Indians at Yankees
CC Sabathia won 106 games in 7 1/2 years with the Cleveland Indians, but he'll be looking to send his former club to a fourth straight defeat when the host New York Yankees vie for a three-game series sweep Wednesday afternoon. Sabathia is seeking win No. 80 with the Yankees and is coming off his best outing in seven weeks. He is 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA in six career starts against Cleveland.
The Indians have dropped 11 of 15 overall and seven straight away from home. They have fallen into early holes in both games of the series courtesy of Mark Teixeira, who had a grand slam Monday and a three-run homer Tuesday to stake the Yankees to leads of 4-1 and 4-0. Indians first baseman Nick Swisher is 0-for-8 against his former team.
TV: 1:05 p.m ET, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Corey Kluber (3-3, 4.36 ERA) vs. Yankees LH CC Sabathia (5-4, 3.71)
Kluber's last start was cut short to two innings due to rain and came on the heels of an outing in which he struck out a career-high 10, only to see the bullpen blow the lead in a 6-5 loss at Boston. Kluber has allowed more than three earned runs just once this year but has only one win in his last six outings. Kluber has made one start against the Yankees, allowing one run over five innings.
Sabathia quelled growing concerns about his velocity and an inability to win in his last outing, limited Boston to one run on six hits and matching a season high with 10 strikeouts in a 4-1 victory. That ended a five-start winless streak for the burly southpaw, who was battered for seven runs in as many innings in his previous outing vs. Tampa Bay. Swisher is 8-for-23 lifetime against Sabathia.
WALK-OFFS
1. After going 1-for-9 with seven strikeouts in his first three games, Teixeira is 3-for-6 with seven RBIs in his last two.
2. Indians RF Drew Stubbs broke out of a 1-for-18 funk with a pair of hits and a three-run homer Tuesday.
3. Yankees RF Ichiro Suzuki is tied with Ted Williams for 72nd on baseball's all-time list with 2,654 hits.