The Cleveland Indians (21-21, 1st AL Central) visit the Houston Astros (28-17, 1st AL West) on Saturday for the second game of a three-game weekend series.
The Indians snapped a losing streak of two games on Wednesday with a 6-0 victory against Detroit. Trevor Bauer had 10 strikeouts in eight innings for the Indians. The Indians were off on Thursday before traveling to play the Astros. Houston has won two consecutive games and four of its last five after defeating the Los Angeles Angels 2-0 on Wednesday. Justin Verlander shutout the Angels on five hits and a two-run home run by Evan Gattis was all Houston needed in the way of offense. Houston was off on Thursday as well.
Michael Brantley leads the Indians with a .338 batting average. Jose Ramirez is the team leader in home runs with 13 and RBIs with 30. Cleveland has a team batting average of .249, while opposing hitters are averaging .235 at the plate against Indians pitching. On Saturday, the Indians will send Corey Kluber to the mound. The right-hander this season is 6-2, with an ERA of 2.34, 61 Ks and 10 BBs.
Jose Altuve leads the Astros with a .309 batting average and 56 hits. George Springer leads in home runs with eight, while Carlos Correa leads the team in RBIs with 39. Houston has a team batting average of .252 while opposing hitters are averaging .196 at the plate against Astros pitching. On Saturday, the Astros will send Dallas Keuchel to the mound. The southpaw this season is 3-5 with an ERA of 3.10, 45 Ks and 15 BBs.
