Underdog Yankees Attempt to Slide by Indians in Series Opener
Who: New York Yankees v. Cleveland Indians
When: Thursday August 3rd, 2017 7:10PM EST
Where: Progressive Field—Cleveland, Ohio
The big news of the week was pitcher Sonny Gray’s move from Oakland to the New York Yankees. Perhaps even bigger news is the fact that he is making his first start when the Yankees travel to Cleveland for the first of four games with the defending AL Champion Indians. Heading into this series, both teams will like to forget what happened over the past week. At this point in time, both the Indians and the Yankees are likely to make the playoffs, however neither team’s respective spot in the post-season is even close to being guaranteed.
Coming into this series, the Indians have dropped their last 3 consecutive games. If it weren’t for the series finally in Boston being rained out, there is a strong likelihood they might have been swept by the red-hot Sox. For the Indians, their recent poor form seems to be nothing more than a minor rut. Prior to losing 3 in a row, Cleveland rattled off 10 consecutive victories that helped propel them to a 2.5 game lead atop the AL Central; familiar territory for the defending divisional champs. If they can steal at least 2 games from this series, they will be in decent shape heading down the final stretch.
For the Yankees, their most recent form really flies in the face of what they have been able to do this season. Losing 2 of 3 to Detroit will really hurt, but when you look at the grand scheme of things the Yankees are still in decent position. Though 1 game out of the AL East lead, the Yankees are handily leading all other Wild Card hopefuls. If they can keep their wits about them through this month, they will be putting themselves in great position to not only make the playoffs, but even possibly win their division.
Game Overview and Analysis
Right now, the Yankees (+113) head to Cleveland as underdogs despite having a solid pitcher on the mound. Making his first stripe for the boys in pinstripes will be Sonny Gray (6-5 3.43 ERA), who was acquired less than a week ago. Gray’s record might not stand out as overly impressive at first glance, but you need to consider the fact that he was playing for one of the worst teams in MLB in Oakland. Having a positive record that is over .500 is impressive when you consider where he was playing, and the feeling is that he is going to absolutely tear it up for the Bronx Bombers.
Putting into perspective just how good Gray is, he has not given up more than 2 earned runs in all of his last 6 starts. What’s more, he was able to last at least 6 innings in all of those games. If he can replicate any one of those performances to open up the series on Thursday, I think the Yankees will be in a great position to win. That is, of course, assuming the bats can propel runners across the plate.
For Cleveland (-133), it will be Corey Kluber (8-3 2.90 ERA) who will be making the start. Despite a number of recent no-decisions, Kluber has been great for the Indians. In his past 5 starts, he has amassed a 1-1 record with 3 no-decisions. Though he gave up 3 and 4 runs respectively in two of those aforementioned no-decision outings, he gave up a combined 3 runs in the other 3. Kluber is a strikeout machine of late too, having fanned 56 batters over his last 5 starts. While some might point to consistency problems, that really isn’t the case for Kluber. So long as he continues to do what he has done all season, he will have absolutely no issues taking his team into the post-season for yet another year.
Betting Prediction
The Yankees (+113) might be slight underdogs, but they are the team whose moneyline I think you should take. Bovada is likely choosing them as the underdog because no one is quite sure what they will get from Gray in his first start. Most signs are pointing to him having a great first outing, but there is no way to say this for sure. Personally, I think Gray will take care of the Indians and inevitably further improve his record.
The over/under is currently listed at 8.5 runs (-115/-115). This might be a bit of a bold pick, but I think you will be best served by taking the under. Though I am by no means overly confident in this pick, when you look at how talented both of these pitchers are it is difficult to envision a scenario where a boatload of runs are given up.
My favorite bet of the day would be on the Yankees’ spread, which is currently listed at -1.5 (-180). I know the -180 odds are not the best, but I feel as though the Yankees, led by Gray, will easily earn a victory in this, the first of a four-game series.