Justin Masterson of the Indians has five Quality Starts in his last six outings while Bronson Arroyo of the Reds comes in off of back to back Quality Starts. After a 3-2 Cleveland win last night, go ‘under’ Wednesday.
Expect a relatively low scoring affair on Wednesday night when Bronson Arroyo and the Cincinnati Reds (38-29 overall, 18-16 away) take on Justin Masterson and the Cleveland Indians (24-44 overall, 14-41 home) as the teams wrap up a three-game interleague series from Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH at 7:05 ET.
The posted total at 5 Dimes is 9½ for this contest with the current odds on the ‘under’ set at -120.
The Indians are now the surprising leaders of the American League Central, as they have a one-half game lead on the Chicago White Sox. The biggest threat may be the preseason favorites to win the division though, the Detroit Tigers, as they have recovered from a slow start to pull to within two games of the division lead in third.
The first two games of this series could not have been any different, as the Indians won a 10-9 slugfest in the series opener and then won 3-2 in 10 innings last night on a walk-off two run homer by Asdrubal Cabrera off of the flame throwing Aroldis Chapman. We look for tonight’s game to most likely resemble last night’s contest as opposed to the opener, given the pitching matchup.
Masterson came into his own last season when he won a career high 12 games while posting nice 3.21 ERA in 33 starts covering 216 innings. He was off to a much slower start this season and still sits at just 3-6 with a 4.38 ERA and 1.40 WHIP, but we have been seeing the Masterson of last season lately.
Masterson came into his own last season when he won a career high 12 games while posting nice 3.21 ERA in 33 starts covering 216 innings. He was off to a much slower start this season and still sits at just 3-6 with a 4.38 ERA and 1.40 WHIP, but we have been seeing the Masterson of last season lately.
That is because Masterson has five Quality Starts in his last six outings, with the most recent one being quite possibly his best start of the year as he tossed seven scoreless inning while allowing only four hits vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday with a season high nine strikeouts. Masterson also tossed a gem in his only start vs. the Reds last year, allowing one run on four hits in eight innings at hitter friendly Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
The Reds are still in first place in the National League Central as they have maintained their 2½-game lead on the second place Pirates and their 4½-game lead on the third place St. Louis Cardinals despite losing their last two games.
Tonight’s starter Arroyo have been serviceable this year despite a 3-4 record, as he has a 3.84 ERA and 1.26 WHIP and he is in good current form. He bounced back from a shaky outing vs. the Houston Astros to post Quality Starts in each of his last two efforts, first holding the Detroit Tigers to two runs and only five hits in seven innings and then allowing only three runs on four hits in six innings in a 7-3 win over the New York Mets on Friday.
Arroyo has been a prime ‘under’ pitcher this season as it has gone 9-4 in all of his starts and he is facing a Cleveland lineup that is batting a rather ordinary .249 vs. right-handed pitching over the last 10 games.
Thus, look for both pitchers to do their parts to keep the total run output in the single-digits in Cleveland on Wednesday.
MLB Pick: Reds, Indians ‘under’ 9½ (-120)