Preview: Indians Look for Fourth Straight Win in Game Two Against the Twins

CLEVELAND - The Indians continue their seven-game homestand at Progressive Field tonight as they play game two of four against the Minnesota Twins, a team that had given the team issues early in the season but appears to have given up on making a run to the postseason.

After Monday's 10-0 whitewash by the Tribe, the Twins trail the Indians by 10 games, getting close to their biggest deficit of the year which was back on July 6th when they trailed Cleveland by 11.5 games.

The Twins also have dealt away some of their talent with a look to the future, and it looks like the Indians now are eyeing the other division leaders with the hope of overtaking Houston, who they trail by 10 games for the next leg up in possible homefield for the ALDS in October.

Back to tonight's affair, here's a look at the game with a quick preview.

Time: 7:10 p.m.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Adalberto Mejia (1-0, 2.60) vs. RHP Carlos Carrasco (13-5, 3.66)

TV: SportsTime Ohio

Online: MLB.TV

Radio: WTAM 1100am, Indians Radio Network

1. A Hopeful Repeat for Carrasco

The matchup between the Indians and Twins tonight is a repeat pitching matchup wise from back on August 1st in Minnesota, when Carlos Carrasco outpitched Twins hurler Adalberto Mejia with an impressive 2-0 win.

Carrasco has collected wins in five of his last six appearances on the mound, pushing his record to 13-5 on the season with an impressive 3.66 ERA.

He's allowed just seven earned runs in his last six outings, and while everyone is talking about Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber, Carrasco has been just as if not more impressive than what those two have done as of late.

2. Kip's Recent Home Success

Jason Kipnis has been tearing the cover off the ball at Progressive Field as of late, putting up some impressive numbers in the bottom of the lineup.

After going 2-for-3 with a homer in Monday's 10-0 win, he's gone 23 for his last 68 (.323 average) with six homers, 12 runs scored and 12 runs batted in.

He's given the bottom of the order some pop, and while he's still hitting just .222 on the season, his hitting at home has been a welcome sight in the last two months.

3. Bombs Away

Monday night the Tribe slammed four more homers, and now as it stands they have seven players with 11 or more homers on the season.

Yonder Alonso, Brandon Guyer, Kipnis and Edwin Encarnacion all put the ball out of the park in the win, and overall the Tribe is second in the Majors trailing only the Yankees in terms of team homers.

The Indians have blasted 157 homers this season, trailing New York by 20 homers total. The usual top four in the lineup for the Tribe have hit a total of 97 homers this season, and hopefully this foursome stay hot for the postseason.