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Indians hope for easy road against lowly Devil Rays

Aug 17, 2007 - 2:47 PM Cleveland (66-54) at Tampa Bay (46-74) 7:10 pm EDT

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Indians have struggled since the All-Star break. Perhaps a trip to Tropicana Field is exactly what they need to get back on track.

The Indians visit the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.

Cleveland is 14-18 since the break, dropping them one-half game behind the Detroit Tigers (67-54) in the American League Central and one game behind the Seattle Mariners (66-52) in the AL wild card race.

Offense has been the root of the problem for the Indians, who were at the top of the majors in batting average and runs scored in May and June, but now rank just 16th with a .266 team batting average. They also are averaging just 3.1 runs per game over their last 17 contests.

The Devil Rays, on the other hand, have far and away the worst pitching staff in the league due to a 5.78 team ERA.

Tampa Bay will send righthander Edwin Jackson (3-11, 5.84 ERA) to the mound. The 23-year-old is coming off his first career shutout last Saturday at the Texas Rangers.

Despite going just 1-1 over his last three starts, Jackson has allowed just three runs - two earned - in 21 innings.

Cleveland will counter with control artist Paul Byrd (10-5, 4.53). The veteran righthander followed up a shutout on August 6 with his worst start of the season last Saturday, allowing seven runs and seven hits in two innings of an 11-2 loss to the New York Yankees.