Cincinnati @ Cleveland preview

Last Meeting ( May 22, 2015 ) Cincinnati 3, Cleveland 7

Corey Kluber is starting to flash the form that won him the American League Cy Young Award last season and looks to lead the Cleveland Indians to their fifth consecutive victory against the visiting Cincinnati Reds on Saturday afternoon. The Indians rolled to a 7-3 victory in the interleague series opener to hand Cincinnati its sixth straight defeat.

Kluber has only one win in nine outings but is coming off two brilliant performances, becoming the first pitcher with 30 strikeouts in back-to-back starts since Randy Johnson in 2001 with Arizona. Brandon Moss homered and drove in three runs - matching his RBI total from the previous 12 games - and Jason Kipnis collected three hits for Cleveland on Friday. The Reds have been beat up during their season-worst skid, getting outscored 47-16. Rookie Anthony DeSclafani attempts to end both the team's drought and his own as he seeks his first win since April 20.

TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Cincinnati), SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Reds RH Anthony DeSclafani (2-4, 3.80 ERA) vs. Indians RH Corey Kluber (1-5, 3.79)

DeSclafani opened the season with three straight outstanding efforts, including back-to-back victories in which he tossed 15 scoreless innings and permitted a total of four hits. He has been going in reverse since, posting an 0-4 mark in his last five starts while going past five innings once in that span. Control issues continue to plague the 24-year-old DeSclafani, who has walked 15 batters in 19 innings over his last four turns.

Kluber has been nearly untouchable following an ugly four-start stretch in which he went 0-4 and was knocked around for 22 runs and 38 hits over 23 innings. He turned in the most dominant effort of any pitcher against St. Louis on May 13, striking out 18 and yielding one hit over eight scoreless frames. Kluber followed that up with another gem last time out, fanning 12 and giving up one run in nine innings against the Chicago White Sox, but was held out of the decision when the Indians fell in the 10th inning.

WALK-OFFS

1. Cincinnati's starting rotation has an 11.57 ERA during the six-game slide.

2. Kipnis has multiple hits in 12 of 20 games this month to boost his batting average from .218 to .337.

3. Reds RF Jay Bruce is 9-for-18 during a five-game hitting streak.

PREDICTION: Indians 5, Reds 2