Sabathia shoots for win No. 18 in first of three versus Royals

Sep 14, 2007, 14:56 GMT

- C.C. Sabathia will try to become the latest pitcher to join this season's 18-win club when the Cleveland ace leads the Indians in tonight's opener of a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals from Jacobs Field.

Sabathia enters this evening's contest with a 17-7 record and a 3.15 earned run average which ranks third among American League hurlers. The big left- hander trails Boston's Josh Beckett and the Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang by one win for the major-league lead in victories.

Beckett and Wang both picked up their 18th wins last Sunday and will go head- to-head in Saturday's matchup between the Yankees and Red Sox.

Sabathia recorded victories in each of his last three starts and is fresh off last Saturday's complete-game gem over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Cy Young candidate yielded just five hits and walked one in Cleveland's 6-1 triumph at Angel Stadium.

The 27-year-old, who has allowed two earned runs or less in 10 consecutive starts, suffered his most recent defeat at the hands of the Royals. Sabathia limited Kansas City to just two runs over eight innings, but came out on the short end of a 2-1 decision on August 24. He is just 1-2 in three starts against the Royals this season despite posting a 3.00 ERA over those games.

For his career, Sabathia is 12-8 with a 3.29 ERA in 26 starts versus Kansas City.

The Royals counter with their top pitcher in tonight's opener. Brian Bannister leads the team with 12 wins and a 3.46 ERA this season, although he's coming off a rough outing against the Yankees last Saturday.

Bannister was tagged for seven runs on seven hits, including three home runs, in just five innings in an 11-5 loss to New York. The rookie had won four straight starts prior to that defeat and recorded a 2.12 ERA over that winning stretch.

The 26-year-old's only career start against Cleveland came at Jacobs Field on June 6. He came out a winner in that one after giving up only one earned run over seven innings of work.

The Indians currently own a 5 1/2-game lead over second-place Detroit in the AL Central standings and had won four straight games until Wednesday's 7-4 road loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Chicago belted three home runs on the evening, two of which came off Tribe starter Jake Westbrook, who allowed five runs (four earned) over six innings.

Casey Blake went 2-for-4 with an RBI double for the Indians, while Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez and Josh Barfield also drove in runs in the loss.

The Royals finally halted a seven-game slide on Wednesday, as David DeJesus went 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBI to lead Kansas City to a 6-3 victory over Minnesota in the finale of a three-game set.

Mark Teahen collected three hits, including a homer, and scored twice for the Royals, who won their 63rd game of the season and officially prevented the possibility of a 100-loss campaign.

Gil Meche (8-12) allowed five hits and two runs over 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven with one walk to record his first win since July 20. Meche had been 0-6 with three no decisions over his last nine starts.

The Indians have taken seven of their previous 12 meetings with the Royals this season, including four of six encounters held at Jacobs Field. Kansas City is just 4-11 in Cleveland since the start of the 2006 season.

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