Two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber will go into his start Monday night in Kansas City in an unfamiliar position: in a slump.
In his first 14 starts this year Cameron Brate Jersey , Kluber was 10-2 with a 1.99 ERA. But in his last three starts, Kluber is 1-2 with a 6.59 ERA.
Nevertheless, the slumping Kluber will be on the mound Monday night for the Cleveland Indians, who, not coincidentally, are slumping as a team.
Although they walloped Oakland 15-3 on Sunday, the Indians have lost four of the first six games on their nine-game trip that will conclude with three games in Kansas City.
Kluber, who is 10-6 with a 2.82 ERA in 21 career starts against the Royals, will try to get back on track against one of his favorite opponents.
Kluber’s three-start slump is actually two really bad ones sandwiched around a really good one. It started June 15 with a 10-3 loss to Minnesota in which Kluber gave up four runs in five innings.
However Tre'Quan Smith Jersey , Kluber’s next start, on June 20, was a 12-0 win over the Chicago White Sox in which he pitched seven scoreless innings and gave up one hit.
But on June 26 in St. Louis, Kluber had his worst start of the year, his worst in several years. In an 11-4 loss to the Cardinals, Kluber was removed from the game after giving up six runs in 1 2/3 innings.
“He’s human. Guys don’t go 35 starts (during the season) without a bump in the road,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.
Kluber said, “No excuses. I just didn’t get the job done. I had some things going on delivery-wise and didn’t execute my pitches consistently.”
Although the Indians have a comfortable nine-game lead in the American League Central, they have had trouble winning on the road.
Cleveland is 27-13 at home but just 18-24 on the road C. J. Prosise Jersey , the only division leader in the majors with a losing record on the road. The Indians are hoping Kluber can help shake his slump and get a road win Monday.
Kluber is 11-4 with a 2.54 ERA overall this season. One of those wins came against the Royals on May 13, a 6-2 Cleveland victory in which Kluber pitched seven innings without allowing an earned run.
The Indians bolstered their bullpen Sunday by selecting left-hander Marc Rzepczynski from Triple-A Columbus and optioning starter Adam Plutko to Columbus.
Kluber’s mound opponent Monday night, Royals right-hander Jakob Junis (5-9, 4.67), is also mired in a slump.
Junis hasn’t won a game since May 18. In seven starts since then, he is 0-6 with a 6.30 ERA. His last start came June 26, a 5-1 loss to Milwaukee. In that game, Junis pitched five innings, giving up four runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.
Junis’ last start against Cleveland came May 13. In a 6-2 loss to the Indians Nick Nelson Jersey , he pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs and six hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.
In three career appearances against Cleveland, Junis is 0-1 with a 5.93 ERA.
The Royals, who have lost three in a row, were glad to see the calendar change to July. They went 5-21 in June, the worst record in June in the team’s 50-year history.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning hopes to prove the Giants right for sticking with him after a rough 2017 season and he doesn’t have to look beyond his own family to see how things can go positively late in a career.
Eli’s older brother Peyton recovered from a serious neck injury that kept him from playing for the entire 2011 season and returned with strong play for the Broncos for three years before going out a Super Bowl champion after a rocky final NFL season. Eli Manning, who turned 37 in January, said that his brother’s experience, which included throwing an NFL record 55 touchdowns when he was 37 J'Mon Moore Jersey , was an example he’d like to follow.
“You see that there doesn’t have to be a drop-off in play-making ability and running an offense and winning football games,” Manning said, via Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com. “You have to work extremely hard, but great things can happen.”
Manning said he isn’t making any plans about playing until a certain age because “each year is going to be a different story.” He’s signed through the 2019 season and said that he hasn’t had any conversations with the Giants about another contract, although it seems likely that would change if he is able to have anything close to the success his brother had when he was 37 years old.
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