The Cleveland Indians continue thier home stand with a short two-game series against the Miami Marlins.
The Cleveland Indians will look to turn things around in their second consecutive series against a National League East opponent, the Miami Marlins. Cleveland’s series against Atlanta did not go to well due to the bullpen implosion and lackluster start from Shane Bieber on Sunday night. Luckily they take on a last place Marlins team which should give the Indians a more than fair shot.
Game 1: April 23 6:10 P.M. – Carlos Carrasco (2-2) versus Pablo Lopez (1-3)
Game 1 features two starters who currently have high ERA’s. Carlos Carrasco’s ERA is still over seven and Pablo Lopez has an ERA just under six. Neither are optimal and both pitchers will look to improve upon their rough starts to the 2019 season.
Carlos Carrasco has only faced a couple of Marlins batters in the past, but most of this was when they were on American League teams. Curtis Granderson is 6-14 with two home runs, a double and four runs driven in. Granderson is the only Miami hitter with a positive track record in a large sample size. Although Starlin Castro is 1-2, but that is not enough information to base anything off of. Neil Walker is 0-3 off Cookie and Martin Prado is 1-6.
There are only two batters in the Indians lineup who have faced Lopez previously. Jake Bauers is 0-3 while Carlos Santana is 1-2. Lopez has not gotten very deep into games, his longest start being 5.1 innings. Lopez has shown previously that he is susceptible to giving up runs and Cleveland will need to take advantage of that.
Game 2: April 24 1:10 P.M. – TBA versus Sandy Alcantara (1-2)
The Indians are yet to announce their starter for the second and final game of this series. This could mean a spot start for someone from AAA to keep the rotation intact for the upcoming four-game series with Houston.
Miami will send Sandy Alcantara to the mound in hopes he can turnaround a two start losing streak. Like Lopez, only two Indians batters have face Alcantara before. Kevin Plawecki is 0-1 with two walks and Carlos Santana is 1-2 with a walk. Also like Lopez, Alcantara has been hit hard by good offenses. While Cleveland is yet to live up to expectations at the plate, this series could prove to be a catalyst for an offense that desperate needs to get things going.
