Detroit slugger/Indians nemesis Miguel Cabrera comes into this weekend's three-game series between the teams in a bit of a slump. Some might be thrilled about that until you consider that Miggy was 2-for-11 coming into the series two weeks ago.
All he did in the three games against the Tribe April 10-12 was go 11-for-14 with four runs scored, two home runs and six RBI. In the final two games of the series, he had consecutive four-hit games for the first time in his career.
In 133 games against the Tribe, Cabrera is batting .357 (184-for-516) with 37 home runs and 118 RBI. He leads active players in slugging percentage (.632), batting average, home runs and RBI against Cleveland.
"You do your best to get him out. There's not much else you can say," said T.J. House. "You try to mix it in more and throw inside. It's just hard to say."
Also during the last series, Cabrera became the first Tigers player with 11 or more hits over a span of three games since July 1952, when Walt Dropo was 13-for-14 in a two-day stretch that included one game at Yankee Stadium and a doubleheader against the Washington Senators.
The simplest solution would be to walk Cabrera most of the time, but Victor Martinez, J.D. Martinez and Yoenis Cespedes follow him in the order. Of Cabrera's 12 plate appearances in the first series, only five were with the bases empty. He was 2-for-2 leading off an inning, including a home run.
"It's hard to walk him with runners on first and second and none out," manager Terry Francona said. "Anytime we thought we could walk him, there were no situations to do that. When he feels that good at the plate, that's a bad feeling."
Victor Martinez's .353 average against his former team ranks second while J.D. Martinez is batting .316 and has eight home runs against the Indians over the past two seasons.
All three Indians starters did not face Detroit the first time around. Danny Salazar, who gets the start on Friday, is coming off a 10-strikeout performance in his season debut and Trevor Bauer, who gets the call on Saturday, is 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA in three starts this year. Sunday's starter, Carlos Carrasco, is 2-1 after a solid outing on Tuesday against the White Sox.
Cabrera over his career is 5-for-13 with a home run against Salazar, 4-for-14 versus Bauer and 6-for-18 with a home run when facing Carrasco.
The Tribe come into the series with the American League's worst record (5-9) and are 2-4 on the current road trip. They have dropped four straight at Comerica Park and overall have lost 10 of their last 11 to the Tigers.
Detroit is 5-5 in its last 10 games and dropped three of four to the Yankees. Cabrera was 2-for-13 in the series while Victor Martinez was an uncharacteristic 0-for-10. The Tigers have scored only one run in the past 17 innings.
Cleveland comes into the series after dropping two of three in Chicago. The team's .220 batting average is 13th in the American League and the .282 on-base percentage is last. Of the batters in the top half of the order, the only one batting over .250 on the road trip is Michael Brantley, who is 6-for-23 with three RBI (.261). Michael Bourn, Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana and Brandon Moss are a combined 15-for-84 (.179).
"If I can yell at them and make them hit I'd do it but that's not the way it works," Francona told reporters after Wednesday's 6-0 loss to the White Sox. "You have to keep grinding. You get frustrated but the way our season is going to be defined is how we handle it and keep plugging away."
