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Sabathia tries again for 15th win

Aug 24, 2007 - 2:40 PM Cleveland (70-56) at Kansas City (56-70) 8:10 pm EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Collecting 14 wins in his first 24 starts, C.C. Sabathia had to figure No. 15 would come pretty quickly. On Friday, he will try to reach that mark in his fourth try as he leads the Cleveland Indians against the Kansas City Royals.

Sabathia (14-6, 3.43 ERA) has held up his end of the bargain in search of that elusive win, yielding two runs in each of his three outings, but his offense has provided him with just seven runs of support.

Over that span, Cleveland has dropped all three of the games the hefty lefthander has started in extra innings.

Sabathia, who allowed two runs and five hits over eight frames in the Indians' 4-3 loss in 12 innings at Tampa Bay on Sunday, is searching for his first win since August 3. In Kansas City, he faces an opponent he has had a good deal of success against, going 12-7 with a 3.34 ERA in 25 career outings.

Zack Greinke (5-5, 4.40) makes what he hopes will be a triumphant return to the rotation, starting for the first time since May 6. In his seven starts to open the season, he went 1-4 with a 5.71 ERA.

It has been a different story in the bullpen, however, as the righthander recorded a 4-1 mark with a 3.54 ERA in 38 relief appearances.

Greinke will hope to extend Cleveland's struggles at Kauffman Stadium, a park in which the Indians have only won at three times in their last 11 contests.