Cleveland Indians at Boston Red Sox (-220, NA) 
Eric Wedge – the Tribe has spoken.
The Cleveland Indians have bid farewell to their manager, releasing the seven-year skip and his coaching staff Wednesday afternoon. Wedge was at the helm of Cleveland's September swoon, losing seven of its last 10 and 20 of the last 25 games.
In funny twist, Wedge will finish out the season for the Indians. The team reported the manager has known this firing was coming down the pipe, which could be why they have struggled in the past week. Now, Tribe bettors are going to have to put their faith in a team that may or may not try to finish strong for their departing manager.
This season has been a total bust for Cleveland. The franchise is in the basement of the American League Central and has washed its hands of two of their all-time greats in Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee. General manager Mark Shapiro has said this movement is a “reloading” - but wise bettors know its more of an imploding.
The Tribe are fade bait for the final games of the season.
Pick: Boston
Oakland Athletics at Seattle Mariners (+109, NA)
While most teams outside the playoff picture couldn't give a rat's ass about the final week of the season, two American League West opponents are trying to go down swinging. The Mariners and A's are a combined 30-21 this month.
As of Wednesday, Seattle must win at least one of its final five games to finish with a .500 record while Oakland is trying to salvage a sub-.500 mark for 2009.
“We’ve gone through a lot this year with injuries. We don’t have Russell Branyan, Sean White is down, (Erik) Bedard’s down,” manager Don Wakamatsu told the Kitsap Sun. “There’s a lot of injuries, maybe the most in the American League.
“Eighty-one (victories) is a stepping stone. There’s more that we’re looking to do here, but under the circumstances I’m awfully proud of these guys.”
Seattle earned a win in Game 1 of this series Tuesday night and have won 12 of the teams 17 meetings heading into Wednesday's game. The Mariners staff has posted a 3.52 ERA versus Oakland this year.
Pick: Seattle