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Series Preview: Baltimore Orioles at Cleveland Indians

After an exasperating doubleheader split with the Diamondbacks, the Indians welcome the Baltimore Orioles to Progressive over the weekend for three games.

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Adam Jones using an old Indian celebration pie after a game winning home run
Adam Jones using an old Indian celebration pie after a game winning home run
Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

The Tribe conclude this relatively short homestand with three games against the smoking hot Baltimore Orioles.

  • Friday's game is at 7:05 PM (Chen vs. Kluber)
  • Saturday's game is at 7:05 PM (Jimenez vs. Carrasco)
  • Sunday's game is at 1:05 PM (Gausman vs. House)

After yet another off day on Monday, the Indians head to Minnesota for three games before coming home to face off the final new team on the 2014 schedule, the Houston Astros.

Playoff Watch: Royals at Twins, Mariners at Tigers, Angels at Rangers, Yankees at Rays.

Team in a Box

Baltimore Orioles

Offense

AL Rank

Pitching

AL Rank

2014 Record

69-50

Runs/Game

4.4

6th

Runs/Game

3.9

4th

AL East

1st

OBP

314

11th

H/9

8.6

6th

Last 10

8-2

SLG

420

2nd

BB/9

3.0

10th

Last 30

20-10

Steals

31

15th

SO/9

7.0

14th

The Indians haven't seen the Orioles since mid-May. The O's have been scorching hot since then. They were in third place and only 2.5 games out. Today they are well out in front of the rest of the AL East, with a 7.5 game lead. In August they are 9-3 with a 285/336/511 line and averaging 5.5 runs per game. On the pitching side they have a 3.20 ERA, 1.206 WHIP and 7.4 K/9. The one thing the Orioles do not do is steal bases with just a mere 31 on the year.

The May series was a four game split. The Orioles cranked six home runs in the four games and hit 293/371/480. The pitching was hit hard though, 5.18 ERA, 1.350 WHIP, 6.5 K/9 and four bombs given up.

Projected Roster

Pos

Player

Bats

PA

BA

OPS

C

Nick Hundley

R

110

222

588

1B

Chris Davis

L

419

196

704

2B

Jonathan Schoop

R

352

217

604

3B

Ryan Flaherty

L

220

200

580

SS

JJ Hardy

R

438

283

703

LF

Nelson Cruz

R

499

263

854

CF

Adam Jones

R

516

287

800

RF

Nick Markakis

L

548

293

764

DH

Delmon Young

R

176

304

782

OF

Steven Pearce

R

264

283

842

OF

David Lough

L

156

219

620

IF

Cord Phelps

S

-

-

-

C

Caleb Joseph

R

183

228

711

This team loves the long ball. Between Davis, Cruz and Jones, they have 75 home runs. Davis is below the Mendoza line but does take a walk and has a 206 ISO. Markakis and Young are both dangerous and I would expect to see some of Pearce as well. With Manny Machado landing on the DL recently, old friend Cord Phelps will return to Cleveland.

In the May series, Cruz, Pearce, Jones and Machado all had 1000 or better, with Cruz at a staggering 1632. He also placed two over the fence with Machado, Ryan Flaherty, Davis and Markakis each hitting one. The only hitter to really struggle was Schoop.

Projected Staff

Player

Throws

ERA

IP

WHIP

K/9

Chris Tillman

R

3.68

156.2

1.264

6.0

Ubaldo Jimenez

R

4.51

105.2

1.533

7.9

Wei-Yin Chen

L

3.75

120.0

1.268

6.7

Kevin Gausman

R

3.90

67.0

1.418

6.2

Bud Norris

R

3.75

120.0

1.258

6.8

Zach Britton

L

2.11

59.2

0.922

7.8

Darren O'Day

R

1.01

53.2

0.894

9.2

Andrew Miller#

L

2.28

47.1

0.908

14.5

Tommy Hunter

R

3.53

43.1

1.154

6.4

Brian Matusz

L

3.92

41.1

1.500

9.1

TJ McFarland

L

3.23

47.1

1.500

4.8

Brad Brach

R

2.78

45.1

1.081

7.7

#includes stats with Red Sox

Chen struggled with the Blue Jays last time out but he dominated the Mariners in the two previous starts before that. In his past five starts, he has a 3.19 ERA, 1.161 WHIP and 7.8 K/9. The Tribe has hit him hard in both starts against them, including five runs in 6.2 innings in May. Ubaldo just was activated off the DL and pitched decent against the Cardinals, three runs in six innings. The Tribe also hit im hard in May, five runs in four innings. Gausman has a 4.71 ERA in his past five starts, 1.640 WHIP and 6.3 K/9. He has one career relief appearance against Cleveland.

The bullpen actually is pretty effective. Britton, O'Day and Miller all have WHIPs under 1.000 and low ERA. Buck Showalter also has four lefties in the pen to counter the Tribe lineup. Matusz and Britton were unscored upon in the May series, throwing 5.2 innings. McFarland is the only current reliever that struggled in the May series, everyone else has been replaced.

On the Shelf

  • C Matt Wieters [15 day DL], out for season
  • 3B Manny Machado [15 day DL], no timetable for return
  • SP Johan Santana [60 day DL], out for season

Almanac

W

L

Pct

RS

RA

Pythag

2014

2

2

500

23

19

587

2013

4

3

571

27

32

423

Last 5*

21

14

600

175

162

535

Last 10*

40

29

580

389

331

573

All-Time

1121

849

569

9270

8080

563

*Does not include 2014 stats

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