By: Al Walsh – Follow him on Twitter @14AdotWalsh
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[1:10 p.m. EST] Under 7.5 – Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers
CLE: Trevor Bauer – R (1-0, 0.64 ERA)
DET: Matthew Boyd – L (0-1, 3.18 ERA)
Trevor Bauer has been absolutely dominant to open the season, allowing only one hit over 14 innings while striking out 17 batters. The outspoken righty did allow six walks in his last start, but this is a guy that has proven to be one of the best pitchers in baseball over the last couple of seasons – he’ll get those mishaps under control. Bauer went 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA against the Tigers last season, striking out 40 batters over the course of 29 1/3 innings.
Matthew Boyd has looked fantastic as well, notching double-digit strikeouts in each of his last two starts. The southpaw has yet to get a win, and it’ll certainly be difficult to do so against Bauer. However, only one Indians’ player, Francisco Lindor, has crushed Boyd much… and he’s on the Injured List.
Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-40s today at Comerica Park, so I wouldn’t expect the ball to be flying out of the yard. The Tigers rank dead-last in all of MLB with 29 runs, while the Indians aren’t too far behind with 38. Not to mention, both team’s bullpen rank in the Top-10 of ERA – Indians: 5th (2.63), Tigers: 7th (2.81). More than enough trends are lining up to take the under in this one.
* Final Score Prediction: Cleveland Indians: 4 – Detroit Tigers: 1 *
[2:10 p.m. EST] Tampa Bay Rays (-150) at Chicago White Sox – Total: 8
TB: Tyler Glasnow – R (2-0, 0.82 ERA)
CHW: Reynaldo Lopez – R (0-1, 10.00 ERA)
Tyler Glasnow has been an absolute stud for Tampa Bay early on, allowing one run over his first two starts. One thing I’ll always mention about the Rays is their bullpen, which ranks second in all of MLB with a 2.05 ERA. And that’s important, considering Glasnow will probably max out at six innings this early in the season.
On the flip side, the White Sox bullpen ranks 25th with a 6.61 ERA, and that’s important because we’ll probably see a lot of them today. Reynaldo Lopez has gotten ripped in each of his last two starts, and the Rays can make life difficult for him by piecing together their patented small-ball way of life.
* Final Score Prediction: Tampa Bay Rays: 8 – Chicago White Sox: 2 *