Indians at Tigers
Miguel Cabrera wasted little time making his presence felt in his return from the disabled list, belting his 450th career homer to send the Detroit Tigers to their third straight victory overall and fourth in five outings this season versus the Cleveland Indians. The two-time American League MVP looks to continue his torrid display against the Indians on Wednesday in the third contest of the four-game series in Detroit.
Cabrera is 5-for-15 with two homers and seven RBIs versus Cleveland this season and owns a .294 batting average in 34 career at-bats versus Wednesday against Carlos Carrasco. Alex Avila, who launched a two-run homer off Carrasco in Detroit's 4-1 victory on April 16, had a two-run single in Monday's 7-1 rout over the Indians and added an RBI single the following day in a 5-2 triumph. Cleveland's Michael Brantley has four hits versus Detroit this season, with a pair of singles in three at-bats against Wednesday starter Matthew Boyd on April 16. The 29-year-old Brantley has tormented the Tigers in his career, batting .334 with nine homers and 56 RBIs.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland), FSN Detroit
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Carlos Carrasco (2-2, 2.04 ERA) vs. Tigers LH Matthew Boyd (2-1, 3.86)
Carrasco hasn't been done any favors this season by his offense, which has mustered just 12 runs of support during his 35 1/3 innings. The 30-year-old Venezuelan sustained his second loss in his last three trips to the mound on Friday as he was taken deep twice in a 3-1 setback to Seattle to increase his home run allowed total to five. Although Carrasco has struggled against Cabrera, the veteran traditionally has kept Ian Kinsler (.235), Victor Martinez (.226), Andrew Romine (.125), Justin Upton (.167) under wraps in his career.
Boyd got the better of Carrasco in the April 16 outing after yielding just one run in six innings to improve to 1-0 with an 0.84 ERA in two career outings versus Cleveland. The 26-year-old has recorded back-to-back no-decisions in his last two trips to the mound, with two homers spoiling a strong seven-inning outing versus the Chicago White Sox on Friday. Edwin Encarnacion saw his 18-game streak of reaching base safely end with an 0-for-4 mark on Tuesday, but he owns a .300 batting average versus Boyd.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cleveland OF Lonnie Chisenhall drove in a run with a triple on Tuesday to improve to 3-for-10 with four RBIs in his last three games.
2. Detroit 3B Nicholas Castellanos is 6-for-12 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored in his last three contests.
3. The Tigers' four wins versus the Indians this season matches their total against the division champions in 2016.