Each sporting identical 32-27 records on the season, the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds will open up a much-awaited three-game Interleague series on Tuesday night at Ohio's Great American Ball Park.
The second-place Indians will look to starter Jeanmar Gomez to hopefully stifle a Cincinnati lineup that has powered the Reds into a first-place tie with Pittsburgh atop a crowded NL Central this year. In addition to the obvious parallels between the two organizations' records, the Reds and Indians have each scored 247 and 261 runs respectively this year, and both have won more games than they have lost away from home.
Even though the Chicago White Sox and the divisional lead might be just one win away at the moment, the Indians will surely have their hands full with Cincinnati starter Johnny Cueto, who is 6-3 with an impressive 2.63 ERA this season. The 26-year-old Cueto has quickly established himself as one of the most unhittable starters in the National League, and possesses more than enough in his arsenal to keep Indians hitters guessing for much of the evening.
Here are the starting lineups for Tuesday's opener:
Indians
1. Shin-Soo Choo - RF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera - SS
3. Jason Kipnis - 2B
4. Carlos Santana - C
5. Michael Brantley - CF
6. Johnny Damon - LF
7. Casey Kotchman - 1B
8. Lonnie Chisenhall - 3B
9. Jeanmar Gomez - SP
Reds
1. Chris Heisey - CF
2. Wilson Valdez - SS
3. Joey Votto - 1B
4. Brandon Phillips - 2B
5. Jay Bruce - RF
6. Todd Frazier - 3B
7. Ryan Ludwick - LF
8. Ryan Hanigan - C
9. Johnny Cueto - SP
For more on the Indians, check out Let's Go Tribe. For more on the Reds, head to Red Reporter. And for the most insightful MLB analysis on the web, be sure to visit Baseball Nation.