Today at 4:05 p.m. ET, the Detroit Tigers (74-62) and Cleveland Indians (70-64) kick off their four-game set with Labor Day afternoon action live from Progressive Field in Cleveland. The game can be live streamed for free here. Detroit fans can hear all of the action on 97.1 The Ticket while Cleveland fans can do the same on WTAM 1100.
Detroit continues an eight-game road trip after splitting a four-game set with the Chicago White Sox to kick it off while Cleveland embarks on an 11-game homestand after going 4-1 on its recent road trip and having its Sunday night game with the Kansas City Royals suspended due to rain in the ninth inning.
The Tigers enter play in second place in the American League Central, a half-game behind the first place Royals and holds a half-game lead over the Seattle Mariners for the second wild-card spot in the AL. The Indians are 3.5 games behind Kansas City and three games out of the final wild-card spot.
David Price (12-10, 3.32 ERA) toes the rubber for Detroit while Cleveland counters with Corey Kluber, who is 13-8 with a 2.52 ERA thus far this season. This will mark the first of seven meetings between these teams this month.
Price knows that the Indians are a threat in the division and have made it a three-team race heading into the final month of the season.
"I think they're real, especially with the starting pitching they've been throwing out there," Price said per MLB.com. "They're a tough team. The guy we see [Monday] is one of the best in the league in Kluber."
Kluber will face a Detroit lineup that has many players that are among the league leaders in several offensive categories.
Victor Martinez has a team-best 27 homers and ranks second in the AL in batting average (.327), on-base percentage (.396) and OPS (.960) while he is also third in the league in total bases (261) and fourth in slugging percentage (.554).
First baseman Miguel Cabrera, who missed Sunday's game with a sore ankle, is first in the AL with 42 doubles and fourth with 91 RBI and 82 runs while second baseman Ian Kinsler ranks third in the AL with 87 runs and 160 hits.
The Indians counter with a lineup that is flanked by outfielder Michael Brantley, who leads the team with a .310 batting average and 85 RBI while ranking tied for third in the AL with 37 doubles. Outfielder Michael Bourn leads the AL with nine triples while Carlos Santana has a team-best 22 homers and leads the MLB with 94 walks.
Two AL Central rivals kick off the final month of the regular season when the Tigers and Indians clash this afternoon at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
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