Game 72 open thread: White Sox vs. Indians

Today the Indians play host once again to the Chicago White Sox, in the second of a three-game series. On Monday, the Tribe cruised to a 6-2 victory behind the solid starting pitching of Trevor Bauer.

The Indians are hoping that they can get a similar performance from Mike Clevinger, today’s starting pitcher. In his last start, Clev earned a win by pitching seven strong innings, giving up only one earned run while striking out 11 batters. That win came against the White Sox in Chicago, and his counterpart then, as it is today, was lefty Carlos Rodon. Rodon got off to a late start in the 2018 season, following shoulder surgery last September and being hit in the head by a batted ball in a Triple-A rehab appearance less than four weeks ago. This will be his third start of the 2018 season. He went five innings and allowed two earned runs in each of his other two.

The Indians made two roster moves today. Reliever Evan Marshall, who has been suffering from an inflamed right elbow, was placed on the ten-day disabled list. To take his place on the 25-man roster, right-handed pitcher George Kontos has been called up from AAA Columbus. Kontos, an eight-year MLB veteran, was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 28 and signed as a free agent by the Indians on June 3. He appeared in six games for the Clippers and didn’t allow a single run.

ICYMI: Earlier today, our Ryan McCrystal wrote an illuminating, stats-backed post about Jason Kipnis and his inability to hit the fastball. No one likes to see a veteran player lose his job due to diminishing skills, but Ryan makes a solid case that leaving Kip in the lineup on a daily basis hurts the offense and takes at-bats away from younger players whose best days are ahead of them, not behind them.

Here are the starting lineups for tonight’s game. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT.