Series Preview: Indians @ Diamondbacks

Cleveland Indians @ Arizona Diamondbacks

Chase Field in Arizona

Pitching Probables
Game 1 Friday - 9:40 p.m. RHP Josh Tomlin vs. RHP Shelby Miller
Game 2 Saturday - 8:10 p.m. RHP Trevor Bauer vs. RHP Zack Greinke
Game 3 Sunday - 4:10 p.m. RHP Corey Kluber vs. LHP Patrick Corbin

Friday night's game at Chase Field in Phoenix marks the start of what should be a very interesting Interleague series between two teams off to a hot start. I will admit I am surprised to see Arizona at 3-1, considering they've been at the bottom of the NL West for a while. However, I am even more surprised in the way they won their opening series against the San Francisco Giants. Let's take a look at how both teams got to this early-season showdown.

Michael Brantley LF

Background: Cleveland
With the three-game sweep of Texas, the Tribe made an early statement to the rest of the league: The defending AL Champs are a force to be reckoned with. The Indians showed they are built to come from behind, with two of the three wins being comebacks (8-5 in Game 1, and 9-6 in Game 3). The Tribe also showed that they can win either in a slugfest, or with pitching in a low-scoring game (4-3 in Game 2). Cleveland has a powerful lineup with the likes of Carlos Santana and Edwin Encarnacion, as well as a pitching staff with Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco as the top two starters. Not to mention one of the best bullpens in Major League Baseball with Andrew Miller and Cody Allen at the back end. This combination should help the Tribe win a lot of ballgames in a variety of different ways.

Background: Arizona
The Diamondbacks are off to a 3-1 start to their season, thanks in large part to an offensive explosion against the Giants. Check out these scores:

Game 1: Diamondbacks 6, Giants 5.
Game 2: Giants 8, Diamondbacks 4.
Game 3: Diamondbacks 8, Giants 6.
Game 4: Diamondbacks 9, Giants 3

Arizona exploded for 27 runs over four games, but the Diamondbacks pitching staff also gave up 22 runs. Arizona's offensive output is averaging nearly seven runs per game, while the pitching staff is giving up nearly six runs a game. Yes, winning is the bottom line in this business, and every team will take wins however they can get them. But, I think Arizona pitching coach Mike Butcher isn't exactly happy with his pitching staff's performance thus far.

Since the season is still very young, I am intrigued by all three pitching match ups. I'm especially interested to see if Trevor Bauer will hold his own and outduel Zack Greinke, a 3x All-Star and 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner.

Tribe Keys to Victory
1. Clutch starting pitching: While the Indians can win slugfests, to truly cool off Arizona, all three Indians starters are going to have to stay in the game for six innings or more. If the Diamondbacks chase Tomlin, Bauer or Kluber from the game early and get into the bullpen, the Indians could be in for a rough series.

2. Play from in front: In 2016, the Indians' M.O. of grabbing the lead first and playing from in front went a long way to helping them win 94 ballgames and the American League Championship. If they can do that in this series against Arizona, it will force the Diamondbacks pitchers to be "perfect" and put pressure on them to hold games while the lineup plays from behind.

Andrew Miller LHP

3. Get to the 7th or later with the lead: We said this could be a key in nearly every series, and the Indians have what could be one of the best bullpens in all of baseball. There are plenty of quality arms that Terry Francona can choose from to shut the game down. Lefty setup man Andrew Miller and right-handed closer Cody Allen lead the way, but Tito has a very deep bullpen elsewhere, including: RHP Shawn Armstrong, LHP Boone Logan, RHP Zach McAllister, RHP Dan Otero and RHP Bryan Shaw. Two lockdown pitchers in Miller and Allen, and a mix of reliable relievers everywhere else? That's a recipe for late-game success!


Fun Stat of the Day
While I'm excited for every Indians game, I'm interested in this series because it's only the third time Cleveland has played Arizona since 2011. The Tribe has a 4-3 record against the Diamondbacks since then. They don't seem to play the Snakes all that often.

A rare matchup between two hot teams? Sounds like fun! Tune into Fox Sports Ohio at 9:40 p.m. to catch game one! It should be a real barn burner! GO TRIBE!

Sources:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/greinza01.shtml
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/schedule/sortable.jsp?c_id=cle&year=2011
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/schedule.php?y=2014&t=CLE