Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cleveland Indians Predictions, Picks and MLB Preview – August 21, 2016

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cleveland Indians Betting Preview

Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland

When: Sunday, August 21, 2016, 1:10 PM ET

Line: Toronto Blue Jays (+145) at Cleveland Indians (-160); total: 7.5 – view all MLB lines

TV Broadcast: TVA Sports / SportsTime Ohio

Writer’s Pick: Indians (-160)

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Betting on the Toronto Blue Jays (+145)

Another game, another hotly-contested showdown between two of the American League’s division leaders.

On Saturday, it was the Toronto Blue Jays (70-53) who hung on for a 6-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians after losing to the Tribe, 3-2, in the previous bout. And with that win, the Jays have now won three of the last five meetings against Cleveland and three of their last four games in general to maintain a half-a-game lead for the top spot in the crowded AL East pennant race.

The Blue Jays are fully aware that their firepower will bail them out more often than their pitching corps. In all seven of their wins since August 9, they’ve scored no fewer than four runs in each of those contests and with an average of 7.42 runs scored during that span. Slugger Edwin Encarnacion continues to be a force to be reckoned with after hitting his 35th home run of the season on Saturday. He now has a total of 11 hits, three dingers and seven RBIs over his last eight games.

Another good omen for a possible Toronto win is that Marcus Stroman (9-5, 4.63 ERA) will take the mound in Sunday’s series finale against the Indians. Although he struggled for most of the first half of the season, Stroman has gone 3-1 with a much-improved 3.27 ERA over in 52.1 innings of work since July 1.

Betting on the Cleveland Indians (-160)

Despite Saturday’s loss, the Cleveland Indians (70-51) have still shown no signs of relinquishing their sizeable seven-game lead atop the AL Central standings. Seven seems to be the Tribe’s lucky number right now, as they have still won seven of their last ten home games and seven of their last ten regular-season contests to date.

A great balance of a potent offense and superb pitching continues to be Cleveland’s calling. Shortstop Francisco Lindor has tallied nine hits during his current six-game hit streak, while outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall has five hits, two long balls and six runs batted-in over the last three games. On the other side of the ball, the Indians will also be glad to have Corey Kluber (13-8, 3.15 ERA) as their starter on Sunday.

Much like Toronto’s Stroman, Kluber had a rough first half to the season. However, the 2014 AL Cy Young awardee has turned his campaign around in emphatic fashion, going 5-0 with an outstanding 1.65 ERA in his last seven starts.

Sunday’s finale could come down to the battle of the aces between Stroman and Kluber, and we’re siding with the latter to edge out the former given how the Cleveland righty has pretty much dominated his opposition with much more consistency and deft of late.

Writer’s Prediction

The Indians (-160) win another close one, 4-3.

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