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Houston at Oakland, 7:10 PM CT
TV: CSN Houston
Radio: KBME 790
Indians SBNation Blog: Let's Go Tribe
Pitching Match
RHP Lucas Harrell (0-2 / 5.63 ERA / 1.69 WHIP) vs. RHP Brett Myers (0-2 / 8.82 ERA / 1.65 WHIP)
Preview
To be honest, Cleveland has been in a black hole or blind spot of my baseball viewing. I've probably watched Major League more times then I've watch the Indians live. That may have more to do with the fact that Cleveland has been pretty much irrelevant since the start of the new century. In the past 13 seasons, the Indians have made the playoffs twice, 2001 and 2007. Turning the page to today, the Indians were the movers and shakers this past offseason - trading away fan-favorite Shin-Soo Choo for Trevor Bauer, Matt Albers, Bryan Shaw, and Drew Stubbs. They signed free agents Nick Swisher, Brett Myers, and Michael Bourn. Cleveland may not be a World Series contender this year but they have built a strong base for the future.
Focusing back on to tonight's game, the Astros look to regroup at home against the Indians with Lucas Harrell toes the rubber. Harrell is making his fourth attempt to get his first ‘W' of the year. Outside of his implosion against the A's, Harrell has allowed only two runs over 12 innings in starts against the Rangers and Angels. In the Oakland game, Harrell struggled keeping the ball down and paid for it with three homeruns by Lowrie, Crisp, and Young. The Indians current roster is batting .167 against Harrell, but Drew Stubbs has had some success (.300 over 10 at-bats).
The Indians send former Astros Brett Myers to the mound in a quest to break their current 4-game losing streak. Myers, signed with the Astros in 2010. In his two and half seasons with the Astros, he led the league in quality starts in 2011 and collected 19 saves after being switched to closer before being traded in 2012. Frankly, Myers was one the few quality signing the Astros have had over the past 10 years. Myers has had a rough start to 2013, giving up 14 runs in his first two starts; he settled down in his third start against another former team the White Sox - giving up two runs over six innings. The improvement in command later in his career has kept Myers relevant in the big leagues. Rick Ankiel is getting the start; he has .500 average against Myers with an RBI.
