Preview: Indians Look to Win Series Against the A's as Bieber Looks to Stay Perfect

CLEVELAND - Saturday at Progressive Field the Indians let one slip away, as with their ace on the mound and a 3-0 lead, they gave it all back and then some in

CLEVELAND - Saturday at Progressive Field the Indians let one slip away, as with their ace on the mound and a 3-0 lead, they gave it all back and then some in extra innings in a 6-3 loss to the A's.

Josh Tomlin allowed the game-winning runs to score in the extra frames after Neil Ramirez allowed two homers in the 8th to tie the game.

All this wasted a sensational outing by Corey Kluber, who threw seven shutout innings, allowing five hits and two walks. It was frustrating to see him take a no-decision, but in the end the A's ability to keep clawing away was too much for the Tribe pen.

Today the Indians look to win the series with a 1:10pm first pitch as Shane Beiber looks to stay perfect at 5-0 if he can get past the A's.

Here's a look at this afternoon's game with a quick preview.

Time: 1:10 p.m.

Starting Pitchers: RHP Frankie Montas (4-2, 3.63) vs. RHP Shane Bieber (4-0, 2.97)

TV: SportsTime Ohio

Online: MLB.TV

Radio: WTAM 1100am, Indians Radio Network

1. The Long Ball

The formula for the A's to win on the road all season is via the long ball, as they lead baseball with 77 dingers on the road.

Saturday that was never more true, as they hit a pair in the 8th to tied the game, and then in the 11th there was one more off Josh Tomlin to put the game away.

Bieber in 30.1 innings has allowed three homers for the Tribe this season, and it's one part of Oakland's game he's got to be careful of leaving balls over the plate enough to allow Oakland to take advantage and hit round trippers.

2. Better Than Advertised

No one could have seen coming how good Shane Bieber was going to be this season thus far for the Tribe, and his pitching basically pushed him over Adam Plutko for the 5th spot in the rotation.

Consider that in 17 starts for AAA Columbus and the Tribe, Bieber is 10-1 with a 1.77 ERA, crazy good numbers for any level of pitching.

With the Tribe he's been steady throughout, and he'll be looking to bounce back after what was his worst start in the Majors on July 3rd in which he gave up four runs on nine hits with two strikeouts and one walk in six innings.

1. Another Tough Matchup on the Mound

After the Indians took on Edwin Jackson on Saturday (10-1 lifetime against the Tribe) on Sunday they will battle Brett Anderson, who doesn't have the long resume against the Tribe but is still impressive.

He's coming off the disabled list to make the start, and in four career starts against Cleveland, Anderson is 2-0 with a 0.96 ERA, excellent numbers.

This season he hasn't thrown that well, going just 0-2 with a 7.63 ERA, and Sunday will mark his first start since May 18th as he went on the DL with a sore shoulder.

Here's hoping he may have a little rust and the Indians can jump on him and give Bieber an early lead.