Indians at White Sox
Off to their best start since winning the World Series in 2005, the Chicago White Sox will play their home opener against the Cleveland Indians on Friday afternoon in the first of a three-game set between AL Central Division rivals. Chicago continued its impressive start with a 6-1 victory over Oakland on Thursday to take three of four in the series.
Adam Eaton is providing quite the spark at the top of the lineup for the White Sox by going 9-for-16 and collecting multiple hits in each of the four games. Jose Abreu also has hit safely in all four games and clubbed his first homer while driving in three runs Thursday. The finale of Cleveland's three-game series at Boston was postponed on Thursday, with a likely makeup date set for Aug. 15. After a pair of shaky starts from Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco, the Indians send Danny Salazar to the mound to oppose veteran left-hander John Danks.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, STO (Cleveland), CSN Chicago
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Danny Salazar (2015: 14-10, 3.45 ERA) vs. White Sox LH John Danks (2015: 7-15, 4.71)
Salazar went through his first full season as a major-league starter in 2015 and established himself as one of the better young arms in the game. The 26-year-old Dominican notched 195 strikeouts in 185 innings and limited opponents to a .226 batting average. Although he split two decisions versus the White Sox in 2015, Salazar struck out 16 batters and permitted only a pair of runs in 12 2/3 innings.
Danks set a career high in losses in 2005 -- his seventh season with double-digit defeats -- while his unsightly ERA actually was his lowest over the past four years. Cleveland contributed to those ugly stats for Danks, who was 0-3 with a 6.49 ERA in four starts against the Indians while surrendering five home runs in 21 innings. That pushed his careeer numbers versus Cleveland to 5-14 with a 5.29 ERA.
WALK-OFFS
1. Eaton has a 13-game hitting streak dating to last year and has reached base safely in 26 games in a row.
2. Indians OF Michael Brantley will work out with Triple-A Columbus over the weekend while rehabbing from shoulder surgery.
3. Cleveland won 10 of 19 games against Chicago in 2015.