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.
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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