Cleveland Indians-Chicago White Sox Series Preview

Cleveland Indians-Chicago White Sox Series Preview 6/17-6/19

The Cleveland Indians (35-30) return home after a long ten-game road trip to take on the Chicago White Sox (33-33) in a three-game weekend series. The Indians begin the day in sole possession of first place in the American League Central. They have a 0.5 game lead over the Kansas City Royals (35-31) thanks to their loss to the Detroit Tigers last night. This is the third time the Indians and White Sox have faced off this season but the first at Progressive Field. The Indians are 4-2 against their division rivals this season.

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The probable pitching matchups for the series are as follows:

"Friday (6/17): LHP Jose Quintana (5-7, 2.66 ERA) vs RHP Trevor Bauer (4-2, 3.69)Saturday (6/18): LHP Carlos Rodon (2-6, 4.28) vs RHP Danny Salazar (7-3, 2.19)Sunday (6/19): RHP James Shields (2-8, 5.45) vs RHP Carlos Carrasco (2-2, 3.40)"

We could be seeing two of the top candidates to start the All-Star Game for the American League this series. Jose Quintana currently leads all American League pitchers with a 2.8 fWAR as well a league-best 2.66 FIP. Meanwhile, Danny Salazar ranks first in the American League in both ERA (2.19) and K/9 (10.82). The Indians will also get their first look at James Shields as a member of the White Sox. The Indians have seen Shields several times as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals.  In his two starts with the White Sox, Shields is 0-1 with a 16.71 ERA and 12.28 FIP. he’s allowed four home runs in just seven innings of work.

The Indians will be looking to get the offense jumpstarted after it mostly floundered in Kansas City at the end of the road trip. They’ll be facing a pair of lefties, which means the Indians will lean heavily on Francisco Lindor who is batting .346 against left-handed pitching this year. The Indians may also look to Lonnie Chisenhall, who is batting .300 versus left-handers with a team-leading .914 OPS.

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Tonight marks the beginning of a six-game homestand for the Indians. After their three with the White Sox, the Indians welcome in the Rays for three before heading back out on the road. The Indians are 17-12 (.586) at home this season and have outscored their opponents by 29 runs at Progressive Field. The Indians are also scoring the third-most runs per game at home this year (second most in the American League), averaging 5.4 runs a game. First pitch tonight is 7:10 pm and the lineups for tonight’s action against the White Sox are as following: