(Sports Network) - The Cleveland Indians aim for their first 3-0 start to a season in 10 years as the defending American League Central champions wrap up a three-game series with the visiting Chicago White Sox this afternoon at Progressive Field.
After coming through with a wild 10-8 victory over the White Sox in Monday's opener, the Indians received a stellar season debut from Fausto Carmona on Wednesday. The hard-throwing right-hander allowed just one run over seven innings to lead Cleveland to a 7-2 triumph.
Carmona held Chicago to four hits and walked four in his 108-pitch outing. He received plenty of offensive support at the top of the lineup from Grady Sizemore and Asdrubal Cabrera, as the duo combined for six hits and five RBI.
Sizemore finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored, while Cabrera also collected three hits and drove in a pair of runs on the evening.
A.J. Pierzynski went 3-for-4 with a solo home run for the White Sox, but no other Chicago player had more than one hit.
Sox starter Javier Vazquez struck out six over five innings, but was touched for four runs and walked four to suffer the loss.
Cleveland is seeking to win its first three games of a campaign for the first time since the club ripped off six straight victories to begin the 1998 season. Chicago, meanwhile, has not started out 0-3 since 2003.
The Indians will also be attempting to sweep a three-game set from the White Sox for the first time since May 30-June 2, 2003. Cleveland has now won seven of the last nine meetings between these AL Central foes, and Chicago is just 7-13 at Progressive Field since the start of the 2006 season.
Cleveland will hand the ball to Jake Westbrook in the finale, and the veteran right-hander gets his first chance to put a disappointing 2007 behind him.
Westbrook had won at least 14 games for the Tribe in three consecutive seasons before slipping to a 6-9 mark a year ago. Part of the reason for that drop in production was an oblique strain that landed Westbrook on the disabled list for nearly two months.
The 30-year-old struggled to a 1-4 record with a 6.27 earned run average prior to the All-Star break, but rebounded to post a solid 3.44 ERA in the second half.
Westbrook did not have much 2007 success against Chicago, however, having gone 1-3 with a 5.70 ERA in five starts versus today's opponent. For his career Westbrook is 8-10 with a 5.06 ERA in 25 previous matchups (19 starts) with the White Sox.
For John Danks, who takes the bump for Chicago this afternoon, his rookie season of 2007 was a polar opposite of Westbrook's. The young left-hander went 5-6 with a respectable 4.62 ERA in the first half, then tumbled to a 1-7 mark and a 7.11 ERA following the break.
Danks faced the Indians four times during his inaugural big league season and registered a 1-2 record and 5.49 ERA in those outings.
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