Indians at Tigers
The Cleveland Indians have a big mountain to climb in the American League Central but sit in the middle of the race for a wild card as they embark on a seven-game road trip that starts against the Detroit Tigers on Friday night. The Indians sit 1 1/2 games behind Texas - their opponent to end the road trip next week - for the AL’s second wild card after winning six of the last 10 contests.
Carlos Santana has hit safely in eight straight games and launched three homers while knocking in five runs over his past five contests for Cleveland, which is 42-17 against the Tigers since the start of the 2016 season (2-1 in 2019). Right-hander Adam Plutko hopes for another strong outing when he takes the ball in the series opener for the Indians and Detroit counters with lefty Ryan Carpenter, who has recorded three solid outings and three poor ones in his six starts this season. The Tigers dropped a 7-3 decision against Kansas City in Omaha, Neb. on Thursday for their eighth setback in 11 games as Brandon Dixon recorded two of Detroit’s seven hits. Nicholas Castellanos saw his nine-game hitting streak come to an end Thursday while teammate Miguel Cabrera is just 1-for-13 in his last four contests for the Tigers.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, STO (Cleveland), FS Detroit
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Adam Plutko (2-1, 5.19 ERA) vs. Tigers LH Ryan Carpenter (1-3, 7.89)
Plutko recorded his second victory in three starts Saturday when he held the New York Yankees to two runs on three hits with four strikeouts across six innings. The 27-year-old UCLA product gave up one run on one hit in his 2019 debut to beat Baltimore on May 18 before yielding seven runs on 12 hits (four homers) against Tampa Bay five days later. Castellanos is 2-for-5 with a double versus Plutko, who beat the Tigers in his only start against them last year with six innings of two-run ball.
Carpenter followed up his best start of the season with his worst of 2019 as he permitted eight runs on 10 hits over 3 2/3 innings in Sunday's loss to Minnesota. The 28-year-old Gonzaga product limited Tampa Bay to two runs on seven hits with three strikeouts June 4 to earn his first victory of the season and second of his career. Lindor owns a single and an RBI in two at-bats against Carpenter, who gave up six runs (five earned) over five innings in a loss to the Indians last year.
WALK-OFFS
1. Detroit INF/OF Niko Goodrum returned to the lineup Thursday after missing one game with a bruised knee.
2. Cleveland 2B Jason Kipnis (hip), who has a double against Carpenter, has missed the last two games and is day-to-day.
3. The Tigers are tied for the fewest runs in the majors (233), while the Indians own the lowest number of hits (492) in the AL.