Preview: Indians head to Motown as they look to extend their first place lead over the Detroit Tigers

DETROIT—The Cleveland Indians take on the Detroit Tigers for a three-game weekend series. The Indians are currently 5-2 in the season series versus the Tigers. They also hold a four-game lead on the Tigers for the American League Central.

The Indians are coming off a brief two-game sweep over the Milwaukee Brewers that helped the Indians improve their season record to 32-28.

The Detroit Tigers are coming off a series in Boston where they only won the finale of a three-game series. The Tigers are 6-4 in their last 10 games. They have a record of 30-34.

Here’s a preview of game one of a three-game set in Detroit:

Time: 1:10 p.m.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Trevor Bauer (4-4, 2.77 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Fulmer (2-5, 4.73 ERA)

TV: SportsTime Ohio

Online: MLB.TV

Radio: WMMS 100.7, Indians Radio Network

1. Bauer Outage

Trevor Bauer could use a solid start as he is coming off a loss to the Minnesota Twins. He went five and two-thirds innings, gave up six hits, three earned runs, three walks, and struck out 11 strikeouts. If his command is there early, odds are he will have a solid start. If not, he could be in for a long day at the office. For Bauer, it’s important for him to start to take off and get on a roll.

2. Get Fulmer deep in the count

When Fulmer is ahead in the count, he has an ERA of 2.42. But when he is behind in the count, his ERA drops to 6.60. The Indians can also be successful by getting to Fulmer early on in the game. Once Fulmer gets going, he can become tough to beat.

3. Big lead for the bullpen

Unless Trevor Bauer goes the distance, the Indians will need to have as big of a lead as possible. The bullpen is slowly returning to form. But still, the Indians know that no lead is safe right now— especially with no Andrew Miller.