| Indians | Tigers | ||
|
ss
|
Francisco Lindor |
CF
|
Adam Eaton |
|
2B
|
Mike Aviles |
SS
|
Alexei Ramirez |
|
1B
|
Carlos Santana |
1B
|
Jose Abreu |
|
RF
|
Ryan Rayburn |
LF
|
Melky Cabrera |
|
C
|
Yan Gomes |
DH
|
Avisail Garcia |
|
DH
|
Chris Johnson |
RF
|
J. B. Shuck |
|
LF
|
Jerry Sands |
3B
|
Mike Olt |
|
CF
|
Abraham Almonte |
2b
|
Carlos Sanchez |
|
3B
|
Giovanny Urshela |
C
|
Tyler Flowers |
|
SP
|
Trevor Bauer |
SP
|
Chris Sale |
Notes:
Bauer has a 7.48 ERA in his last five starts, 20 2/3 innings. That’s less than five innings per start. His opponents had an .894 OPS in those games.
Michael Brantley is batting .138 in 29 at bats against Sale. He’s not in the lineup today.
Left-handed batters have hit .195 (112/574) since Sale became a starter in 2012. The entire Indians lineup is right-handers or switch hitters.
Switch-hitting Carlos Santana is hitting .367 in 30 at bats against Sale. He has just one extra-base hit, a double, and three walks.
MLB’s Jordan Bastian had this quote in his game preview:
Cleveland pitching coach Mickey Callaway felt he saw progress in Bauer’s most recent mound session.
“He looked really good,” Callaway said. “We had a pretty good conversation [on Friday] about pitching down in the zone. [His bullpen session on Saturday] was probably the first time that I saw that he valued that. He went out there and when he missed, he missed down in the ‘pen.
“If you’re pitching up, and you have to go down into the zone, you’re coming right through the hitting zone. Where, if you miss down, and you work your way up, you’re never in a danger spot.”
He might have repeated this theme when visited the mound after Bauer loaded the bases on 12 pitches.