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Indians, Cubs try again at Wrigley

Jun 16, 2015 - 12:25 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Streaking hurler Jake Arrieta gets the call for the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday in the opener of what is now a three-game series with the Cleveland Indians.

Monday's opener was postponed due to rain. However, following tonight's contest, the series will shift to Cleveland for a pair of games.

Arrieta has won back-to-back starts while going unbeaten in four straight outings. He hasn't lost since May 17 and followed up a pair of no-decisions with six innings of one-run ball to top Washington on June 4. He then took a shutout into the sixth inning on Wednesday versus Detroit, but gave up a three-run homer before finishing off the frame. Arrieta did strike out eight and get plenty of offense in the 12-3 win over the Tigers, improving to 6-4 with a 3.16 earned run average on the year.

"I would have liked to get a couple more innings in there and do a couple more things," Arrieta said. "It's not how it worked out but it is still a good win for us."

Arrieta, a 29-year-old righty, is 1-0 in three previous starts against the Indians despite a 9.20 ERA. He has yielded 15 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings versus them.

The Cubs took three of four from the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend and saw shortstop Starlin Castro belt back-to-back walk-off hits over the final two games of the set.

Castro, who won Saturday's game with a hit in the ninth, stroked a 1-1 sinker from Burke Badenhop (0-2) into the left-center field gap to score Chris Coghlan for a 2-1 victory in 11 innings.

The Cubs have won six of their last eight overall and escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the ninth inning.

Chicago left-hander Jon Lester, who entered the game on a three-start losing streak, pitched against the Reds for the third time this season and gave up five hits and no walks in seven strong innings.

"Jon was really, really good tonight," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.

The Indians will look for a bounce-back effort tonight from Trevor Bauer, who faces the Cubs for the first time.

Bauer has lost two of his last three starts while walking 12 batters over that span. He had issued just 22 walks over his first nine starts, but yielded five free passes in Wednesday's 9-3 loss to Seattle.

The 24-year-old righty was charged with six runs and also yielded four hits while striking out five over a season-low 3 2/3 innings, falling to 5-3 on the year with a 3.53 ERA. He has fanned 75 batters over 74 innings and is 3-1 in five road starts this season with a 1.32 ERA.

Shortstop Francisco Lindor is expected to make his first career major league start tonight for the Indians. He is ranked the third-best prospect in all of baseball by MLB.com and was recalled prior to Sunday's 8-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Lindor did not start that game, but came on as pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. He struck out on four pitches, but then produced his first career hit with a single in the ninth inning.

"I was excited. The first at-bat went quick," said Lindor on Cleveland's website. "The second at-bat, I was trying to slow myself down a little bit."

Brandon Moss' late homer was the lone meaningful offense for the Indians, while Jason Kipnis added a pair of hits in defeat. Cleveland lost for the fifth time in seven games as starter Corey Kluber was out after five innings due to a rain delay, having allowed two runs on four hits.

These two franchises are meeting for the first time since the Cubs swept a three-game set at home in 2009. They have won four in a row in this series overall.