MLB Lock Alert – Cleveland vs. Boston Round 2

Cleveland Indians vs. Boston Red Sox

Game-day: 5/7/2009

First-pitch: 7:05 pm est.

The Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox play the second of a two game series on Thursday night with the Indians riding high after a 9 to 2 victory. Cleveland hasn’t had a great season straight-up at 11 and 17 but beating Boston had to have helped. They send pitcher Jeremy Sowers to the mound. Sowers was 4 and 9 in 2008 with a 5.58 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. He was just called up from Triple A the other day to start in this game.

The Red Sox counter Sowers with old pro Tim Wakefield. Wakefield has always been a crafty, tough, pitcher and his 2.91 ERA, 3 and 1 record, and 1.09 WHIP attests to that.

Here is the BetOnline online sportsbook MLB betting line for this game.

Cleveland Indians

Jeremy Sowers – L +1 ½ -140 +140 O 10 ½ -105

Boston Red Sox

Tim Wakefield – R -1 ½ +120 -160 U 10 ½ -115

Here are a few online MLB wagering trends for this game.

The Cleveland Indians are 5 and 11 in their last 16 games as an underdog.

The Cleveland Indians are 3 and 13 in Jeremy Sowers’ last 16 starts as a road underdog.

The Boston Red Sox are 33 and 17 in Tim Wakefield’s last 55 starts as a favorite at home.

The Boston Red Sox are 43 and 16 in Tim Wakefield’s last 59 home starts versus a team with a losing record.

There are two possible wagers that make sense for gamblers in this game. The first is on the Boston Red Sox straight-up at -160. Boston should bounce back from that 9 to 2 whipping they suffered in the first game of this mini-series and win this game easily.

Easily? Yes, which is why betting the run line, the second possible wager, is the way to go in this. What this game will come down to is the number of base runners allowed each inning, represented by the WHIP stat.

Sowers will allow close to 2 base runners an inning. He was at 1.49 last season. This will be his first start of the year after pitching in Triple A and it’s against the Red Sox. I see Sowers’s WHIP rising to close to 2.

Wakefield’s WHIP is terrific at close to 1. With Wakefield pitching well and Sowers facing a tough hitting line-up, why not take a chance on the run line?

I’m betting Time Wakefield and the Boston Red Sox at -1 ½ +120 on the run line in the sportsbook.