-$16,655
6 Lefties on the hill today
Matz-Mets
Locke-Pirates
Kazmir-Dodgers
Santiago-Angels
Quintana-White Sox
Nicolino-Marlins
Quintana vs Kluber
Despite losing the first game of Monday's doubleheader, the Indians have scored 17 runs and hit seven homers in the series. Trying to get within one-half game of the AL Central-leading White Sox (27-20), Cleveland now looks to get the best of Quintana (5-3, 1.98 ERA).
Quintana allowed more than two runs for the first time in nine starts Friday, surrendering four along with eight hits in 6 1/3 innings of a 4-1 loss to Kansas City.
"I (tried) to get down in the zone, but I missed a couple pitches,' he said. 'That's what (happens) when you miss the zone.'
Quintana's teammates haven't helped by scoring one run in each of his last two outings after he received an average of 4.73 runs of support in the first seven.
He allowed two runs over 22 innings to win two of his three starts against the Indians last season. He tossed a seven-hitter in a 6-0 victory at Cleveland on July 24 in his final 2015 start against them.
"I think Quintana is kind of going under the radar because of Sale," Indians manager Terry Francona told MLB's official website. "But he is just having a hell of a year. He's commanding, he attacks the strike zone, he doesn't throw the ball over the middle of the plate.
"We've seen him (be) really good, and I've heard some comments from other teams, and they were like, 'Whoa.'"
Carlos Santana is 4 for 23 (.174) against Quintana and Yan Gomes is 1 for 15.
Mike Napoli, though, is 3 for 9 with a double and a home run against him. With two hits and two RBIs on Tuesday, Napoli is 5 for 14 with six RBIs and five runs against Chicago this season.
Corey Kluber (3-5, 4.10) went 0-2 with a 5.32 ERA in three starts against the White Sox last year, but he yielded a run and struck out 12 in nine innings of a 2-1, 10-inning loss in his most recent outing at Chicago one year ago last week.
The right-hander gave up nine runs in 9 1/3 innings of his two starts prior to beating Boston on Friday, allowing a run in each of the first two innings and lasting seven in a 4-2 victory.
"That's what your ace is supposed to do, but it's easier said than done,' Francona said.
Jose Abreu is 10 for 28 with two doubles and three home runs against Kluber and Melky Cabrera is 9 for 19 with three doubles.
Abreu had three hits Tuesday after going 2 for 20 in the previous five contests.
Matz vs Roark
looks to win a seventh consecutive start when he faces the Nationals for the first time Wednesday in D.C.
He beat the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 9, but he was forced to skip his next turn in the rotation because of the injury. An MRI revealed no damage, and Matz (6-1, 2.81 ERA) received the go-ahead to face Milwaukee on Friday.
He allowed two runs in seven solid innings of a 3-2 victory, making only one mistake on Chris Carter's two-run homer in the first. Matz is 10-1 in 13-regular-season starts since coming up in 2015 and is the first Mets pitcher to win 10 of his first 11 decisions.
'I'm a rhythm pitcher, so I got into the rhythm,' Matz said. 'We just kind of got into that groove, but I didn't really change anything. It's just one pitch (on the home run).'
Matz indeed controls the pace of games. He's one of the quickest-working pitchers in the majors in terms of seconds elapsed between deliveries, something that has helped him post a 1.35 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 40 innings during his six-start winning streak.
"Obviously, Matz is throwing really well right now," outfielder Michael Conforto said. "He's an aggressive pitcher. That pace, it might give us momentum. And I think that's a very good thing for us."
Matz has never faced the Nationals (28-18), who counter with Tanner Roark as he seeks to stay unbeaten against the Mets (26-19).
Roark (3-3, 2.89) allowed seven runs in his previous outing against Miami, then made critical adjustments that helped him beat the Marlins 4-1 on Friday while pitching 6 2/3 effective innings.
The right-hander felt that Miami, which has dealt him each of his losses this season, noticed that he was tipping his pitches during his delivery. Roark worked with the coaching staff to make the necessary changes.
'We looked at video,' Roark said. 'I would do certain things on certain pitches, so I made an adjustment. The game within the game - it was a minor adjustment, and it worked.'
Roark is 5-0 with a 2.52 ERA in six career starts against the Mets, including giving up three hits over six scoreless innings and getting a no-decision the last time he faced them Oct. 4.
He'll try to help the Nationals win for the sixth time in eight games after Tuesday's 7-4 victory. They hit a season-high five homers as Ben Revere, Daniel Murphy, Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon and Wilson Ramos all connected.
Bryce Harper was the only starter without a hit and is 4 for 30 over his last 10.
The Mets had a four-game winning streak snapped as Matt Harvey struggled again. Asdrubal Cabrera homered and Eric Campbell hit a two-run shot in the ninth.
Murphy, leading the majors with a .392 average, is 8 for 19 with two homers and six RBIs in five games this year against his former team.
Locke
Pirates will give the ball to Jeff Locke (2-3, 5.00) as they go after their eighth win in 10 games. The left-hander is coming off one of his best performances, allowing two runs over seven innings in Thursday's 8-2 home win over Atlanta.
Locke is 0-2 with a 7.88 ERA in three starts against the Diamondbacks, though he hasn't faced them since July 2014. Paul Goldschmidt is 5 for 9 in the matchup.
Phil Gosselin had two of the team's six hits Tuesday when Arizona fell to 2-2 on a six-game road swing.
Pittsburgh's Jordy Mercer is 11 for 23 over his last seven games and 7 for 16 in his past three versus Arizona.
Santiago vs Lewis
Lewis (3-0, 2.75 ERA) has gone at seven innings in five straight starts and made it through six in all nine of his outings while allowing four runs once. He might be coming off the best outing of the bunch after giving up four hits without a walk in seven scoreless innings of Friday's 2-1 win in Houston.
"He does a really good job of pounding the strike zone," Astros manager A.J. Hinch told MLB's official website. "There's a lot of first-pitch strikes, he can throw a couple of different styles of breaking balls and never really makes a mistakes against us. We just couldn't generate any offense against him."
The first of those seven-inning starts was his second win of the year and it came in a 4-2 home final against the Angels on April 29. Lewis allowed two runs and nine hits in seven innings for his best outing of a dismal stretch in the series that dates to the start of 2014. In his last 11 starts in the series, the right-hander is 3-7 with an 8.28 ERA.
In that time, Johnny Giavotella (5 for 11), Mike Trout (12 for 28 with four home runs, a triple and a double), Kole Calhoun (12 for 31 with a home run, triple and two doubles) and Albert Pujols (9 for 27 with three home runs and a double) have all pounded him.
Lewis faces Hector Santiago, who followed his best outing of the season with his worst. Santiago (3-2, 3.93) limited Seattle to two hits in eight innings of a 3-0 win on May 15, then gave up four runs and four hits with three home runs and three walks in 2 2/3 innings of Friday's 9-4 home loss to Baltimore.
The left-hander emerged with a no-decision after being ejected for apparently arguing balls and strikes on a few close pitches didn't go his way. He maintained that wasn't his intent.
"Our bullpen was backing us, but it (was wrong) on my part for reacting in that situation, but I don't think it should have escalated that fast and I don't think I did something to get ejected," Santiago said. "I could have held my peace a little more, but I don't think I did anything to get myself ejected right there."
Santiago is 6-3 with a 3.64 ERA in 15 career starts against the Rangers, though he's given up seven runs in 11 2/3 innings of two outings this season.
Rougned Odor has hit him best at 10 for 21 with a home run and three doubles, but Elvis Andrus is 5 for 31.
The Rangers (26-20) opened the series with Tuesday's 4-1 win as Nomar Mazara went 3 for 3 with a two-run homer to get to 9 for 23 with three home runs and six RBIs in his last six games. Ian Desmond remained hot with a 3-for-4 night and is 7 for 13 in his last three games.
The Angels (21-25) are in danger of going a sixth straight series against Texas without a series win.