Indians at Athletics
Cleveland and Oakland each have 44 wins, but while the Indians are holding a comfortable eight-game lead atop the American League Central, the Athletics are sitting seven games back of the second wild card. Both teams are on a roll, though, winning eight of their last 10 as they prepare to kick off a three-game series in Oakland on Friday.
The Athletics wrapped up a 10-game road trip by completing a four-game sweep in Detroit, erasing an early two-run deficit for their third come-from-behind win in the series. "Obviously, that's the difference between going on a 6-4 road trip or 8-2," Oakland second baseman Chad Pinder said. "If we lay down there and let those guys keep rolling over us, it's a whole different road trip and we're having a different conversation." After ripping off seven straight wins, the Indians opened their nine-game road trip by dropping two in a row at St. Louis before averting a sweep with a 5-1 victory in the series finale on Wednesday. Edwin Encarnacion has homered in three of his last five games and also went deep in one of his two at bats against Paul Blackburn, the scheduled starter for the A's on Friday night.
TV: 10:05 p.m. ET, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland), NBCS California (Oakland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Trevor Bauer (7-5, 2.44 ERA) vs. Athletics RH Paul Blackburn (1-2, 8.83)
Bauer is coming off a superb performance against Detroit on Saturday, striking out 11 while giving up one run on five hits over 6 1/3 innings. It marked the sixth time in his last eight outings that he has registered double-digit strikeouts and his sixth quality start in that span. Khris Davis is 4-for-10 with a homer off Bauer, who is 1-2 with a 4.44 ERA in five starts versus Oakland.
Blackburn has been wildly erratic in his four starts this season, following up his two strong outings with a pair of duds. After limiting San Diego to two runs and four hits over five innings on June 19, he was pounded for six runs and eight hits over five innings in a loss at the Chicago White Sox last time out. Blackburn faced the Indians in July 2017, giving up three runs in six innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. A's 3B Jed Lowrie went 9-for-17 with two homers and five RBIs in the four games against the Tigers
2. Indians 3B Jose Ramirez leads the team with 23 homers, but he has only one blast and two RBIs in 17 career games versus Oakland.
3. The Athletics are a season-high six games over .500, the first time they've been at that mark through 82 games since 2014.