Corey Kluber is already on an impressive list as a Cy Young Award winner.
Failing to get a win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday would put Kluber atop a dubious one among those peers as he tries once more for his first victory of 2015.
Kluber is the third reigning Cy Young Award winner to go winless in his first seven starts the following season, joining Frank Viola (1989) and Zack Greinke (2010). While the trio have the common thread of poor run support - both Kluber and Viola were backed with 2.42 runs of support while going 0-5 in that span, and Greinke's was marginally better at 2.51 as he opened 0-4 - Kluber's 5.04 ERA is the worst of the three, slightly worse than Viola's 4.84 and more than double Greinke's 2.51.
To avoid being the first to have no wins after his first eight starts after winning a Cy Young Award will be a challenge considering Kluber has lost a career-high four straight starts. He yielded five runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings of a 7-4 defeat to Kansas City on Thursday and has a 7.43 ERA during this rough patch.
"Whether it's good or bad I don't think you dwell on it," Kluber said. "Each start is its own thing. That's when things compound on you when you try to look at three starts or five starts or whatever."
Though the Indians' run support is well below last year's 4.39 per start for the right-hander, two intertwined numbers are bigger tell-tale signs of Kluber's struggles.
Opponents are batting .290 against Kluber, notably better than .233 in 2014, and their average on the balls put in play is .373 - third-highest in the AL and sixth-highest in the majors as opposed to .318 last year. Hitters have also been more aggressive, swinging at first pitches 34.2 percent of the time and compiling a .452 average in those instances compared to 29.8 percent and .345 in 2014.
The Cardinals (23-9), hitting .354 on the first pitch of an at-bat, regrouped with an 8-3 victory Tuesday, scoring all of their runs with two outs. Lance Lynn struck out nine in six shutout innings and Matt Holliday's three-run homer capped a four-run eighth to put away the game after the Indians pulled within one.
"Overall, relentless at-bats are the goal regardless of what the situation is," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We had some guys come up big."
St. Louis also welcomed back Matt Carpenter, who went 2 for 5 with an RBI after missing last weekend's series at Pittsburgh due to extreme fatigue.
"The first time stepping in the box always feels a little foreign, but it usually comes back pretty quickly," said Carpenter, who raised his average to .336. "I hated not being able to play this game. I love being out here with these guys."
John Lackey (2-1, 3.20) is coming off one of his better starts and has allowed two runs in 13 2-3 innings in his last two starts. The veteran right-hander stifled the Chicago Cubs on one run and five hits while posting season highs of 7 2-3 innings and 10 strikeouts in a 5-1 victory Thursday.
Lackey is 8-8 with a 3.94 ERA in 19 lifetime starts versus Cleveland, and David Murphy is 11 for 25 with a two doubles and a triple lifetime against him.
The Indians were denied back-to-back wins for the second time this year and are 5-11 at home. Nick Swisher, who went 0 for 3 on Tuesday, is 10 for 64 (.156) with 24 strikeouts versus Lackey.
