HENTAI SPORTS
Game : Oakland Athletics at Cleveland Indians (MLB) 07:05pm EST
Prediction : Oakland Athletics ML / Vin Mazzaro must start.
Analysis : The Indians continue their rough season as they are now 26 games under .500 for the year including nine games under .500 at home. Cleveland is finding it very hard to score runs right now and I don’t see that changing Thursday. The Indians, losers of five straight games, have scored more than one run only once over this span and have plated a total of just four runs over this five-game stretch. Going back further, Cleveland is 3-13 over its last 16 games, scoring three runs or fewer 10 times. Oakland had a successful homestand prior to this roadtrip and it is continuing right where it left off. The pitching has been outstanding and coupled with the Indians inability to score, it sets up another great spot at a reasonable price. The A’s have allowed three runs or fewer in 15 of their last 21 games and they have allowed no more than five runs in any game over that span. This has improved the team ERA to 3.48 which is the best in the American League. To no surprise, Oakland has the starting pitching advantage again Thursday. The A’s go with Vin Mazzaro and he has been spot on for a while now. He has tossed four straight quality outings as well as quality performances in 10 of his last 11 trips to the hill. His ERA over this 11-game stretch is an outstanding 2.76. On the road this season he has a 3.88 ERA which is only that high because of one bad game and six of those eight road starts have been quality versions. He allowed one run in 7.1 innings in Cleveland in his lone start against the Indians this year. He is opposed by Justin Masterson who is having a very tough time this season. He has a 5.33 ERA on the year and of his 25 starts, only nine have been quality outings. To no surprise, Cleveland is just 8-17 in those games. He has pitched much better at home but he still is not getting the wins despite decent run support. That run support will diminish here and in two career starts against the A’s, he is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA and 2.75 WHIP. Masterson is 3-10 in 17 nighttime starts on the season. Cleveland is 1-11 in Masterson’s 12 starts in the second half of the season over the last two years against American League teams with a batting average of .265 or worse while also going 4-16 in his 20 starts with a moneyline between +125 and -125.