(23-19) Detroit Tigers @ (26-17) Cleveland Indians
Season Series: CLE leads 2-1
Probable Starters:
Game 1 -|- May 21st, 7:05PM ET. -|- Corey Kluber (3-2; 5.40 ERA vs. Max Scherzer (5-0) 3.98 ERA
Game 2 -|- May 22nd, 7:05PM ET. -|- Ubaldo Jimenez (3-2); 5.31 ERA vs. Justin Verlander (4-4); 3.17 ERA
Game 2 -|- May 22nd, 7:05PM ET. -|- Ubaldo Jimenez (3-2); 5.31 ERA vs. Justin Verlander (4-4); 3.17 ERA
How they got here:
The Tribe are coming off a four-game home sweep of the Seattle Mariners, and the slaying of another former Cy Young winner in Felix Hernandez. Throughout the series, the Progressive Field Magic was back and better than ever. Fans left the ballpark happy after three walk-off wins, 2 in extra innings. The Indians are off to yet another hot start to begin the season, and are currently looking like one of the best teams in baseball. Cleveland is currently riding a 5 game win streak, outscoring the opposition 37-19. They took two of three from the Tigers in Detroit, and look to add to their current 2.5 game lead in the Central.
The Tigers are coming to Cleveland from a four-game slugfest of a series in Texas. Dropping three of four to the Rangers wasn't what Detroit had in mind, so look for them to be on top of their game in this series. Detroit is 4-6 in their last 10, with Justin Verlander losing twice in that span. Though, the Tigers are still of to a hot start, and are one of the most dangerous teams in all of baseball with a +47 run differential. Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Victor Martinez are turning into "tribe killers" having some of their best games against the Indians. Look for the play of those three to determine how this series shapes up.
Early season rankings: (ML-ranking)
Runs Scored:
Cleveland 218 (4th)
Detroit 222 (1st)
Batting Average:
Cleveland .266 (6th)
Detroit .280 (1st)
On Base %:
Cleveland .335 (5th)
Detroit .348 (1st)
Slugging %:
Cleveland .462 (1st)
Detroit .432 (6th)
Fun fact: The Indians have seven shutouts, tying with the St. Louis Cardinals for the most in the majors.
Impact players for the series:
Cleveland: Michael Brantley-
Leading the team with a cool .306 batting average, he batted .333 (4-for-12) against Seattle. Dr. Smooth also hit his second home run of the year, scored 4 runs, and accounted for 5 RBI in the series. Brantley is truly the quiet contributor of this ball club. His effortless-looking play makes things look easy, and look for that to continue in this series with Detroit.
Detroit: Miguel Cabrera-
Last series' impact player is the obvious choice again for the second series between the two. Miggy is coming off a monstrous performance in Texas on Sunday night, going 4-4 with 3 home runs and 5 RBI in a loss to the Rangers. As stated above, Cabrera is becoming known as a "Tribe killer" hitting .357 (5-for-14) with one homer and three RBI against the Indians this season. Look for him to stay hot in this series against Cleveland.
Keys for the series:
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2. The Bats must stay hot: At this point, Cleveland has showed that they can hit legitimate pitching. The question is: can they keep it up? The team is currently scoring 5 runs per game behind this potent offense, so it will be interesting to see if they can stay at this mark. Carlos Santana and Mark Reynolds are going to need to break their slight cold spell if the Tribe are looking to keep up the pace. The Tribe will also need the bench to stay hot. It seems that each bench player comes through in the clutch when called upon, and that must continue as the Tribe are going for their second consecutive sweep.
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