Kluber starts vs. Royals, lined up for Indians
CLEVELAND -- Cy Young Award candidate Corey Kluber will start for the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night in game two of their three-game series with the Kansas City Royals. Kluber will get two more starts after this one. He'll start Sept. 25 against the White Sox and Sept. 30 in Kansas City.
That will put Kluber in line to start game one of the Division Series, assuming the Indians reach the postseason. How the Indians' starting rotation lines up for the postseason after Kluber's game one start is a topic of heavy conversation in Cleveland these days.
With Nos. 2 and 3 starters Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar suffering season-ending injuries, the Indians' postseason rotation is up in the air. Trevor Bauer will be the No.2 starter and Josh Tomlin, who pitched well in Tuesday's 2-1 win, is the best bet to be the No. 3 starter.
Indians officials will undoubtedly consider the possibility of only using three starters, and pitching Kluber and/or Bauer on short rest in the postseason.
"It's going to depend on how guys are pitching when we get toward the playoffs," Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "The good thing is Kluber and Bauer can probably pitch on three days rest whenever you need them to. We've got that in our advantage for sure."
Indians officials will ponder their options with their postseason rotation over the next 13 games. At some point they will clinch their first Central Division title since 2007. Their magic number for clinching is down to six.
Six of the Indians' last 13 games are against the Royals, the defending American League champions. The Royals' playoff hopes this season are fading, but they are still mathematically in the race for a wildcard spot.
Wednesday night the Royals will send Ian Kennedy (11-9, 3.60) to the mound against Kluber (17-9, 3.12).
In four starts against the Indians this year Kennedy is 2-2 with a 6.00 ERA. In six career starts vs. Cleveland Kennedy is 2-2 with a 5.59 ERA.
Kennedy will be coming into the game on a roll. He hasn't lost a game since July 25. In 10 starts since then he is 5-0 with a 2.14 ERA.
Kluber has basically been on a season-long roll. In his last 13 starts he is 9-1 with a 2.28 ERA, having pitched himself into position to possibly win his second Cy Young Award in three years.
In three starts against the Royals this year Kluber is 1-1 with a 2.50 ERA. In 17 career starts against Kansas City Kluber is 6-6 with a 3.23 ERA.
Both teams are coming off a dramatic 2-1 Indians victory Tuesday night. The Indians won it on a walk-off RBI single by Brandon Guyer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Indians lead the majors with 11 walk-off wins, which have come at bats by nine different players.
"With a good team, that's how it works," said Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona. "One through nine, one through twelve, one through 14, whatever it takes."
The Royals are still seething from an eighth inning rally that saw them have the potential go-ahead run at third with one out, only to have Christian Colon and Whit Merrifield called out on strikes that the Royals didn't think were strikes.
"There are a lot of things that happened in the ninth, but what went on in the eighth took us completely out of the inning," Royals manager Ned Yost said.
