Cleveland @ Chicago preview
Guaranteed Rate Field
Last Meeting ( Oct 1, 2010 ) Cleveland 7, Chi. White Sox 3
The Cleveland Indians are ensuring they’ll end a lousy season on a high note. Mark Buehrle is trying to do the same thing.
Buehrle has one last chance to end his dreadful stretch to close the season, but he’ll have to do it against an Indians team that has won seven straight.
The Chicago White Sox ace hasn’t won since pitching seven shutout innings on Aug. 19 to defeat the Minnesota Twins back when his club was still a contender in the division. Since then, he’s 0-4 with a 5.93 ERA.
Buehrle needs a victory on Saturday to avoid finishing a season with a losing record for the second time in his career. Coincidentally, he was 12-13 in 2006. He’ll take that same record into his final start this season.
Win or lose, Buehrle remains a consistent member of the rotation. This is his 10th consecutive season with double-digit victories, 200 innings and at least 30 starts. He has averaged 14.8 victories per season over the last five years and will finish right around that mark again this season.
The Indians are hoping they’ll eventually get that kind of consistency out of Carlos Carrasco.
One of the key pieces to the Cliff Lee trade with the Philadelphia Phillies last year, Carrasco is positioning himself nicely for a spot in the rotation next season.
The 23-year-old was called up on Sept. 1 and has consistently gotten ahead of hitters. Carrasco threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of 29 batters in his last start against the Detroit Tigers. It’s a big reason why he has pitched at least six innings and allowed three runs or less in each of his six September starts.
The Indians’ 7-3 victory over the White Sox on Friday gave them their longest winning streak since they won 10 straight from Aug. 17-27, 2008. They won’t have the opportunity to win 10 in a row this year, but the strong close to the season is enough to please manager Manny Acta.
The Indians are two games ahead of the Kansas City Royals, meaning they need just one more victory to avoid finishing last in the AL Central for consecutive seasons.
Shin-Soo Choo added to his career high with his 22nd homer, but his two RBIs were significant because it gave him 90 for the season. The Indians didn’t have anyone with 90 RBIs last year and Choo barely saved them from having it happen again this year.