Kansas City @ Cleveland preview
Progressive Field
Last Meeting ( May 19, 2010 ) Kansas City 8, Cleveland 4
In a week when little has gone right for the Cleveland Indians, their most glaring concern now might be closer Kerry Wood.
Wood, who began the season on the disabled list with a pulled muscle in his back, imploded in his first save opportunity of the season Wednesday night. He was removed to a chorus of boos after allowing five runs in a third of an inning, which sent his ERA soaring to 18.90.
Kansas City rallied to win, 8-4 after entering the ninth trailing 4-3. Kansas City is now 4-2 under new Manager Ned Yost.
The Indians will pay Wood $20 million between last season and this season. So far, they’ve gotten 20 saves in return. To be fair, the Indians expected a couple of bumps along the way as Wood returned to the closer’s role.
What they didn’t need was Wednesday’s meltdown, particularly since it came hours after Grady Sizemore landed on the 15-day disabled list with a bruised left knee and Asdrubal Cabrera was transferred to the 60-day DL following surgery on his fractured left arm. Cabrera is expected to miss 8-10 weeks. The Indians recalled veteran outfielder/first baseman Shelley Duncan to take Sizemore’s roster spot.
The good news is Mitch Talbot will pitch on Thursday afternoon. Talbot and Fausto Carmona have been the Indians’ most consistent pitchers this season. Talbot held Baltimore to two runs in eight innings in his last start and has won each of his last two.
Royals starter Luke Hochevar is headed in the opposite direction. Hochevar is 1-2 with a 9.17 ERA in his last four starts. He has one win in the last month and has walked 10 batters in his last 15 innings.
This is the final game in what was considered a critical stretch for Kansas City, which has played 10 straight games against Baltimore, Chicago and Cleveland – all teams well below .500.
The Royals lost Manager Trey Hillman during the stretch, but have a chance to go 6-4 over the 10 games with a victory on Thursday. The Royals return home to open a five-game homestand against Colorado and Texas.
More importantly, at least in the short term, a victory Thursday would pull the Royals out of last place in the Central Division and send the Indians there.