Indians at Tigers
Jake Bauers responded to the talk of sending him to the minor leagues by hitting for the cycle in the series opener and looks to get on a roll when his Cleveland Indians visit the Detroit Tigers on Saturday. Bauers, who was 4-for-29 in eight games coming in to drop his average to .209, capped his special night with a two-run homer in the eighth inning and finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs in Friday’s 13-4 victory.
Carlos Santana extended his hitting streak to nine games and has reached base in 27 of the past 28 contests, while teammate Leonys Martin launched a three-run homer to highlight a 17-hit attack for Cleveland, which won for the seventh time in 11 outings. Shane Bieber hopes to match his performance from April 11 against the Tigers when he allowed three hits over seven scoreless innings as he takes the ball in the second of a three-game series and Detroit counters with rookie left-hander Gregory Soto. Miguel Cabrera belted his 469th career homer Friday to pass Hall-of-Famer Chipper Jones for 34th on major league baseball’s all-time list, while his RBI moved him within three of Sammy Sosa (1,667) for 30th. The Tigers have dropped nine of their last 12 games overall after yielding 20 runs in the past two and fell to a disappointing 11-22 at home - second only to Baltimore for the worst such record in the majors.
TV: 6:10 p.m. ET, STO (Cleveland), FS Detroit
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Shane Bieber (5-2, 4.07 ERA) vs. Tigers LH Gregory Soto (0-2, 11.20)
Bieber maintained his three-game winning streak by avoiding a decision Sunday despite allowing five runs over 1 2/3 innings against the New York Yankees. The 24-year-old California native boasts 96 strikeouts and 20 walks across 77 1/3 innings overall and has won three of his previous four starts, capped by seven innings of two-run ball versus Minnesota on June 4. Christin Stewart is 2-for-3 against Bieber, who is 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA in three career outings versus Detroit.
Soto will be recalled to open Saturday’s contest while Friday’s starter Ryan Carpenter was optioned to Triple-A Toledo to make room after giving up eight runs in each of his last two outings. Soto, a 24-year-old from the Dominican Republic, makes his fifth start of the season for the Tigers after managing no more than four innings in his first four turns with 11 strikeouts and seven walks over 13 2/3 innings. Soto is 0-1 with a 4.85 ERA in seven starts at three different levels of the minor leagues this year.
WALK-OFFS
1. Detroit UTIL Brandon Dixon homered Friday and has recorded an RBI in six of his last eight games.
2. Cleveland SS Francisco Lindor had a pair of hits Friday and is 17-for-46 with three homers and five RBIs in June.
3. The Tigers placed C Grayson Grenier (back strain) on the 10-day injured list after Friday’s game and recalled C Bobby Wilson.