It was a rough go for Charlie Frye and the rest of the first-team offense as the Browns fell to the Bears 20-7 in their preseason finale Thursday night. Frye was 1-of-4 for 8 yards in his two series. The first-team offense was totally stifled by the Bears defense, which is one of the best, if not the best, in the NFL. Attempting to run the ball was like running into a brick wall. And when he tried to pass, Frye barely had any time to throw in the short six plays he ran.

Their only score came with Derek Anderson under the helm when he threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Frisman Jackson at the end of the first half. Anderson, 11-for-22 for 76 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT, wasn’t great but surely outperformed Ken Dorsey, who finished 2-for-7 for 18 yards. Frisman Jackson led all Browns receivers with 40 yards on four catches. Jason Wright and Jerome Harrison each had 32 yards on the ground on seven carries.

Another superb job by the bullpen and a clutch home run gave the Indians a sweep of the Blue Jays as they won 3-2 in walk-off fashion Wednesday night. Jeremy Sowers continued his fantastic pitching. He didn’t get the win but kept the Tribe in the game, allowing two runs in 5 2/3 innings. The runs both came in the sixth when Sowers ran into a little trouble. Thankfully, the resurgent Tribe bullpen came to the rescue and put up zeros on the board the rest of the way. Fernando Cabrera and Rafael Betancourt pitched over four scoreless innings of relief leading up to the extra-inning heroics. Jhonny Peralta sent one to the right field seats in the bottom of the 10th off B.J Ryan to give the Indians their second series sweep of the month. The Indians got all three of their runs on solo homers, the other two coming from Travis Hafner, who hit number 41 and 42.

The Indians close the month of August on a tear, winning seven of eight. Overall, they finished 18-10 in the month and are “only” six games under .500.

Outside linebacker and rookie Kamerion Wimbley looks like he might be the type of pass-rushing force the Browns have been in search of for the past several seasons. Already with two sacks in the preseason, the young defenseive end turned linebacker has shown the ability to get to the quarterback and has made life extremely difficult for offensive blockers. The transition for Wimbley has seemed all too easy as he has been able to pick up the nuances of his new postion rather quickly.

“I think it gets better every game,'’ Wimbley said. “I don’t know if I’m at a 10, but I’m getting there. As every game goes by, I feel a little bit more comfortable. When I’m out there I don’t feel pressured.'’

As impressive as Wimbley has been so far in the preseason, he has made some mistakes, not uncommon for a player making a postion switch for the first time. However, the rookie is doing a good job of learning from those mistakes and is using them to make himself a better player.

Wimbley has the advantage of sitting back and learning from Willie McGinest, one of the league’s best at his position. He’s almost in a perfect situation here in Cleveland. Wimbley is a very humble guy and doesn’t look to be in the spotlight. His role with the Browns is ideal, where he can take his time learning his new position without too much pressure being put on him. Being a full-time starter will come eventually for Wimbley but with the way he’s been progressing and improving, that day could come a lot sooner than expected.

Sabathia has now gone at least eight innings in five of his last six starts. The season is over but C.C is pitching like it’s playoff time in October. Every time he takes the hill he wants to pitch a complete game. It’s been debated over the course of his Indians career whether or not he is, or can be, an ace of a pitching staff. He has shown the ability to dominate, but has also done things to tick off Indians fans, such as mouthing off to umpires and losing control of himself when things don’t go his way.

Ace or not, one thing is certain. Sabathia is a workhorse and can give you quality innings. His league-leading five complete games can attest to that. His heart and passion can’t go unnoticed and you have to love his bulldog mentality of wanting the ball in his hands at all times. He can go the distance every time he steps out on the mound, something several other starters in the league can’t say about themselves.

The Indians are running on all cylinders. They continued on their winning ways, beating the Blue Jays 5-2 Tuesday night for their sixth win in their last seven games. C.C Sabathia went the distance for his Major-League best fifth complete game. Sabathia struck out six and allowed four hits in the game.

Some timely hitting by the offense also helped the Tribe get the win. Trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of the seventh, the bats came alive. The Indians loaded the bases and got RBI’s by Andy Marte, Sizemore, and Michaels to pull them ahead 4-2. They added one more in the eighth for good measure. Not to be outdone, Travis Hafner made history when he blasted his 40th home run of the season in the first inning. Pronk becomes the seventh Indian in history to reach the mark.

Kenny Roda from WKNR SportsTalk 850 will be writing a weekly blog on Cleveland Scores covering the sports world both locally and nationally. Check back often for his updates!

The 3rd pre-season game in the NFL is the one that is considered the most important of the meaningless games. Why? Because it’s the game where the starters play their most minutes and hope to get their timing down with each other so they’re ready for the regular season opener. A 20-17 win for the Browns, even though it was against one of the worst teams in the league in the Bills, is still a step forward. With that in mind, here’s a look at what players are ready, who’s not, and some I’m not sure of yet, as the Browns near their September 10th regular season opener against the New Orleans Saints.

Call’ em butter…they’re on a roll

CB Leigh Bodden - From what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, is the camp MVP this year. The only starting corner who’s healthy and impressed every time he was on the field.

RB Jerome Harrison - In my opinion this fifth-round pick out of Washington St. has impressed enough to be the back-up to starter Rueben Droughns. He’s averaged nearly 7 yards per touch, gets into the end zone and can run and catch it. Could be one of the top steals of the draft. Kudos to Phil Savage!

TE Steve Heiden - Everyone has been focused on the “Chosen One” Kellen Winslow Jr.
Heiden has quietly made plays catching, scoring and blocking on offense. Should Winlsow be limited in his playing time or, heaven forbid, something happen to #80, Heiden has proven to me he can be a starter if needed in the NFL.

DT Ted Washington - Here’s hoping there’s enough gas left in his huge tank to get as many miles out of this run stopper as possible. He’s become Andra Davis’ best friend, allowing Davis to go sideline to sideline and run free. If “Big Ted” can do that in the regular season, opponents’ rushing yards will surely go down and #54’s tackles will go up!

KR/WR Josh Cribbs - Catching on as a wide receiver and still returning kicks better than anyone on the team. Could be the “slash” player the Browns have been looking for to pose many problems for the opposition.

DE/LB Kamerion Wimbley - Whenever I’ve seen him on the field he’s been in the opponents backfield sacking quarterbacks, causing fumbles, dropping running backs for a loss or forcing an offensive lineman into a holding penalty. Not bad for a rookie learning a new position!

Question Marks?

LB Willie McGinest, CB Gary Baxter and CB Daylon McCutcheon - three vets who are recovering from surgery or injury. McGinest looked decent against Buffalo and should start on Sept. 10th. Baxter said today after practice that he will start on Sept. 10th. McCutcheon, I’m hearing, probably won’t be ready for the opener on Sept. 10th.

WR Braylon Edwards - Participated in 16 plays in the win over the Bills. Caught one ball. Made a few blocks and got hit a couple of times and got up and walked off the field without a limp or getting re-injured. I think they’re rushing Edwards back and taking a big chance, but both Braylon and the team seem to be willing to roll the dice. Let’s just hope it doesn’t come up craps.

TE Kellen Winslow Jr. - Looks physically ready to play and start, but really hasn’t done much in games. In practice, from what I’ve been told, he has looked great at times, but can he take that and duplicate it on the field on Sunday afternoons?

QB Charlie Frye - With only five regular season starts under his belt and his fourth starting center, with maybe a fifth to take over soon, who knows, Frye has handled things pretty well in camp and in games in 2006. But can he continue to do that and get better when it really counts. The Browns are throwing him into the “Frye-ing Pan” and we'’ll find out sooner or later if Charles is indeed in charge!

Major Concerns

Back-up Quarterback - Derek Anderson and Ken Dorsey, that’s my order of who’s 2nd string and 3rd string. But neither excite me. In fact, both concern me. Who’s Frye going to go to with questions? What if Frye goes down? Hopefully the Browns will find a veteran QB after all the cutdowns to bring in and back up Charlie.

The Secondary - Other than Leigh Bodden, the entire defensive backfield is a major concern. McCutcheon and Baxter are coming off injuries and may or may not be ready to go by Week 1. If so, can they both stay healthy? Sean Jones and Brodney Poole have hardly any experience at the safety position and one of them will start. Brian Russell really doesn’t strike fear into the heart of the opposition. This could be the weakest part of the team.

The Offensive Line - Center LeCharles Bentley is out for the season. Left tackle Kevin Shaffer looks barely average in games and practice. Right tackle Ryan Tucker is coming off knee surgery. This could surpass the secondary as the weakest part of the team and that’s not good news for a young quarterback who’s trying to grow at the toughest position on the field.

He’s only had four chances, but Tribe reliever Tom Mastny is already getting a hang of this closer’s thing. Perhaps Fausto Carmona should seek out some of Mastny’s video, maybe he could learn a thing or two. Then again, with the way the Tribe’s newest closer has been performing, Carmona ’s window of opportunity is closing fast.

Mastny, in four save opportunities, has allowed no runs, two hits, and has fanned five. Overall, Mastny has given up just one run and has struck out 12 in 10 1/3 innings this season for the Indians, which is good for a 0.87 ERA. He has been able to jump right into the closer’s role and do what some other Tribe relievers couldn’t. Is he the closer of the future? Who knows. But he is putting together is good case for himself and at least deserves a good look. Carmona has failed in that capacity and nobody else is really stepping up so why not ride what you have in Mastny and see where it takes you.

The fifth inning has been very kind to the Indians as of late. After scoring six in the inning in Saturday’s game to beat the Tigers, the Tribe put up three in the fifth Monday night to take care of the Blue Jays 6-4 on a soggy and damp night at the Jake. Starter Paul Byrd didn’t have his greatest outing, allowing three earned runs and 10 hits in five innings, but managed to get his 10th win of the season. The Tribe’s leadoff man led the offensive charge. Grady Sizemore homered, doubled twice, and scored half of the runs. Ryan Garko also shined on the night with two doubles and two RBIs. Wedge had plenty of praise for the Tribe’s center fielder, and deservedly so.

“If he’s not the best all-around player, he’s one of the top players,” Wedge said. “And when you look at the effect he has on his teammates because of the way he plays and the consistency with which he plays, I’ll take him over anybody.”

After Byrd left, Cabrera, Betancourt, and Mastny put the game to bed, pitching four innings of scoreless relief. Masty earned his fourth consecutive save to give the Tribe their fifth win in their last six games.

The Tribe’s chance at a rare sweep came to a quick halt Sunday as they lost to the Detroit Tigers 7-1. Starter Cliff Lee fell victim to three Tiger home runs as he allowed five runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings. On the flip side, veteran Kenny Rogers wanted no part of a sweep. He was extremely sharp, allowing only a run and four hits in his seven innings of work. The Indians showed some life in the first inning but were dormant from then on. Three consecutive singles in the bottom of the first enabled the Tribe to plate their only run. The Tigers opened it up even more with Pudge Rodriguez’s two-run bomb off Edward Mujica in the eighth.

Rogers had the Tribe completely fooled this time around. He was definitely on his game and all you can do is tip your cap to ole vet.

“Facing a guy like him, you’ve got to give up a lot to try to get something,” Wedge said. “The first time through the lineup, I don’t think we swung at one first pitch against him. We tried to make him work. But he was just very efficient. When he’s on like that, you know it’s going to be a tough day.”

That’s right. With Saturday’s 8-5 win over the Tigers, the Indians actually have a shot at a sweep. They enjoyed a fun fifth, scoring six in the inning and beating Tiger rookie sensation Justin Verlander. Jake Westbrook went seven innings and got his 11th win of the season. The Indians got two in the third thanks to RBIs by Jason Michaels and Travis Hafner before exploding three innings later. Ryan Garko and Joe Inglett delivered the key runs in the sixth. Garko doubled, scoring two, and Inglett tripled, allowing two more to cross home plate. Before the Tigers knew it, they were down 8-5 by the end of the inning.

The bullpen did what it’s supposed to do once again. Jason Davis pitched a scoreless eighth and Tom Mastny entered the ninth and saved his third game in three chances. Tribe relievers are currently holding a streak of 10 1/3 innings pitched without giving up a run, allowing only three hits during that span.