The Toronto Blue Jays open the 2012 baseball season on the road against the Cleveland Indians
Jose Bautista hit 97 home runs in his past two seasons, leading the majors with 54 in 2010
Justin Masterson gets the ball for Cleveland and that doesn’t say a lot for the Indians’ rotation. Masterson wasn’t very sharp in spring training but he did start 2011 with five-straight wins including a 3-0 record at Progressive Field.
Masterson gave up just eight earned runs in his first five outings of April, 2011 but it’s worth noting that his opponents (CWS, SEA, BAL, KC x 2) finished the campaign with a 4.36 runs per game (RPG) average. The league average was 4.36.
Toronto (4.59) was a run scoring machine last season but they did produce nearly 10-percent more runs when hitting at the Rogers Centre. The Jays had six games under their belt by the time they left Canada in 2011, going 4-2 with a healthy 5.83 scoring average but the wheels fell off on a 10-game road trip where the Jays were just 3-7.
Baseball odds favor the Jays -114 for today’s game and the reason behind that is left-hander Ricky Romero (2011: 15-11, 2.92 ERA). The ace of the staff pitched brilliantly in five of his first six starts in 2011, allowing two earned runs or less and included a trip to Yankee Stadium.
Over/Under odds opened at 7 OV -115 but they’ve been bet up to 7 OV -128 at online sportsbooks with 81-percent of the sports betting vote going high. Toronto and Cleveland have 6 overs, 1 under and a push in their past eight meetings and the Tribe were 13-3 O/U in their past 16 games with a low total.
MLB Picks: Cleveland finished with 27 overs and 18 unders vs. left-handed pitching last season but this will be a tough test for the Indians lineup. The wind is also blowing in from right, with gusts up to 18 mph and that makes betting any “Over” risky.
Pick: Take the Blue Jays
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