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Oakland A's @ Cleveland Indians
Friday, July 10th, 7:10 ET, Progressive Field
TV: STO, MLBTV
Radio: WTAM
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It has been a rough couple of weeks for Cleveland Indians starter Danny Salazar. He (like every Tribe pitcher) had a strong outing against the Tampa Bay Rays in the last week of June, but three of his last four starts have not lasted more than five innings, and in two of them he allowed five or more runs.
Salazar’s biggest weakness has always been allowing home runs and that problem has popped up again this year, despite some incredible strikeout numbers and even an improved groundball rate.
Battling the Oakland A’s could be just what he needs. Coming into today’s matchup, the A’s are 11th in the American League in home runs and 5th in groundball percentage. Their lineup does not strike out a dramatic amount (17.5% of the time, 13th in the AL), but Salazar has already proved he can strikeout just about anyone.
This will also mark the first game that Brandon Moss will play against his former team since the Indians traded for him prior to this season. I don't normally believe in this type of things giving a player a boost but, heck, I'll take anything to get Moss back on track.
Let's go Tribe!