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Indians vs. Tigers Game Thread (Wednesday): McAllister aims for series sweep

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The Tribe are in position to sweep the Tigers this afternoon, a situation nobody expected just a few days ago.

By Ash Day
/ new
Jason Miller

Detroit Tigers @ Cleveland Indians

Wednesay, May 21, 2014, 12:05 p.m. ET, Progressive Field

TV: STO (CLE), FSD (DET)

Radio: WTAM (CLE), WXYT (DET)

Series Preview

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Today's Lineups

DETROIT TIGERS CLEVELAND INDIANS
Rajai Davis - LF Michael Bourn - CF
Ian Kinsler - 2B Asdrubal Cabrera - SS
Miguel Cabrera - 1B Michael Brantley - LF
Victor Martinez - DH David Murphy - RF
J.D. Martinez - RF Nick Swisher - 1B
Austin Jackson - CF Jason Giambi - DH
Nick Castellanos - 3B Carlos Santana - C
Bryan Holaday - C Lonnie Chisenhall - 3B
Danny Worth - SS Mike Aviles - 2B
Max Scherzer - RHP Zach McAllister - RHP

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Somehow, someway, the Indians stand on the precipice of sweeping the Detroit Tigers. Our division rivals have been running away with the AL Central but the Tribe have shocked the league and won the first two games of this series against all odds.

Today the hometown team turn to Zach McAllister in search of the series sweep. Zach opened the season well, with a 3-0 record and a 2.28 ERA in his first four starts but has dropped off drastically ever since. It all blew up in his last start against the A's, when he gave up 8 runs in 1.1 innings in an absolute horror-show of a performance. Tribe fans will be channeling the spirit of early-April Zach this afternoon and hope he can snap out of his recent funk. His opponent is Max Scherzer, the Tigers' ace of the staff, who hasn't lost to the Indians since June 6, 2012. The reigning AL Cy Young winner hasn't shown any signs of slowing down since his impressive 2013 campaign, and sits with a 6-1 record and an AL-best 1.83 ERA. The Indians' hitters will need to capitalize on any and every opportunity they get if they want to stand any chance of taking Scherzer down today.

Jason Giambi returns to the lineup since being reactivated from the DL yesterday. In the small amount of time he's spent with the team in 2014, he's gone 0 for 10 at the plate, so he will be aiming to make a positive impression on his comeback this afternoon.

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Today's other AL Central games

White Sox (Jose Quintana) @ Royals (Jeremy Guthrie), 8:10 ET

Twins (Phil Hughes) @ Padres (Tyson Ross), 9:10 ET

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Today's Indians minor league affiliate games

Triple-A: Columbus Clippers off-day

Double-A: Akron RubberDucks @ Altoona, game underway

High-A: Carolina Mudcats (TBD) @ Wilmington, 4:35 ET

Single-A: Lake County Captains vs. Fort Wayne, game underway

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