Cleveland Indians: Previewing the weekend duel with the A’s

Storylines

One last west coast trip

The Indians will be making their last trip out to the west coast here. This means they’ll have to play another 10 PM EST start. Thankfully we don’t have anymore of those after this game. The Indians will play the Rangers in Texas after the All-Star break but that doesn’t result in very late starts.

Bullpen still faltering

The Bullpen stayed consistent on the last home-stand. But when they went to St. Louis they showed signs of regression. Zach McAllister allowed four hits over three innings with an earned run and Dan Otero allowed two runs in just two innings and it seems like Oliver Perez and Cody Allen have been the only consistencies.

Worse/Best case scenario

Worse case: 1-2 series loss

The Indians have done a pretty good job of avoiding being swept this year. They’ve only allowed that ones, when they face the New York Yankees. This west coast trip is a good test for the Indians, especially after a shaky start. The A’s may be third in the west, but they can make things tough for the Tribe as they’re records are similar.

Best case: 3-0 series win

For the A’s they’ve been swept a few times. They’ve had a hard time keeping top with the division because they’ve had a hard time being consistent. The Indians play well against middling teams so this could play into Cleveland’s hands. They’ve already built a substantial division lead so the series doesn’t mean much but ideally they’d like to be hot heading into the break.

Next: Indians should keep Shane Bieber in the rotation

The series kicks off tonight at 10:10 PM EST and continues through the weekend evenings for the remainder of the weekend before the Indians head back to Missouri to take on the Royals.