PREVIEW: Indians and Brewers wrap up two-game set on Wednesday afternoon

MILWAUKEE– The Indians (17-18) will face the Milwaukee Brewers (21-15) in the second game of a two-game set on Wednesday afternoon. They are currently on a season-worst four-game losing streak, and will try to bounce back with a W before returning home for a three-game set against the Kansas City Royals.

Time: 1:10 p.m.

Starting Pitchers: CLE Carlos Carrrasco (4-1, 3.95) vs. MIL Junior Guerra (2-2, 2.33)

TV:  SportsTime Ohio

Online: MLB.TV

Radio: WTAM 1100 AM, Indians Radio Network

1. Recapping Game 1

Corey Kluber went six innings and gave up three earned runs on two homers and five total hits en route to the 3-2 Tribe loss on Tuesday night.

The Brewers got on the board first with a two-run shot from Travis Shaw in the first inning. Jose Ramirez pulled the Tribe to within one run in the third with a solo home run, but the Brewers answered in the bottom half of the inning with a homer from Brent Suter. The final run of the game came in the fifth inning on, you guessed it, another homer, this time from Francisco Lindor.

Perhaps the biggest positive (if you can call it that) from the first game is that the Tribe bullpen didn’t completely fall apart down the stretch. Tyler Olson created some traffic for himself in the eighth inning by loading the bases, but Zach McAllister got the Indians out of the frame unscathed.

The biggest negative other than Kluber’s outing is the fact that the Indians played a sloppy game in which they had three errors and just six hits.

2. A fresh Cookie?

Carlos Carrasco will look to bounce back in this game. Yes, he only has one loss so far this season, but over his last two starts, Carrasco has gone eight and one-third innings with a 10.80 ERA. In his last two starts, he gave up 10 total earned runs. Prior to that, he had given up just nine in his previous five starts this year.

While two outings are hardly the end of the world in a 162-game season, Carrasco righting the ship sooner rather than later will be important with all of the bullpen issues the team has been experiencing lately.

3. Cain’s success

Lorenzo Cain has had some success against Carrasco throughout his career, and he will likely be the player to watch. The former Royal is batting .344 against Carrasco in 32 at-bats. Last night, Cain went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts, and he’s put up a .266 average so far this season.

If Carrasco is going to have a bounce-back game, containing Cain will be a key to doing so.