Tigers, Indians Keep Their Win Streaks Alive, Who Goes Down This Weekend?
The Cleveland Indians (59-48) kept their win steak alive with a 6-1 win on Thursday over the Chicago White Sox (40-65).
They have now won eight straight games and sit two behind the AL East-leading Detroit Tigers (61-45). The Indians are now in second place for the AL Wild Card spot.
Ryan Raburn
For this victory, the Indians have Ryan Raburn to thank for his good play: he smacked two homers, one was a two-run in the third inning and a solo home run in the seventh. Oh yeah, he also had an RBI single in the fifth inning to go 3 for 4 with four RBIs in the game.
The player said of his good play via the Associated Press, “I prepare myself the same way every day whether I’m playing or not. This is one of those years where everything is going right for me. I’m trying to hold on to it and ride it as long as I can.”
Indians All-Star righty Justin Masterson (13-7) had a good outing: In his 6 2/3 innings, he allowed one run, five hits, seven strikeouts and three walks. Over his four starts against the White Sox in 2013, he’s given up three earned runs over 31 2/3 innings.
For the White Sox, lefty Chris Sale (6-11) took the mound. He allowed five runs in five innings–his shortest outing since June 19. Sale hasn’t pitched well against the Indians this season. In three starts, he’s allowed 16 earned runs in 17 1/3 innings. This gives him a 8.31 ERA.
It’s just one of the many contributors that has the White Sox losing seven consecutive games. They are 26 games below .500–a first since 1980. And with their 13 of 16 losses, the team holds the second-worst AL record.
So what’s next for the Tribe to keep their win streak alive? This weekend they’ll travel and play the NL-worst Miami Marlins (42-65) for a three-game series.
This sounds like slam dunk for Cleveland but it’s been a long drought to win nine consecutive games: They haven’t done so since their 10-game win streak back on Aug. 17-27, 2008.
The Indians have also lost their last six of eight road games.
Righty Ubaldo Jimenez (8-5) will take the mound for Cleveland. Against Miami, he is 1-1 (3.98 ERA) in his four career starts.
For the Marlins, righty Jose Fernandez (7-5) has pitching duty. The rookie will be facing Cleveland for the first time.
It appears Cleveland will end their streak on Friday with a Miami win (-107, 7 o/u). For this year’s World Series, the Tribe sits at +2800 to win it.
Tigers Have Their Own Win Streak Going
While Cleveland is grabbing headlines for their eight-game win streak, the Tigers have quietly accumulated their own: five straight wins. This has come with series’ sweeps over the Philadelphia Phillies (50-57) and the Washington Nationals (52-56).
For this weekend, the Tigers will host the White Sox. We all know about their recent play.
Miguel Cabrera
Detroit hopes star Miguel Cabrera will return to Friday’s lineup. He’s been out with a lower ab injury.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland said of Cabrera’s absence via the Associated Press, “That’s one of those tough things for the player because he wants to play so bad. It’s also one of the tough things for the manager because you don’t know if you should give him another day, is he good to be put back in there? I don’t really know that.”
While fingers are crossed for Cabrera’s return, the Tigers may lose Jhonny Peralta. He could be suspended by the league from his link to the Biogensis situation.
Peralta would be missed as he leads the team in doubles (29) and is batting .307.
The Tigers have protected themselves for this possibility by acquiring Jose Iglesias from the Boston Red Sox (65-44) on Tuesday.
In the short term, the Tigers will see another win on Friday (-220, 8 o/u).
