CLEVELAND, Ohio- The Cleveland Indians have another battle on deck against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. Following a thrilling extra-innings affair that saw the Tribe fall in twelve innings, it’s officially Corey Kluber day.
Kluber will look to improve to 5-1 on the year, his lone loss against Seattle in the season opener. He’ll take on Matt Moore, who is searching for his second win of his campaign after a rocky start to his year.
Here are your three keys to an Indians victory.
1. Let Kluber Do His Thing- Pretty self-explanatory here. Corey Kluber is one of the best pitchers in baseball and is off to another tremendous start in all facets of his game. Letting him go out there and set the tone is a luxury the Tribe has over many teams who don’t have a truly dominant ace.
Kluber won’t see a ton of power in his Texas lineup, setting himself up for a long run into today’s affair. That bodes well for the pitching staff, who is absolutely spent. After bringing up Ben Taylor as an attempt to give a break to the guys who see a ton of work from the bullpen, it’s safe to say that Cleveland couldn’t have landed on a better day to help relieve some of the workload.
2. Running With Some Momentum- It’s been a rather wonky start to the Tribe’s 2018 season. They’ve struggled to get the pitching staff and offense on the same page and clicking at the same time and it’s led to the 15-13 start to the year. Hopefully, Wednesday can sort some of the craziness out.
Michael Brantley had a huge grand slam with Cleveland down to their final strike to send the game to extras last night. While the Tribe fell in a valiant effort by a score of 8-6, the contest once again featured some late offense that one can hope carries over for at least the rest of the homestand. Brantley has been a consistent bat for the Indians thus far along with Yonder Alonso and Jose Ramirez. Sometimes, one big hit can spark a whole lineup. Tuesday might be the catalyst for an offensive surge.
3. Chasing Moore Out Of The Ballgame- Texas starter Matt Moore has a 1-3 record and 5.33 ERA in six games appeared in this season. Despite one outing against Tampa Bay in mid-April, the lefty hasn’t shown a semblance of longevity into ballgames. Moore has only reached the seventh inning once in 2018 and has been run out of the ballgame before the fifth inning twice already.
It seems that a perfect storm is brewing at Progressive Field on Wednesday.
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