Tribe to recall Clevinger to start finale 

CLEVELAND — For the first time in three weeks, starter Mike Clevinger will be back on the mound for the Tribe. The Indians announced on Tuesday that Clevinger will be recalled from Lake County, Ohio, prior to the series finale against Minnesota on Wednesday. It will be his first start

CLEVELAND — For the first time in three weeks, starter Mike Clevinger will be back on the mound for the Tribe.

The Indians announced on Tuesday that Clevinger will be recalled from Lake County, Ohio, prior to the series finale against Minnesota on Wednesday. It will be his first start since Aug. 5 against Cincinnati. Clevinger spent the past 11 days at the Tribe’s alternate training site after a four-day stint on the restricted list. Zach Plesac remains in Lake County.

The 29-year-old had gotten off to a shaky start to the year, as he was learning to trust his surgically repaired knee again on the rubber, but he showed more positive signs of settling in against the Reds — despite his five walks — while showcasing his new cutter for the first time all season. But now, not only will he have to worry about the sharpness of his stuff after missing three weeks of action, he’ll also have to focus on repairing his relationships with his teammates.

After the Indians learned that Plesac broke team protocols in Chicago on Aug. 8, the team sent him home via car service immediately the next morning to eliminate any potential risk of COVID-19 exposure. But it wasn’t known that Clevinger, who sat through a team meeting on Aug. 9 and flew home with the Tribe that evening, was also out with Plesac past curfew, until the day after that meeting, causing some of his teammates to express how much trust was lost in that process.

Clevinger and Plesac briefly faced their teammates in person at a meeting in Detroit on Aug. 14 — the day it was decided that the best option would be for the pair of right-handers to be optioned to Lake County. The righties have since worked out at the alternate training site, with Clevinger throwing five simulated innings last Wednesday.