Astros at Indians
The Houston Astros and host Cleveland Indians are putting their best foot (arm?) forward to begin their three-game series on Tuesday, with the visitors sending Justin Verlander to the mound to oppose fellow right-hander Shane Bieber. Verlander has surrendered just four earned runs during his three-start winning streak while Bieber is coming off his second complete game of the season.
Bieber will need to slow down Jose Altuve, who belted a three-run homer for his 1,500th career hit on Sunday as the Astros posted their ninth win in 11 games with a 6-2 victory over St. Louis. The 2017 American League Most Valuable Player and three-time batting champion has been heating up over his last eight games, going 15-for-31 with four homers, eight RBIs and six runs scored. Like Altuve, Cleveland's Jose Ramirez has also been swinging a hot bat after going deep for the fourth straight game in Sunday's 9-6 setback in Kansas City. The 26-year-old Ramirez is 14-for-34 with five homers, 10 RBIs and eight runs scored in his last eight games overall and 11-for-27 in his career versus Verlander.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Southwest (Houston), SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Justin Verlander (13-4, 2.86 ERA) vs. Indians RH Shane Bieber (10-3, 3.44)
Verlander improved to 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA in his last three starts on Wednesday after allowing an unearned run on two hits while striking out 11 in six innings of a 4-2 victory against Oakland. The 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young Award recipient permitted just two singles in that contest and had retired nine straight at one point. Verlander sports a sparkling 8-2 record on the road and has limited the opposition to a .166 batting average, although he owns a 9-16 mark with a 5.56 ERA in 28 career starts at Progressive Field.
Bieber improved to 4-0 in his last five starts after permitting just one hit while striking out 10 in a 4-0 win at Toronto on Wednesday. The 24-year-old became the youngest Indians pitcher to throw a shutout while surrendering no more than one hit and striking out at least 10 since a then-22-year-old Dennis Eckersley no-hit the Angels in 1977, per MLB.com. Bieber received a no-decision against Houston after yielding three runs on as many hits in six innings on April 27.
WALK-OFFS
1. Houston 1B Yuli Gurriel has hit safely in 16 straight games and 27 of his last 28.
2. Indians 1B Carlos Santana, who has gone deep eight times among his 18 hits versus Verlander, went 2-for-16 with a homer in a four-game split against the Astros on April 25-28.
3. Houston 3B Alex Bregman is mired in a 1-for-17 slump over his last five games heading into the series versus Cleveland, against which he went 1-for-13 in April.