New York @ Cleveland preview
Progressive Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 6, 2013 ) NY Mets 1, Cleveland 8
Although the Cleveland Indians are in the midst of 17 games in 17 days, they couldn’t ask for a much easier path toward their first playoff berth since 2007. The Indians, who continue their three-game home series with the New York Mets on Saturday, face only one team with a winning record the rest of the way. With the exception of the Kansas City Royals, who Cleveland will meet six more times in September, every other opponent sits in fourth or fifth place in their respective divisions.
Eleven of the Indians’ next 18 games are at home, where they are an American League-best 41-21 since April 30. Cleveland needs the help since it is tied with Baltimore in the race for one of the two AL wild-card spots - two games behind Tampa Bay - and trails Detroit by 6 1/2 in the AL Central. The Mets closed out August with victories in four of their final five games but have been outscored 32-17 while dropping four of their five September contests.
TV: 6:05 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), STO (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets LH Jon Niese (6-6, 3.66 ERA) vs. Indians RH Corey Kluber (7-5, 3.54)
Niese, who yielded two runs on 10 hits in Sunday’s 6-5 loss at Washington, left after 5 2/3 innings with a left calf cramp and did not factor in the decision. The Ohio native has been sharp in five outings since spending almost two months on the disabled list with a partially torn rotator cuff, going 3-0 with a 2.14 ERA. Niese won his only other start against the Indians in 2010, giving up three runs over seven innings in Cleveland.
Sidelined over a month by a finger sprain, Kluber is expected to take the mound for the first time since Aug. 5, when he held Detroit to six hits over 7 1/3 scoreless innings. The 27-year-old originally was supposed to make his return on Friday, but Justin Masterson's oblique strain forced a change of plans. Kluber, who is 3-2 with a 2.64 ERA at home, will face the Mets for the first time in his career.
WALK-OFFS
1. New York hitters have struck out 1,190 times, the second-highest mark in the National League.
2. Indians LF Michael Brantley left the team prior to Friday’s game, returning to his Florida home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.
3. Mets LHP Scott Rice, who leads the majors with 73 appearances, will have sports hernia surgery and miss the remainder of the season.
PREDICTION: Indians 4, Mets 2