The Cleveland Indians will take on the visiting Oakland Athletics in a three game series as they continue their home stand.
Fresh off a series win against the Baltimore Orioles the Cleveland Indians will take on the Oakland Athletics in a three game series. Cleveland averaged 7.25 runs per game over their last four games. This is thanks to two games that the Indians broke the double-digit barrier. Thursday’s 14-run outburst was the first time Cleveland scored 10+ runs in a game. Hopefully the Tribe will be able to continue this newfound offensive success against Oakland.
Game 1: May 20 6:10 P.M. Carlos Carrasco (4-3) versus Brett Anderson (4-3)
Carlos Carrasco is coming off two straight starts without allowing a run. That is a 12 inning span that Carrasco has shut down the opposing offense. There is only one batter in the Athletics lineup with extensive success against Carrasco, Robbie Grossman. Carrasco faced Grossman quite often while he was in Minnesota and has gone 4-14 with a double against Cookie. There are only two other Oakland batters with more than 10 at-bats against Carrasco. Khris Davis is 1-12 with nine strikeouts while Marcus Semien is 1-11 with four strikeouts.
Oakland’s starter is Brett Anderson has got hit hard in his last two starts, allowing eight runs over six innings. Anderson allowed three home runs in his last start against Seattle. Perhaps the resurgent Cleveland offense can take advantage of a pitcher who is struggling to limit damage as of late. The only problem is that the Indians hitters are not exactly proficient against Anderson. The only batters with hits are Carlos Gonzalez (4-16 with two doubles) and Jose Ramirez (1-3). The group of Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor, Leonys Martin, Roberto Perez and Carlos Santana are a combined 0-13 with six strikeouts. On paper things do not look good but that may not be the case when the teams take the field.
Game 2: May 21 6:10 P.M. Trevor Bauer (4-2) versus Chris Bassitt (2-1)
The Indians will send Trevor Bauer out to start Game 2 of the series. Bauer has allowed seven runs in two of hist last three starts, although he did not allow a run in seven innings in the other. Bauer will need to rediscover his Cy Young caliber form against an Oakland team that is more than capable of being shut down.
There are three Athletics hitters with success against Bauer in the past, Khris Davis, Jurickson Profar and Marcus Semien. Davis is 5-12 with a double, triple and home run off of Bauer, while Profar and Semien are both 3-10. Bauer has shut down others in the Oakland lineup. Robbie Grossman is 2-11, Matt Olson is 1-6, Josh Phegley is 0-6 and Stephen Piscotty is 1-5. Bauer just needs to find some middle ground between dominating the lineup and giving up runs to others. Something he is more than capable of.
Cleveland has had some success against Chris Bassitt. The team is 10-30 with a double, triple and homer off of Bassitt. Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor, Roberto Perez and Carlos Santana all have two hits off the Oakland starter. The only hitters who have struggled are Leonys Martin (1-7) and Carlos Gonzalez (0-2). Cleveland definitely has a fighter’s chance against Bassitt if past success is any indicator. While Bassitt does have a sub-2.00 ERA, the Indians have shown they can hit him.
Game 3: May 22 1:10 P.M. Jefry Rodriguez (1-3) versus Frankie Montas (5-2)
In the final game of the series Jefry Rodriguez gets the honor of starting. Rodriguez previously faced the Athletics on May 12th and came away with a win. Rodriguez allowed three runs on three hits in six innings while striking out three. The last start for Rodriguez was not great, but hopefully he can turn things around against a lineup that he at worst looked competent.
Frankie Montas started against Cleveland back on May 10th and shut down the Indians offense. Montas pitched six innings only allowing two runs on eight hits and struck out seven. This appears to be a bit of an outlier performance wise. There are several Indians hitters who have a good track record against Montas. Francisco Lindor is 3-7 with two doubles. Jose Ramirez is 3-7 with a double. Leonys Martin is 3-5, all three hits being singles. Finally Jason Kipnis is 2-7 with a double against Montas. It will be interesting to see whether the Indians perform up to their track record or are unable to score enough against Montas to come away with a win.
