Marlins at Indians
The Cleveland Indians entered their two-game interleague series with the visiting Miami Marlins with an American League-worst .215 batting average and did nothing to bolster that number by mustering only three hits in a 3-1 loss Tuesday night. The Indians will try to avoid a fourth straight defeat in Wednesday afternoon's matchup versus Miami.
After getting battered for 19 runs in back-to-back losses to Atlanta, punchless Cleveland matched its longest slide of the year in Tuesday's setback. Jose Ramirez had one of the three hits in the latest setback but he has only one extra-base hit and three RBIs in the last nine games after setting career highs with 39 homers and 105 RBIs in 2018. The Marlins have scored the fewest runs in baseball (63) and have been shut out in half their last six games, but posted their first series win versus Washington over the weekend and have a chance to make it two straight. Catcher Jorge Alfaro clubbed his team-leading fourth homer of the year in the series opener and is 12-for-36 over his last three games for Miami.
TV: 6:10 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Miami), STO (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins RH Sandy Alcantara (1-2, 5.09 ERA) vs. Indians RH Jefry Rodriguez (0-1, 3.18)
Alcantara had a brilliant season debut with eight scoreless innings of four-hit ball but he has struggled since and is coming off back-to-back home losses against the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. He allowed five runs on seven hits in six innings versus the Cubs last time out after getting tagged for six runs and 11 hits in five innings by the Phillies. Although Alcantara is winless on the road in eight career appearances (four starts), he has held opposing hitters to a .206 average.
Rodriguez will be summoned from the minors to make his second start and has a chance to stick for a while with Mike Clevinger sidelined. The 25-year-old Dominican was impressive in a loss at Kansas City on April 13, permitting two runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. "He really wasn’t afraid to attack the strike zone. I thought he did a really good job,” manager Terry Francona said of Rodriguez, who gave up seven runs in seven innings in three appearances (one start) versus Miami in 2018.
WALK-OFFS
1. Marlins INF Martin Prado collected his 1,500th hit Tuesday and needs two RBIs to reach 600 for his career.
2. Indians RH Carlos Carrasco was pulled after four innings Tuesday due to discomfort in his knee.
3. Marlins 2B Starlin Castro is 7-for-15 during a four-game hitting streak.