The Indians will continue their eleven-game homestand on Thursday as the Seattle Mariners make their lone visit to Cleveland for the 2018 season in a four-game weekend series. The contests will mark the final times the two clubs will play this year and all before the first full month of the regular season playing schedule concludes.

The Indians (13-9) split a pair of interleague games during the week with the Chicago Cubs in a rematch of sorts of the 2016 World Series to kick off their second homestand of the month. The Tribe have played well at home this season, posting a 7-3 mark this April, but they are just 2-4 so far this season against the American League West, with seven games against the division during their current eleven-games-in-ten-days homestand. The Indians enter the day with a three game lead over Detroit in the AL Central.

The Mariners (13-10) started the season with two wins in three games against the Indians. They will need all of the wins that they can get to keep pace with the Houston Astros, who are off to another hot start and are one of the best teams in the game. The Mariners are also looking up at the Los Angeles Angels in the standings, as the Halos are off to a 16-9 start with a ridiculous 11-2 road mark. The Mariners have played better away from home (8-5) than at home (5-5) this season.

PITCHING PROBABLES and NOTES

Thursday, April 26, at 6:10 PM ET – LHP James Paxton (1-1, 5.61 ERA) vs. RHP Mike Clevinger (2-0, 1.75)

Paxton began his season with a loss against the Indians in the second game of the season. The 29-year-old was tagged for six runs on six hits with four walks and four strikeouts in four and two-thirds innings. In the starts that followed, he had gotten progressively better until a rough outing in Texas against the Rangers. He threw his shortest outing in five attempts this season, allowing five runs on six hits with six strikeouts and three walks in just four innings. It will be his first career start at Progressive Field and his fourth start overall against the Indians. He is winless in his previous three attempts, taking losses in each while recording a 5.87 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP.

The 27-year-old Clevinger did not see the Mariners in the Tribe’s season opening series at Safeco Field. It will be the first game of his career against Seattle on Thursday. He is coming off of the best outing of his career on Saturday in Baltimore, when he fired a two-hit complete game shutout over the Orioles. He has allowed just five runs in 25 2/3 innings on the season, and four of those came in one rough fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 13.

Friday, April 27, at 7:10 PM ET – RHP Erasmo Ramirez (0-1, 9.64) vs. RHP Corey Kluber (3-1, 1.96)

The 27-year-old right-hander Ramirez is the second big leaguer of that name. A native of Nicaragua (one of three in the Majors presently), he is in his seventh season in the Majors and his second year back in Seattle with the Mariners. He has made just one start this season, taking a loss his first time out against Texas after allowing five runs on five hits in four and two-thirds innings. It will his eighth overall appearance in his career against Cleveland and his fifth start. He comes in with a 1-2 record with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP, with the win coming back in 2013.

Kluber had to battle a bit in Baltimore on Sunday, but he still came away with a victory in the series finale. The 32-year-old earned his third straight win, allowing three runs on six hits in seven innings of work. He has faced the Mariners five times in his career and has factored in each decision. He is 3-2 with a 1.66 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP with 43 strikeouts in 38 innings. In the season opener, he threw his second career complete game against Seattle, but took the loss after allowing a pair of runs on six hits in eight innings.

Saturday, April 28, at 4:10 PM ET – RHP Mike Leake (2-2, 6.59) vs. RHP Carlos Carrasco (4-0, 2.31)

Leake, a 30-year-old right-hander out of San Diego and Arizona State University, put up a good start in his season debut against Cleveland on April 1. He allowed just two runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts in seven innings, earning his first win of the year and his third career victory over the Indians in eight starts. In his four starts since, he has lasted no later than six complete innings and has just one other quality start to his credit. His last time out on Monday, he was tagged for eight runs on 12 hits in just three and one-third innings.

Carrasco will look to continue his perfect start to the 2018 campaign with his second start of the year against the Mariners and his sixth start overall. He has won ten straight decisions (dating back to last season), including his last start against Baltimore on Monday when he allowing just one run on six hits over seven and one-third innings. He owns a 4-2 record in seven career games (six starts) against the Mariners with a 3.49 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He was blessed into a win in his first start against the Mariners this season, as he allowed five runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings, but came away victorious.

Sunday, April 29, at 1:10 PM ET – LHP Marco Gonzales (2-2, 5.56) vs. RHP Josh Tomlin (0-3, 9.24)

Gonzales, a former first round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2013 June draft out of Gonzaga, will make his first start against Cleveland in his career on Sunday. He had previously worked against them once in relief last season, allowing three hits but striking out a pair in two innings of work. This is his second season with the Mariners after being acquired by Seattle in July of last season for outfield prospect Tyler O’Neill. He is coming off of his best start of the season, when he threw six shutout innings of five-run ball while matching a season-high with eight strikeouts.

Tomlin will look to bounce back in a big way against the Mariners after a rough outing against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night. In that game, he allowed three solo homers and five runs in total on seven hits in just three and two-thirds innings in his first start since April 10. The Mariners may just be the team for him to face – of all teams that he has faced more than twice in his career, his winning percentage against Seattle is the best (.833 courtesy of a 5-1 record in seven starts with one complete game shutout). He faced them once last season, allowing four runs on eight hits in five innings while earning a W.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

TV: Fox Sports SportsTime Ohio (all); ROOT Northwest (all)
Radio (all): Cleveland Indians Radio Network (CLE); 710 ESPN (Seattle)

TRANSACTIONS and INJURY NOTES

Cleveland:
Cody Anderson (P) – 60-day disabled list (2/25) – recovery from April 2017 UCL surgery
Jeff Beliveau (RP) – contract purchased from Triple-A Columbus (4/26)
Melky Cabrera (OF) – signed to a minor league contract (4/24)
Lonnie Chisenhall (RF) – 10-day disabled list (4/8) – right calf strain
Jack Leathersich (RP) – designated for assignment from Triple-A Columbus
Ryan Merritt (P) – 10-day disabled list (3/26) – left knee sprain
Andrew Miller (RP) – placed on 10-day disabled list (4/26) – left hamstring strain
Danny Salazar (P) – 10-day disabled list (3/26) – right shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis
Giovanny Urshela (UTL) – 10-day disabled list (3/26) – right hamstring strain (on rehab assignment)

Seattle:
Dario Alvarez (P) – outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma (4/25)
Ryon Healy (1B) – activated from 10-day disabled list (4/26)
David Phelps (P) – 10-day disabled list (3/26) – recovery from March 2018 UCL surgery
Dan Vogelbach (1B) – optioned to Triple-A Tacoma (4/26)

SEATTLE STATS

Mitch Haniger ate up Cleveland pitching during their visit to Safeco earlier this month. He was 5-for-8 (.625) in the series with a double, two homers, and three RBI.

Cano has had great success in his career against the Mariners and he opened the season with the same kind of numbers. He was 6-for-10 in the three games with two doubles and a run batted in.

Nelson Cruz is one of the top active players in home runs against the Indians, with 19 blasts to his credit against them. He added two to that list during the Tribe’s trip to Seattle, when he was 2-for-6 before injuring his ankle walking down the dugout steps following the latter shot. Cruz is hitting .268 on the year with a .554 slugging mark with four homers and nine RBI.

Kyle Seager struggled against the Indians in Seattle to start the season, going 1-for-10 with four strikeouts, but he has feasted at Progressive Field in his career. In 22 games in Cleveland, he has slashed .360/.409/.663 with nine doubles, a triple, five homers, and 12 RBI. He has homered in five of his seven trips to town. Last season, however, was one of his worst seasons at the park, as he was just 2-for-10 with a single, a homer, and two RBI.

TRIBE BY THE NUMBERS

The Indians bats combined to hit just .186 in their season opening series against the Mariners. Edwin Encarnacion led the way with three hits in nine at bats (12 plate appearances). Two of the three left the yard while he drove in three.

Yonder Alonso’s return to Safeco went well, as he was 3-for-10 in the series with a double, a homer, two walks, and four runs batted in. He has found the long ball in the last week, hitting three home runs and driving in six runs in his last seven games.

Few teams in the last few years can claim to have held Jose Ramirez in check, but the top three pitchers in the Mariners rotation and the bullpen were able to do that to the switch-hitter. He was 0-for-12 in the series and grounded into a double play. Ramirez has been on fire of late – in his last 13 games, he has hit .400 with six homers and eight RBI. He has hits in 12 of those 13 contests, including five straight coming into play on Thursday night.

The team’s loss of the All-Star reliever Miller led to a domino effect of moves. Beliveau’s contract was purchased from Triple-A Columbus, but in order to add him to the club, a corresponding 40-man roster move was needed, which led to Leathersich being designated for assignment. Beliveau had made seven scoreless appearances for the Clippers, earning one save while allowing just two hits and a walk and striking out 14 in eight and two-thirds innings.

TRIBE TRIVIA

Welcome back to this weekend’s edition of Tribe Trivia. As has been the theme, this batch of trivia will connect the Indians and Mariners organizations.

This former Cleveland Indians manager is the bench coach on current Mariners manager Scott Servais’ staff. Who am I?

This current coach on manager Terry Francona’s staff was a bench coach for the Mariners and manager Don Wakamatsu in 2009 and 2010. Who am I?

This first baseman with some home run pop joined the Indians from the Minnesota Twins just before the start of the 1992 season and put up a consistent numbers for Cleveland as they worked towards a World Series appearance in 1995. After that season, he was non-tendered by the Indians and signed with the Mariners for $1 million. Who am I?

NEXT UP

The Mariners will take Monday off for the long flight home to Seattle, where they will open the month of May with a six-game homestand against Oakland and the Los Angeles Angels. The Indians will host the Mariners’ division rivals, the Texas Rangers, for three games on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Thursday’s double dip with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Photo: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images