TB -120 o8.5
DET +100 u8.5
MIA +122 o9.0
CIN -132 u9.0
COL +193 o9.5
BOS -213 u9.5
TOR -157 o8.5
CHW +144 u8.5
LAD -130 o7.5
MIL +120 u7.5
PIT +130 o8.5
KC -142 u8.5
CLE +120 o7.5
HOU -130 u7.5
TEX -127 o7.5
LAA +117 u7.5
AZ +107 o8.0
SD -115 u8.0
PHI -135 o7.5
SF +115 u7.5

Tampa Bay @ Cleveland preview

Progressive Field

Last Meeting ( Sep 28, 2014 ) Tampa Bay 2, Cleveland 7


The Tampa Bay Rays are very comfortable on the road this season and look to improve their impressive 19-11 record away from home when they visit the Cleveland Indians on Friday to open a three-game series. The American League East-leading Rays (38-30) are eight games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2013 campaign after winning six of the last seven.

Joey Butler continues to be a big factor for the Rays with 10 multi-hit games since May 24 and teammate Evan Longoria has hit safely in seven consecutive contests. The Indians rebounded from a humbling 17-0 defeat to edge the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Thursday and Carlos Carrasco, who leads the team with eight wins, will start the opener against the Rays. Cleveland is led by Jason Kipnis, who has hit safely in 13 straight games overall and 22 consecutive home contests. Rays starter Nathan Karns will also have to contend with Michael Brantley, who has at least a hit in 14 of his last 15 outings.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, Sun Sports (Tampa Bay), SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland)




PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Nathan Karns (3-3, 3.67 ERA) vs. Indians RH Carlos Carrasco (8-5, 4.38)

Karns is winless in his last five starts, but allowed one run over six innings last Sunday as the Rays rallied to edge the Chicago White Sox 2-1. The 27-year-old Texas Tech product, who faces the Indians for the first time in his career, has limited opponents to two or fewer runs in nine of his 13 starts this season. Karns boasts a 1-0 record and 2.38 ERA in four road starts while going 2-3, 4.24 in nine outings at home.

Carrasco has won four of his last five starts, although he yielded eight runs over 9 2/3 innings in the past two outings. The Venezuela native’s next win will set a career high after recording eight victories om 2011 and again in 2014, and he has walked only 18 in 74 innings this season with 85 strikeouts. Longoria is 2-for-10 with a homer against Carrasco, who is 1-2 with a 3.10 ERA in four games (three starts) in his career versus the Rays.


WALK-OFFS

1. Cleveland CF Michael Bourn has appealed his one-game suspension – announced Thursday -- for making contact with an umpire on Tuesday.

2. Tampa Bay CF Kevin Kiermaier is 9-for-24 over his last seven games to raise his batting average 16 points to .252.

3. The Indians are 6-15 in series openers this season with five of those victories coming on the road.

PREDICTION: Indians 6, Rays 2

Pages Related to This Topic

About Units and “ROI”

Units are a standardized measurement used to determine the size of each of your bets relative to your bankroll. For example, if you have a bankroll of $200 and you bet 5% of your bankroll each time, each of your units is worth $10. A bettor with a $2000 bankroll who bets 5% per bet has units of $100. We use the number of units to standardize the amount the trend is up or down across different bet amounts.

ROI is the best indicator of success and measures how much you bet vs. how much you profited. Any positive ROI is good in sports betting with great long-term bettors sitting in the 5-7% range.

Sports Betting Bankroll Management and ROI Guide

Weather Forecast