Fragen und Antworten » Kluber will be on the mound Monday night

Two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber will go into his start Monday night in Kansas City in an unfamiliar position: in a slump.

In his first 14 starts this year Youth Calvin Ridley Jersey , Kluber was 10-2 with a 1.99 ERA. But in his last three starts, Kluber is 1-2 with a 6.59 ERA.

Nevertheless, the slumping Kluber will be on the mound Monday night for the Cleveland Indians, who, not coincidentally, are slumping as a team.

Although they walloped Oakland 15-3 on Sunday, the Indians have lost four of the first six games on their nine-game trip that will conclude with three games in Kansas City.

Kluber, who is 10-6 with a 2.82 ERA in 21 career starts against the Royals, will try to get back on track against one of his favorite opponents.

Kluber’s three-start slump is actually two really bad ones sandwiched around a really good one. It started June 15 with a 10-3 loss to Minnesota in which Kluber gave up four runs in five innings.

However, Kluber’s next start, on June 20, was a 12-0 win over the Chicago White Sox in which he pitched seven scoreless innings and gave up one hit.

But on June 26 in St. Louis, Kluber had his worst start of the year, his worst in several years. In an 11-4 loss to the Cardinals, Kluber was removed from the game after giving up six runs in 1 2/3 innings.

“He’s human. Guys don’t go 35 starts (during the season) without a bump in the road,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.

Kluber said, “No excuses. I just didn’t get the job done. I had some things going on delivery-wise and didn’t execute my pitches consistently.”

Although the Indians have a comfortable nine-game lead in the American League Central, they have had trouble winning on the road.

Cleveland is 27-13 at home but just 18-24 on the road, the only division leader in the majors with a losing record on the road. The Indians are hoping Kluber can help shake his slump and get a road win Monday.

Kluber is 11-4 with a 2.54 ERA overall this season. One of those wins came against the Royals on May 13, a 6-2 Cleveland victory in which Kluber pitched seven innings without allowing an earned run.

The Indians bolstered their bullpen Sunday by selecting left-hander Marc Rzepczynski from Triple-A Columbus and optioning starter Adam Plutko to Columbus.

Kluber’s mound opponent Monday night, Royals right-hander Jakob Junis (5-9, 4.67), is also mired in a slump.

Junis hasn’t won a game since May 18. In seven starts since then, he is 0-6 with a 6.30 ERA. His last start came June 26, a 5-1 loss to Milwaukee. In that game, Junis pitched five innings, giving up four runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Junis’ last start against Cleveland came May 13. In a 6-2 loss to the Indians, he pitched 5 2/3 innings Youth Hayden Hurst Jersey , allowing four runs and six hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

In three career appearances against Cleveland, Junis is 0-1 with a 5.93 ERA.

The Royals, who have lost three in a row, were glad to see the calendar change to July. They went 5-21 in June, the worst record in June in the team’s 50-year history.

St. John’s took down another of the nation’s elite, and stunned No. 1 Villanova 79-75 on Wednesday night for its second win over a top-five team this week – and first over the top-ranked team in 33 years.

Shamorie Ponds scored 26 points to spark the Red Storm (12-13, 1-11 Big East) to its first conference win of the season and easily their best week since Chris Mullin was in uniform, not the coach.

Mullin played for St. John’s when it beat No. 1 Georgetown 66-65 on Jan. 26, 1985. And he was on the sideline exhorting his players in the final minutes of this shocker.

St. John’s beat then-No. 4 Duke Blue Devils 81-77 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, snapping an 11-game losing streak. It was the first win for St. John’s since Dec. 20 against Saint Joseph’s.

The Wildcats (22-2, 9-2) ended a nine-game winning streak and will surely tumble from the top of the national rankings, where they’ve spent the last five weeks at No. 1.

NBA

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The NBA game between the Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans has been postponed after nearly two-hour delay because of a roof leak that briefly allowed rain water to puddle near one of the foul lines.

While Smoothie King Center crews fashioned a fabric catch basin in the rafters to stop water from dripping on the court, Pacers coach Nate McMillan said coaches and players on both teams didn’t want to risk an injury in the event the make-shift fix didn’t hold up for the duration of Wednesday night’s game.

Officials have not yet announced when the game will be made up.

Rain fell on and off throughout the day in New Orleans, but water on the court did not appear to be an issue during warmups.

HOCKEY

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin will miss the next three to four weeks recovering from a broken left hand.

The Wild announced Brodin had surgery Wednesday. He’s one of the top four blue-liners and by far the team’s leader with a plus-19 rating.

Brodin was hurt in the second period at St. Louis on Tuesday night. The Wild beat the Blues 6-2 in their third straight game with their entire lineup available, after a number of injuries to their forwards scattered throughout the season. Now Brodin will be out of action until March, with the Wild right on the cusp of the playoff cut in a crowded Western Conference race.

The Wild are 18-4-4 at home this season. They will begin a five-game homestand Thursday against NHL-worst Arizona.

GOLF

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is making his PGA Tour debut next month in the Dominican Republic.

As a player, not a broadcaster.

Romo, now the lead NFL analyst for CBS Sports, has received a sponsor’s exemption to play in the Puntacana Resort & Club Championship on March 22-25. The first-year event is held opposite the Dell Technologies Match Play, a World Golf Championships event that attracts the top 64 in the world.

He joins a short list of athletes who have tried to compete against those who play for a living.

Mark Rypien, the former Washington Redskins quarterback, played the Kemper Open in 1992. He shot rounds of 80-91 and missed the cut by 27 shots.

Ken Harrelson, an All-Star outfielder for the Boston Red Sox in 1968, qualified for the 1972 British Open at Muirfield and missed the cut by one shot. John Brodie qualified for the U.S. Open while playing for the San Francisco 49ers and later won on the PGA Tour Champions circuit.

Most recently, Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry played a Web.com Tour event outside San Francisco. He shot 74-74 and missed the cut by 11 shots.