ARLINGTON -- The Indians do not have any plans to shake up their rotation. Prior to Friday night's game against the Rangers, manager Terry Francona indicated that Josh Tomlin would make his next scheduled start as planned, even after another rough performance Thursday.
"We're going to pitch him," Francona said. "There's a chance at some point we rest him. We might do it with everybody. Who knows? But, it's kind of like [setup man Bryan] Shaw. You don't just run away from guys when they're having a tough time. He's got 11 wins. He's had a tough stretch here, but I don't think you run away from guys like that.
"You want to help them, and there's different ways of doing that. And I've talked to him a bunch about it. The level of trust with him is so much that you can talk to him about just about anything."
• Francona: Tomlin deserves help, not demotion
On the season, Tomlin has gone 11-8 with a 4.70 ERA in 24 starts, though he has labored of late. The right-hander has gone 0-5 with a 10.80 ERA in August, with four of his five starts consisting of fewer than five innings. After opening the year 9-1 with a 3.21 ERA, Tomlin has gone 2-7 with a 7.51 ERA.
Barring a change, Tomlin would be scheduled to start Tuesday against the Twins. Right-hander Mike Clevinger, who is in the bullpen, remains the top alternative if Cleveland were to make a change in the rotation.
Other items of note from Friday
• Francona said he met with the team for a few minutes in the wake of Thursday's loss, which was the third in a row and fourth in six games for the Tribe. The manager said, with the blessing of a few of the team's core players, he has met with the team more often this year than in previous seasons.
"We literally talked for three minutes last night," Francona said. "It was just, 'Hey, we'll do this together.' It's easy when you're patting on the back all the time, but I wanted to remind them that, when it's not going the greatest, we'll do it together. That was really all."
• Outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall fouled a pitch off his right knee in his first at-bat Thursday against lefty Cole Hamels and was later removed from the game as a precaution. Francona said Chisenhall underwent an X-ray and everything came back clean. Chisenhall was available to pinch-hit Friday and might be cleared to be back in the lineup Saturday.
• The Indians have always taken a no-stone-left-unturned approach to scouting, and that remains the case as former NFL quarterback and college football star Tim Tebow prepares to hold a workout for Major League teams. Cleveland will have someone on hand Tuesday to monitor the workout for the 29-year-old Tebow, who is trying to convince a team to give him a professional contract.