Indians at Rangers
Although the Cleveland Indians performed well enough in 2016 to finish a game short of winning their first World Series title since 1948, the Texas Rangers proved to be the one riddle they struggled to solve the most. One day after matching last season's win total against the Rangers, the Indians eye their first road sweep of Texas since 2008 on Wednesday in the finale of their three-game series.
Cleveland went 2-5 against Texas last season and four of the losses were by at least four runs, as a 12-1 victory on Aug. 26 accounted for more than half of the team's runs (23) in the series. New cleanup hitter Edwin Encarnacion did his part to help the cause by going 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs in the Indians' 8-5 triumph on Opening Day, while Carlos Santana went deep in Tuesday's 4-3 win and is 4-for-8 with a blast and three RBIs in the early going. Rougned Odor (3-for-8, two homers) and Nomar Mazara (4-for-8) have sparked the Rangers' potent offense thus far, but former Indian Mike Napoli has recorded only one hit while striking out three times in six at-bats. After watching Yu Darvish and Martin Perez combine for nine walks thus far, Cole Hamels will try to help Texas avoid its first 0-3 start in 10 years when he squares off against Danny Salazar in his 2017 debut.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland), FSN Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Danny Salazar (2016: 11-6, 3.87 ERA) vs. Rangers LH Cole Hamels (2016: 15-5, 3.32)
Salazar went 10-3 with a 2.75 ERA and held hitters to a .204 average in 17 first-half starts last year before injuries took their toll, and he posted only a 1-3 mark with a 7.44 ERA in eight post-break outings as a result. The 2016 All-Star was up-and-down in exhibition play for the fourth straight spring despite striking out a league-leading 37 in 26 frames, finishing 2-1 with a 4.85 ERA in seven turns. Salazar fanned 10 in his only start against Texas last season but took the loss anyway after yielding two runs over 5 1/3 innings.
Hamels extended his streak of striking out at least 194 batters to seven consecutive seasons in 2016 with 200 while also posting his highest win total since 2012 despite struggling somewhat at home. The 2008 World Series MVP went 5-2 with a 4.40 ERA at Globe Life Park last year but was sharp over his last three spring outings after a rough exhibition opener, going 2-0 with a 1.20 ERA over that stretch. Hamels notched his first win in four career starts versus the Indians on Aug. 25 after allowing two hits and fanning eight over as many scoreless innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. After going 1-for-28 with 21 strikeouts in his previous 18 games, Texas 3B Joey Gallo went 2-for-4 with a home run and two strikeouts Tuesday.
2. All six of Santana's career leadoff homers have come since the start of the 2016 season.
3. Rangers CF Delino DeShields is expected to draw his first start of the season Wednesday, while C Jonathan Lucroy likely will return to the lineup after sitting out Tuesday.