PREVIEW: The Indians and Mariners face off as Carrasco looks for fifth win

CLEVELAND– The Cleveland Indians (14-10) are taking on the Seattle Mariners (14-11) in the third game of a four-game series.

Time: 4:10 p.m.

Starting Pitchers: CLE Carlos Carrasco (4-0, 2.31) vs. SEA Mike Leake (2-2, 6.59)

TV:  SportsTime Ohio

Online: MLB.TV

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

1. Carrasco on the mound

Carlos Carrasco faced the Mariners back on March 31, when he gave up five runs in five and two-thirds innings. He still managed to pull off the W, and will be looking for his 11th straight win.

His current 10-decision winning streak is the longest streak by any Tribe pitcher since Cliff Lee won 11 consecutive decisions from July through September of 2008, the year he went on to win the Cy Young Award.

During that span of 12 starts, Carrasco has put up a 1.85 ERA.

2. Another close one?

This is Cleveland’s sixth game against Seattle this season, and all five games have been one-run affairs coming into Saturday’s contest. Getting Carrasco plenty of run support will be key, as in yesterday’s game the Mariners nearly completed a ninth inning rally and are more than capable of pushing this Tribe team to the brink.

3. The longball

Over the last three nights, the Indians have put up nine homers, five of which came last night against Seattle. On the season, the Tribe has now hit 34 home runs , tied for third in both the American League and MLB.

Over the last week, the Indians have hit 12 homers good for second in the league, just behind the Yankees.

While they have had success as of late, the Tribe still needs to get better at situational hitting for games when they aren’t so homer happy.