What you should watch in the postseason race today: Red hot Justin Upton vs. ace Corey Kluber
Detroit Tigers' Justin Upton (8) is greeted by Detroit Tigers' J.D. Martinez after hitting a two-run home run off Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Cleveland, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016. Indians catcher Chris Gimenez stands in the background. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
(Phil Long/AP)
By
Adrian Garro
With only seven days left in the season, every game has the potential to alter the postseason picture. As we enter the final days of the stretch run, we'll spotlight the biggest moments that we know you won't want to miss. Indians at Tigers - 7:10 PM ET After a rough start to the 2016 campaign, Justin Upton has turned it on at the right time. After going 3-for-5 with a homer (his 28th of the season) in Sunday's 12-9 loss to the Royals, Upton enters the final week of the regular season pretty hot at the plate. With 10 homers, 23 RBIs and an OPS over 1.000 in September, scenes like this are a key reason the Tigers are only 1 1/2 games behind the Orioles for the second American League Wild Card:
They'll need this kind of offense facing Indians right-hander Corey Kluber, who comes into the start 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA in three starts against Detroit this season. Overall, Kluber is 18-9 with a 3.11 ERA for the Indians, who need one more win to clinch the AL Central. But keeping Upton in check is one of the challenges facing Kluber, especially considering Upton just clubbed 854 feet worth of homers against him earlier in the month at Progressive Field:
