| Game No. 1: Cleveland Indians (0-0) At Texas Rangers (0-0) 2:05 p.m. (ET) The Ballpark in Arlington Arlington, Texas |
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STARTING LINEUP |
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| 1. | Grady Sizemore | 24 | L | CF | 1. | Ian Kinsler | 5 | R | 2B | |
| 2. | Mark DeRosa | 7 | R | 3B | 2. | Michael Young | 10 | R | 3B | |
| 3. | Victor Martinez | 41 | S | 1B | 3. | Josh Hamilton | 32 | L | CF | |
| 4. | Travis Hafner | 48 | L | DH | 4. | Nelson Cruz | 17 | R | RF | |
| 5. | Jhonny Peralta | 2 | R | SS | 5. | Hank Blalock | 9 | L | DH | |
| 6. | Shin-Soo Choo | 17 | L | RF | 6. | Marlon Byrd | 22 | R | LF | |
| 7. | Kelly Shoppach | 10 | R | C | 7. | Chris Davis | 19 | L | 1B | |
| 8. | Ben Francisco | 12 | R | LF | 8. | Jarrod Saltalamacchia | 21 | S | C | |
| 9. | Asdrubal Cabrera | 13 | S | 2B | 9. | Elvis Andrus | 1 | R | SS | |
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STARTING PITCHERS |
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| Cliff Lee | 31 | LHP |  |
Kevin Millwood | 55 | RHP |  |
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| 0-0 | 0-0 | |||||||
| 0.00 ERA | .0.00 ERA | |||||||
| 0 K | 0 K | |||||||
0 walks |
0 walks | |||||||
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The Indians ace struggled mightily during spring training as he posted a 12.46 ERA allowing 33 runs and 46 hits in 21 1/3 innings. The opposition hit .407 off him. Yet, Lee struggled last preseason as well. All he did thereafter was dominate every fifth day on his way to his first Cy Young award. Lee doesn’t need to be as good as he was last year, but he does need to fill the void left by CC Sabathia’s departure. A good start would go a long way in doing just that. |
Kevin Millwood will be making his fourth consecutive opening day start for the Rangers. He is yet to win one (0-3, 4.50 ERA). He hasn’t exactly pitched well since joining the Rangers three seasons ago. but then again, who does? The Rangers play in a launching pad of a ballpark that gives all pitchers fits. Millwood has averaged an ERA around five for that time period. His lone year in Cleveland, right before he signed with Texas, he finished with a 2.86 ERA. |
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Just as I feared, Hall of Famer Kevin Millwood makes the punchless Tribe lineup look like a herd of T-ballers. Brace yourselves, folks, this offense ain’t scaring ANY opposing pitchers. So if our hurlers don’t keep us in the game, we’ll have no need for that “secret weapon” Kerry Wood, anyway. He might as well be Wilbur Wood.
It will be interesting to keep track of how many games Cleveland scores two or fewer runs this season. A lineup without power requires too many stars to align all at once, i.e. several consecutive hits to score. Which is why the ‘95 lineup won so often: Belle, Baerga, Alomar, Murray, Sorrento and others had the ability to pop one out at any time. This group? Well, Hafner showed today he’s still got “pop” in his bat….popping out twice to the infield, along with his strikeout.