Preview: Lester and Bauer Set to Battle in Tonight’s Series Finale As Indians Look to Rebound Against Cubs

3. Can the Middle of the Lineup Produce?

One player in the top of the order that has finally started to produce is Jose Ramirez, as he’s raised his average nearly 80 points in the last five games, but the three after JRam have to get more consistent.

Yonder Alonso had a solid couple of games after the Friday night loss, hitting two homers and he looks like he’s seeing the ball better despite going 0-for-4 Tuesday.

One player that’s just not doing anything it seems on at the plate right now is Edwin Encarnacion, as despite an infield hit and RBI on Tuesday he’s still hitting just .154 and has a team leading 26 strikeouts.

Encarnacion has struck out two times in 7 of his last 13 games, and in some of those instances the team could have used him just getting a bat on the ball to move runners over.

Last night it was Tyler Naquin getting the shot at the 6 hole in the lineup, and he was 0-for-2 before being lifted for Brandon Guyer in the 8th, who hit into an inning ending double play.

In 42 career starts in interleague games, Lester is 20-12, with a 3.36 ERA.

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