PREVIEW: Indians look to avoid sweep against Cardinals Wednesday night

ST. LOUIS– The Cleveland Indians (43-35) close out their series against the St. Louis Cardinals (42-36) on Wednesday night as they try to avoid getting swept.

Time: 8:15 p.m.

Starting Pitchers: CLE Shane Bieber (2.45, 2-0) vs. STL Jack Flaherty (2.50, 3-2)

TV:  SportsTime Ohio

Online: MLB.TV

Radio: WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM, Indians Radio Network

1. Bieber goes for third win

Shane Bieber is coming off of a win against the Detroit Tigers last Friday when he struck out nine and allowed just one walk through seven shutout innings.

Throughout his first three career starts, he’s struck out at least six batters. He’s the first Indians hurler to do that since Louis Tiant did it in 1964.

2. Shutting down Flaherty

If the Indians are going to come away with a win on Wednesday, they will need to get to Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty early.

That won’t be an easy task, considering he hasn’t allowed more than one run in his last three starts and has struck out 26 in that same stretch. If he comes out with that same fire power on Wednesday night, it may be hard for the Indians bats to overmatch him, which brings us to our third point…

3. Will the bats arrive from Cleveland?

Coming to St. Louis riding a seven-game win streak, the Indians were outscoring opponents 54-9. Now, through two losses to the Cardinals, they’ve been outscored 15-2.

They are batting just .181 (2-of-11) with runners in scoring position. The top third of their order, Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez and Michael Brantley, has recorded just three hits (3-for-20 to be exact) with no RBI.

Needless to say, with the way Flaherty has been pitching as of late, the Tribe is going to need significantly more if they don’t want to be swept out of St. Louis.