Cleveland Indians-Tampa Bay Rays Series Preview

Cleveland Indians-Tampa Bay Rays Series Preview 6/20-6/22

The first-place Cleveland Indians (38-30) welcome the Tampa Bay Rays (31-36) to town for a three-game series beginning tonight at Progressive Field. The Indians begin the day with a half-game lead over the Kansas City Royals in the American League Central while the Rays are in last in the American League East. This is the second meeting between the two clubs this year and the first in Cleveland. The Indians took two of three from the Rays in St. Petersburg back in April.

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The probable pitching matchups for the series are:

"Monday (6/20): LHP Drew Smyly (2-7, 4.75 ERA) vs RHP Josh Tomlin (8-1, 3.27)Tuesday (6/21): LHP Ian Snell (0-1, 2.16) vs RHP Corey Kluber (6-7, 4.23)Wednesday (6/22): RHP Chris Archer (4-9, 4.60) vs RHP Trevor Bauer (4-2, 3.46)"

The Indians will see two more left-handed starters this series in Smyly and Snell, with the later making just his third career start Tuesday. Archer, the former Indians’ prospect, will pitch the series finale for the Rays. Josh Tomlin will look to pad his All-Star resume as he goes for his ninth win of the season. Meanwhile, Corey Kluber enters the game in the midst of another “down year” with the second-best fWAR (2.5) and FIP (2.94) in the American League.

The offense will look to get back on track this series as well. They exploded for 13 runs in Saturday’s win but outside of that, they haven’t scored more than four runs in a game the last week. In fact, they only scored more than three runs twice the last week. With the two lefties going for the Rays, the Indians will once again lean heavily on Francisco Lindor and his .337 average versus lefties. The Indians will also look for Rajai Davis to remain hot as the veteran outfielder is hitting .311 in June with a .832 OPS. He’s also stolen nine bases this month without being caught.

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With the Royals off Monday, the Indians have a chance to stretch their Central Division lead to a full game with a win. They will look to ride the wave of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ NBA title, the first for a Cleveland sports franchise in 52 years. First pitch tonight is scheduled for 7:10 pm.