Cleveland Indians Central Division Champs Pictures

Weekend preview: NL West, AL Central races take focus

A West Coast team in the Midwest and a Midwest team on the West Coast.

On a weekend where interleague play offers little in the way of intrigue, the two most meaningful series occur between the top two American League Central teams and top two National League West clubs.

The Arizona Diamondbacks travel to Detroit, while the Cleveland Indians head to San Francisco for six games that could alter the top of each division’s standings.

The Diamondbacks and Tigers start things Friday, with Arizona having won 7 of 11 to reclaim first in the NL West.

However, the Diamondbacks have beaten up on paltry teams like the Florida Marlins and Kansas City Royals, but six of their past seven losses have come against above-average clubs like the Giants and Chicago White Sox.

Pitching has been the clear problem, as Arizona’s staff has allowed has allowed 51 runs in its past eight losses. Over their previous dozen games, the staff had a 4.25 ERA, while the bullpen has been especially bad in June.

The bullpen was awful last season as Diamondbacks relievers killed the team’s chances of winning. It appeared that problem was fixed this season, but the bullpen has melted down again with a 5.71 ERA this month.

The Tigers, a game out of first place entering Thursday, have one of the American League’s better offenses, especially in June when they’ve scored 103 runs (third-best in the league).

That means the Diamondbacks will likely have to score to win, but Detroit throws Phil Coke (3.95 ERA) and ace Justin Verlander (2.54) in the first two games, so runs could be scarce.

On the other side of the country, the Indians and Giants are two sputtering teams. The Indians have a tenuous hold on first place in the A.L. Central after going 7-13 since June 2, and the Giants have fallen out of first place after losing five of six games going into Thursday.

The Indians have faltered since holding a seven-game lead on May 23. The pitching has been generous with a 4.38 ERA and 1.422 WHIP in June, and the offense has stagnant.

Cleveland is hitting .228 with a .300 on-base percentage and 72 runs scored this month, forcing manager Manny Acta to tinker repeatedly to find any semblance of the offense that helped the Indians build that first-place lead last month.

As for the Giants, they are seeing what life is like when their starting pitching isn’t able to pick up their malnourished offense.

The bats have been slightly more inept that normal, but just barely with their .300 June OBP. But what makes it look worse is the pitching has been bad, even for an average staff.

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