Athletics vs. Indians Pick
Can the Oakland Athletics and Cleveland Indians find some runs when the two close out their 4-game series today at 12:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Indians are the heavy favorite at home in this game, as they are getting odds of -210 to win. The Athletics are getting a money line of +180 to prevail, while the over/under total is listed at 8.5 runs.
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Today’s pitching matchup has Corey Kluber (3-2, 5.06 ERA) on the mound for Cleveland to face Jharel Cotton (3-5, 5.56) of the Athletics. Kluber is making his first start since May 2, when he allowed 5 runs in three innings before leaving with an injury. He has given up 21 earned runs this year over 37.1 innings. He has 41 strikeouts with 13 walks and a WHIP of 1.37. Cotton has struggled as well, allowing multiple runs in his last six starts. He has given up 27 earned runs in 43.2 innings. Cotton has 40 strikeouts with 19 walks and a WHIP of 1.44.
Cleveland took the first two games in this series, 5-3 and 9-4, but Oakland picked up a 3-1 win on Wednesday night. These two have hit the under in two of the three games in this series and they are 7-2-1 with the under in their last 10 meetings. Cleveland is now 27-24 overall, 11-14 at home and 29-19 with the under. Oakland is 23-29 overall, 8-19 on the road and 28-24 with the over.
Thursday’s game saw some great pitching, as both starters did pretty well. Sean Manaea lasted 7 innings and allowed just three hits with one run and 9 strikeouts. Mike Clevinger went 6.2 innings for Cleveland and gave up the three runs on five hits. The two bullpens combined for 4.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. Chad Pinder produced all of the Oakland offense on a pair of home runs while Francisco Lindor hit his 12th home run of the season for Cleveland’s lone run.
Runs were tough to come by on Wednesday, but that should change today. Cotton has been giving up plenty of runs and that should continue against these Cleveland hitters. Kluber is returning from injury, so his leash will be short. Even prior to the injury, he wasn’t pitching like the Kluber we expect. I think Oakland will take advantage of a rusty pitcher and contribute to these two hitting the over.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: ATHLETICS/INDIANS OVER 8.5