Indians at Orioles
While the Cleveland Indians have done plenty of damage on their home field since the end of April, winning on the road has been a struggle. The Indians will attempt to change that trend when they begin an 11-game road trip at the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. Jason Kipnis has reached base safely with a hit or walk in 25 straight games and is batting .400 in June to lead Cleveland, which has dropped 12 of its last 14 games away from home.
The Orioles were cruising along until a trip to Toronto this past weekend where they dropped three consecutive games and surrendered 24 runs. Baltimore slugger Chris Davis hasn’t stopped hitting, notching his 70th RBI on Sunday in a 13-5 loss to go along with his major-league best 27 homers. Ryan Flaherty has also been hot for the Orioles, going 8-for-19 with three homers in five games.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland), Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Ubaldo Jimenez (5-4, 4.66 ERA) vs. Orioles LH Zach Britton (1-1, 5.56)
Jimenez will face Baltimore for the first time after allowing two or fewer runs in eight of his last 10 starts, winning five of seven decisions. The right-hander has been a much better pitcher on the road this season, going 3-1 with a 2.77 ERA as opposed to 2-3 with a 6.82 at home. J.J. Hardy is 2-for-5 with a home run and a walk against Jimenez.
Britton came through with an outstanding performance in his last outing, holding Detroit to one run on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. The 25-year-old pitched six shutout innings to beat the Indians last July and is 1-1 overall in two career starts against them. Ryan Raburn is 2-for-2 with a double against Britton, who was 16-14 combined in 2011 and 2012.
WALK-OFFS
1. Baltimore 3B Manny Machado has a major-league leading 34 doubles and is second in hits with 106.
2. Cleveland CF Michael Bourn is 12-for-26 with five walks from the leadoff spot the last seven contests.
3. The teams split eight games last season with Cleveland winning three of four at Baltimore.