First pitch: Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Cleveland -140, Detroit +130, Total: 8

Detroit looks to take the division lead back, as the Indians attempt to put themselves back in a better spot in the playoffs race when the AL Central foes collide on Tuesday.

The Tigers have not been the dominant team that started the season since the All-Star break and have not only allowed the Royals back in the divisional race, but gave it up all together. Currently they sit just half a game behind Kansas City and have done well in their past 10 games, going 7-3 overall with five of the victories coming on the road. In the first game of this series, Detroit absolutely dominated with a 12-1 win as they banged out 20 hits and had a big performance from starter David Price (7 IP, 1 ER, 8 K’s). With four hits (2 HR) in the game, 1B Miguel Cabrera (.304 BA) was the star of the night, but DH Victor Martinez (.329 BA) could possibly be the club’s MVP and has gone 16-for-40 (.400) with two doubles, four home runs, 10 RBI and 11 runs over his past 10 games. Cleveland currently sits 4.5 games out of the division lead and is four games back of Detroit for the second Wild Card spot in the AL. The Indians are 6-2 in their past eight games and nearly had a seventh win on Sunday as they gained a 4-2 advantage in the 10th inning against the Royals before play was postponed. The 12-1 loss was disappointing on Monday since the club’s ace, Corey Kluber, was starting, but he didn’t even make it through three innings as his team could not keep up with the Tigers’ offense and was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. OF Michael Brantley (.310 BA) has raised his game to a new level this year and brings a five-game hitting streak into this one in which he is 8-for-22 (.364) with four doubles, 3 RBI and three runs. LHP Kyle Lobstein (0-0, 3.09 ERA) will make his second career start on Wednesday as he goes up against RHP Carlos Carrasco (6-4, 3.01 ERA) of the Indians. Detroit and the road have developed quite a solid relationship this year as the club is 40-32 (.556) away from home, but will have some trouble against an Indians team that is an impressive 39-26 (.600) in front of its hometown faithful. Overall in the past three seasons, the Tigers hold a 29-21 (.580) advantage over the Indians, including going 16-10 in Cleveland, while the Tribe holds a 7-6 advantage against the tough Detroit team in 2014 thus far. As far as trends go, the Tigers are 21-12 (.636) in road games versus an AL starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.30 or better this season, while the Indians are 94-58 (.618) versus teams whose hitters draw three walks or fewer per game over the past two seasons. On the injury front, Detroit has no new significant injuries to its offense, while Cleveland has OF David Murphy (abdominal) on the 15-day DL and should be expecting 3B Mike Aviles (illness) back soon after he missed Monday’s contest.

Kyle Lobstein has never done too much to prove to anyone that he will be a consistent pitcher at the big-league level, but he has earned another chance to pitch for Detroit after he tossed six innings against the Yankees and allowed two runs (1 ER) on four hits while failing to record a strikeout (1 walk). So far between that start and a long relief appearance, Lobstein has a mere three strikeouts in 11.2 innings and does not project to be much of a swing-and-miss type thrower after posting 7.8 K/9 over 146 Triple-A innings to start the year. He does do well at keeping the ball in the park though, allowing a meager 12 homers in 218.1 Triple-A innings (0.49 HR/9) over the past two seasons. With just 11.2 major league innings under his belt, Lobstein has yet to face the Indians in his career, but will need to be careful when going against OF Michael Brantley who is leading the team with a .310 average while 1B Carlos Santana (22 HR) leads the club in the power department. Santana also has the second most strikeouts (109) among Indians hitters and 2B Jason Kipnis (.248 BA) has seen his batting average drop nearly 40 points from his career-high .284 in 2013. The Tigers’ bullpen continues to struggle, and is 16-16 with a 4.39 ERA and 1.49 WHIP while successfully converting 33-of-46 (72%) save chances. Joe Nathan (5.14 ERA, 28 saves) has blown six saves on the season and always seems to make things interesting in the ninth inning with a run allowed in three of his past five appearances.

Carlos Carrasco has given the Indians some renewed hope as the season dwindles down, and the pitcher who has appeared in 34 games (8 starts) this season has gone 3-0 in his past four starts. In that time, he has allowed two runs (0.73 ERA) on 11 hits in 24.2 frames and has a tremendous 24:3 K/BB ratio. Overall in his eight starts this season, Carrasco has a 3.66 ERA and 1.01 WHIP, and has surprisingly struck out more batters in that role (9.1 K/9) than as a reliever (8.2 K/9). He has pitched in 10 games (5 starts) against the Tigers in his career, going 2-4 with a bloated 8.07 ERA and 2.21 WHIP, but has faced them four times in a relief role this season while giving up just one run in 6.1 IP and striking out nine batters with three walks. OF Torii Hunter has lit Carrasco up in his career, going 6-for-12 with four extra-base hits (2 HR) and 4 RBI. DH Victor Martinez (2-for-11, 2 doubles) has not done well in the matchup while 1B Miguel Cabrera has a homer in his 12 at-bats, but has just three hits overall with two strikeouts. Cleveland’s relievers have done very well compared to Detroit this season, as they are 31-17 (.646) with a 2.88 ERA and 1.21 WHIP, and have gone 32-for-50 (64%) in save chances. Cody Allen (1.80 ERA, 18 saves) has been a great option in the closer role with only two blown saves and 11.9 K/9 on the year.