MLB GAME OF THE DAY: ASTROS (32-18) @ INDIANS (24-23)

steemsports (80)in #steemsports • 6 years ago

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It's a light day of action across the majors as there are only 8 games on-tap for today. As much of the league enjoys an off day, there are still a few quality match-ups going on across baseball. The Brewers and Mets will start a long weekend series from Milwaukee, the Mariners and A's finish up their series from Oakland, and the Red Sox and Rays will once again go at it from Tampa. Today's MLB Game of the Day, though, comes from Cleveland where a pair of first-place clubs are set to square-off in a 4-game weekend series.

It should be a great pitching duel as Houston will send Charlie Morton to the mound, who's been lights out thus far on the season. He's posted a perfect 6-0 record with just a 1.94 ERA in 9 starts. He's surrendered just 1 run in 3 of his last 4 starts, and has notched 70 K's to just 18 walks. He's hit double-digits in strikeouts in 3 of his starts on the season. He's a large part of the reason that Houston touts an incredible MLB-best team-ERA of just 2.39 after 50 games and have an MLB-best 517 strikeouts.

The Indians have a tough task ahead of them dealing with the Astros' pitching, but will counter with Mike Clevinger, who's off to a solid start himself, posting a 3-1 record with a 2.87 ERA through his 9 starts. He's notched 59 2/3 innings pitched thus far and has surrendered just 3 home runs. After a really hot start to the season, he's cooled off a bit as of late - he gave up just 5 runs total in his first 4 starts but has been hit for 14 runs over his last 5. None-the-less, he'll look to keep it a low-scoring affair when the two meet-up tonight.

Jose Ramirez continues to crush the ball for Cleveland, as he comes in hitting .296 with 14 HRs and 34 RBIs, leading the team in the latter two categories. Francisco Lindor has teamed with Ramirez to form a tough 1-2 punch for opposing pitchers to have to deal with as he comes in hitting .306 with 12 HRs and 27 RBIs. Michael Brantley leads the team in hitting at .338 and has contributed 7 HRs and 30 RBIs himself to lead the Indians.

For Houston, Jose Altuve once-again leads the way with a .313 average, and has 22 RBIs, George Springer is hitting .294 with a team-best 10 HRs and has 31 RBIs, and Carlos Correa leads the team in RBIs with 32, and has contributed a .273 average and 8 HRs as well. Houston comes in 8-2 in their last 10 overall, and winners of 3 straight. The two teams just met-up last weekend in Houston with the Astros taking 2 of 3. The Indians will look to return the favor from Progressive Field in Cleveland starting tonight. It should be a great battle between the first-place clubs in the AL Central and AL West.

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