Cleveland Indians-Detroit Tigers Series Preview

Cleveland Indians-Detroit Tigers Series Preview 6/24-6/26

The first place Cleveland Indians (41-30) travel to Detroit to take on the Tigers (38-35) for a three-game weekend series at Comerica Park.  The Indians begin the series four games ahead of the Tigers in the division and three games up on the second-place Kansas City Royals. They enter the series with a six-game winning streak. This will be the third meeting between the two clubs this season with the Indians winning all six games to this point over the Tigers including three-game sweeps both at home and at Comerica this year.

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The probable pitching matchups for the series are:

"Friday (6/24): RHP Danny Salazar (8-3, 2.23 ERA) vs RHP Jordan Zimmerman (9-3, 3.24)Saturday (6/25): RHP Carlos Carrasco (2-2, 3.26) vs RHP Anibal Sanchez (4-7, 5.97)Sunday (6/26): RHP Josh Tomlin (8-1, 3.32) vs RHP Justin Verlander (7-5, 3.78)"

The Indians starters will look to continue their dominant stretch. They enter the series with the second-lowest ERA in the American League as well as the best fWAR, FIP, xFIP, and K/BB ratio in the league. Those rankings include guys like Mike Clevinger and Cody Anderson as well, not just the current five guys…

Salazar enters his start tonight with the second-lowest ERA in the American League (Steven Wright, 2.01).  He is also tops in the American League in strikeout rate (10.71 K/9). Carrasco will be making his fifth start since returning from the disabled list. Carrasco injured his hamstring in Detroit back in April. Tomlin will look to get his ninth win that’s eluded him in recent starts.

The Indians offense will look to reverse their trend of struggling away from Progressive Field this season. While the Tribe’s offense ranks fifth in the American Leauge in runs scored per game (4.77), they’ve struggled on the road averaging just 4.0 runs per game. The Indians will look for rookie Tyler Naquin to continue his hot month. Since being recalled, Naquin is batting .318/.423/.750 with five home runs. His five home runs this month are second on the team to only Carlos Santana who has hit six.

Next: Trevor Bauer Continues to Impress

After going 11-0 at home in June, the Indians will look to finish off the month playing well on the road. They are 4-6 in June away from Progressive Field with seven to play. Following their three-game series with Detroit, the Indians will head to Atlanta to take on the Braves in an interleague series. The Indians are currently 18-18 on the road.