Preview: Indians Back Home for Battle with Pirates in First Meeting Since 2015

CLEVELAND - It must feel like winter for the Indians as they return home to the comfort of 80 degrees and Progressive Field after a record-setting weekend in

CLEVELAND - It must feel like winter for the Indians as they return home to the comfort of 80 degrees and Progressive Field after a record-setting weekend in Arlington where temps with the heat index reached up to 110 degrees.

They start a short series tonight at home with the Pittsburgh Pirates before they head back on the road for some more games against AL Central foes.

The Pirates come into tonight's play with a mark of 51-49, but in the tough NL Central they are eight games back of the front running Chicago Cubs.

Tonight they get a look at Trevor Williams who is 7-7 on the season, and they will counter with Corey Kluber, who had a shot in his knee after his last outing against the Yankees.

Here's a look at tonight's game with a quick preview.

Time: 7:10 p.m.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams (7-7, 4.36) vs. RHP Corey Kluber (12-5, 2.76)

TV: SportsTime Ohio

Online: MLB.TV

Radio: WTAM 1100am, Indians Radio Network

1. Kluber's Health

The big question that all Indians fans will keep their eye on tonight is how Corey Kluber will respond after having a shot in his knee after his last outing out against New York back a week and a half ago.

He didn't pitch in the All-Star game, and in his last outing he threw 114 pitches, allowing six runs on eight hits in 7.1 innings on July 12th. The injection came just a day later with the hopes of halting the instability in the knee.

The knee had been effecting the pitchers arm slot, but he's said all along that he's feeling okay and should be back to normal.

Kluber has gone 2-3 with a 5.03 ERA in his last six times on the mound, and it's got Tribe fans nervous for good reason.

Let's hope the injection will pay off and get him back to his Cy Young ways in the start against the Pirates.

2. Red-Hot Pirates

The Pirates are the hottest team in baseball, coming to Progressive Field on Monday night with a nine-game winning streak, coming off a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.

They've won 11 of their last 12 games, putting them back in the mix for the NL Wild Card, four games back of Milwaukee and Atlanta for the right to reach the postseason.

Left fielder Corey Dickerson is having a great season for Pittsburgh, hitting a team-high .315 with 11 homers and 42 runs batted in.

Sterling Marte (.287, 15 HR 49 RBI), Josh Bell (.269, 5 HR 47 RBI) and Jody Mercer (.254, 5 HR, 31 RBI) are the offensive players to watch after Dickerson.

It's a team that wasn't expected to be in the mix as they have been in somewhat of a rebuild mode on the fly after a number of postseason appearances (2013, 2014, 2015) but never making it past the Divisional Round.

While they don't look like a team built for a playoff run, they are a young team that is making noise and playing very well.

3. Who is Trevor Williams?

Pirates starter Trevor Williams (7-7, 4.36) takes the bump for Pittsburgh this evening, coming in going just 2-4 in his last six starts.

In 99 innings he's allowed 12 homers, 35 walks, 71 strikeouts, and teams are hitting .241 against him.

He was originally drafted by the Miami Marlins in the second round in 2013 from Arizona State University, and came to the Pirates via a trade in October 2015 for pitching prospect Richard Mitchell.

He's not going to blow anyone away with power, but has a decent slider/sinker and also throws a change-up along with a four-seam fastball. He started last season in the pen but by May was in the teams' rotation.

Williams throws well at the right corner of the zone, jamming right-handed hitters and getting left-handers to chase low.

The Tribe will have to watch chasing his pitches tonight.