Indians try to improve interleague record vs. Rockies (Aug 09, 2017)
CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Indians will try to put more window dressing on the eyesore that is their interleague record Wednesday afternoon when they host the Colorado Rockies in the final game of a two-game mini-series at Progressive Field.
The teams will be hard-pressed to top the dramatics of the series opener Tuesday night, which ended on a three-run, walk-off home run by Yan Gomes with two outs in ninth inning, giving Cleveland a 4-1 victory.
Even with that win, the Indians' interleague record is only 6-13, the worst in the American League.
Cleveland (60-50) leads the American League Central by two games over the second-place Kansas City Royals. Colorado slipped a half-game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the battle for the top National League wild card.
Playing in an AL park means the Rockies can utilize a designated hitter for two games. Rookie Raimel Tapia filled the role Tuesday night, and he went 1-for-3.
Before the game, Colorado manager Bud Black expected Tapia, with no experience as a DH, would be "like a caged lion between at-bats."
Black said he talked to some potential DH candidates before the series.
"Some didn't want to do it, some did. We'll go with Cargo (Carlos Gonzalez) at DH (on Wednesday)," Black said.
Gonzalez could get a crack at the Indians less-than-full-strength bullpen. All-Star lefty Andrew Miller is on the disabled list, and workhorse Bryan Shaw, who led the American League in appearances in two of the past three years, is in a slump.
Miller (right patellar tendinitis) is eligible to come off the disabled list on Sunday.
"He may not be ready to come off the day he is eligible, but I don't think it will be too much more than that," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "It's hard not having him out there when you're used to having him out there."
With Miller unavailable, the Indians are operating with just one left-hander in the bullpen, rookie Tyler Olson, who has pitched well in limited opportunities. In six appearances, Olson has thrown 4 1/3 scoreless innings, yielding four hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
In his past four appearances, Shaw has pitched three innings and given up six runs on nine hits, and opposing teams are hitting .529 against him (9-for-17).
"His stuff is fine," Francona said. "He just runs into a period once or twice a season when he's not perfect. But the last thing you want to do is run away from him, because when he finds it, he's more valuable than ever."
The job of keeping the bullpen's workload manageable on Wednesday will belong to starter Trevor Bauer (10-8, 5.00 ERA). Bauer has won each of his past three starts, and he is tied with Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco for the team lead in wins. In his past two starts, Bauer allowed two runs in a total of 15 innings.
Bauer's last start against Colorado came on June 7, when he took the loss in an 8-1 Rockies victory. In that game, Bauer got rocked for four runs on five hits and five walks in 3 1/3 innings. In two career starts against the Rockies, he is 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA.
Right-hander Antonio Senzatela (10-4, 4.78 ERA) will start Wednesday for the Rockies. It will be Senzatela's first start since July 24. His past two appearances were out of the bullpen. In 17 starts, Senzatela has a 4.99 ERA. In five relief appearances, he has a 2.70 ERA. Over his last five starts, he is 1-2 with an 8.05 ERA.
One of Senzatela's wins this year came on June 6, an 11-3 victory over Cleveland. He pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk. That was his lone career appearance against the Indians.
