
Friday Aug. 14, 7:10 p.m. EST
Probable Pitchers: Aaron Civale (1-2, 2.84 ERA) vs. Ivan Nova (1-0, 5.74 ERA)
The Indians and Tigers will kick off their three-game set Friday with the Tribe sending right-hander Aaron Civale to the mound to face off with 33-year-old veteran Ivan Nova.
Civale will be making his fourth start of the season Friday and is coming off a strong outing against the White Sox that saw him toss seven innings of one-run ball and strike out five despite taking his second loss of the season. Opposing hitters are batting just .236 against the Indians right-hander in 2020.
The start will be Civale’s third against the Tigers of his career as in 2019, he earned a pair of victories against Detroit, including tossing 7.2 innings of one-run ball on September 18th.
The only Tiger to have much success against the right-hander is outfielder Victor Reyes who is batting .400 with an RBI in five at-bats.
Nova will be making his fourth start in a Tiger uniform after joining the team this past offseason. Despite an ERA near six, Nova has yet to lose this season and is coming off a strong outing against the Cincinnati Reds that saw him toss five innings of three-run ball. He is 3-3 lifetime in seven starts against Cleveland with an ERA of 4.22.
Nine Indians have career batting averages above .300 against Nova, including Carlos Santana, who is batting .368 with a home run in 19 at-bats, Cesar Hernandez, who is batting .357 in 14 at-bats and the newly activated Tyler Naquin who is batting .375 with a home run in eight at-bats.