Cleveland Indians: Solid outing from Corey Kluber can prevent mass panic

Cleveland Indians starting pitchers have had two bad games in a row, and it is up to Corey Kluber to bring some stability back to the unit.

Things don’t get easier for the Cleveland Indians tonight with the New York Yankees in town, but a victory is always possible with Corey Kluber on the mound. And with the way this week has started, we all need a big game from the ace.

It would be an understatement to say the pitching staff struggled in the two games against Boston, as the Red Sox put up a total of 18 runs in those two games.

Mike Clevinger began the series by allowing five earned runs in three innings, while Carlos Carrasco followed that up with five earned runs in just 1.2 innings.

While some fans may still be salty after Tuesday’s loss, Kluber can help fix that, given the offense shows up.

He will be going up against Sonny Gray, which will be interesting for Indians fans to see. A great start from the new Yankee could have some questioning why the Indians didn’t trade for him.

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

Yet three straight losses after nine straight wins is nothing to panic about, especially when noting the Kansas City Royals are also losers of three straight. It would have been nice to gain some ground in the division, but not losing any bit of the lead helps too.

Having Kluber on the mound inspires confidence. He finished up July with 56 strikeouts in just five starts and enters tonight’s game with a 2.90 ERA.

The most intriguing matchup of the night will come in the first inning when Kluber goes up against Clint Frazier, who has been playing well since being called up earlier this summer.

There are those who may still be upset about him being traded for Andrew Miller, but the outfield in Cleveland is already stacked it is hard to get too upset. Also, that Miller guy isn’t too bad.

Next: Best prospects from the first half of the season

Making any sort of firm prediction with this Indians team has been difficult in 2017, but fans should expect a great night from Kluber, who is on track to win another AL Cy Young award if he keeps up his current pace.