Cleveland at San Francisco
Friday, June 24th, 10:15 PM
(matchup)
Two teams battling for first place in their respective division start an Interleague series Friday night in San Francisco as the World Series Champion Giants welcome in the AL Central leading Indians. Cleveland has done quite well in Interleague Play this season, going 7-2 overall, but they did just lose two of three to Colorado. They come in as a slight road underdog in Friday’s matchup.
San Francisco had been struggling of late before recording back to back wins over Minnesota. They got a strong pitching performance yesterday afternoon from Tim Lincecum, who didn’t allow a runner past second base in seven innings. It was a tough beat for run line bettors, however, as the Giants bullpen allowed a run in the top of the ninth for only a 2-1 margin of victory.
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The Giants have been a much better team at home this season where they are 21-13 overall (+5.6 units) despite averaging just 2.8 runs per game here at AT&T Park. They have scored two runs or fewer in 31 games this season, including six of seven. The key has (obviously) been the pitching as they’ve allowed just 16 runs in 64 innings vs. the American League at home this season. Eight of those came in one inning vs. Minnesota on Monday.
However, Indians starter Carlos Carrasco has done his best work this season on the road, going 4-0 with a 2.88 ERA in 7 starts. Lately, it hasn’t mattered where Carrasco has pitched, he has been a very good
MLB pick. He’s 3-0 with a 0.42 ERA his last three starts, including back to back 1-0 wins over Minnesota and the Yankees. Carrasco is also 2-0 vs. the National League this season with wins over Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
One key disadvantage the American League always faces at in a NL park is the loss of the designated hitter. This may prove to be a major problem for Cleveland without Travis Hafner, who has not played the field since ’07. The Tribe is 6-21 in National League parks since ’08, batting .231 and scoring under four runs per game. With Hafner on the DL from mid-May through mid-June, the Cleveland lineup scored just 85 runs in 28 games (3.03 per game) and was hitting a MLB worst .202, 51 points lower than they do with Hafner in the lineup.
The beneficiary of Hafner’s absence will be Jonathan Sanchez, who is looking for his first win since June 2nd. Sanchez has had some major control issues this season as he is leader in MLB in walks with 53.
These teams have not met since 2008. Cleveland swept the Giants in their previous visit here in ’05.
