Pregame Notes: Cleveland Indians Look to Make it Three In a Row

Cleveland Indians Look to Win Their Third in a Row

The Cleveland Indians look win their third game in a row for just the second time this season tonight after taking the opener 5-3 last night versus the Seattle Mariners.  Trevor Bauer takes the hill for the Indians, and he looks stay hot in his own right.  Over his past three starts he’s thrown at least 7.1 innings while only allowing one run in each start.  He’s lowered his ERA over a full run from 4.19 to 3.02 in that stretch.

Bauer will be opposed by the Mariners young phenom Taijuan Walker.  After a strong start to his major league career, Walker has really struggled in 2015 posting a 1-5 record with a 7.33 ERA.  He’ll face an Indians lineup that has been averaging 4.8 runs per game against right-handed starting pitching this year and is finally starting to show real signs of life overall.

Jason Kipnis looks to stay red-hot in the month of May. He’s now just a mere two hits shy of 50 for the month.  While not as hot as Kipnis (then again, who is?), Michael Bourn is having himself quite the month as well batting .317 with a .403 OBP in the month of May.  The move to drop Bourn from the lead-off spot and moving up Kipnis, at least thus far, has paid huge dividends for the Cleveland Indians.

For the Mariners, Nelson Cruz looks to get back to his hot hitting ways after managing a mere infield single against Corey Kluber and the Indians in the first game of the series.  Young star Kyle Seager also looks to get back on track after going 0-4 last night including three strikeouts.

First pitch tonight is scheduled for 10:10 EST, and here are the starting lineups:

News & Notes:

– The Seattle Mariners have placed yesterday’s starting pitcher James Paxton on the 15-day disabled list.  Paxton left yesterday’s game with a finger issue.

– The Cleveland Indians placed Scott Atchison on the disabled list yesterday after it was revealed he’s been dealing with a twisted left ankle for about a month.  After initially attempting to pitch through the injury the team finally decided it was time to give him rest:

"“I give him a lot of credit,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “Guys, they want to pitch and they want to pitch through it, but I finally told him [on Wednesday], I said, ‘Atch, you mean too much to us. We need to get you [right].'”"

– Carlos Santana will be rejoining the Indians this Sunday in Seattle. He’s currently on paternity leave after the birth of his daughter. The maximum stay on the paternity list is three days; however, there was some talk that he could remain out until the Kansas City series though this no longer appears the case.

Next: Series Preview: Cleveland Indians @ Seattle Mariners