OAKLAND Authentic Addison Reed Jersey , Calif. — Trevor Bauer will pursue a piece of Cleveland Indians history Friday night when he opens a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics.
Having recorded at least eight strikeouts in all five of his starts this month, Bauer needs 16 to match Hall of Famer Bob Feller’s franchise record of 70 for the month of June, set in 1946.
Bauer’s career high for strikeouts in a game is 14, set last May against the A’s in just seven innings.
More realistically, the California native needs 10 strikeouts to equal the second-best June total in Indians history, set by Sam McDowell in 1965.
Bauer (7-5, 2.44), who ranks third in the American League in strikeouts, has recorded 10 or more six times in his last eight starts, going 5-2 in the process.
The 27-year-old right-hander has never won in Oakland, going 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA in three starts. He’s 1-2 with a 4.44 ERA in five career starts against the A’s overall.
One A’s hitter Bauer has dominated in the past is hot-hitting Jed Lowrie, who has gone 1-for-9 in his career against him with five strikeouts in their all-time head-to-heads.
Lowrie had 15 hits in nine starts on Oakland’s just-completed road trip, raising his average to .294.
Bauer will be facing an A’s team that’s playing its best ball of the season. Oakland is coming off a four-game sweep at Detroit that capped a 7-2 trip.
The A’s have won nine of 11 overall.
The A’s have been even better against the Indians in recent years Authentic Anthony Averett Jersey , winning seven of the last eight meetings in Oakland, including all three on Cleveland’s visit last July.
Right-hander Paul Blackburn (1-2, 8.83) will oppose Bauer.
The 24-year-old has alternated good and bad outings in his four appearances since returning from a strained right forearm that delayed the start of his season almost two full months.
He’s coming off one of the ugly ones, having allowed six runs and eight hits in five innings in a 10-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, but A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson noted he was impressed with the first four innings, during Blackburn pitched scoreless, one-hit ball.
“It was tough for him, one rehab stint and then thrown into the fire,” Emerson said of the abrupt start to Blackburn’s season. “We’re past that now, and I told him now is when we start putting our stuff together and getting the outs we’re supposed to get. We can’t use (the injury) as a crutch anymore. It’s go time; he understands that.”
Blackburn has made one career start against the Indians, compiling a 0-0 record and 4.50 ERA.
The Indians head west after having lost two of three in St. Louis. They had won their previous seven games.
The Indians actually beat the A’s into Oakland, having had Thursday off while the A’s were finishing up their trip in Detroit.
They are coming off a 5-1 win over the Cardinals in which rookie Shane Bieber not only recorded his third straight win but also his first major league hit, a double off fellow rookie Jack Flaherty.
The A’s won’t see Bieber in the series … except as a possible pinch hitter.
Lindsey Vonn won her second World Cup downhill of the weekend on Sunday in a perfect dress rehearsal for the Pyeongchang Olympics.
It was the American’s third straight triumph in the discipline after also winning in Cortina d’Ampezzo Tre'Davious White Jersey Youth , Italy, two weeks ago.
”Two wins is as good as it gets, really. It’s just been a perfect weekend,” said Vonn, who plans to compete in downhill, super-G and the combined event at the Olympics. ”It has really been the exact preparation that I was hoping for going into South Korea.”
In a similar scenario to Saturday’s race, Vonn beat Sofia Goggia for the win. The American clocked 1 minute, 37.92 seconds on the Kandahar course to beat her Italian rival by 0.11 seconds, after edging her by just 0.02 the day before. Goggia won two consecutive downhills in January but crashed in the race where Vonn started her winning streak.
Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein was a hundredth of a second further behind in third.
Vonn’s American teammate Stacey Cook crashed and was taken off the hill on a sled ”as a precaution,” the U.S. ski team said, adding that Cook ”is OK.” Another teammate, Jacqueline Wiles, damaged her left knee in a crash Saturday and was ruled out of the Olympics.
Winning another Olympic medal – after taking downhill gold in 2010 but missing the 2014 Sochi Games because of a knee injury – has been Vonn’s declared goal all season.
But after Pyeongchang Packers Oren Burks Jersey , her focus will shift back to a record in the sport that has long been regarded as unbeatable.
Vonn’s 81st World Cup win on Sunday left her just five short of the all-time best mark set by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark in the 1980s.
”You get a little greedy,” Vonn said. ”Once you keep winning, you want to win more. For sure, I will ski another season and see how high I can get the number. I know I can continue to win, I just don’t know for how long. I keep racking them up for as long as I can and we will see what number I can get to.”
Vonn has recovered from a rough start to her season, which saw her crashing twice in one of her favorite resorts, Lake Louise, and dealing with back and knee problems.
”I have really picked up a lot of momentum,” she said after Sunday’s win. ”I feel really good physically, mentally. And everything is working well, my equipment is working well, my preparation is perfect. It really couldn’t be better going into the Olympics.”
Vonn trailed Weirather by 0.30 seconds halfway down the course but found the fastest line in the turning final section.
The American’s lead came under threat a few minutes later. Goggia was ahead by 0.04 at the second and 0.07 at the fourth split time, but failed to match Vonn’s pace on the bottom part of the hill.
Still Raiders Authentic Jerseys , Goggia was still content after finishing her run.
”I am pretty happy to come away from Garmisch with two solid runs, two solid races, solid skiing,” the Italian said. ”This is what I was hoping for after the crash in Cortina.”
While the downhill rivalry between Vonn and Goggia has been shaping up nicely going into the Olympics, Weirather made it clear the competition isn’t far off.
”I am going to the Olympics with confidence,” said Weirather, daughter of the two-time Olympic gold medalist from 1980, Hanni Wenzel. ”The race today was important. I know that I am up there with the best.”
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