Boston at Cleveland ALDS Game 2 Expert Pick

Boston vs Cleveland MLB Betting Analysis

Written by on April 7, 2016

After smacking the Cleveland Indians around in their 6-2 in their season-opening pro baseball odds win, the Boston Red Sox will look to take another contest from the up-and-coming young ballclub when they square off on Thursday night. Starting pitcher David Price struck out 10 in six innings and Mookie Betts and David Ortiz each smacked two-run jacks to lead the BoSox to victory. “We did some good things on the bases, had a lot of good swings, and on a day when there wasn’t great (weather), David was outstanding,” Boston manager John Farrell said. In a battle of former Cy Young Award winners, Price out-pitched Cleveland’s Corey Kluber. Price was untouchable in five of the six innings he pitched and Kluber gave up four runs in five-plus innings. Now, let’s find out if the BoSox are good for another win in this series finale.

How To Bet The Red Sox (1-0) @ Cleveland Indians (0-1)

When: Thursday, April 07 – 6:10 PM EST Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio Starting Pitchers: Boston: Joe Kelly – R Cleveland Danny Salazar – R TV: NESN MLB Odds: Cleveland -135

Why Bet the Boston Red Sox at +115

Because they’re more mature and better in almost every way! Boston will turn to Joe Kelly and that looks like a good thing seeing as how the right-hander continued the momentum from his hot finish last season (8-0, 3.00 ERA in last nine starts) with a solid Grapefruit League spring. Kelly has also gone 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA in two career starts against the Indians. More importantly, the Red Sox are 7-2 in their last nine during Game 3 of a series, 8-1 in Kelly’s last nine starts and 6-1 in Kelly’s last 7 starts versus a team with a losing record.

Why Bet the Cleveland Indians at -135

Because they’ve got young talent and are semi-desperate to get the ‘W’ in this one! The Tribe are sending Danny Salazar to the mound in this one and that looks like a good move. Salazar began 2015 in Triple-A, but didn’t stay there long before emerging as one of Cleveland’s most reliable arms. In 185 innings pitched, the hard-throwing right-hander piled up 195 strikeouts and turned in a 3.45 ERA while going 10-6 in 25 starts. More importantly, the Indians are 4-0 in Salazar’s last four home starts and 6-1 in Salazar’s last seven starts against teams from the AL East.

My Expert Prediction and Pick

While Boston is superior to Cleveland in almost every way, the Cleveland Indians are my pick to bring home the bacon in this series-ender. The Indians are 5-1 in their last six during game 3 of a series and an identical 5-1 in Danny Salazar’s last 6 home starts vs. a team with a winning record. Making matters worse for the BoSox is the fact that the Indians are 12-5 in their last 17 home games against a right-handed starter and an impressive 19-9 in their last 28 home games overall. With the Red Sox going 1-6 in their last seven road games against Cleveland, I say the Tribe are the easy pick. My final score prediction: Cleveland 5 Boston 3