Indians take on Blue Jays in second home series

After splitting their first home series of the year with the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Indians (2-3) are set for a four-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays (3-4).

Game 1: April 4 6:10 P.M. – Trevor Bauer (0-0) versus Aaron Sanchez (1-0)

The first game of the series pits Trevor Bauer against Aaron Sanchez. Bauer is not yet in the win column while Sanchez is 1-0 on the year. Trevor Bauer has some mixed results in a very small sample size. Brandon Drury, Freddy Galvis and Luke Maile are all 1-2, although Galvis does have a home run against Bauer. Justin Smoak is 3-9 with three RBI’s and Devon Travis is an unimpressive 2-13 with one home run.

Aaron Sanchez has shut down Indians hitters in the past quite well. Jose Ramirez is the only Indians hitter with a successful track record against Sanchez. Jose Ramirez is 2-5 with a run batted in. Jake Bauers, Leonys Martin, Brad Miller, Tyler Naquin, Roberto Perez, Hanley Ramirez and Carlos Santana are a combined 6-47. Cleveland will have a tough time getting hits and scoring runs in the opening game against Toronto.

Game 2: April 5 7:10 P.M. – Shane Bieber (0-0) versus Trent Thornton (0-0)

The second game of the series features two young pitchers in Shane Bieber (23) and Trent Thornton (25). Shane Bieber has only pitched two five Blue Jays batters in the past and things did not go well. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez, Billy McKinney and Devon Travis are all 1-3 off Bieber. Rowdy Tellez is 2-3 with two doubles. Bieber will have to a better job in this start against Toronto in order to come away with a win.

The Indians batters have never faced Thornton before so there could be a learning curve on both ends. Cleveland could get plenty of hits or be completely shut down. In Thornton’s first start of the year he went five innings, allowing two hits and striking out eight. Cleveland will need to keep the strikeouts down against someone who is capable of racking them up.

Game 3: April 6 4:10 P.M. – Carlos Carrasco (0-1) versus TBA

Toronto is yet to name their starter for Saturday’s game, but Cleveland knows who they will go with. Carlos Carrasco gets the chance to redeem himself after a disastrous first start of the year in which he allowed six runs in 4.1 innings against Minnesota.

Carlos Carrasco has pitched well against Toronto in the past. Justin Smoak is 1-11 off of Carrasco and has struck out eight times. Alen Hanson, Teoscar Hernandez and Dalton Pompey are all 0-3. Randal Grichuk and Billy McKinney are both 1-4. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is 2-7 with four strikeouts. The only Blue Jays hitters with any sort of success comes in a rather small sample size. Rowdy Tellez is 2-3 with two doubles while Devon Travis and Richard Urena are both 1-3.

Game 4: April 7 1:10 P.M. – Mike Clevinger (0-0) versus Marcus Stroman (0-1)

The fourth and final game of the series will have Mike Clevinger and Macrus Stroman on the mound. The Indians right hander nicknamed “Sunshine” has been absolutely dominant against Toronto. Randal Grichuk is 0-4 with three strikeouts. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has struck out in both of his at-bats against Clevinger. Billy McKinney and Rowdy Tellez are both 0-3 and Devon Travis is 0-1. Justin Smoak and Teoscar Hernandez are the only batters with a hit against Clevinger. Smoak has a home run in two at-bats and has driven in three. Hernandez’ only hit is a double.

The Indians do not have a whole lot of success when it comes to facing Marcus Stroman. Brad Miller is 5-26, although he does have a triple and has three RBI’s. Jose Ramirez is 3-15 and has gotten on base with a walk twice. Jake Bauers (0-3), Leonys Martin (0-6) and Roberto Perez (0-4) are all hitless against Stroman. Carlos Santana is 4-14 with two doubles and one walk. Hanley Ramirez is 4-16 with two doubles and has driven in three runs against Stroman. The biggest surprise of all is that Tyler Naquin has four hits in nine at-bats when facing Stroman. Cleveland will have to hope that other batters are able to get hits, because if the past repeats itself it will be a long day for the Tribe.