from an injured right elbow.

Because of other rotation issues, Carrasco made his first (and only) start for the Indians on April 9, against the Yankees. Similar to the 2011 incident -- in which he threw at Butler after giving up a grand slam to Melky Cabrera -- he hit New York's Kevin Youkilis after surrendering a home run to Robinson Cano. Carrasco subsequently was dealt an eight-game ban by Major League Baseball.

The Indians sent Carrasco to Triple-A Columbus, where he has gone 2-0 with a 3.21 ERA in 10 games, including nine starts. Across 47 2/3 innings, he has piled up 50 strikeouts against 14 walks for the Clippers. He allowed nine runs (eight earned) in four innings against Indianapolis in his most recent outing, on June 1. In May he went 2-0 with a 1.73 ERA at Triple-A.

"He's done everything we could have possibly asked of him in Triple-A," general manager Chris Antonetti said recently. "He's gone out and he's really dominated almost every start out there, and he's done it efficiently, where he's been able to get hitters out and he's accumulated a lot of strikeouts and hasn't used a lot of pitches doing it. That's a challenging thing to do.

"He's using all his pitches. He's been very aggressive in attacking the strike zone. We've all seen it. He has above-average Major League stuff. When he puts it all together, he has a chance to really help our team."

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Not the same old Cleveland Indians, but looking pretty familiar: Terry Pluto


DETROIT, Mich. --The Tribe dressing room was so quiet, you could hear a batting average drop.

Or maybe, a thump that comes from falling yet another game behind the Tigers after losing, 4-1, in Detroit Sunday.

The Tribe arrived in town only 2 1/2 games behind first-place Detroit in the Central Division.

It's now 5 1/2 back, as the losing streak is seven in a row.

If you're a Tribe fan, it feels like August in June . . . or at least last August, when the Tribe was 5-24.

That because the Tribe has lost 13 of 17.

At least twice this weekend, Tribe manager Terry Francona said: "This is not last year, nor will it be. This is a different team."

Francona's facts are correct. From the manager down to the roster, there has been a major overhaul.

Only three players (counting pitcher Justin Masterson) in Sunday's lineup were members of the 2012 Tribe that finished 68-94.

The Tribe ownership didn't suddenly turn into a bunch of shopaholics with a dozen credit cards in their pockets, but they spent real money this off-season.

Nick Swisher, Mark Reynolds and Michael Bourn didn't come cheap.

Batting .302 with nine stolen bases, Bourn is excused from this doomsday discussion -- but the Gold Glove center fielder has had a couple of strange escapes with fly balls this season.

Swisher is hitting .239 with seven homers and 22 RBI. He tied himself into emotional knots with a trip back to New York earlier in the week, and the former Yankee then unraveled at the bat. He finally broke out of an 0-of-26 slump with a single Sunday, his only hit on this six-game trip.

Francona talked about "it being human nature to try to do too much," when it came to Swisher and others in slumps.

But for $56 million over four years, the Tribe has the right expect more from Swisher.

Reynolds has only four errors in 27 games at third base. But there are so many balls that he can't reach or have been called hits when an average third baseman turns them into outs.

That's not the fault of Reynolds. He was supposed to alternate between DH/first base, but Lonnie Chisenhall's early-season struggles sent him back to Class AAA a month ago.

It is time to promote Lonnie Chisenhall (batting .380) from Columbus. Put him at third and see if he begins to hit.

That's especially true with Reynolds batting .178 with one homer and one RBI in his past 15 games. He says playing an uncomfortable position isn't impacting his hitting.

Well, it's sure not helping as he's batting .182 when playing there this season.

I don't want to hear one more Tribe player say, "We just can't get any breaks."

Those words came from the lips of Ryan Raburn and Justin Masterson after Sunday's game.

Masterson pitched a decent game, allowing four runs in seven innings against one of baseball's premier lineups. To win this game, Masterson needed to throw a shutout.

Raburn has homered in the past two games, doing it in Detroit against his former team that released him over the winter.

But the Tribe's problems are not "breaks," unless you mean how they couldn't hit the breaking pitches of rookie lefty Jose Alvaraz (one run allowed in six inning).

What the Tribe needs is some of their veterans hitters to . . . well . . . hit. In April, they were leading the American League in homers.

And they need someone to throw a shutout, or at least come close.

That's how you break a losing streak: With strong, winning performances.

This team has some players capable of doing just that, and a veteran manager who has been through these situations before.

None of this means the season is over. The cheap shot is there are exactly 100 games left, but who's counting?

Their record is 30-32, which is not the dark side of the baseball moon.

It just feels that way right now.

And that won't change until the Indians do indeed prove they are a different team from the one a year ago.

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Code red -- top pick Clint Frazier gets a warm welcome: Cleveland Indians Insider
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(Gallery by Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer)
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer

on June 15, 2013 at 9:38 PM, updated June 15, 2013 at 9:44 PM



CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians rolled out the red carpet Saturday for No.1 pick Clint Frazier by officially signing him to a deal worth $3.5 million. Then they rolled out the red wigs.

The red-haired Frazier was taken into the Indians' clubhouse after signing his contract and was greeted by several Indians' players wearing bright red wigs.

"I thought that was hilarious," said Frazier. "Earlier in the year somebody from Baseball America joked and said whenever I make it to the big leagues they're going to have a red-head give-away night.

"It was kind of weird to see that come into reality. I never knew what it would be like to meet a bunch of major-leaguers at once and to see them all wearing the red wigs and giving me a hard time ... I can't put it into words."

Frazier, 18, will report to Goodyear, Ariz., the Indians' spring-training headquarters, on Sunday and play center field for the Arizona Rookie League Indians. Their season starts Thursday.

After becoming extremely rich, getting welcomed by a contingent of red-haired big-leaguers and receiving some sage advice from 42-year-old Jason Giambi, Frazier went out and took batting practice at Progressive Field.

"It was different," said Frazier. "I thought I could go out there and hit some home runs pretty easy. Not today, but I got into a few and really enjoyed myself."

Frazier hit several balls into the left field bleachers.

Asked what he was going to do with his signing bonus, Frazier laughed and said: "The money is not something I've set my sights on right now. I don't play to make money, I play to have fun."

The Indians' slotting bonus for their No.1 pick was $3.787 million. They will be able to use the money they saved to sign their other high round picks.

Frazier, the fifth player taken in the draft, hit .485 (47-for-97) with 17 homers, 45 RBI and 56 runs in his senior year. He had a .561 on-base percentage and a 1.134 slugging percentage in 32 games. After his season, Gatorade named Frazier the National Baseball Player of the Year.

He is the first high school outfielder taken in the first round by the Indians since Manny Ramirez in 1991. Baseball America rated him as the top high school player in the country.

Testing, testing: Closer Chris Perez will make a rehab start Sunday at Class A Lake County. He'll pitch an inning to test the strained right rotator cuff that put him on the disabled list on May 27.

"My shoulder is good," said Perez. "I threw a bullpen session Friday. There was no pain, but I was rusty. I felt like I needed the rehab assignment to tighten up my strikes.

"But there was no pain. I came back today (Saturday) and played catch and felt OK. Obviously, a game situation is different so we'll see how that goes on Sunday."

If Perez comes through Sunday's appearance feeling sharp, he could be activated Monday. If not, he'll make at least one more rehab appearance.

"They're leaving it up to me," he said. "They told me don't come back just to come back. They want me to make sure I can come back and do my job well. We'll see how it goes Sunday.

"If I throw like I did on Friday, I'll probably need another appearance. I wasn't very sharp Friday. It felt like my first appearance of the year in spring training."

This was the first time Perez has spoken to the media since authorities searched his Rocky River residence on June 5 and found two boxes of marijuana. Perez and his wife, Melanie, were charged with misdemeanor drug abuse. They both filed not guilty pleas with an arraignment set for June 19.

Perez said he would not answer any questions about his legal situation. Finally: Besides Frazier, the Indians signed two more draft picks: Left-hander Thomas Pannone, their ninth-round pick out of the College of Southern Nevada, and right-hander Kerry Doane, their 24th-round pick out of East Tennessee State.

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We all expected the Indians’ rotation to experience some turmoil this season, but as we close the door on the series with the Royals we have three starters with earned run averages under 3.60 and a fourth, Ubaldo Jimenez, who has given up two or fewer runs in seven of his last nine starts. While the rotation bears the brunt of the responsibility for the eight game losing streak that just ended, one can begin to feel some degree of confidence that the Indians can anticipate an effective performance from their starting pitcher more often than not.

That, of course, doesn’t mean all issues are solved. Jimenez, for one, has pitched into the seventh inning in only three of thirteen starts, more because of high pitch counts than ineffectiveness. This is not an earth-shattering issue, but anytime the bullpen is working the sixth and seventh inning it is a concern, because the nature of baseball is that the guys used in those innings are those not skilled enough to be trusted with the eighth and ninth, although in the Indians’ case Matt Albers, Cody Allen, and Bryan Shaw have been more consistent than Pestano and Perez so far.

The other, more obvious concern is the fifth rotation spot – assuming McAllister’s finger injury is healed within the next few weeks. Scott Kazmir has now made eleven starts for the Indians, and has given up four or more earned runs in six of them. His WHIP is 1.65, which would be 48th out of 49 starting pitchers in the American League if he had enough innings pitched to qualify. With a June ERA of 7.98, it is tough to make a case that things are trending in the right direction.

This issue will likely come to a head when McAllister is ready to be activated. At that point either Kazmir or Carlos Carrasco will be dropped from the rotation. This made Carrasco’s start Monday against Kansas City critical to the decision-making process. The four-hit performance, especially the efficiency and the command that he demonstrated, had to give the front office cause to at least think that Carrasco will stay in the rotation after McAllister is ready to return.

That makes Kazmir sixth in the pecking order by any rational analysis (seventh, depending on whether you think Trevor Bauer is ready). Think about it; he is on a one-year deal, so even if he rebounds it will simply give him enough leverage to go elsewhere next year. The best case scenario at this point is that Kazmir strings together enough good starts in July that somebody gives up a mid-level prospect for him. Seriously, though, do you see that happening?

Assuming McAllister is back by around July 1, that would give Kazmir and Carrasco as many as three starts each to show that they deserve to hang around. Here’s hoping that they make the choice difficult for Francona. Best case scenario is that Kazmir shows enough that they keep in around to help the bullpen (he’s a lefty, remember). A guy who can go three innings in a pinch would be a huge plus for this team. Even if Ubaldo has figured everything out, he is still going to have occasional start where he reaches 100 pitches in the fourth inning, and the rest of the staff is young enough that we can’t assume they will be solid every time out. The only thing worse than having your starter give the game away by the third inning is having to burn out your entire bullpen in a game where your chances of winning are in the single digits, then not having somebody available the next day when you have a chance to win.

The Indians’ solution to this problem thus far has been a 13-man staff, which ended temporarily today when Lonnie Chisenhall was called up and Matt Langwell went to Columbus. With Chris Perez expected to be activated this weekend, it will be interesting to see who goes. A 13 man staff means a three-man bench, and with Mike Aviles starting at short the bench is a lot less versatile. If two of your three bench spots are a 43-year old who can’t field or run and a 39-year-old who can’t hit, your options are limited. The logical guy to go is probably Rich Hill, who has allowed 19 base runners in his last six innings (not a typo). If Francona is committed to the thirteen man staff, he will need to bite the bullet and cut Jason Giambi loose. McDonald (or someone) needs to be on the roster to play short, Gomes needs to catch, and Raburn is the only extra outfielder, at least until Swisher’s shoulder gets better.

The invisible man in all of this is Brett Myers, who in a barely noticed move last week was moved to the 60-day disabled list. This move had little practical significance since Myers had already missed almost two months, but he appears nowhere near being ready to help, and you wonder what role he would play if he did get healthy.

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CLEVELAND -- Indians closer Chris Perez thought he'd be activated from the 15-day disabled list on Friday for the start of a series against the Minnesota Twins.

That was before his tough rehab appearance on Tuesday, when he served up three homers in a five-run inning for Double-A Akron. On Wednesday, Tribe manager Terry Francona told reporters that Perez was scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Friday.

"The good news is, physically, he feels really good," Francona said before Wednesday's 6-3 win over the Royals. "Mechanically, I think he's fighting it a little bit."

Perez, who went on the DL on May 27 with a right shoulder strain, allowed five hits and struck out two in the 23-pitch outing for Akron. Francona said the team would evaluate Perez again after Friday's bullpen session.

"He will come in tomorrow, get some treatment and play catch, and throw a bullpen on Friday," Francona said. "Then, we'll go from there."

Francona also said Perez went over recent video with pitching coach Mickey Callaway and bullpen coach Kevin Cash on Wednesday. Apparently, Perez was coming open a little too soon in his delivery, which detracted from the closer's velocity.

"He also had gotten away from the extended long toss as he was coming back," Francona said. "I think he thinks that'll help him a bunch, too."

In 17 appearances for the Indians this season, Perez is 6-for-8 in save opportunities and owns a 4.32 ERA.

"He understands [that] when he comes in, pitches the ninth inning, game's on the line, he's got to be in top form or pretty [darn] close to it," Francona said. "And so, we're going to make sure we get him there."

Keep it up!

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Cleveland Indians score six in first and hang on to beat Twins, 8-7

Paul Hoynes

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians scored six runs in the first inning, two more in the fifth and barely hung on to defeat the Twins on Saturday night because the bullpen proved once again to be unstable.

"We had some highs and some lows," said Indians manager Terry Francona, when asked about the bullpen. "Fortunately, the highs won out and we went home happy."

The Indians' 8-7 victory in front of 21,417 at Progressive Field was their fourth straight and eighth in their past 10 games. But until Vinnie Pestano threw a 3-2 slider past pinch-hitter Josh Willingham to end it in the ninth inning, the outcome was in doubt.

"The season hasn't been anything but challenging for me so far," said Pestano, who earned his third save since replacing injured closer Chris Perez on May 27.

"I've taken my lumps and my bruises. It's been the most difficult that I can recall in quite some time, but with that being said, we won the game."

Pestano entered the ninth with an 8-5 lead. Justin Morneau, after a long at-bat, hit a leadoff double for the Twins. He came around to score on a fly ball and Oswaldo Arcia's RBI grounder. Pestano was one out away from ending things, but Chris Parmelee hit his second homer of the night to make it 8-7.

Brian Dozier walked to bring power-hitter Willingham off the bench. Willingham couldn't pull the trigger on Pestano's slider for the third strike.
# Twins-Indians boxscore | Scoreboard | Standings

"I usually throw a lot of fastballs to him," said Pestano. "I threw a good one to him Friday night. I just figured he'd be on the fastball."

The Twins, who hit four homers in the game, started their power display early. Joe Mauer, the second batter of the game, hit a 429-foot, two-run homer to stagger Corey Kluber. The Indians came back to knock P.J. Walters out of the game by scoring six runs in their half of the first.

"There were some of those at-bats where he threw four straight balls, but in some of them we showed good patience to extend the inning," said Francona.

Down, 2-0, before they touched a bat, the Indians came back quickly. After Michael Bourn drew a leadoff walk and Mike Aviles was hit by a pitch, Jason Kipnis brought them home with a double to left to tie the score.

Kipnis went double, single and triple in his first three at-bats. It was his eighth multihit game this month.

Walters (2-3, 4.88) retired Michael Brantley on a fly ball to center, but issued walks to the next three batters: Carlos Santana, Mark Reynolds and Jason Giambi. The walk to Giambi forced home Kipnis for a lead the Indians never lost.

After Lonnie Chisenhall flied out to right, Walters forced home another run with a walk to Drew Stubbs. The Indians had a 4-2 lead, but it appeared they were going to miss an opportunity to take control of the game when Anthony Swarzak replaced Walters.

Bourn didn't let that happen as he blooped a single into center field to score Reynolds and Giambi for a 6-2 lead.

Walters allowed six runs on five walks and one hit. He threw 46 pitches -- only 18 for strikes -- and didn't register a strikeout.

Kluber (6-4, 3.68) pitched into the sixth. This wasn't the Kluber who threw seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory over Washington in his previous start, but he still got outs when he needed in his first victory over the Twins.

"I wasn't as sharp as I'd like to be," said Kluber. "Those are the games where you've got to work to get outs and give your team a chance to win."

The Twins cut the Tribe's lead to 6-3 on Arcia's leadoff homer in the fourth. With the Twins threatening to take a bigger bite out of the Indians' lead, Kluber struck out Clete Thomas and retired Mauer on a grounder to second to end the fourth with runners on first and third.

The Indians, looking for insurance, found some in the fifth.

Ryan Pressly allowed the first four Indians he faced to reach base. Giambi walked, Chisenhall doubled him to third and Stubbs delivered Giambi with a single to right. Bourn made it 8-3 with his second of three hits.

Trevor Plouffe made it 8-4 with a single off Cody Allen in the seventh. Parmelee made it 8-5 with a leadoff homer against Bryan Shaw in the eighth.

When Shaw walked Dozier and Thomas, lefty Rich Hill relieved to face Mauer, who entered the game hitting .347 (26-for-75) against the Indians since June 2, 2012. Hill, who entered with a 7.79 ERA and a .319 batting average against, struck out Mauer and switch-hitter Ryan Doumit to end the inning.
"I've suffered a great many tragedies in my life....most of them never happened". Mark Twain