Happy October! It’s so refreshing to enter this month knowing that the Tribe will be in the playoffs instead of wrapping up their season — or fighting for their lives to get a Wild Card berth.
It’s also interesting to watch how Tito manages his line-up having already clinched the AL Central division several games ago. What’s the right balance between rest and rust?
Saturday’s starters look like business as usual for the Indians (see below). No “bullpen game” intended for this one, folks. Trevor Bauer (12-8, 4.26 ERA) takes the ball for the Tribe. Bauer is probably glad to turn the calendar page on September. He had a 6.75 ERA for the month, and is surely looking to get his earlier season mojo back as the Indians head into the postseason.
The Royals send Edinson Volquez to the hill. Volquez hasn’t had his best season this year, going 10-11 with a 5.37 ERA to date. In his prior outing when he faced Detroit, he lasted only 2.2 innings and gave up 6 hits and 4 runs in that short span.
The Tribe will look to stay sharp and build on their win that opened this final series of the regular season. Wa-hooo that the regular season isn’t the end of this team’s story for 2016! Here are today’s starting line-ups:
| Indians | Royals | ||
|
DH
|
Carlos Santana |
CF
|
Jarrod Dyson |
|
2B
|
Jason Kipnis |
2B
|
Whit Merrifield |
|
SS
|
Francisco Lindor |
DH
|
Kendrys Morales |
|
1B
|
Mike Napoli |
RF
|
Paulo Orlando |
|
3B
|
Jose Ramirez |
LF
|
Alex Gordon |
|
RF
|
Lonnie Chisenhall |
SS
|
Alcides Escobar |
|
LF
|
Coco Crisp |
1B
|
Daniel Nava |
|
CF
|
Tyler Naquin |
3B
|
Cheslor Cuthbert |
|
C
|
Roberto Perez |
C
|
Drew Butera |
|
SP
|
Trevor Bauer |
SP
|
Edinson Volquez |