Series Preview: Cleveland Indians look to tame surprising Tigers

Saturday Aug. 15, 6:10 p.m. EST

Probable Pitchers: Shane Bieber (3-0, 1.63 ERA) vs. Spencer Turnbull (2-0, 2.00 ERA)

The Indians will send their ace to the mound in game two of the three-game set Saturday as Shane Bieber will matchup with Detroit right-hander Spencer Turnbull.

Bieber is the  early AL Cy-Young Award favorite as he is a perfect 3-0 in four starts so far this season while holding opposing hitters to a .191 batting average. He last pitched on August 9 and tossed six innings of three-run ball while striking out eight against the White Sox in what was his worst start of the season-to-date.

Despite this, Bieber has struck out at least eight batters in each of his first four starts of the season, including striking out 14 on opening day against the Royals and 13 against the Twins on July 30.

No current Tiger has hit a home run off the Indians ace and the only two batters hitting .300 or better against him are Miguel Cabrera and Grayson Greiner, who are both batting .333 in six at-bats.

Turnbull has been among the best pitchers in baseball at missing bats so far this season as he has posted an impressive 30% whiff rate when throwing his fastball.

He will be making his fourth start of the year Saturday after earning a victory over the Pirates in his most recent start that saw him toss seven innings of one-run ball.

While no current Indians have taken the Tigers right-hander deep, several have posted strong numbers  against him such as Santana, who is batting .467 in 15 at-bats against Turnbull, Jose Ramirez whose batting .367 in 11 at-bats and Oscar Mercado who is batting .357 with six RBI’s.