Cleveland vs Boston MLB Betting Preview
The Indians beat the Red Sox last night and Boston has now lost 3 straight and tonight they look to snap their longest home losing streak in 18 years.
Venue/ Stadium: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
Time/Date: 7:10 PM EST Friday, May 11, 2012
MLB Odds From: Bovada
Moneyline: Indians +100 / Red Sox -120
Over/Under: 10 runs
Cleveland Indians vs. Boston Red Sox Preview
While the Indians are atop the AL Central the Red Sox are in the basement of the AL East and their fans are letting them know with last night’s starter Josh Beckett getting booed. MLB lines have the Red Sox as favorites in this game with a run total of 10.
In last night’s game the Indians beat the Red Sox 8-3.
This season the Indians have an O/U record of 15-15 and a run-line W/L record of 14-17 and the Red Sox have an O/U record of 20-10 and a run-line W/L record of 11-20.
To say the Red Sox pitching has been a disappointment is a major understatement, as it is over 6.00 for the season and over 11 in their 6-game losing streak at Fenway.
Taking the mound for the Indians is Ubaldo Jimenez (3-2, 4.04 ERA), who was great in his last outing not giving up any earned runs in 7 innings in a win over the Rangers. Clay Buchholz (3-1, 9.09 ERA) got shelled in his last outing giving up 5 earned runs in only 3 innings in a no decision facing the Orioles.
Buchholz is 3-1, but has an ERA over 9 and opponents are hitting .343 against him, which is the highest average of any pitcher in the Majors. In all of his starts this season he has allowed at least 5 earned runs. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Jimenez got shelled in his only career start against the Red Sox back in 2010 and while he has been stellar at home this season he has struggled on the road with an ERA above 5.70 and opponents are hitting over .330 against him.
The Indians’ offense is solid ranking 10th in the Majors in runs scored and 4th in on base percentage and they slipped out of their mini-slump scoring 8 runs last night.
While the Red Sox pitching has been terrible their offense has been solid ranking 6th in runs scored. However, in their 3-game losing streak they have only scored 10 runs. They may have to score that many runs tonight if Buchholz continues to struggle.
In some betting trends for this AL match up the Indians are 10-3 in their last 13 road games, 1-5 in Jimenez’s last 6 starts as a road underdog, and they have an Over record of 5-1 in their last 6 games vs. a right-handed starter.
The Red Sox are 7-19 in their last 26 home games, 6-2 in Buchholz’s last 8 home starts, and they have an Over record of 19-7-2 in their last 28 home games.
Jason’s Pick: I picked the Indians yesterday, but have to go with the Red Sox in this one. The Boston offense will come alive facing Jimenez, who has not pitched well out of Cleveland this season.
