The Indians go for the season win against the Twins this afternoon, as Justin Masterson takes the mound against Kevin Correia.  After having a rough start to the season, Correia pitched a great game in his last outing against the Baltimore Orioles – 1 ER on 5 hits in 7 innings pitched.  That game and his first start of the season were the only two starts in which he allowed fewer than 3 ER.  He has not faced the Indians yet this season, but had some success against them last year.  (Even though his ERA was 4.91 against the Indians in 2013, they still hit just .214/.283/.429 against him).

Masterson is coming off a great start, in which he shut out the White Sox and gave a helping hand to the stumbling Indians offense.  When he last saw the Twins on April 6, though, he allowed 5 ER on 7 hits in just 3.2 innings pitched.  Since you can’t really count on the offense of late, Masterson will likely need another strong performance this afternoon.

Lineups:

Indians:

Michael Bourn, CF

Nick Swisher, 1B

Michael Brantley, LF

Carlos Santana, C

David Murphy, RF

Asdrubal Cabrera, SS

Ryan Raburn, DH

Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B

Mike Aviles, 2B

 

Twins:

Brian Dozier, 2B

Eduardo Escobar, LF

Trevor Plouffe, 3B

Chris Colabello, 1B

Jason Kubel, RF

Kurt Suzuki, DH

Josmil Pinto, C

Sam Fuld, CF

Danny Santana, SS

20 Comments

  • The Doctor says:

    those helpless looking leadoff strikeouts by bourn are so infuriating. i don’t know how a guy could manage to be in the big leagues for 8 years and have absolutely no ability at all to recognize and/or hit a curveball.

  • Ben says:

    Shouldn’t it be series win, not season win?

  • Stephanie Liscio says:

    Yes, it definitely should. This is what happens when you hurry. My phone isn’t letting me correct it…but it should be series.

  • mondo dentro says:

    Can we play the Twins for another week?

    PS: Brantley!!! I’m not happy he’s become our “power hitter”, but WOW. He (and Murphy) have been the saving grace of the lineup, RISP-wise.

  • SD Tribe Fan says:

    Nice to see the top of the order being productive. But did anyone else think we weren’t scoring when Santana came up with the bases loaded?

  • mondo dentro says:

    The pathetic D continues. Two runs for the Twins on two more errors.

    • mondo dentro says:

      Wait a minute: two runs scored on an infield hit, but no error? Color me perplexed. Anyone see what happened?

  • SD Tribe Fan says:

    Now wait a minute, a run is unearned even if the pitcher makes the error?

    • mondo dentro says:

      Hmmmm…. maybe a good strategy during your free agent year? (I kid, I kid.)

    • The Doctors says:

      yeah, i’ve always disliked that scoring rule.

      • The Doctor says:

        ack, there’s not two of me, i swear! only one doctor here.

        i’m actually surprised i’ve been commenting for this long without screwing that up before.

        • The Doctor says:

          nevermind. apparently my screw up disappeared. i was trying to comment on the old “pitcher makes an error and it’s an unearned run” situation. i’ve never liked that scoring decision.

  • Stuck at Work says:

    I saw on Gamecast that two runs scored a hit to Asdrubal. I assumed it was an error, but it didn’t get marked as such. How can two runs score on an infield hit??!

  • Stephanie Liscio says:

    So I’m at the game but my seats are in the outfield…so I didn’t have a super good view. But basically he bobbled it, the runner on 3rd was going to score regardless. Then the ball was kind of behind him, nobody really saw it or grabbed it, and the other run scored.

  • Gvl Steve says:

    Great game and series, but the time has come to send Carlos Santana to the minors. By my count, he is 8 for his last 99. He refuses to change his approach. Enough is enough.

    • SchwitzBlade says:

      I agree he is frustrating to watch but he is still getting on base. Made it to 1st base twice today out of his 4 trips…His on base percentage is higher than yan gomes who is hitting almost 100 points high in batting average.

      • mondo dentro says:

        That’s amazing.

        • The Doctor says:

          bat Santana leadoff, I say! bourn’s BB:K is a disturbing (for anyone, much less a leadoff hitter) 3:17.

          the complete refusal to adjust his approach is extremely frustrating. i don’t know why he’s apparently given a free pass on repeatedly bounching the ball into the teeth of the shift. watching him try to pull balls that are in the opposite batter’s box is maddening.

          • Kevin says:

            Let him bat ninth until he works things out. Or in the bottom of the order. We should be looking for a lineup that puts us in position to get a run in each inning. Carlos Santana can be a big part of that. What we don’t want is him costing us the ability to ramp up early by having him in a 4 spot that can lose us the opportunity to bring home that first inning run.