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Boston Red Sox (71-52 SU, 64-59 RL, 54-64-5 O/U) vs. Cleveland Indians (68-54 SU, 55-67 RL, 45-68-9 O/U) MLB: Tuesday, August 22, 2017, Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio, 7:10 pm ET Lines: Cleveland -192, Boston +182; Over/Under: 9.5 A series between a pair of division leaders from the American League continues from the shores of Lake Erie. The Boston Red Sox, leaders of the AL East, play the second game of a four game set with the Cleveland Indians Tuesday night.
Boston won the rubber game of their weekend series with the Yankees, taking a 5-1 home win Sunday. Cleveland missed a chance to sweep the Royals on the road as they fell 7-4 in the series finale Sunday afternoon. The pitching matchup for the series opener Monday night saw Eduardo Rodriguez take the mound for the Red Sox against the Indians’ Mike Clevinger. First pitch in the contest was set for 7:10 pm ET. Boston Red Sox Creating Breathing Room in AL East Boston took two of three from the Yankees over the weekend and in the process, opened up some breathing room in the division race. The Red Sox entered Monday with a five game edge over the Yankees as the AL East has turned into a two team affair.
(three RBI), Sandy Leon (run, two RBI), Mitch Moreland (two runs), and Brock Holt each had two hits for Boston in the victory. (8-14) turned in a solid outing as he got the win: he allowed a run on three hits with three walks and four strikeouts over six innings of action., who was picked up back in June with the rash of injuries affecting the Red Sox’s pitching staff, takes the ball for his 11 th appearance and eighth start of the year.
He is 2-6 with a 5.56 ERA, a 1.649 WHIP, 23 walks and 38 strikeouts over 43.2 innings of work. Fister took the loss in his last outing, which was a home start against the Indians last Monday. He allowed five runs on seven hits with four walks and five strikeouts over 4.1 innings in a 7-3 Boston loss. Fister is 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA, a 1.42 WHIP, six walks and 17 strikeouts over 18.1 innings in his last three starts. He makes his 19 th career start against the Indians here: he is 6-5 with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.089 WHIP over 115.2 innings of work.
Fister is 1-2 with a 4.31 ERA and a 1.252 WHIP over nine starts, totaling 54.1 innings at Progressive Field in his career. Cleveland Indians Looking to Get Healthy for Home Stretch Cleveland took two of three from the Royals, giving them some cushion as they try to get healthy for the final month of the regular season. The Indians entered Monday five games ahead of the Twins in the AL Central. Cleveland couldn’t close out the sweep of the Royals Sunday as the pitching was tagged for 15 hits. (run, two RBI) had three hits, including his 20 th homer of the season, to lead the Indians. (run) and Yan Gomes each drove in a run as well.
(5-6) was roughed up to the tune of six runs on 12 hits with a walk and five strikeouts over 4.2 innings of work. Takes the ball and makes his 25 th start of the season in this contest for the Indians. He is 12-5 with a 3.76 ERA, a 1.128 WHIP, 39 walks and 161 strikeouts over 143.2 innings of work on the year. Carrasco picked up the win in his last start, which came Thursday on the road against the Twins. He threw five frames, allowing one run on five hits with one walk and nine strikeouts in a 9-3 Indians victory. Carrasco is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP, five walks and 25 strikeouts over 18.2 innings over his last three starts.
He is 1-1 with a 6.43 ERA and a 1.952 WHIP over 21 innings in six appearances, four starts, against the Red Sox in his career. Carrasco is 21-29 with a 4.61 ERA and a 1.337 WHIP over 410 innings in 82 appearances, 66 starts, at Progressive Field in his career. Trends: Boston. No Key Trends Cleveland. Indians are 4-0 in their last 4 vs. American League East. Indians are 7-0 in their last 7 vs.
A team with a winning record. Indians are 4-1 in their last 5 during game 2 of a series Both teams have been on a roll of late and gave themselves some distance in their respective division races.
Perhaps more importantly, they have closed the gap on the Astros for the best record in the American League, which, if one of these teams happen to leapfrog Houston, would face the wild card winner while the other would face the Astros in the division series. The big difference in this game is the pitching: Carrasco has been solid this season while Fister has been roughed up quite a bit.
That proves to be the difference here as Cleveland gets the win. Pick: Cleveland Indians -192. Pitching is the name of the game right now as the top of the American League begins to become a bit more crowded. With Houston playing sub.500 ball since the All Star break thanks to injuries, one of these two teams could make a run. The problem for the Red Sox is their starting pitching: Chris Sale has been great but Porcello has been inconsistent, David Price is on the DL and Drew Pomeranz left his last start with back spasms. Meanwhile, the Indians have a quartet of starters that are boasting a double digit K/9 ratio since the All Star break in Carrasco, Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Salazar. That’s a lot of wind energy being generated by the Tribe’s rotation.
The under is 3-0-1 in the Red Sox’s last 4 vs. American League Central foes and 6-1 in their last 7 games vs. A starter with a WHIP less than 1.15 on the year. Cleveland has seen the under go 5-0 in their last 5 home games vs. A team with a winning road record, 4-0-1 in their last 5 vs. American League East opposition, 5-1-1 in their last 7 home games vs. A team with a winning record, 16-5-2 in their last 23 vs.
A team with a winning record and 9-3-1 in their last 13 overall. The under has gone 6-2-2 in the last 10 meetings between the teams: look for that trend to continue here as Carrasco spins a solid outing.