MLB Baseball
2012-05-24 - Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Indians
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Thursday 24 May 2012 - First Pitch 12:05pm ET
5:05pm (British Standard Time)
Preview
The Detroit Tigers (20-23) were the favourites to win the American League Central, but they have really faltered after a good start to the season and now look to avoid a series sweep to their Divisional rivals the Cleveland Indians (25-18). The Tigers have blown many opportunities in the first two games of the series, a factor of their poor season so far, but they may not need too many today.
Detroit will be confident as they are sending Justin Verlander to the mound, a pitcher that continues to play at an extremely high level. He is 5-1 this season with a 2.14 ERA and is coming off a couple of very productive outings.
Verlander has allowed just 1 run in the last 16 innings he has pitched and that was solo Home Run. He also almost pitched a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates, an achievement that was spoiled with a broken bat shot in the 9th inning, and he has now won his last three starts.
It is not just his form of late that will inspire his team-mates, but also the fact that Verlander has been very effective against Cleveland. In his last 12 starts against them, Verlander is 9-1 with a 2.89 ERA, while he was 3-0 last season with 2.86 ERA and allowed just 8 hits in 22 innings pitched against them.
Cleveland will counter by sending Justin Masterson to the mound in a bid to improve his 1-3 record and 5.04 ERA, but those statistics don't tell a full truth. He allowed just 2 runs in 7 innings pitched against the Miami Marlins in his last outing and has had 4 Quality Starts in his last 5 starts.
However, Masterson will need to find a way to get it right against the Detroit Tigers after struggling against them in the past. The pitcher is 0-4 with a 5.79 ERA in 7 starts against Detroit, a record that becomes 0-2 with a 6.12 ERA in 5 games at Progressive Field.
Head to Head
Detroit had won 10 games in a row in the series before losing the opening 2 games of this series, the first in 2012.
Cleveland had lost their previous 4 here to the Tigers since winning 13 in a row.
Cleveland are 13-12 at Progressive Field, Detroit are 9-11 on the road.
The Indians are 10-8 in day games this season, Detroit are 11-12.
Prediction
There is a definite pitching edge in favour of the Detroit Tigers on the mound in this afternoon game and you have to think they are going to be too strong for the Cleveland Indians and restore a bit of pride moving forward.
Justin Verlander has been very effective in his last couple of outings, but the Cleveland batting line up will be more familiar with the pitcher, although that hasn't helped them in the past.
The same can be said of Justin Masterson, except in his case he has struggled against a batting line up that knows what to expect when he is on the mound.
Detroit have been a little unfortunate that they haven't won one of the last two games as they have got themselves in very good positions but either hurt themselves with errors, grounding out into double plays or leaving men in scoring position.
With the added confidence of having Verlander on the mound, I think the pressure could be off their bats and that may allow them to be a little loose and take advantage of Masterson as they have done in the past.
The Pick :
Cleveland Indians 2-5 Detroit Tigers
