Kennedy will try to halt a Cleveland offense on a roll
Josh Tomlin's win-loss record is a bit deceiving considering he's been downright mediocre in nearly half his outings.
The Cleveland Indians are happy he's at least regularly given them a chance to win.
That wasn't the case the last time he took the mound, though, and he'll look to bounce back by helping the Indians win a fourth straight game when he faces the visiting Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.
Tomlin (7-1, 3.79 ERA), of course, has had some solid starts to boost his record, but he's given up at least four runs in four of his nine outings. That includes Monday, when he gave up a career high-tying eight in 3 2/3 innings of a 9-2 loss to Texas.
Only four of those runs were earned, but he didn't give the Indians (29-24) much of a chance after the Rangers took a two-run lead two batters into the game, and Cleveland lost for the first time with him on the mound this season.
"I just didn't execute the pitches when I needed to execute them and put our team in a bad spot early on," Tomlin said. "Once they kind of tasted blood, they just kept piling it on."
The right-hander didn't fare much better May 8 against the Royals (30-24), who touched him up for four runs in six innings before Tomlin got enough run support to pick up a 5-4 win.
Salvador Perez has had the most success against Tomlin, going 11 for 17 with a homer and five doubles in their matchups. Perez has been out since last Saturday with a quad contusion, but manager Ned Yost suggested Perez could see the field at some point this weekend.
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"We're hoping to have him available to pinch hit or at least be an emergency (catcher) by the end of this series," Yost said. "We'll see how it progresses."
Drew Butera filled in for Perez again Friday and homered, but Kansas City finished with only three hits and fell 6-1, losing back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game skid May 8-10. Lorenzo Cain went 0 for 4 to snap a six-game hitting streak during which he batted .462 with two homers.
The Royals had won six straight prior to Thursday's loss in the series opener and will look to bounce back with Ian Kennedy on the mound.
Kennedy (4-3, 3.03) was great against the Indians on May 7, allowing four hits in seven innings of a 7-0 victory in his first start against them in five years.
The right-hander was a bit erratic Monday against Tampa Bay, walking a season-high five in six innings. Kennedy didn't let that get to him, though, and allowed only three singles and an unearned run in a 6-2 victory.
"I was just missing off the plate a little bit," Kennedy said. "Got into a lot of deep counts, a lot of pitches. I couldn't quite make the adjustment to get it back on the corners."
Kennedy has given up two earned runs or fewer in eight of his 10 outings, and he'll try to shut down a Cleveland lineup that has totaled 16 runs during a three-game winning streak. Yan Gomes and Tyler Naquin - the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters - both hit solo homers Friday, with Naquin's being his first in the majors.
