All-Star Salazar takes on the New York Yankees

New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians

Saturday, July 9, 2016. 4:10 PM ET, Progressive Field

TV: STO, MLB.TV

Radio: WTAM

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In the penultimate game before the All-Star Break, the Cleveland Indians are in fantastic shape. Currently, the Tribe is 7.5 games ahead of the second place Tigers; with a record of 52-34, Cleveland owns the second best record in the American League, behind only the Texas Rangers (at 54-34). The Indians look to extend their AL Central lead today as they take on the New York Yankees in game 3 of this 4 game series.

The Yankees send former Tribe pitcher CC Sabathia to the hill for today's contest. At age 35, Sabathia is having a solid season for the Yankees; in 82.2 innings of work on the season, Sabathia has allowed 32 earned runs while striking out 70 and only allowing 6 home runs. His ERA and FIP are fairly similar at 3.48 and 3.81 respectively, which is good for an ERA+ of 125. His last start, which came against the White Sox, was not good; through 6.0 innings, he gave up 5 earned runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. He also gave up 2 home runs, which was a first for CC this season.

The Cleveland Indians counter with All-Star Danny Salazar. Danny Salazar, in his age 26 season, is having the best season of his very young career. In 99.0 innings of work, The Dzar has only allowed 26 earned runs while striking out 113 batters as well as 8 home runs. As we all know, walks have been an issue for Danny this season; coming into today's game, Salazar has given up 44 free passes. His ERA of 2.36 leads the AL among starting pitchers, and his FIP is still a solid 3.31, which equates to an ERA+ of 199. His last outing came against Detroit on July 4, and while it wasn't his best (he only last 5.2 innings and gave up 3 earned runs), the Tribe was able to pick him up and get the win.

On the offensive side of things, Napoli gets a semi-off day at the DH position while Carlos Santana takes over at 1B. And now, here's the starting 9 for your Tribe:

LET'S GO TRIBE!!!