To the surprise of many, the Indians are in first place in the AL Central as the season heads into its third month. A visit to Anaheim for a contest against the struggling Angels could help keep them there a little while longer.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
The Indians are the major beneficiary of the slides suffered by AL Central rivals Kansas City and Chicago. As a result, the Tribe took over first place in the division thanks to a six-game winning streak, which included a four-game sweep of the Royals last weekend. Cleveland saw its winning streak come to an end Tuesday in a 7-1 loss to Seattle and the Mariners extended the mini-skid with a 5-0 win on Wednesday.
Cleveland is in the middle of a 10-game road trip and needs better results away from home to keep its division standing. The back-to-back losses in Seattle have the Tribe just one game over .500 on the road and they have a rematch in Kansas City following their weekend set with the Halos. They also have another 10-game road excursion coming up at the end of the month. Cleveland has cashed the under ticket in four straight outings and the under is 7-2-1 in its last 10 road matchups.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Trevor Bauer (4-2, 3.88 ERA) is finding a groove of late with three straight quality starts following a nifty performance against the Mariners on Monday. He allowed five hits and one run with a season-high 10 strikeouts over 7.2 innings. The nasty stuff that enticed talent evaluators in his early career is starting to show up.
Bauer walked just one Seattle batter, which was encouraging since he’s issued 22 free passes in 61.1 innings. He’s still a bit on the wild side, but given his sharp arsenal, that might be enough to give him a chance to succeed. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Bauer, who played his college ball at UCLA and was born in North Hollywood. He’s faced the Halos twice in his career but will be making his first start at Angels Stadium.
Matt Shoemaker (3-7, 5.40 ERA) suffered the loss at Yankee Stadium on Monday, but only because of the inherited runs given up by the bullpen. He tossed 6.2 scoreless innings before surrendering back-to-back homers. He left with two on in a tie game in the eighth but was stricken with the loss when Jose Alvarez served up a bomb to Carlos Beltran. Shoemaker struck out six and did not walk a batter.
After a horrendous April, Shoemaker has been more good than bad of late, lasting more than seven innings in each of his last four starts. He’s compiled a 2.37 ERA over that span recording 37 strikeouts without a base on balls. Over 14 innings in two lifetime starts against the Tribe, Shoemaker is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 20 strikeouts.
LIVE BETTING
Few players bring as much excitement to the game as Mike Trout. He’s fun to watch even on a team as sad as the Angels. After two hitless games, Trout did what he does against the Yankees on Wednesday, blasting his 13th home run of the season among his three hits. The Halos were hammered by the Yankees, but it wasn’t Trout’s fault.
Trout scored twice and drove in a pair to move into the top 10 in the majors in both categories. He improved his slash line to .309/.413/.552, which is in line with his career numbers. Trout has faced Bauer three times officially in the past and has a base hit. Trout has also worked four walks off the Indians’ right-hander, and when he gets on base Trout will swipe a bag or score a run. Don’t expect the Angels to do much damage against Bauer, but Trout is the guy in the middle of the order that can.
QUICK PICK
The Angels have a way of tantalizing us into thinking they might be better than they actually are. Before things get too out of control, they put a little run together that gets folks believing they aren’t that bad. The reality is, they stink. And with the injuries piling up, mainly in the pitching staff, things will get much worse before they get better.
Shoemaker has pitched wonderfully over his past four starts but the bullpen cost him a shot at a win Monday night. With the exception of closer Huston Street, the pen has been awful most of the year. Shoemaker has never completed a start in 56 chances, and once he turns things over to the relievers, who knows what’s going to happen.
MLB Odds: Cleveland 4, Los Angeles 2
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