Cleveland Indians: Previewing the three-game series against Texas

Pitching Matchups

Cole Hamels (TEX) vs. Trevor Bauer (CLE)

Cole Hamels has not had the best start to 2018. He is 1-4 on the year with a 4.41 ERA. It hasn’t all fallen on him. Two of his losses came after allowing just two runs in six innings of work. These hard-luck losses are all too familiar for Tribe fans. Hamels is 1-2 in six career starts against the Indians with a 6.11 ERA.

Trevor Bauer earned his second win of the year in his last outing against the Cubs. He allowed one run with only four hits in 6.2 innings during that game. Bauer has an ERA of 1.66 at home this season. In his last three seasons against Texas he is 1-0 in two starts with a 2.70 ERA.

Doug Fister (TEX) vs. Mike Clevinger (CLE)

Doug Fister has had a rocky start as a Texas Ranger. He hasn’t worked very deep in games so far. In fact, he has yet to go deeper than five innings. In the month of April, Fister had a 4.73 ERA. He will look to improve on that in the month of May. With the Red Sox, Fister was 2-1 against the Tribe last year with 3.41 ERA. Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley are the only two Tribe hitters who have seen sustained success against Fister in recent years.

Mike Clevinger came back down to earth in his last start against Seattle. He allowed four runs on eight hits on Thursday and avoided the loss thanks to a late Indians rally to bring them back into the game. Clevinger was a no-decision in his only start against Texas. He worked six innings in that start, allowing just one earned run and only two hits. The hope is that his game on Thursday was just a hiccup and he returns to form against the Rangers.

[Probable]Matt Moore or Mike Minor (TEX) vs. Corey Kluber (CLE)

At the time of this preview, Texas has yet to name a pitcher for Wednesday. It is safe to assume Mike Minor will be the starter as it is his turn in the rotation. Minor is 2-1 on the year with a 4.33 ERA. Matt Moore made a relief appearance on Sunday but could see himself starting in this game as well. Moore is 1-3 with a 5.33 ERA. Minor tends to run on a six-day schedule, putting his next start Thursday. But we don’t really know what Texas will do.

The bad news for whomever starts for Texas is that they will be matching up against Corey Kluber. Kluber is looking like nothing outside of Manny Machado can slow him down. He was one out away from his third complete game of the year on Friday. The Tribe ace ended up with 10 strikeouts and allowed only three runs in the start. It was the second game this year where he tossed double-digit strikeouts.