CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians are averaging a major league-best 5.9 runs per game at home Youth Cassius Marsh Jersey , and that’s where they will be on Saturday, when they host the Detroit Tigers in the second game of their three-game series.
The Indians have won five games in a row and outscored their opponents 38-6 during the streak.
Cleveland’s offense is led by third baseman Jose Ramirez, who finished third in the MVP voting last season, and is having another monster year. Ramirez is in the top six in the American League in many of the key offensive categories.
Ramirez is third in home runs (22), fifth in on-base percentage (.398), fourth in slugging percentage (.609), sixth in RBIs (50), and fourth in walks (49).
“He wasn’t swinging the bat well in spring training, but once the season started — wow,” said Indians manager Terry Francona. “It’s his power. His consistent contact. He doesn’t strike out. He’s a good baserunner. It’s the whole package. He’s really exciting to watch.”
So is the Indians’ Saturday starter Trevor Bauer (6-5, 2.50 ERA), who had a career year last season, and seems intent on eclipsing it this year.
In his last start, a 6-2 win over the White Sox on Monday Womens Aaron Rodgers Jersey , Bauer pitched seven scoreless innings on three hits, with eight strikeouts and two walks. That’s the latest in a two-month hot streak for Bauer. In his last seven starts he is 4-2 with a 1.99 ERA, and a .199 opponents’ batting average, while averaging 13 strikeouts per nine innings (72 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings).
Saturday will be Bauer’s fourth start against the Tigers this year. In his first three he is 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA. However, Bauer’s career numbers against Detroit aren’t nearly as impressive: a 7-5 record and 5.95 ERA in 15 appearances, including 14 starts.
Indians pitchers have tossed an American League-high eight shutouts, including their last two games, 12-0 over the White Sox on Wednesday and 10-0 over the Tigers on Friday.
Although they are missing Miguel Cabrera, who is on the disabled list with a ruptured biceps tendon, the rebuilding Tigers are in second place in the AL Central, six games behind the division-leading Indians.
“It seems like they are playing with more energy,” Francona said. “Sometimes when a guy goes down, a team takes the mentality of ‘us against the world.’ You use whatever you can, and they are doing a good job using that.”
The Tigers on Saturday will start left-hander Francisco Liriano (3-2 Authentic Clay Matthews Jersey , 3.90 ERA), who will be activated off the disabled list, and will make his first major league start since May 26. The Tigers lost that game 8-4, to the White Sox.
Liriano, who took the loss that day, pitched five innings, allowing five runs on six hits, with eight strikeouts and three walks. Liriano was placed on the disabled list on May 30, with a right hamstring strain.
Saturday will be Liriano’s third start against Cleveland this year. The first two did not go well. In those two starts Liriano went 0-1 with a 6.10 ERA, having given up seven runs on 10 hits, three of them home runs, plus six walks in 10 1/3 innings.
In 22 career appearances (17 starts) against Cleveland, the 34-year-old Liriano is 5-7 with a 4.39 ERA.
The Tigers have struggled against the Indians in recent years. Detroit is 3-8 vs. Cleveland this year, and since June 24 Womens Clay Matthews Jersey , 2015, the Tigers’ record against the Indians is 6-21.
OAKLAND, Calif. — Two teams reeling after getting swept by clubs ahead of them in the American League West look to get things going in a positive direction at the other’s expense when the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics open a three-game series Friday night.
The Angels won five of seven from the A’s in March and April, including three of four in Oakland to start the season.
Left-hander Tyler Skaggs (5-4, 3.08 ERA), who contributed to the Angels’ early run against the A’s with an impressive outing in the second game of the season, will get the call in the series opener against Oakland right-hander Chris Bassitt (0-1, 1.29).
The Angels have lost four in a row, the last three in Seattle, since Skaggs last pitched on Saturday at Minnesota. The 26-year-old won that game 2-1, giving him consecutive victories in which he allowed just one run in 13 innings.
He’s gone just 1-4 with a 5.08 ERA in six career starts against the A’s.
The Angels limp into Oakland at the end of a nine-game trip on which they’ve gone 2-4 so far. They are currently without shortstop Andrelton Simmons, third baseman Zack Cozart, outfielder Kole Calhoun and outfielder/pitcher Shohei Ohtani.
The club promoted David Fletcher from Triple-A to replace Simmons, and the 24-year-old banged out three hits in his major-league debut Wednesday at Seattle.
But with Cozart Youth Michael Gallup Jersey , who had moved to shortstop while Fletcher manned third base, having injured his shoulder in the game, it’s possible the rookie will find himself at shortstop at some point in this series.
It’s not exactly the way Angels manager Mike Scioscia had envisioned using the young player upon his initial call-up.
“It’s not ideal to have young players who aren’t out there hitting every day,” Scioscia said of Fletcher’s current status. “But there is still a role for them to help us win games.”
The A’s enter the series relatively healthy, but a bit shaken emotionally after getting shellacked three straight at home by Houston. Oakland had won three of four from Kansas City to begin a 10-game homestand.
Bassitt will look to end the losing streak with a performance similar to the one he put forth Saturday upon being called up from Triple-A.
In his first major-league game since 2016, he limited Kansas City to one run and three hits in seven innings in a 2-0 loss.
The 29-year-old hasn’t seen the Angels since 2015, when he faced them twice, including a September start in which he yielded six runs in 3 2/3 innings in an 8-1 loss.
Bassitt logged an 0-1 record and 9.53 ERA in those two appearances.
The A’s were outscored 26-11 in the Houston series, with Khris Davis accounting for a majority of the offense with three home runs among five hits. He scored five times and drove in three.
Davis’ home run Thursday was his 20th of the season, giving this series two of the AL’s four sluggers with 20 or more homers. The Angels’ Mike Trout leads the league with 23.
Oakland’s Matt Chapman left Thursday’s 7-3 loss with a sore right hand. The A’s were awaiting the results of an MRI before determining his status for the Angels series.