CLEVELAND — With a chance to clinch a third consecutive American League Central title
Blake Treinen Jersey , the Cleveland Indians will host the Detroit Tigers in the second game of a three-game series on Saturday afternoon at Progressive
Field.The Indians’ magic number for clinching the division is one. Even if the
Indians lose Saturday, they would clinch the title if Minnesota loses to Kansas
City.With a 15-game lead over the second-place Twins, the Indians will obviously
clinch the division at some point. The only question is when. This will be the
fourth time the Indians have made it to the postseason in the six seasons since
Terry Francona became manager in 2013.Article continues below ...“We take a lot
of pride in that,” Francona said. “It’s hard to do. Not everything goes your
way, but we’ve found a way to be good enough, and done it in a good
way.”Whenever the Indians clinch the division, Francona said it’s a celebration
worth having, no matter how big the margin.“I want our guys to enjoy it because
it’s really hard,” he said. “But then you turn the page and it’s ‘What’s
next?'”The Indians will likely play the Houston Astros in the Division Series,
but what’s next is Saturday’s home game against the Tigers in which Cleveland
right-hander Mike Clevinger will face Detroit right-hander Michael
Fulmer.Clevinger (11-8, 3.16 ERA) will be making his 30th start of the season.
His last start was a 6-2 loss to Toronto on Sunday in which he pitched six
innings, allowing three runs and four hits, with nine strikeouts and two walks.
That is Clevinger’s only loss in his last eight starts, during which he has a
4-1 record and a 2.40 ERA.Clevinger’s last start against the Tigers was a 2-1
loss on July 28, when he pitched five innings, giving up just two runs and five
hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. In two starts against Detroit this
year, Clevinger is 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA. He has made eight career appearances
(seven starts) against the Tigers and is 4-2 with a 2.52 ERA.Fulmer (3-11, 4.56)
has had a tough year. He hasn’t won a game since June 14. In nine starts since
then
http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-chris-hatcher-jersey , he is 0-6 with a 5.23 ERA.Fulmer’s last start against Cleveland came June 8. He
got no decision in a 4-1 Tigers loss. In that game, Fulmer pitched seven
innings, allowing one run and five hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.In
two starts against the Indians this year, Fulmer is 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA. In
seven career starts against Cleveland, he is 2-3 with a 6.11 ERA. In five career
starts at Progressive Field, Fulmer is 2-3 with a 7.20 ERA.The Tigers won the
first game of the series Friday night, snapping their four-game losing streak
with a 5-4 victory that also halted their 10-game losing streak at Progressive
Field.Two of Cleveland’s six hits were by third baseman Josh Donaldson, who in
the sixth inning, in his first game at Progressive Field as a member of the
Indians, belted his first home run in a Cleveland uniform. The Indians acquired
Donaldson in a trade with Toronto on Aug. 31.Donaldson will not play in
Saturday’s game as the Indians are easing him back into the lineup after he
missed 3 1/2 months earlier this season with a strained calf. DETROIT (AP) —
George Springer understood the situation as he was about to dive for Dawel
Lugo’s line drive in the eighth inning.“I could tell I was either going to get
to it, or this is going to be a really bad play,” the Houston outfielder said.
“I’m happy that I got to it.”Springer made the catch to help preserve Houston’s
lead, and the Astros swept a series at Comerica Park for the first time,
wrapping up a three-game set with a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers on
Wednesday. The Tigers had a man on first with two outs in the eighth when Lugo
hit a liner down the line in right field. Springer made a diving catch . If he
had missed and the ball had skipped past, the tying run would have scored.“I
think George on his own took a step toward the line to start the play,” Houston
manager AJ Hinch said. “Got a great jump on it. With the runner in motion, a lot
of bad can happen if he doesn’t come up with that, but it’s the right play to
dive. Certainly the right play to be aggressive.”It was the 13th series sweep of
the season for the Astros
Sean Manaea Jersey , who have won 10 of their last 11 games. Houston entered with a three-game lead over Oakland atop the AL West.Gerrit Cole (14-5)
allowed two runs and three hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out
nine.Josh James pitched three innings in relief, allowing a two-run homer by
Nicholas Castellanos in the seventh that pulled the Tigers within a run. Ryan
Pressly pitched a perfect ninth for his first save.James McCann also homered for
Detroit. Daniel Norris (0-4) allowed five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3
innings.“I started running out of gas in the third inning, which is frustrating,
because that’s not how you want to feel,” said Norris, who returned from the
disabled list Sept. 1 after missing much of the season with a groin injury. “I
got through four with a lot of weak contact, but I started missing spots in the
fifth and they have great hitters.”Houston trailed 2-1 before scoring four runs
in the fifth. Alex Bregman put the Astros ahead with a two-run double, and Tyler
White added a sacrifice fly. An RBI double by Marwin Gonzalez made it
5-2.Bregman opened the scoring with an RBI single in the third. Mikie Mahtook
answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, and McCann led off the
Detroit fourth with a homer.The Astros swept a three-game series at Tiger
Stadium in 1998, but they’d never done it at Detroit’s current ballpark, which
opened in 2000.LEADERSCole moved into the American League lead in strikeouts
with 260, two more than teammate Justin Verlander. Bregman has a major
league-best 50 doubles, along with 100 runs and 100 RBIs. The last player to
reach all three of those marks in one season was Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers,
who had 101 runs, 52 doubles and 109 RBIs in 2014.TRAINER’S ROOMAstros: C Martin
Maldonado was shaken up in the fifth when Detroit’s Ronny Rodriguez caught him
on the left arm with the bat while following through on a swing. Maldonado
stayed in the game.Tigers: SS Niko Goodrum left the game with a right quad
contusion after he collided with LF Christin Stewart when Stewart went to the
ground to make the catch on a shallow fly in the second.UP NEXTHouston is off
Thursday before hosting a three-game series against Arizona. Dallas Keuchel
(11-10) starts the opener for the Astros on Friday night.Detroit also has an off
day before three games at Cleveland. Matthew Boyd (9-12) takes the mound for the
Tigers on Friday night against Josh Tomlin (1-5).
