The AL Champs playing like Chumps – Cleveland at Tampa Bay

Cleveland Indians vs. Tampa Bay Rays 7:38 ET

A pair of teams that have been big disappointments to sports betting fanatics this season hook up at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, and BetOnline Sportsbook will have all your baseball betting options covered! The Cleveland Indians (14-22, -$898) will look to continue building momentum from their 11-7 win on Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Rays (16-20, -$609). Both sets of pitchers really struggled last night, as both RHP Fausto Carmona and RHP James Shields gave up five runs. The difference is that the Rays only mustered six hits, while the Indians picked up a whopping 18, including four hits apiece from SS Asdrubal Cabrera, C Victor Martinez, and DH Shin-Soo Choo.

The defending AL champs are -165 favorites this evening, while the ‘total’ has been lined at 9.5 over -115.

RHP Anthony Reyes will take the bump for the seventh time this season on Friday night. In his last start against the Tigers, Reyes gave up five runs in just five innings of work. His ERA this season is a lofty 7.20, while his WHIP is 1.67. Opposing batters are hitting .291 against him. All of this is raising questions in Cleveland whether the 28-year old they acquired last season from St. Louis really should be in the rotation or not. This will be the righty’s first career start against Tampa Bay.

Is LHP Scott Kazmir pitching for his spot in the rotation? Though Manager Joe Maddon has promised no changes to his rotation even though phenom LHP David Price is just about ready to come up from AAA Durham, the face of the Tampa Bay franchise clearly isn’t cutting it this season. He has a 5.92 ERA and 1.66 WHIP this season. Though his strikeout total is decent (7.11 K/9), the figure is nowhere near the 9.61 K/9 he has for his career. Twenty-one walks in seven outings is just too many as well. The southpaw has given up at least six runs in three of his seven starts this season, and has yet to complete seven innings. In fact, his streak of games without finishing seven frames is up to a whopping 24 (including playoffs), and he’s failed to go the seven innings in 31 of his L/32 starts. Kazmir has a 5.47 ERA against the Tribe in five career starts (1-2).

Both of these starters have been gas cans this season. Reyes has had a 6.00+ ERA in two of his L/3 season, while Kazmir has no clue how to get through six innings without throwing 100 pitches. That’s bad news for a bullpen which relies heavily on RHP Joe Nelson (16.62 ERA in L/8 outings), RHP Troy Percival (27.00 ERA in L/2 outings), RHP Grant Balfour (6.48 ERA in L/6 outings), and RHP Dan Wheeler (4.91 ERA in L/4 outings). Cleveland’s bullpen has a composite 5.75 ERA as well, which is the 4th worst mark in the majors. The L/3 between these teams have soared past the ‘total’. Tonight should be no exception.

Rose’s Recommendation: 5* Over 9.5 -115

(Rating Scale: 1* – 5*)