Indians Playing Well on Road
The Cleveland Indians continue to play well on the road, while the Los Angeles Angels are suddenly struggling at home.
The Indians will try for their fourth straight win as they continue their three-game road series with the Angels on Wednesday.
Oddsmakers have made Los Angeles -120 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 9 total runs (Matchup). Our public betting information shows that 58% of bets for this game have been placed on Cleveland -130 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Cleveland (20-10) won 5-1 over Los Angeles on Tuesday to improve to 3-2 on its 10-game road trip. The Indians are 9-7 away from home and hold a one-half game lead over Detroit in the AL Central.
Los Angeles (17-16), meanwhile, has lost three in a row and five of six to slip percentage points behind Oakland for the AL West lead. The three straight losses have come at Angel Stadium, where Los Angeles is 12-6 and leads the AL for most home wins.
Tuesday, Cliff Lee threw a complete-game three-hitter in his second start for the Indians this season. Victor Martinez went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, and Casey Blake drove in a pair of runs.
Martinez is hitting .467 (7-for-15) with two homers and five RBIs in his last four games to raise his average to .341.
Cleveland, which is 14-4 since being swept by the New York Yankees in a three-game series from April 17-19, improved to 17-4 against right-handed starters. The Indians will try to improve on that mark Wednesday against Los Angeles’ Jered Weaver.
Cleveland starters Lee and Fausto Carmona combined to allow two runs and 10 hits with a 0.56 ERA in 16 innings over the last two games.
The Indians hope the recent success continues Wednesday when they hand the ball to Paul Byrd (2-1, 2.92 ERA) to face his former team. The right-hander allowed one run and six hits in 6 2-3 innings before Cleveland lost 3-2 in 10 innings at Baltimore on Friday.
"We’ve been playing really well," Byrd told the Indians’ official Web site of his last outing. "You don’t want to get too upset or let it get you in a funk.
Byrd, who went 12-11 with a 3.74 ERA for the Angels in 2005, is 3-0 with a 4.15 ERA in five starts against Los Angeles.
Weaver (1-3, 5.12 ERA) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings of the Angels’ 5-2 loss at Kansas City on Thursday as he continues to work his way back from biceps tendinitis
"The stamina’s there, the stuff’s there," Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia told the Angels’ official Web site about Weaver.
The right-hander is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in two starts against the Indians.
Reggie Willits drove in the Angels’ lone run Tuesday as Los Angeles matched a season low for hits.
"I’ve got a lot of confidence in the lineup we put out there," said Scioscia, whose team has scored seven runs in its last three games. "It’s a lineup that can score runs when guys are in their game. Right now there’s some guys that are soft."
The Angels will be without reliever Justin Speier, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of what the team called a medical condition unrelated to baseball. Speier is 0-0 with a 1.69 ERA in 15 games.
by: Dave Michaels – thespread.com – Email Us
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