The Indians will go for two in a row over the Kansas City Royals as their weekend series continues on Saturday evening at 7:05 at Progressive Field. Can this game possibly generate the excitement that last night’s did?
Probably not in the unique way that having Jim Thome back did on Friday, when the Tribe came from behind with two runs in the seventh to win 2-1, but excitement can be had in many ways when there are less than five weeks to go in a season and your team still has a chance, even if that chance seems slim.
Fausto Carmona will go for The Good Guys tonight. Carmona (6-12, 4.76 ERA) will try to build on the success he has had in his last two starts. In 14.1 innings Carmona has allowed only two earned runs in beating the White Sox and getting a no-decision against the Mariners, and in the process has dropped his ERA by .36 points.
Fausto has faced the Royals twice this year, going 1-1 in 14.1 frames and surrendering six earned runs, running his career mark against the Royals to 6-5 in 95 innings.
Both of Carmona’s starts against Kansas City in 2011 have been in Cleveland.
The Royals will counter tonight with Danny Duffy (3-8, 5.48 ERA). Duffy beat the Tribe on July 31 in his only career appearance vs. the Indians. In that game, Duffy went five frames and allowed eight hits but only two runs.
However, since then, Duffy has lost four consecutive starts, giving up 16 runs in 21 innings of work.
The series will wrap up on Sunday at 1:05 when Justin Masterson takes the hill for Cleveland, The Oakland Athletics will then come to town on Monday for the start of a four-game series that will complete this homestand on which the Indians are currently 2-3.