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Blake Snell's teammates have done him a great service by knocking out Corey Kluber in Tampa Bay Rays' second Monday night win over the Cleveland Indians.
Now, Snell, who appears more and more like a Cy Young Award contender, can help himself against the Indians – and Carlos Carrasco – in the final of a three-game series at Trop Wednesday.
The Rays' 12-game winning streak came to a halt and they moved closer to elimination in the playoffs as the Indians won 2-0 on Tuesday night as Cleveland approached the AHL.
"It's a bit odd," said Rays manager Kevin Cash. "But you know what we can do another one, we can go in. The guys played really well."
The Indians, who added Josh Donaldson to their roster on Tuesday, reduced their magic points to win a third straight division title, three with their 15th shutout of the season. Rookie Shane Bieber broke a career record and improved to 10-3.
Donaldson went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in his debut with the Indians in a match that saw Edwin Encarnacion reach the mark of 30 counterparts for a seventh straight season.
Snell, 18-5 averaging 2.06 in ERA, is 6-0 with an average of 1.42 in seven starts since being dropped from the list of people with disabilities.
"I really think this team can do it," said Snell on Tuesday. "I think we can prove that a lot of people are wrong, I have to keep playing baseball that we played."
On September 1, he beat the Indians in Cleveland, working six innings and two-thirds, allowing eight hits and an undeserved run – his first career win in three career starts against Cleveland. He is 1-1 with an ERA of 1.83 in three career starts against the Indians.
On his last start, a Baltimore win, Snell had a run of 14 consecutive home starts from a single pass or less allowed by a two-run Joey Rickard circuit in the sixth inning. But he is 17-8 with an ERA of 2.45 in 32 career starts at Tropicana Field with opponents hitting .212 against him on those outings.
Carrasco has just played in a 14-game rematch on the field during his last start and is in the 16-8 match with an ERA of 3.41. He lost to the Rays on September 2, giving up five points on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings and 4-4 with a score of 3.21 in 10 games (nine starts) against the career Rays.
However, while Snell loves throwing to the Trop, Carrasco, 4-0 with an ERA of 1.1 in five games (four starts), takes over at Tropicana Field.
The Tampa defeat, combined with another Oakland victory, caused the Rays to lose 8 and a half games behind the A for second place. Oakland is coming to St. Petersburg this weekend, but the head seems insurmountable.
The Indians have announced that Kluber will be ruled out this weekend, allowing him to rest for the next playoffs.
"At one point, Corey would have two extra days of rest," said manager Terry Francona ahead of Tuesday night's game. "There was no way around the problem, so Carl (Willis, launcher coach) and he decided that this week he would take it."
Kluber, approaching a possible third Cy Young award, was not delighted, Francona said: "So, he's going to do a week off this week, which is too long. good news is that he can throw good side (session) and all that, but other than that, he can participate in a playoff game with an extra day off, and that's what he wants, and that was the only way to do it. "
Trevor Bauer, with a tension fracture of the right fibula, must get rid of the tumulus as he returns to the road.
For Tampa Bay, Matt Duffy missed his second consecutive start with a stiff back, a pinch, but should rest on Wednesday. Kevin Kiermaier (illness) also missed his second straight but was on the bridge to hit the end of the game.
The money was ejected for the first time this season for defending a rebound in the eighth inning.
Tommy Pham of Tampa has extended his winning streak to 15 straight games.
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