Cleveland Indians-Baltimore Orioles Series Preview

Cleveland Indians-Baltimore Orioles Series Preview 5/27-5/29

The Cleveland Indians (25-20) take on the Baltimore Orioles (26-19) in a three-game weekend series as the Tribe kicks off a 10-game homestand. This will be the first meeting between the two clubs this year and marks the Orioles only trip to Cleveland in 2016. The Indians remain 0.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central while the Orioles are in second place in the American League East, just 2.0 games behind the Boston Red Sox.

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The Cleveland Indians are set to go with Trevor Bauer (3-2, 4.31 ERA) in the series opener, followed by Danny Salazar (4-3, 2.32), and rookie Mike Clevinger (0-1, 8.71). The Orioles will counter with righties Mike Wright (2-3, 4.97), Ubaldo Jimenez (2-5, 6.04), and Chris Tillman (6-1, 2.61). Salazar will look to rebound after his worst start of the season in Boston. He enters the series with the fifth-lowest ERA in the American League. He’ll be facing former Indian Ubaldo Jimenez on Saturday who currently sports the third-highest ERA in the American League.

Offensively the Indians will look for Francisco Lindor to remain hot. In the month of May, Lindor is batting .340, good for 13th best in the American League. On the season, Lindor is hitting .318, second-best among all AL shortstops. The Tribe will also look for sluggers Carlos Santana and Mike Napoli to continue to power the lineup, as the two lead the team with eight home runs a piece.

Keys to the Series

The Indians are coming off a series win in Chicago where they averaged 5.25 runs per game in route to winning three of four. In their previous series in Boston, they averaged 2.33 runs per game and lost two of three. The offense will need to score more than they did in Boston to be able to beat the Orioles, who are averaging nearly 4.5 runs a game, lead by one of the best players in the League in Manny Machado.

The key, in addition to scoring, will once again be the Tribe’s bullpen. After a masterful performance by Corey Kluber in the finale in Chicago, reliever Bryan Shaw nearly blew the lead allowing a two-run home run in the 8th inning. The Indians were able to hold on and win that game but will need the bullpen to pitch much better to continue to win.

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First pitch tonight is scheduled for 7:10 pm. The Indians will be looking to possibly move into first place with a victory. They will be looking to continue their hot play this month as well. Currently 15-9 in May, the Indians will close out the month this week with the Texas Rangers coming to town for a three-game beginning on Monday, Memorial Day.