The Cleveland Indians hold a narrow half-game lead on first place the American League Central, and will hope to expand their advantage with a three-game weekend series with the Houston Astros set to open Friday.
Cleveland righty Ubaldo Jimenez will get the start for the Indians in Game 1, as he tries to make quick work of a Houston batting order boosted by the recent return of clean-up hitter Carlos Lee. Lee, who is hitting .301 for the year, missed 13 games recently after a hamstring injury forced him to the disabled list.
Back in the lineup after a strong series against Cincinnati (5-for-11, 1 HR, 6 RBI) is third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall. The 23-year-old corner infielder has improved his batting average by 0.65 over the last two weeks alone, and will round out manager Manny Acta's lineup in the No. 8 spot on Friday.
Here are the starting lineups for game one of the series:
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. Ubaldo Jimenez - SP
Astros
1. Jose Altuve - 2B
2. Jordan Schafer - CF
3. Jed Lowrie - SS
4. Carlos Lee - 1B
5. J.D. Martinez - LF
6. Brian Bogusevic - RF
7. Chris Johnson - 3B
8. Chris Snyder - C
9. Lucas Harrell - SP
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