Padres at Indians
The Cleveland Indians’ young starting rotation entered the season full of promise, but their last five starters have combined for a 7.66 ERA over 22 1/3 innings. Right-hander Corey Kluber will look to reverse the trend on Monday when the Indians begin a three-game series against the visiting San Diego Padres, who snapped a four-game losing streak Sunday with a 4-2 win at Miami. The Padres are still waiting for their offense to get untracked after batting a collective .189 through the first six games.
Cleveland’s Lonnie Chisenhall began the season in a reserve role with Carlos Santana taking over at third base, but the 25-year-old is making a push for more playing time after collecting five hits in his first 11 at-bats. Chisenhall served as the Indians’ designated hitter in Sunday’s 10-7 loss to Minnesota, while Santana started at third and had two hits while batting cleanup. The Padres desperately need more production from the middle of their order, with their Nos. 3-4-5 hitters batting .106 with three RBIs in six games.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FSSD (San Diego), SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres LH Robbie Erlin (0-0, 0-0 ERA) vs. Indians RH Corey Kluber (0-1, 13.50)
Erlin was named the Padres’ fifth starter after Josh Johnson landed on the disabled list during spring training with a right forearm strain. The 23-year-old, who recorded two outs in a relief appearance against the Dodgers last Wednesday, is making his first start since a spring training outing on March 26 against the Royals. Erlin was impressive in five home starts last season, but he posted a 7.06 ERA in six games away from Petco Park.
Kluber is looking to bounce back from a rough outing against Oakland last Wednesday, when he yielded five runs on eight hits on 77 pitches over 3 1/3 innings. “That was very un-Kluber like,” Indians manager Terry Francona told mlb.com. “He just threw a lot of pitches, had to work for everything he got, had a lot of deep counts and fell behind a lot of hitters.” The 27-year-old will be making his first career appearance against San Diego.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cleveland OF Michael Bourn (hamstring) is expected to join the team as soon as Thursday.
2. The Padres were outscored 22-8 in their first five games before Sunday’s 4-2 win over Miami.
3. The Indians are batting .191 (13-for-68) with runners in scoring position.