Indians Look for Fourth Straight in Kansas City Tonight; Clevinger Gets the Start

The Indians continue to roll after the All-Star break, as they are 4-1 on their current road trip following Friday’s 8-3 win over the Royals in Kansas City.

The team is now 61-42, a season-high 19 games over .500, and still two back of the Twins for the top spot in the AL Central heading into play Saturday.

Tonight it’s Mike Clevinger going for the Tribe, he’s 4-2 with a 3.61 ERA on the season. He’s been dominant in his short career against the Royals, going 7-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 11 career appearances (10 starts) against Kansas City.

He’s been red-hot this month, as in four starts he’s 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA. He has walked five while striking out 34.

Glenn Sparkman will get the call for the Royals, the Indians beat him on Sunday in the rubber match at Progressive Field.

This year he’s 3-6, with a 4.67 ERA. At home he’s 3-2 with a 1.76 ERA in 10 games (five starts). His last outing at home was his first complete game shutout vs. the Chicago White Sox on July 16th.

Here’s the Indians starting Nine:

Lindor-DH
Mercado-CF
Freeman-SS
Kipnis-2B
Ramirez-3B
Bauers-1B
Perez-C
Allen-LF
Naquin-RF

Here’s the Royals nine:

Merrifield-2B
Gordon-LF
Dozier-RF
Soler-DH
O’Hearn-1B
Cuthbert-3B
Starling-CF
Lopez-SS
Gallagher-C