Mariners at Indians
The Cleveland Indians seek their fourth straight series win when they host the Seattle Mariners on Sunday in the rubber match of the three-game set. The Indians have won eight of 11 overall after picking up a 4-3 victory in Saturday's contest in which all the runs were scored in the first inning.
A fourth consecutive series victory would be the team's first such run since an identical string accomplished last June amid a historic 14-game winning streak. Veteran right-hander Josh Tomlin will try to continue his turnaround from a rocky start to the year when he gets the nod for Cleveland opposite rookie Chase De Jong, who is making his first career start. Tomlin will need to be wary of Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager, who homered Saturday and is batting .366 with five home runs, nine doubles and 15 runs scored in 21 career games at Progressive Field. Jose Ramirez delivered a two-run double in the Indians' first-inning rally in the 4-3 triumph and he is hitting .357 with five extra-base hits during a seven-game hitting streak.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, ROOT (Seattle), SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners RH Chase De Jong (0-1, 5.79 ERA) vs. Indians RH Josh Tomlin (1-3, 9.33)
De Jong has made two relief appearances for Seattle, taking the loss after giving up a walk-off homer at Houston on April 5 and then dominating through four scoreless frames at Oakland on April 22. The 23-year-old, who was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers in March, has also gone 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA in two starts for Triple-A Tacoma. De Jong has a 3.39 ERA in 95 career games (83 starts) at the minor-league level.
Tomlin gave up 13 runs in 6 1/3 innings through his first two outings but has since posted back-to-back quality starts. The Texas native limited Houston to three runs on eight hits with no walks and six strikeouts in six frames Tuesday and he has walked only two batters in 18 1/3 innings on the year. Tomlin, 32, is 4-1 with a 3.32 ERA in six career starts versus Seattle, but Seager (6-for-12, five doubles) and Robinson Cano (7-for-17, two homers) have handled him well.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cano has hit safely in 18 of his last 21 games in Cleveland while batting .349.
2. Indians LHP Andrew Miller struck out four in 1 2/3 scoreless innings Saturday and has yet to allow a run in 11 2/3 frames on the year.
3. Cleveland is 0-3 on Sunday, compared to 13-7 the rest of the week.