The Cleveland Indians are taking on the Seattle Mariners in a three game weekend series. Cleveland swept Seattle on the road in their previous meeting.
The bad news for the Cleveland Indians is they are without Corey Kluber for this series. On the other hand when Cleveland swept Seattle in mid-April they had the same three pitchers who are pitching in this series shut down Seattle in the previous series.
Game 1: May 3 7:10 P.M. Shane Bieber (2-1) versus Yusei Kikuchi (1-1)
Back on April 16 Shane Bieber shut down Seattle en route to a 4-2 victory. Bieber allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Unfortunately Bieber has not pitched well since that outing. In the last 8.1 innings Bieber has allowed eight runs on nine hits and has walked five batters. The bright side is that Bieber struck out nine in the loss to Houston.
Yusei Kikuchi pitched fairly well against Cleveland the last time out, but the Indians came out victorious. Cleveland managed to score three runs on five hits against Kikuchi. Like Bieber, Kikuchi struggled in his next start, but he did end up getting the win. The Angels scored four runs on 10 hits and only struck out three times against Seattle. Hopefully the Indians can come through in a similar fashion against Kikuchi in the series opener.
Game 2: May 4 4:10 P.M. Carlos Carrasco (2-3) versus Mike Leake (2-3)
Carlos Carrasco has not had the best of starts to start the year but his outing against the Mariners was absolutely dominant. Cookie shut down the Seattle offense and ended their record home run streak to start a season. Carrasco allowed three hits over seven innings while striking out 12 Mariners. Although Carrasco did not have a good outing against Houston, there is the possibility he can put together a similar performance against Seattle.
Mike Leake surrendered two runs on eight hits in his matchup against Cleveland. This is tied for the second-fewest baserunners he has allowed this season. Leake has not pitched particularly well this season even with his “peak performance” against Cleveland. The Indians should be able to take advantage of a pitcher who is liable to give up a large amount of both hits and runs.
Game 3: May 5 1:10 P.M. Cody Anderson (0-0) versus Erik Swanson (0-3)
Trevor Bauer was originally scheduled to pitch the final game of the series. However the Indians decided to push Bauer to Sunday and have Cody Anderson start. Anderson has appeared in three games so far this season. Anderson has allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings while striking out five.
Mariners starter Erik Swanson came out on the losing end of Carlos Carrasco’s 1-0 victory. Swanson allowed one run on two hits and struck out five batters. Swanson has not pitched well since this outing, allowing 10 runs on 18 in 9.2 innings pitched. Hopefully the Indians will be able to find similar success against Swanson that both San Diego and Texas have and came out victorious in the series finale.
