Series Preview: Baltimore Orioles at Cleveland Indians

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

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

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

#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

*Does not include 2014 stats

-

Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting daily $18,000 Fantasy Baseball leagues. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. Click here for details.