There is little suspense left in the American League Central race fo

TORONTO – r the Cleveland Indians. It is just a matter of when they make it official.They can move another step closer to a division title Friday night when they play the Toronto Blue Jays in the second game of a four-game series at the Rogers Centre.The Indians will start right-hander Carlos Carrasco (16-8 http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-omar-vizquel-jersey , 3.52 ERA) while the Blue Jays will send out right-hander Marco Estrada (7-11, 5.43).Article continues below ...The Indians (80-60) reduced their magic number to clinch to seven in the AL Central with a 9-4 win over the Blue Jays (63-77) on Thursday. Any combination of Indians wins or losses by the second-place Minnesota Twins that totals seven or more will clinch a third consecutive division title for Cleveland.“They’ve had some injury issues, but they’ve got a hell of a team, a real good lineup,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “Now they’ve added to that, of course. And they even brought back old Melky (Cabrera), who’s playing pretty well. And they’ve always had good pitching over there. They’ve had to battle to get a couple of their guys healthy, but you’ve got (Corey) Kluber and some other guys. And then their bullpen Jason Kipnis Jersey , they picked up (Andrew) Miller. They’ve added a few pieces over there. They got as good a shot as anybody.”The Indians defeated the Blue Jays in five games in the 2016 American League Championship Series.Both teams made some history on Thursday.Blue Jays first baseman Rowdy Tellez, who had doubled in his first major-league plate appearance Wednesday when used as a pinch hitter, made his first start in the majors at first base Thursday. He continued his double spree with three of them in the game and had an RBI.Tellez became the first player in the live-ball era (starting in 1920) to have an extra-base hit in each of his first three major-league plate appearances. He also became the first player with extra-base hits in four of his first five plate appearances.Not to be outdone, Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor led off the game with his first of two home runs in the game. It was his seventh career leadoff home run of the season, tying Grady Sizemore for the club record. He has eight multi-homer games in his career and six this season. His six multi-homer games out of the leadoff spot this season are the most by any player in major league history.The Indians had 13 hits Thursday while playing without Michael Brantley, who sat out with a bruised left foot. It was the result of fouling a ball off the top of the foot during the third inning of the 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.“He finished off the game OK, but he got on the flight and it got stiff, so we’ll give him (Thursday off) to kind of let the trainers do their stuff Lonnie Chisenhall Jersey , but he’ll be fine.”Friday will be the second time Carrasco has faced the Blue Jays this season. He did not factor in the decision May 3 at Progressive Field in the first game of the doubleheader, a 13-11 Blue Jays win. He allowed six runs, nine hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings.His previous start at the Rogers Centre was May 9, 2017, when he pitched seven shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven in Cleveland’s 4-2 win.Carrasco is 3-1 with a 5.60 ERA in seven career outings (six starts) against the Blue Jays. In three games (two starts) at the Rogers Centre, he is 2-0 with a 1.76 ERA. Estrada has struggled recently, partly because of back issues. He is 0-2 with a 15.63 ERA in his past two starts.This will be Estrada’s first start of the season against the Indians. In three career starts against them http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-larry-doby-jersey , he is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA. SAN FRANCISCO — One of baseball’s best collections of young hitters goes head-to-head with one of the National League’s best young starting pitchers when the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants begin a three-game series Monday night.The Braves flew into San Francisco on Sunday night on a high, having rallied for six runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat Arizona 9-5 and take three of four in a battle of playoff hopefuls.The win allowed Atlanta (79-64) to move 4 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia (74-68) in the National League East. Those two still have seven head-to-head meetings remaining.Article continues below ...While the Braves continue a seven-game trip with three in San Francisco, the Phillies will be hosting the Washington Nationals for three games.Thanks in large part to 20-year-olds Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies, the Braves will take the field Monday as the second-ranked team in the NL in scoring and batting average.They will be up against Giants 26-year-old Dereck Rodriguez (6-2, 2.41), who ranks fifth in the NL among all pitchers with 15 or more starts in ERA (2.41) and tied for sixth in winning percentage (6-2, .750).Like the Giants, who have lost eight in a row Bob Feller Jersey , Rodriguez has had a tough time getting wins of late. He has one loss and two no-decisions to show for his last three starts, during which he has given up just six runs and 14 hits in 17 innings against Texas, Arizona and Colorado.San Francisco’s losing streak is its longest since another eight-game skid in April 2015.Things were different in early May, when the Giants won three straight games at Atlanta. Brandon Crawford, Evan Longoria and Alen Hanson contributed home runs to the 9-4, 11-2 and 4-3 victories.Rodriguez, a rookie, did not pitch in the series and has never faced the Braves.Left-hander Sean Newcomb (11-8 Satchel Paige Jersey , 3.92) is scheduled to oppose Rodriguez in the series opener. He also did not pitch in the games in Atlanta.The 25-year-old has struggled of late, getting roughed up for 35 hits and 21 runs in 23 2/3 innings in his last five starts. He’s 1-3 in those games and the Braves are 2-3.Newcomb has faced the Giants just once in his career, posting a no-decision in a 5-3 win last June in which he limited the Giants to one run and three hits for six innings.He will be seeing a Giants team this time around that suffered the unfortunate distinction of getting swept in Milwaukee despite out-hitting the Brewers in all three games. That hadn’t happened to the Giants since a 2009 series against San Diego.The Braves, meanwhile, have gone 4-0-2 in their last six road series.They managed to avoid splitting four at Arizona by virtue of their six-run ninth, which featured a go-ahead home run by Ender Inciarte and lead-padding homers by Lucas Duda and Johan Camargo.The home run by the 24-year-old Camargo was his 18th of the season, and Acuna earlier hit his 25th.The homers were the 78th and 79th of the season by Braves players 25-and-under. The Giants have 16.