Detroit Tigers @ Cleveland Indians Series Preview (May 21st-22nd)

(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

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. 

Honorable Mention: Jason Kipnis and Yan Gomes

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:

1. Jump on Scherzer and Verlander early and often: Going against a pitcher the caliber of Verlander, you must get on him early, and that is exactly what the Tribe did in their previous meeting. Cleveland put up 4 runs in 5 innings on Verlander, and he wasn't able to recover. He is coming off possibly a career worst 8 runs in 2.2 innings against Texas. If the Tribe let Verlander revert back to his normal form, this may spell trouble for the Wahoo Warriors. Scherzer, on the other hand, has been solid all season long. There have been some starts where the hi-powered Tigers offense has bailed him out, but he has also been able to limit the damage and remain undefeated. To secure a win against Scherzer, the Indians will have to find a way to jump on him early and keep him down. 

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. 

3. Big performances from Corey Kulber and Ubaldo Jimenez: In his last three starts, Corey Kluber dropped the first two, but was able to bounce back against Philadelphia. In those two losses, Kluber was vulnerable to the long ball, giving up 3 dingers. To pick up the win against Detroit, he will have to limit home run ball. Ubaldo has actually been a treat to watch. In the last matchup against Verlander, he clearly pitched up to his competition, and was able to out-Verlander the man himself. In his last four starts, The Big U is 3-0 with an ERA of about 1.93. He also has struck out 29 and only walked 8 in that span. If Ubaldo can keep up this type of baseball, look out for him in the AL Central.