Cleveland Indians: Series preview vs. Milwaukee Brewers

The Cleveland Indians are set for one more showdown with the Milwaukee Brewers; this time at Progressive Field.

The weekend was not too kind to the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe fell victim to a heavy-hitting Twins lineup. Cleveland allowed a whopping 29 runs in four games against the Minnesota.  Fortunately for the Tribe, they had some help and still sit two games above .500 and three games ahead of the Tigers.

As for the Brewers, they are storming through the NL chase right now. They currently have the best record in the National League. They still sit at the top of the NL Central and no one has found a way to tear them down just yet. These teams split a two-game set in Milwaukee last month. Here’s how they stack up this time through.

Projected Lineups

Milwaukee Brewers (37-23) vs Cleveland Indians (30-28)

Milwaukee Brewers: CF Lorenzo Cain, LF Christian Yelich, 1B Jesus Aguilar, 3B Travis Shaw, RF Domingo Santana, DH Ji-Man Choi, 2B Jonathan Villar, C Manny Pina, SS Orlando Arcia

Cleveland Indians: SS Francisco Lindor, LF Michael Brantley, 3B Jose Ramirez, DH Edwin Encarnacion, 1B Yonder Alonso, 2B Jason Kipnis, C Yan Gomes, CF Bradley Zimmer, RF Greg Allen

Lorenzo Cain is the fWAR leader of the Milwaukee Brewers and he’s having himself a heck of a season in the leadoff spot. Cain has an OBP of .385, walking in an impressive 15.7 percent of his at-bats. Of course the “Mayor of Ding-Dong City” Travis Shaw gets a lot of the attention for this team, too. He has 13 home-runs and is slugging .505 for the Brew Crew.

Edwin Encarnacion won the AL Player of the Week award and is on an absolute tear for the Tribe  right now. In the last week, Edwin has 5 home runs, 13 RBIs and a batting average of .404. This is nothing new for Encarnacion, as the slugger heats up with the weather. As long as the Indians can avoid playing in another frozen wasteland this year, Edwin should stay hot at the plate.