Cleveland Indians slugger Carlos Santana had every reason to celebrate on Friday morning and planned to punctuate his banner day with a home run later that night.
Mother Nature, however, had other plans.
A day after being officially sworn in as a United States citizen, Santana looks to provide the fireworks on Saturday as the Indians host a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves.
“Feels great. I feel excited. I’m an American boy now. I’m emotional. I’m excited,” the 33-year-old Santana told reporters before Friday’s series opener was rained out.
The rainout delayed the expected return of three-time All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor, who met with the team’s medical staff earlier in the day to address the left ankle injury that had sidelined him since the end of spring training. The 25-year-old likely will be activated to play this weekend after going 5-for-12 with two homers in three games with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers this week.
“Back. Ready to roll. Ready to help this team win it all,” Lindor wrote in The Players’ Tribune. “And after having missed this game so much for the past several weeks, and spending some time thinking about the ups and downs I’ve experienced to get here, I am going to cherish every single second I am able to play this game. I will not take anything for granted — not any pitch, ground ball, hit. Nothing.”
The Indians could use his bat to aid an offense that has scored just 63 runs and is batting .201 in 18 games this season. Lindor batted .277 last season with a career-high 38 home runs and 92 RBIs while adding 25 steals and scoring a league-best 129 runs.
Despite Cleveland’s considerable troubles at the plate, it has won three in a row and nine of 13 heading into its five-game homestand.
Jake Bauers provided the offense in Wednesday’s victory, as he belted a one-out homer in the fifth inning in a 1-0 win over Seattle.
Two-time American League Cy Young Award recipient Corey Kluber (1-2, 6.16 ERA) will get the nod in the first game on Saturday as he looks to rebound after giving up six runs for the second time in three starts. The right-hander also surrendered his first two homers of the season before exiting after 2 2/3 innings of a no-decision against Kansas City on Sunday.
Kluber put forth a dominant performance in his lone career start against Atlanta, yielding two runs on three hits with one walk while striking out seven to pick up the win in a 5-3 victory on June 28, 2016.
Josh Donaldson (7-for-19, homer, five RBIs) has fared well against the 33-year-old Kluber, while Brian McCann (3-for-12, six strikeouts), Nick Markakis (2-for-13) and Tyler Flowers (1-for-16, seven strikeouts) have struggled mightily versus the hurler.
Freddie Freeman, who is 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Kluber, led off the eighth inning with a towering homer in Thursday afternoon’s 4-1 setback to Arizona.
Ronald Acuna Jr. is 16-for-32 with four homers, 10 RBIs and nine runs scored during his nine-game hitting streak for the Braves, who were swept by the Diamondbacks and have dropped five of their last seven.
“We’ve just got to grind through it,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “I’ve always said, on the back end of things like this there’s something really good if you handle it. Take responsibility for it, (take) ownership of what we’re doing, and if you do that and we keep working, there’s good things on the other end of that when you weather those storms.”
Atlanta has announced right-handers Touki Toussaint (1-0, 0.00) and Julio Teheran (2-1, 4.71) as its starting pitchers for the doubleheader, but did not divulge who would get the ball in the opener.
Toussaint originally was scheduled to start on Thursday before having the outing pushed back for rest purposes.
Toussaint will make his sixth career start and first this season after permitting one run on four hits in six innings of relief in last Saturday’s 11-7 win over the New York Mets.
The 22-year-old has not faced the Indians or anyone on their current roster in his major league career.
Teheran won his second straight start after giving up one run on six hits in six innings of a 7-3 win versus the Mets on Sunday.
The 28-year-old has not faced Cleveland in his career, although he has dominated Carlos Gonzalez (1-for-17), Kevin Plawecki (1-for-13) and Santana (1-for-9).
Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer, who is expected to start the second game, did not allow a hit over seven scoreless innings in his lone home contest of the season on April 4.
The 28-year-old surrendered one run on five hits with eight strikeouts and three walks in 6 2/3 innings of a 6-4 victory against Seattle on Monday.
Bauer owns a 1-0 mark with a 3.60 ERA in two career starts against Atlanta, although Flowers (4-for-9, homer) and Freeman (3-for-5, two doubles) have enjoyed success in small sample sizes.