Series preview: Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox

After taking two of three from the Tigers in a fashion I could not imagine, the Tribe looks to complete this road trip in Chicago with the rival White Sox. The teams split a two gamer at Progressive in April and then the Tribe lost two of three in Chicago a week later. They swept the White Sox at Comiskey in mid-May during one of their few hot streaks, but the Sox returned the favor in July when they took all four games in Progressive.

• Monday 2:10 PM: Trevor Bauer (R) vs. Chris Sale (L)
• Tuesday 8:10 PM: Carlos Carrasco (R) vs. Carlos Rodon (L)
• Wednesday 8:10 PM: Josh Tomlin (R) vs. Jeff Samardzija (R)

The Upcoming Schedule: With this road trip complete, the Tribe head home for three straight divisional series. First up will be the Tigers for four games, then the Royals visit for four and then these White Sox for three.

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Playoff Watch: Twins at Royals, Blue Jays at Red Sox, Astros at A's, Orioles at Yankees, Rangers at Mariners, Dodgers at Angels, Rays at Tigers.

Team in a Box

The last meeting with the White Sox was very painful for the team and its fans. The Sox came into Progressive swept a four game set, outscoring the Indians 26-5 in those four games. Ouch. That got them out of the basement, and the Tribe into it. Since then, they have hovered between third and fourth in the division and now trail the Indians by just a game. They just finished a three game sweep in Kansas City, pummeling the Royals 25-7 in the three games.

Projected Roster

# includes stats with Cubs

The offense has improved quite a bit since July, but overall still resides near the bottom in most categories.

The offense has a 278/325/394 slash in the past two weeks with eight homers in twelve games. Beckham, Ramirez, Eaton and Abreu all leading the charge with over 800 OPS. Sanchez, Soto, Saladino and LaRoche are all sub-600 OPS.

In the thirteen Tribe games, Abreu has a 940 OPS, 4 HR and 10 RBi, Cabrera has a 857 OPS, 2 HR and 10 RBI, and old Tribe killer Ramirez has driven in 9 on six doubles. LaRoche, Garcia and Flowers all have sub-500 OPS.

Projected Staff

This time the Tribe opens with Chris Sale, who has been a K machine lately. In his last five starts, covering 34.2 IP, he has a 2.34 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 13.8 K/9. Yikes. He pitched 8 great innings on May 18 for a no decision, and seven dominant innings in a 10-3 win on July 25. Rodon has also been fantastic over the last month. He has a 1.85 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 8.7 K/9 in 34 IP. He was great on May 20, taking a no decision and pitched 6.2 of shutout ball, striking out 9, in a 2-1 win on July 26. The series wraps up with their only righty, Samardzija. He hasn't been too good lately, 6.16 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and 9.1 K/9 in 30.2 IP covering his last five starts. He has 6 shutout innings in an April 22 win, and just 1 run in eight innings on July 23.

The bullpen has been pretty good these past two weeks, with a 2.50 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 11.0 K/9. In the 13 Tribe games, they have been excellent, 1.91 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 12.7 K/9 covering 28.1 IP. Jennings is the only one they have scored multiple runs off of.

On the Shelf

• RP Zach Putnam [15 day DL], no timetable for return

Almanac

*Does not include 2015 stats

Prediction: I think the Tribe struggles in the first two games, but somehow ekes out another 2-1 series win.