Indians at White Sox
The Cleveland Indians made a statement over the last two days that they intend to stay in the playoff race for a while and look to carry that momentum into the opener of their four-game road series against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. The Indians had lost seven of eight games before rallying for a 7-5 win at Boston on Tuesday, and they followed that up with a 14-9 triumph in the rubber match of the set the following day.
Carlos Santana, who entered Wednesday hitless in 10 at-bats, was a single shy of the cycle and knocked in five runs in the latest victory to push his team-leading totals to 10 homers and 34 RBIs for Cleveland. Carlos Carrasco goes after his third victory against the White Sox this month after working 12 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts and no walks in the first two, while Chicago's Manny Banuelos will try to avoid suffering three defeats versus the Indians this month. The White Sox were outscored 26-5 during a three-game sweep last weekend at Minnesota but rebounded with three straight one-run victories over Kansas City after grinding out an 8-7 triumph on Wednesday. Tim Anderson (.337 batting average), starting for the first time in five games due to a wrist injury, rebounded from getting hit in the helmet by a pitch earlier in the game as he doubled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland), NBCS Chicago
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Carlos Carrasco (4-5, 4.60 ERA) vs. White Sox LH Manny Banuelos (2-4, 7.71)
Carrasco has dropped his last two starts, allowing nine runs - eight earned - and 16 hits over 11 2/3 innings after the two masterful outings against the White Sox. The 32-year-old Venezuelan has registered 72 strikeouts and walked just 10 batters across 58 2/3 frames overall but has served up 13 homers in that span. Yonder Alonso and Jose Abreu both have homered twice versus Carrasco, who is 10-10 with a 3.67 ERA in 27 career appearances (25 starts) against Chicago.
Banuelos has struggled over his last four starts, permitting 24 runs and 27 hits in 15 innings while suffering the loss in each outing. The 28-year-old Mexican has given up eight homers during that stretch and issued 22 walks this season. Jordan Luplow is 3-for-5 with three homers this year against Banuelos, who yielded five runs in each of his two starts (8 1/3 innings total) versus the Indians earlier this month.
WALK-OFFS
1. Chicago CF Leury Garcia has gone 6-for-8 with three runs scored in his last two contests.
2. The Indians did not record a triple in their first 54 games, but OF Greg Allen notched a pair and Santana added another on Wednesday.
3. The teams have split eight overall games this season, but Cleveland has won 15 of its last 22 in Chicago.