Preview: Indians Look for Four-Game Sweep of Tigers Tonight at Progressive Field

CLEVELAND - The Indians haven't exactly been hitting the cover off the ball through the first 12 games of 2018, but still are sitting at 7-5 have have gone 5-1

CLEVELAND - The Indians haven't exactly been hitting the cover off the ball through the first 12 games of 2018, but still are sitting at 7-5 have have gone 5-1 in the first six games of their 10-game homestand to start the season.

The Tribe seems to have the Tigers number, as well they should, as Detroit is clearly into a rebuild mode this season, and if the Indians are going to indeed be one of the best teams in the American League, they should take out a team like Detroit and have done that in the first three games of the series.

Thursday the team will go back to Trevor Bauer, who pitched in the only loss of the homestand thus far, a tough luck 1-0 loss to the Royals on Saturday in a game where Lucas Duda hit a solo homer for the only run of the game.

Here’s a look at the breakdown for tonight’s finale with the Tigers.

Date: Thursday, April 12

Time: 6:07 p.m. ET

Location: Progressive Field — Cleveland, OH

Starting Pitchers: Det - Michael Fullmer (1-1, 0.68) vs CLE – Trevor Bauer (0-1, 2.08)

TV Channel: Fox Sports Ohio

Online Stream: MLB.TV

Radio: AM WTAM 1100

Click the next pages for a preview of today’s battle at Progressive Field.

1. Back to the Bump for Bauer

Trevor Bauer pitched a solid game on Saturday, allowing just one run on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in the teams' 1-0 loss to the Royals.

The only run of the game was a Lucas Duda homer in the 7th after the Indians offense had their chances to score the inning before, but couldn't drive in a run from third with one out.

In two starts Bauer has allowed three earned runs on eight hits in 13 innings, and with the weather finally starting to turn in Cleveland Thursday (expected temps 65) finally Bauer shouldn't have to worry about about Mother Nature as much and can focus on getting the first win of the season.

2. Fulmer Provides Stiff Competition

Two seasons ago Michael Fulmer won the AL Rookie of the Year award, and has been one of the bright spots for the team during this latest rebuild as a pitcher that can lead the rotation for years to come.

Coming off the 2016 season in which he went 11-7 with a 3.06 ERA, last season he was under .500 at 10-12, but still had a very respectable 3.83 ERA in 25 starts.

One interesting stat about Fulmer is that fact he's got just seven strikeouts his first two starts this season. He has been very effective though, allowing just one run in 13.1 innings.

He has put up two solid starts, the first he went 90 pitches eight innings, and in his next start he went 5.1 innings and allowed zero earned runs on six hits while walking three and striking out four in Chicago.

The Indians offense put up five runs on Wednesday, and will look to try to get to Fulmer early Thursday night.

3. Offense Finally Showing Signs of Life?

For just the second time in 2018 the Indians put up a four-run inning on Wednesday, scoring four times as the team finally broke open against the Tigers in the eventual 5-1 win.

The offense finally strung some hits together, and while no one is crushing the ball, at the end of the day you want an offense that can just get some base hits and move runners, and they did that against the Tigers.

Fulmer won't be an easy task on Thursday as he's probably the best pitcher on the Tigers roster, but hopefully with the weather starting to finally get better, maybe this offense can finally start to show signs of coming out of the slump of the first 12 games.