The Indians, losers of their first two games, will try to salvage the finale of their season-opening series with the Chicago White Sox this afternoon at Progressive Field with Justin Masterson on the mound for Cleveland against the White Sox' John Danks.
After a valiant comeback effort on Friday, the Indians fell behind early again yesterday, battled back with three runs in the second, and then went to sleep offensively for the rest of the game en route to an 8-3 loss against Edwin Jackson and the Sox' bullpen.
The game yesterday was played in front of the smallest crowd in the history of the Indians' jewel of a ballpark, as only 9,853 fans showed up.
But that was then and this is now. What is past is past and cannot be changed, right?
Justin Masterson went 6-13 for the Tribe last year with an ERA of 4.70, dropping him to 16-28 for his career with an ERA over 112 games of 4.30.
Chicago's starter John Danks has a career mark of 46-44, and went 15-11 last year with a 3.72 ERA. Danks has spent his entire career with the White Sox, appearing in 123 games -- all starts -- over the course of his four years on the South Side.
Look for lineups later this morning, as the Indians try to find a formula for both staying in a game early, and ending a game on top for the first time this year.
In fact, the Indians have not even been tied after any inning this year. Facing a deficit out of the gate is not optimal for winning a lot of games.