PREMIUM
Rogers' 10* MLB Game of the Day >> 46-24-1 L71 MLB Plays! +$20K Run!
(MLB) Toronto vs. Cleveland,
Money Line: -130.00 Toronto (Away)
Result: Loss
Money Line: -130.00 Toronto (Away)
Result: Loss
The set-up: The Blue Jays and Indians opened their ALCS matchup Friday night in Cleveland. While Toronto was a small favorite to win the series (about –145), the Indians were favored to win Game 1 (closed at –140). The reason Cleveland was favored in Game 1 was because of Corey Kluber. The 2014 Cy Young winner had rebounded from a terrible 2015 season to go 18-9, matching the record from his Cy Young-winning 2014 season. Kluber ended the regular season 9-1 over his last 12 starts (Indians were 11-1) and 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. Kluber brought his "A-Game" again on Friday, throwing 6 1/3 scoreless innings, as the Indians won 2-0 on the strength of Francisco Lindor's two-run HR. Andrew Miller (five) and Cody Allen (one) combined for six Ks and 2 2/3 scoreless inning of relief.
The pitching matchup: J.A. Happ (1-0, 1.80 ERA) takes the hill for Toronto and Josh Tomlin (1-0, 3.60 ERA) for the Indians. Trevor Bauer was slated to get this Game 2 start but Bauer, a devotee of drones, has been scratched from his scheduled start after suffering a lacerated small finger on his right hand while doing some "routine maintenance" on the drone, You can't make this stuff up! "This was not malicious," Francona said. "He wasn't doing something that, I mean, he could have been opening a box in the kitchen. Things happen. I wish it wouldn't have, but it wasn't done maliciously. It wasn't done by being silly. It just happened." Tomlin was 13-9 with a 4.40 ERA during the regular season but his moneyline mark of plus-$864 (Indians were 19-10), was the best of any Cleveland starter. Also note that he acquitted himself well in Game 3 of the ALDS at Fenway, giving Cleveland five innings (allowed four hits and two ERs) in the team's series-clinching 4-3 win.
Toronto's Happ had a career-year in 2016, to say the least. Way back in 2009, he went 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA for the Phillies in 35 appearances, including 23 starts. However, over the next eight seasons, he only once again reached double digits in victories, going 11-11 (4.22 ERA) for Toronto in 2014. So it's fair to say, no one could have predicted he'd go 20-4 with a 3.18 ERA in 2016 (team was 24-8, plus-$1,189 in all of his starts). Happ allowed nine hits in Game 2 of the ALDS against Boston but just ONE run, as Toronto took a 2-0 series lead with a 5-3 win.
The pick: The Blue Jays averaged an AL-worst 3.69 runs RPG in their 29 September-October games but then scored 22 runs while hitting 10 HRs with an .863 OPS in sweeping Texas. Last night, Toronto was held scoreless, getting just six hits and went 0-5 with RISP, while leaving eight men on base. The good news for Toronto in Game 2 is that Tomlin was 0-1 with a 6.10 ERA in two starts against Toronto this year and in five career starts against the Blue Jays, owns a 5.53 ERA. Happ made just one start against the Indians in 2016, allowing one run on five hits with 11 strikeouts and no walks over seven innings of a 17-1 win back on July 3. In six career appearances (five starts) against Cleveland, he is 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA. Happ showed no signs of tiring down the stretch, going 3-0 over his last five six starts (Jays were 5-1), while posting a 2.97 ERA. Happ helps the Jays even the series at one-all. Toronto is a 10* play.
The pitching matchup: J.A. Happ (1-0, 1.80 ERA) takes the hill for Toronto and Josh Tomlin (1-0, 3.60 ERA) for the Indians. Trevor Bauer was slated to get this Game 2 start but Bauer, a devotee of drones, has been scratched from his scheduled start after suffering a lacerated small finger on his right hand while doing some "routine maintenance" on the drone, You can't make this stuff up! "This was not malicious," Francona said. "He wasn't doing something that, I mean, he could have been opening a box in the kitchen. Things happen. I wish it wouldn't have, but it wasn't done maliciously. It wasn't done by being silly. It just happened." Tomlin was 13-9 with a 4.40 ERA during the regular season but his moneyline mark of plus-$864 (Indians were 19-10), was the best of any Cleveland starter. Also note that he acquitted himself well in Game 3 of the ALDS at Fenway, giving Cleveland five innings (allowed four hits and two ERs) in the team's series-clinching 4-3 win.
Toronto's Happ had a career-year in 2016, to say the least. Way back in 2009, he went 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA for the Phillies in 35 appearances, including 23 starts. However, over the next eight seasons, he only once again reached double digits in victories, going 11-11 (4.22 ERA) for Toronto in 2014. So it's fair to say, no one could have predicted he'd go 20-4 with a 3.18 ERA in 2016 (team was 24-8, plus-$1,189 in all of his starts). Happ allowed nine hits in Game 2 of the ALDS against Boston but just ONE run, as Toronto took a 2-0 series lead with a 5-3 win.
The pick: The Blue Jays averaged an AL-worst 3.69 runs RPG in their 29 September-October games but then scored 22 runs while hitting 10 HRs with an .863 OPS in sweeping Texas. Last night, Toronto was held scoreless, getting just six hits and went 0-5 with RISP, while leaving eight men on base. The good news for Toronto in Game 2 is that Tomlin was 0-1 with a 6.10 ERA in two starts against Toronto this year and in five career starts against the Blue Jays, owns a 5.53 ERA. Happ made just one start against the Indians in 2016, allowing one run on five hits with 11 strikeouts and no walks over seven innings of a 17-1 win back on July 3. In six career appearances (five starts) against Cleveland, he is 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA. Happ showed no signs of tiring down the stretch, going 3-0 over his last five six starts (Jays were 5-1), while posting a 2.97 ERA. Happ helps the Jays even the series at one-all. Toronto is a 10* play.
