Indians vs. Rays Pick
Will the Cleveland Indians be able to pitch their way past the Tampa Bay Rays when the two meet up tonight at 6:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, Tampa Bay is favored at home, as the Rays are getting odds of -135 to win. The Indians have been listed with a money line of +125 to prevail, while the over/under total has been set at 8 runs.
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The pitching matchup tonight has Mike Clevinger (5-4, 4.00 ERA) on the mound for the Indians to face Chris Archer (8-6, 3.80) of the Rays. Clevinger has been struggling lately, allowing 13 earned runs over his last 8.1 innings of work. He still has 81 strikeouts this season with 40 walks and a 1.33 WHIP. Archer has given up multiple runs in nine of his last 10 starts, but has also gotten through at least six innings. On the year, Archer has 189 strikeouts with 48 walks and a 1.23 WHIP.
These two have split the first two games in this weekend series. Tampa had a 4-1 win on Thursday night and then Cleveland followed up with a 5-0 victory on Friday. The Indians are now 61-52 overall and 30-25 on the road. The Rays are 59-58 overall and 31-28 at home.
Carlos Carrasco was in great form on Friday, pitching eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and only two hits allowed. That gave him his 11th win of the year. Jacob Faria gave up five runs in six innings and had seven strikeouts, taking his third loss of 2017. Edwin Encarnacion had his 23rd home run of the season to lead the Indians while Jay Bruce had a pair of hits for his new team.
Cleveland was able to conserve its pen on Friday, which should help today. I think Clevinger will have a quick hook if he looks shaky. Archer is certainly the better starter of the two, but he has been prone to giving up runs and can give up home runs when people connect on his fastball. I think he gives up enough runs today to take the loss. Cleveland will find a way to grind this out with some timely hitting and a strong effort from the pen.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: CLEVELAND INDIANS +125