MLB BASEBALL BETTING PREVIEW - KANSAS CITY ROYALS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS

MLB Baseball

2012-04-25 - Kansas City Royals at Cleveland Indians

A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted

KANSAS CITY ROYALS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
Baseball : North America : MLB
Wednesday, April 25th, 2012, 7:05PM US
(12:05AM GMT)

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PREVIEW

Kansas City are have now lost 12 straight games. They are 3-14 and looking to also avoid losing this 3 game series against the Indians as they have already dropped the opener last night. Remember, it was the Indians who went to Kansas Cit and swept them over 3 games, after which Kansas City just kept on losing.

The head-to-head is clearly in Clevelands favour, as they have beaten the Royals in 18 of the last 24 meetings, including the last 5. While Kansas City slump, Cleveland have started winning, with the Indians dropping just 2 of it's last 10 games now and they are but half a game away from topping the AL Central.

So, the Royals will go with Luke Hochevar today. He is 1-1 with a 5.87ERA and has already faced the Indians this season, back in Kansas City. That was the opener of a series they got swept in, and it was a horrible performance by Hochevar, who was shelled for 7 runs in the 1st inning alone and then had to leave in the 4th when he took a line drive straight to his ankle! He was ok in his next start, against Toronto, but I hear the ankle is giving him trouble again. Why not bet against a pitcher who is injured and away from home against a team that just battered (heh) him? Bear in mind, Hochevar has a poor 5.81ERA against Cleveland over 12 starts, going 4-8.

The Indians will go with Ubaldo Jimenez, who is 2-0 so far with a 4.00ERA. He should have had another win, but his first start was a no decision. Jiminez too has faced the Royals already, and will want to improve on the 4 runs he allowed in 5 innings. I trust him to do so too, as he was able to keep Oakland down to 2 runs in 6 innings. He just needs to keep his walks down. Oakland got 5 walks from him, and he has walked 11 this season, the same as the number of strikeouts, and that is the only concern here.

Yesteday Cleveland won 4-3 but really should have had a lot more. In total 13 runners were left stranded on base and that must improve. At least we can take encouragement from the fact they got that many players on base. If that happens tonight, Cleveland should be able to break out and run up the score. Which would be nice.

BETTING VERDICT

Kansas City just cannot score. They have been restricted to 3 or fewer runs in 8 of their last 9 matches. I am sure they get hammered for at least 5 or 6 runs today. That means the handicap bet is the way to go.

The Pick :