(Best E Casino) - C.C. Sabathia tries for his third straight win this afternoon when the
Cleveland Indians continue their three-game set with the
Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
The Indians hope Sabathia has put his early season struggles behind him following impressive back-to-back victories. After throwing a five-hit shutout to beat the Minnesota Twins on June 10, Sabathia gave up three runs and six hits over eight innings, while striking out eight in a win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.
Sabathia, the AL's reigning Cy Young Award winner, started the season with one win in his first six decisions and was pitching to a 7.51 earned run average on May 3. However, he has rebounded since then and is 5-8 on the year with a 4.26 ERA.
The 27-year-old left-hander, who is eligible to become a free agent at season's end, has never faced the Dodgers.
Los Angeles will counter with righty Chan Ho Park, who is 2-2 with a 2.95 ERA. Park, who will be making his first-ever appearance against the Indians, was hammered in his last start on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers, as he allowed five runs and eight hits in 1 1/3 innings.
In the opener of this set on Friday, Jhonny Peralta's two-run double in the 10th inning lifted Cleveland to a 6-4 win.
After blowing a 4-0 lead in the final two frames of regulation, the Indians took the lead back in the 10th.
Takashi Saito (3-3) took the mound to start the frame and promptly loaded the bases on a walk to Jamey Carroll and singles to Ben Francisco and Ryan Garko. Franklin Gutierrez then hit a grounder to shortstop and the Dodgers were able to turn a 6-2-5 double play. However, Peralta lofted a double to right that scored Garko and Gutierrez with the go-ahead runs.
Masa Kobayashi then worked around a two-out single to Russell Martin in the bottom half of the 10th to pick up his fourth save of the season.
Peralta finished the game with three RBI while Shoppach hit a two-run home run for the Indians, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Cliff Lee had a terrific outing as he gave up just one run on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings of work, but he did not factor in the decision. Joe Borowski (1-2) got the win despite blowing the save.
Jeff Kent finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored while Juan Pierre had two hits and drove in a run for the Dodgers, who had a three-game winning streak stopped.
Clayton Kershaw started on the mound and gave up four runs on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts in five-plus innings of work.
The Dodgers swept a three-game series from the Indians in Cleveland back in 2003.