White Sox at Indians
Jose Abreu is one of the hottest hitters in the majors and the 32-year-old Cuban looks to continue producing big numbers when his Chicago White Sox visit the Cleveland Indians on Monday night to open a four-game series. Abreu owns multiple hits in eight of his last 10 games and is 25-for-58 with five homers along with 23 RBIs over his past 14 contests for the White Sox, who dropped the last three outings against Boston.
Abreu, who owns 17 homers in 88 career games against Cleveland, launched a solo homer in Sunday’s 9-2 loss to the Red Sox but Chicago allowed 30 runs in the last three games after winning the series opener. Trevor Bauer will try to cool off Abreu and post his fifth win of the season for the Indians while the White Sox counter with fellow right-hander Ivan Nova, who registered his best start of 2019 against Cleveland on April 1 when he allowed one run on six hits and a walk across seven innings without factoring in the decision. The Indians won the first two of a seven-game homestand against Seattle before suffering a 10-0 thrashing from the Mariners on Sunday afternoon, dropping to 9-5 at Progressive Field. Jose Ramirez had the only two hits for Cleveland in the series finale and is 5-for-15 over the last four games to raise his batting average to .200 with two homers and nine RBIs after totaling 39 and 105, respectively, last season.
TV: 6:10 p.m. ET, NBCS Chicago, STO (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox RH Ivan Nova (0-3, 8.33 ERA) vs. Indians RH Trevor Bauer (4-1, 2.45)
Nova is still looking for his first victory in a White Sox jersey after getting pounded for 20 runs on 31 hits over 16 innings the past three outings. The 37-year-old Dominican Republic native, who served up six homers in the last two trips to the mound, posted two quality starts in his first three starts this season before his struggles began. Jason Kipnis is 4-for-6 with a homer and a double versus Nova, who is 2-1 with a 3.70 ERA in four career games against the Indians.
Bauer has won his last three decisions over four starts after giving up four runs on four hits across seven innings with 10 strikeouts last time out at Miami in a 7-4 victory. The 28-year-old UCLA product, who is limiting opponents to a .167 batting average, has struck out 55 over 47 2/3 innings and owns five quality starts among his seven appearances this year. Yonder Alonso is 5-for-14 with a homer against Bauer, who was 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA in four outings versus the White Sox in 2018.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cleveland CF Leonys Martin (hamstring) was held out of Sunday’s game and his status for the series is uncertain.
2. Chicago RHP Kelvin Herrera (lower-back stiffness) left Sunday’s contest and is considered day-to-day.
3. Indians 1B-DH Carlos Santana (.309 batting average, team-high 19 RBIs) hit four of his five homers in the last six contests.