Series Preview: Indians vs. Red Sox

This game will drive you crazy won’t it? After struggling offensively against the White Sox the Indians come back to their home ballpark and earn a sweep in the Battle of Ohio against the Reds. Asdrubal Cabrera had a career-day with five hits on Sunday and the Indians continue to impress at the Jake. It’s been a different face every night it seems. Friday night it was Triple-A call up Ezequiel Carrera (who also made a great catch on Paul Janish on Sunday) dropping down a squeeze bunt and Saturday it was Travis Buck’s two run blast in the bottom of the 7th that sent the Tribe into the win column. Now the Indians welcome back the Red Sox, whom they earned their first sweep of the season against back in April. Also, Congratulations to Morgantown native Josh Judy who made his big league debut on Sunday. AND A big pat on the back to the Tribe faithful who showed up in droves this weekend. The Indians drew a whopping 99,086 fans to the ballpark for the weekend series. Keep making me eat crow Cleveland! It’s Tribe Time!!

May 23-25, 2011

Progressive Field

Scouting Report

• Boston – Boston arrives in Cleveland after defeating the Chicago Cubs 5-1 on Sunday to close within one-half game of New York and Tampa Bay in the AL East. The Red Sox have plated 54 runs while batting .304 in the last nine games. Adrian Gonzalez has been the key contributor to this offensive charge, batting .431 with six homers and 19 RBIs in his last 13 games. He also has five home runs and 14 RBIs in his last nine road contests.

• Cleveland – The Indians came back to Progressive Field after dropping two straight to the White Sox and were staring across the diamond at a team that had their number the past three years. Friday night the Tribe battled back with a four run sixth to tie it at four and used a squeeze bunt for a single courtesy of Ezequiel Carrera in the 8th to win 5-4. Saturday’s contest was even closer and the Indians needed Travis Buck and a two-run homer in the bottom of the 7th to propel them to a 2-1 victory. Sunday the Indians busted out the bats and blasted the Reds 12-4 largely behind Asdrubal Cabrera’s five-for-five day.

Pitching Match-up(s)

Game 1 – Clay Buchholz vs. Justin Masterson

• Clay Buchholz  4-3, 3.42 ERA

Buchholz looks like a switch has flipped, and flipped him back to 2010. The righty has allowed just two runs over his last two outings, and he threw a career-high 127 pitches against the Tigers on Wednesday. His ERA in May is 1.40.

• Justin Masterson 5-2, 2.52 ERA

Masterson allowed just one run over eight innings on Wednesday, but took a complete-game loss against the White Sox. Masterson is 0-2 with a 2.93 ERA in his last four starts. He went 5-0 with a 2.18 ERA in his first five outings this season. (Talk about last outing against White Sox)

Game 2 – Josh Beckett vs. Fausto Carmona

• Josh Beckett  3-1, 1.75 ERA

The righty’s last start was limited to six innings due to a stiff neck. But Beckett still pitched well against the Tigers, giving up one run in a no-decision. Opponents are hitting .180 against Beckett.

• Fausto Carmona  3-4, 4.76 ERA

Carmona’s woes against the White Sox continued on Thursday, when he gave up eight runs in five innings en route to a road loss. The righty is 0-2 with a 20.25 ERA in two outings against Chicago this year and 3-2 with a 2.56 ERA vs. all others.

Game 3 – Jon Lester vs. ???

• Jon Lester – 6-1, 3-68 ERA

Over his past three games, Lester has allowed 14 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings, including five against the Cubs on Friday. But the last time he was that bad over three starts, the left-hander went on a two-month long winning streak.

Probable Lineups

Boston

1. CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2. 2B Dustin Pedroia
3. 1B Adrian Gonzalez
4. 3B Kevin Youkilis
5. DH David Ortiz
6. SS Jed Lowrie
7. RF Mike Cameron
8. LF Carl Crawford
9. C Jared Saltalamacchia

Cleveland

1. CF Michael Brantley
2. SS Asdrubal Cabrera
3. RF Shin-Soo Choo
4. C Carlos Santana
5. DH Shelly Duncan
6. 2B Orlando Cabrera
7. 1B Matt LaPorta
8. LF Travis Buck
9. 3B Jack Hannahan