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Two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber will go into his start Monday night in Kansas City in an unfamiliar position: in a slump.
In his first 14 starts this year Le'Raven Clark Jersey , Kluber was 10-2 with a 1.99 ERA. But in his last three starts, Kluber is 1-2 with a 6.59 ERA.
Nevertheless, the slumping Kluber will be on the mound Monday night for the Cleveland Indians, who, not coincidentally, are slumping as a team.
Although they walloped Oakland 15-3 on Sunday, the Indians have lost four of the first six games on their nine-game trip that will conclude with three games in Kansas City.
Kluber, who is 10-6 with a 2.82 ERA in 21 career starts against the Royals, will try to get back on track against one of his favorite opponents.
Kluber’s three-start slump is actually two really bad ones sandwiched around a really good one. It started June 15 with a 10-3 loss to Minnesota in which Kluber gave up four runs in five innings.
However, Kluber’s next start, on June 20, was a 12-0 win over the Chicago White Sox in which he pitched seven scoreless innings and gave up one hit.
But on June 26 in St. Louis, Kluber had his worst start of the year, his worst in several years. In an 11-4 loss to the Cardinals, Kluber was removed from the game after giving up six runs in 1 2/3 innings.
“He’s human. Guys don’t go 35 starts (during the season) without a bump in the road,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.
Kluber said T.Y. Hilton Jersey , “No excuses. I just didn’t get the job done. I had some things going on delivery-wise and didn’t execute my pitches consistently.”
Although the Indians have a comfortable nine-game lead in the American League Central, they have had trouble winning on the road.
Cleveland is 27-13 at home but just 18-24 on the road, the only division leader in the majors with a losing record on the road. The Indians are hoping Kluber can help shake his slump and get a road win Monday.
Kluber is 11-4 with a 2.54 ERA overall this season. One of those wins came against the Royals on May 13, a 6-2 Cleveland victory in which Kluber pitched seven innings without allowing an earned run.
The Indians bolstered their bullpen Sunday by selecting left-hander Marc Rzepczynski from Triple-A Columbus and optioning starter Adam Plutko to Columbus.
Kluber’s mound opponent Monday night, Royals right-hander Jakob Junis (5-9, 4.67), is also mired in a slump.
Junis hasn’t won a game since May 18. In seven starts since then, he is 0-6 with a 6.30 ERA. His last start came June 26, a 5-1 loss to Milwaukee. In that game, Junis pitched five innings, giving up four runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.
Junis’ last start against Cleveland came May 13. In a 6-2 loss to the Indians, he pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs and six hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.
In three career appearances against Cleveland, Junis is 0-1 with a 5.93 ERA.
The Royals, who have lost three in a row, were glad to see the calendar change to July. They went 5-21 in June Denzelle Good Jersey , the worst record in June in the team’s 50-year history.
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda will take the mound Saturday against a Colorado Rockies team that he has had success against over the past three years.
Colorado Rockies starter German Marquez will take the mound Saturday on the road, where he has been excellent outside of the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.
Something has to give at Dodger Stadium in a nationally televised game, when Dodgers right-hander Maeda (5-4, 3.44 ERA) faces off against Rockies right-hander Marquez (5-8, 5.53).
The Rockies won the first game of the series 3-1 on Friday, and Maeda will try halt the Dodgers’ two-game losing streak.
Since returning from the disabled list after being sidelined by a hip strain, Maeda has posted a 2.87 ERA over three starts, including a scoreless seven-inning outing Monday against the Chicago Cubs when he struck out nine and picked up the win.
The nine strikeouts were reminiscent of his best stretch of the season before his injury, when he struck out 32 batters over 24 1/3 innings, including a season-best 12 strikeouts in 6 2/3 shutout innings against the Rockies on May 23.
“Ever since coming off the DL, feeling-wise, this is the best I have felt,” Maeda said through an interpreter, after holding the Cubs in check during a 2-1 Dodgers victory Monday. “Overall it was a much better feeling coming into this game than the other ones.”
Especially troublesome for the Rockies is that Maeda figures to be fresh for Saturday’s outing, having thrown just 84 pitches in his latest start. Then there is this: Maeda is 5-2 in eight career appearances (six starts) with a 2.11 ERA against the Rockies with 48 strikeouts.
Marquez has struggled lately, having gone 1-4 in June with an 8.53 ERA Anthony Castonzo Jersey , but there is no doubting his road success this year. He has a 7.93 ERA at home, but that mark falls off dramatically to 3.07 in 41 innings on the road. In fact, the Rockies have won four of Marquez’s seven road starts this season.
Marquez is 1-0 with a 3.91 ERA in four career starts against the Dodgers.
His two outings against them this season have been a mixed bag. On May 21 in Los Angeles, Marquez gave up one run over seven innings in a 2-1 Rockies victory. On June 2 at Colorado, he gave up four runs over six innings, although he didn’t factor into the decision as the Dodgers rolled to a 12-4 victory.
In his four starts since then, Marquez has given up at least five runs in each time. He gave up a combined 10 runs (nine earned) in his last two starts, both of which came at home.
“I know I have been in the league two years and if I execute my pitches, it doesn’t matter how long they have known me,” Marquez told reporters, through an interpreter, after he gave up six runs (five earned) on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings in an eventual 8-5 loss to the Miami Marlins on Sunday. “It’s about me executing my pitches.
Marquez will face a Dodgers team that has 54 home runs in June, the most in franchise history for a single month.