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Cleveland Indians go for the sweep in Texas

Am I supposed to continue the 162-0 meme, or am I grandfathered out of this regulation?

By Ryan
Danny Salazar will be making his 2017 debut tonight
Danny Salazar will be making his 2017 debut tonight
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland Indians @ Texas Rangers

Wednesday, April 5, 2017. 8:05 p.m. ET. Globe Life Park in Arlington

TV: STO

Radio: WTAM

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Arlington has normally been a house of horrors for the Indians; I still remember the sweep in 2004 that pretty much ended the Tribe's playoff aspirations. Even last year, the Indians lost three out of four in the Metroplex. But 2017 has been a different story, as the Indians have already clinched a series win, and could actually pull off a rare sweep with a win tonight.

*the last time they swept the Rangers on the road was 2008 (of all years). The last time before 2008 that the Indians swept a series in Texas was in 1995, when the Indians swept a two-game series (winning pitchers: Charles Nagy and Orel Hershiser).

Today's Lineups

Not too much of a surprise that Michael Brantley is out of the lineup, as sitting him tonight would allow for two days off (there's an off-day tomorrow). Tonight also marks Roberto Perez's first appearance of the season, and of course Danny Salazar makes his 2017 debut as well as tonight's starting pitcher.

If you're guessing that Brandon Guyer is batting third because of a great history versus Cole Hamels, you'd be wrong, as Guyer is 0-for-3 against the Texas southpaw. I'd chalk the reason up to Francona not liking to move players around in the order just to suit a single game replacement.

CLEVELAND INDIANS TEXAS RANGERS
Carlos Santana - DH Delino DeShields Jr. - DH
Francisco Lindor - SS Shin-Soo Choo - RF
Brandon Guyer - LF Nomar Mazara - LF
Edwin Encarnacion - 1B Mike Napoli - 1B
Jose Ramirez - 2B Rougned Odor - 2B
Yandy Diaz - 3B Carlos Gomez - CF
Austin Jackson - CF Jonathan Lucroy - C
Roberto Perez - C Joey Gallo - 3B
Abraham Almonte - RF Elvis Andrus - SS
Danny Salazar - RHP Cole Hamels - LHP

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