Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cleveland Indians ALCS Game 2 Preview
Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland
When: Saturday, October 15, 2016, 4:00 PM ET
Line: Toronto Blue Jays (TBA) vs. Cleveland Indians (TBA) – view all MLB lines
TV Broadcast: TBS
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Betting on the Toronto Blue Jays (TBA)
Starting for Toronto in Game 2 is 20-game winner J.A. Happ. The left-hander is coming off a 5-3 win over the Texas Rangers in which he allowed just one run over five innings. Happ will fancy his chances of extending that excellent form this coming Saturday as he has fared extremely well against the Indians of late. He recorded 11 strikeouts and gave up one run over seven innings in his lone outing against Cleveland this season. The Blue Jays won that game in a blowout, 17-1.
Happ can’t do it all alone, though, and he needs the Blue Jays’ hitters to pick up the scoring slack as well. Toronto scored a whopping 22 runs in their series sweep against Texas. Josh Donaldson went berserk in that divisional series, going 7-of-13 with three RBIs. He has had some success against Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer in the past, going 2-of-5 against the righty with three RBIs. Another player who’s expected to contribute for Toronto in Game 2 is Edwin Encarnacion. He went 5-of-12 in the ALDS against Texas with two homers and four RBIs. Encarnacion led the Blue Jays in homers (42) and RBIs (127) this past regular season.
The Blue Jays are pegged at -145 to win the American League Championship Series.
Betting on the Cleveland Indians (TBA)
On the mound for the Tribe in Game 2 is Trevor Bauer. He started Cleveland’s ALDS Game 1 win over Boston but didn’t factor in the decision. Bauer surrendered three runs on six hits, including a pair of homers, and was pulled after just 4.2 innings. He has allowed three or more runs in his last seven starts. Bauer will take comfort in the fact, however, that he has pitched well against the Blue Jays this season. He is 1-0 against Toronto with a 1.38 ERA this campaign. He fanned 13 over eight innings in the Indians’ 3-2 win against the Blue Jays on August 19.
With Bauer still a big question mark at this point, the onus is on the Cleveland hitters to get some early runs on the board in Game 2. The Indians scored 15 runs in their series sweep against the Red Sox. The onus then is on Mike Napoli to carry the scoring load for Cleveland this coming Saturday. He led the Indians in RBIs (101) this past regular season. Napoli is batting .316 (6-of-19) in his career against Toronto starter J.A. Happ.
The Indians are pegged at +115 to win the American League Championship Series.
Writer’s Prediction
Toronto wins, 6-4.
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