PREMIUM
Rogers' ALCS Game 1 ROUND TRIPPER >>> 46-23-1 (67%) MLB Run!
(MLB) Toronto vs. Cleveland,
Point Spread: 1.50 | -174.00 Toronto (Away)
Result: Loss
Point Spread: 1.50 | -174.00 Toronto (Away)
Result: Loss
The set-up: The Blue Jays and Indians open the ALCS tonight in Cleveland with both teams coming off 3-0 sweeps in their respective ALDS matchups. The Blue Jays bested Texas, which not only owned the AL's best overall record at 96-67 but the Rangers were also easily MLB's biggest money-earners in 2016, earning a profit of $2,932 at $100/game (that was more than $1,300 better than the 2nd-best moneyline mark team, the Orioles). The Indians owned the homefield edge over the Red Sox but Boston opened the series with MLB's most-potent lineup, leading all of MLB in runs scored (5.42 per), BA (.282) and OPs (.810). However, when all the dust had settled, the Indians completed a three-game sweep, holding that Boston lineup to 2.33 RPG with a team BA of .214 and an OPS of .655
The pitching matchup: Marco Estrada (1-0, 1.08 ERA) starts for Toronto and Corey Kluber (1-0, 0.00) for Cleveland. Estrada was 9-9 with a 3.48 ERA this season in 29 starts but gets the Game 1 start over 20-game winner J.A. Happ. Estrada finished the regular season allowing just two ERs on nine hits over his last three starts (19 innings), for an 0.94 ERA as well as a 19-2 KW ratio. He then pitched 8 1/3 innings in Toronto's 10-1 Game 1 win at Texas, allowing just four hits and one run. "Obviously, it's the playoffs and I understand it's a big deal, but I treat every game just like the one before," Estrada said at Thursday's press conference. "I don't put extra pressure on myself. And it's something I've been saying since last year - why think about it any other way than just another normal start?" Corey Kluber won the AL's 2014 Cy Young award going 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA. However, his ERA jumped by more than a run (3.47) in 2015 and he suffered an awful season, going 9-16 and worst of all, finished the year with MLB's worst moneyline mark at 11-21 in team starts, minus-$1,747. Here in 2016, Kluber ended the regular season 9-1 over his last 12 starts (Indians were 11-1) and matched his 2014 record at 18-9. He then beat the Red Sox and David Price in Game 2 of Cleveland's series with Boston, pitching seven scoreless inning and allowing only three hits.
The pick: The Indians went 16-11 in September while the Blue Jays stumbled to an 11-16. However, Toronto won its final two games of the regular season (Oct. 1 & 2) to nail down the No. 1 wild card spot, before beating the Orioles 5-2 (11 innings). Toronto then took down Texas, as a lineup which had been struggling down the stretch (the Blue Jays averaged an AL-worst 3.69 runs RPG in their 29 September-October games), scored 22 runs while hitting 10 HRs with an .863 OPS. Toronto manager John Gibbons is so confident of Estrada, that while 20-game winner Happ could have been used on regular rest, he chose Estrada. See above for Estrada's closing stretch numbers in 2016 and add to that his 2-1 record with a 2.33 ERA in three playoff outings last year, which makes Toronto plus 1 1/2 runs an 8* play.
The pitching matchup: Marco Estrada (1-0, 1.08 ERA) starts for Toronto and Corey Kluber (1-0, 0.00) for Cleveland. Estrada was 9-9 with a 3.48 ERA this season in 29 starts but gets the Game 1 start over 20-game winner J.A. Happ. Estrada finished the regular season allowing just two ERs on nine hits over his last three starts (19 innings), for an 0.94 ERA as well as a 19-2 KW ratio. He then pitched 8 1/3 innings in Toronto's 10-1 Game 1 win at Texas, allowing just four hits and one run. "Obviously, it's the playoffs and I understand it's a big deal, but I treat every game just like the one before," Estrada said at Thursday's press conference. "I don't put extra pressure on myself. And it's something I've been saying since last year - why think about it any other way than just another normal start?" Corey Kluber won the AL's 2014 Cy Young award going 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA. However, his ERA jumped by more than a run (3.47) in 2015 and he suffered an awful season, going 9-16 and worst of all, finished the year with MLB's worst moneyline mark at 11-21 in team starts, minus-$1,747. Here in 2016, Kluber ended the regular season 9-1 over his last 12 starts (Indians were 11-1) and matched his 2014 record at 18-9. He then beat the Red Sox and David Price in Game 2 of Cleveland's series with Boston, pitching seven scoreless inning and allowing only three hits.
The pick: The Indians went 16-11 in September while the Blue Jays stumbled to an 11-16. However, Toronto won its final two games of the regular season (Oct. 1 & 2) to nail down the No. 1 wild card spot, before beating the Orioles 5-2 (11 innings). Toronto then took down Texas, as a lineup which had been struggling down the stretch (the Blue Jays averaged an AL-worst 3.69 runs RPG in their 29 September-October games), scored 22 runs while hitting 10 HRs with an .863 OPS. Toronto manager John Gibbons is so confident of Estrada, that while 20-game winner Happ could have been used on regular rest, he chose Estrada. See above for Estrada's closing stretch numbers in 2016 and add to that his 2-1 record with a 2.33 ERA in three playoff outings last year, which makes Toronto plus 1 1/2 runs an 8* play.
