PREVIEW: Indians face off against Kansas City in first of three games Friday night

CLEVELAND-- The Cleveland Indians and the Kansas City Royals are due to start their three-game weekend series Friday. The Tribe will look to shake off their

CLEVELAND-- The Cleveland Indians and the Kansas City Royals are due to start their three-game weekend series Friday. The Tribe will look to shake off their tough week over their road trip, after being swept by the New York Yankees last weekend and splitting against the Milwaukee Brewers.

1. So far so good against KC

Starting tonight, the two divisional rival teams will meet each other for the fourth time and both series have been played in Progressive Field. Last time the two teams met was in early April during the opening week where the Tribe won two out of three games against the Royals.

2. Bauer on the mound

The right-hander Trevor Bauer will make his eighth start of the year coming into today's game with a 2-3 record. The last game for Bauer was in New York where he was rough up in the fifth inning, giving up consecutive walks and hits, plus the team committing errors.

Bauer will also make his second start against the Royals. The last outing against KC, he only gave up one run but still suffered a loss.

3. No more 'pen woes

The Cleveland bullpen has been a problem as of late. With Andrew Miller possibly coming back today and since he been on DL, the Indians have been unable to finish the job when it comes the the bullpen, costing wins for the starters who hand the ball over after quality starts in last weeks or so but hopefully the relievers will be able to figure out moving on.