Cleveland Indians (21-25) at Seattle Mariners (23-23), 10:10 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - Corey Kluber has put forth a strong run on the mound and gets the nod for the Cleveland Indians Thursday in the opener of a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.
Kluber is 2-0 with a sparkling 0.72 earned run average over his last three starts and lasted eight innings in Saturday's 2-1 win versus Cincinnati, charged with only a run on nine hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.
The right-hander and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner has struck out 37 batters during his three-game unbeaten run and started the season 0-5 with a 5.04 ERA in his first seven appearances. He is tied with Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw for second in strikeouts with 83. Max Scherzer of Washington is in the lead with 85 K's.
Kluber is winless (0-3) in five road starts this season and defeated the Mariners the only time he faced them, tossing a three-hit shutout with eight strikeouts and no walks in a 2-0 win last July 30.
Cleveland will play its next seven games on the road against the Mariners and Kansas City Royals, and has won nine of its last 13 games.
The Indians salvaged the finale of a three-game series versus the Texas Rangers with Wednesday's 12-3 pounding at Progressive Field. Carlos Santana belted a three-run homer during an eight-run third inning and Lonnie Chisenhall ended with three hits and three RBI.
Jason Kipnis also had three hits and Michael Bourn ended 3-for-5 with two RBI for the Indians. Kipnis' three hits gives him 46 in May, the most hits in one month by a Cleveland batter since Roberto Alomar had 54 in Sept/Oct 2000.
Tribe starter Carlos Carrasco got the win with eight solid innings, charged with one run and five hits. He struck out eight and walked one.
"We had an 11-run lead, so they're going to be aggressive," said Carrasco. "You have to stay aggressive. That's what I did. I think (saving the bullpen) helped a little bit. The last two games, we used the bullpen a lot. I just went out there and tried to put zeroes on the board."
The Mariners went 6-3 on their recent tour through Baltimore, Toronto and Tampa Bay, and will play the next 11 games at home versus the Indians, New York Yankees and Rays.
Seattle completed a sweep of the Rays with Wednesday's 3-0 victory, as ace Felix Hernandez threw a four-hit shutout and struck out eight batters with one walk. Hernandez is now 8-1 this season and has two shutouts.
"Just an outstanding outing," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "We're pitching, playing defense ... We are starting to hit our stride."
Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning for the Mariners, who pulled within six games of the AL West lead.
James Paxton has won his last three starts and gets the nod for the Mariners Thursday. Paxton extended his personal winning streak to three games in Saturday's 3-2 verdict at Toronto and threw six innings of two-run ball to improve to 3-2 in nine starts with a 3.52 ERA.
Paxton is 1-0 with a 3.76 ERA in four road starts and the left-hander has never faced the Indians in his career.
The Mariners went 4-2 against the Indians last season and the two clubs will meet again for three games in Cleveland from June 9-11.