First pitch: Wednesday, 2:20 p.m. ET
Line: Cleveland -115, Chicago +105, Total: 7

AL Central opponents, the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, finish off their three-game set in the Windy City on Wednesday afternoon.

The Indians have not had a great start to their new year and have failed to win a series since opening up with two wins in three tries against the Astros. Since then, they are a mere 3-7 with all of their contests against AL Central opponents which included a couple of recent losses to the lowly Twins. In that set they were outscored 12-8 and followed it up with a very disappointing 4-3 loss after heading to the ninth with a 3-0 lead against these White Sox. On Tuesday, they were able to hold onto the 6-2 advantage behind seven hits; including homers from both C Carlos Santana and David Murphy. OF Ryan Raburn (.381) has been heating up and in the last five games that he’s played has gone 8-for-14 (.571) with five doubles, a homer and six RBIs. Chicago has gotten off to the same record as its counterparts in this one and has also won just one series thus far. That came against the Twins and since then they are 3-4 with a meager five runs scored over the four losses. After a come-from-behind, walk-off win on Monday against this opponent, they were unable to muster any offense and took a 6-2 loss with eight hits as they managed a poor 1-for-8 performance with RISP. No one has exactly been tearing it up offensively for the team, but 1B Jose Abreu (.275) hit his fourth long ball on Tuesday and has seven RBIs in his past four contests. An intriguing pitching matchup will take place in this one as 2014 Cy Young award winner RHP Corey Kluber (0-1, 2.49 ERA) of the Indians goes against RHP Jeff Samardzija (0-1, 4.29 ERA) of the host White Sox. Cleveland has destroyed this division rival since the start of the 2013 campaign, going 29-13 overall and are 13-9 when playing on the road. They’ve already played each other four times this year, splitting the games two apiece as the average total has been 6.5 runs per contest. Trends show that when Samardzija pitches with a money line of +125 to -125 since the start of last year, his team is a putrid 1-14 (.067) as the Indians are just 15-25 (.375) in April games over the same period. The injury report still has C Yan Gomes (Knee) and 1B Nick Swisher (Knee) out for Cleveland as Chicago has a full offensive roster of healthy players.

Kluber took his nasty curveball to the next level last season and in a Cy Young award winning season he was able to net 18 wins with a stellar 2.44 ERA (1.09 WHIP). He improved on his already tremendous control with a meager 2.0 BB/9 as he struck out more than a batter per inning (10.4 K/9). He has continued to pitch great in the early going of 2015, posting a 25:4 K/BB ratio over his first three starts (21.2 IP) as batters are hitting a mere .240 BABIP against him. The White Sox have not given Kluber too much trouble as in the past he is 4-2 (5-4 team record) against them with a 3.14 ERA (1.08 WHIP) and threw a complete game with one unearned run allowed on five hits and mowed down eight batters (0 walks) in their last meeting. A few players on Chicago have done well against the ace as 1B Jose Abreu (6-for-17, 1 double, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 5 K) and newcomer OF Melky Cabrera (3-for-7, 1 double, 1 triple) have hit him hard. Others haven’t fared quite as well and 2B Gordon Beckham, C Tyler Flowers and SS Alexei Ramirez are a combined 6-for-52 (.115) with 10 strikeouts in the matchup. The bullpen for the Indians hasn’t been all too great, going 0-3 with a 4.08 ERA (1.49 WHIP) and have saved 3-of-5 games. Cody Allen (14.40 ERA, 3 saves) has 10 strikeouts in his five innings on the mound but has struggled with control (6 walks) and already had two separate outings where he gave up four runs.

Samardzija was sought after by the White Sox due to his great performances with the Cubs despite being on such a lousy team. When he made the switch to the American League with the Athletics last year, he was able to make 16 starts and continued his solid performance with a 3.14 ERA (0.93 WHIP) while walking a mere 12 batters in 111.2 innings (0.97 BB/9). Since moving to the South Side of Chicago, he has not fared too well, striking out just 14 batters in 21 frames (6.0 K/9) as he’s allowed 10 runs and forced batters into a groundball a mere 38.2% of the time. This will be Samardzijas first of many starts against the Indians in his career. OF Michael Bourn (5-for-10, 2 doubles) has the most experience and success against Samardzija while C Brett Hayes is the only other player with multiple hits. The relievers for the White Sox haven’t looked all that bad, combining to go 2-2 with a 3.68 ERA (1.36 WHIP) as they’ve saved their only two save opportunities. David Robertson (0.00 ERA, 2 saves) has been nearly flawless in the early going with 10 strikeouts in his five frames as both the runners he allowed were in his first outing.