Tribe Favored Over M’s
Seattle Mariners starter Miguel Batista is recovering from a groin injury, and he has been terrible against Cleveland. That may be good enough to make Indians slugger Travis Hafner’s benching short-lived.
After giving their struggling star a day off, the Indians may want to get Hafner back in the lineup to face Batista when they play the decisive game of their series with the Mariners on Thursday night.
Oddsmakers from Sportsbook.com have made Cleveland -150 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 67% of bets for this game have been placed on Cleveland –150 (View MLB Bet Percentages). Bet this game.
Hafner, in a 7-for-51 (.137) slump, was given Wednesday night off and Cleveland’s slumbering offense broke out with an 8-3 win over Seattle (13-15). Perennially one of the major league’s top power hitters, Hafner is hitless in his last 12 at-bats and he has failed to homer in 10 consecutive games.
"We’re taking everything day by day," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "We’re going to give him a break and we’ll move forward."
Thursday’s game may be an excellent opportunity to give Hafner’s confidence a boost.
Hafner has homered once in three career at-bats against Batista (2-3, 5.26 ERA), who left his start against Oakland on Friday night with a strained groin after walking five of 10 batters.
The 37-year-old right-hander, who has had tightness in his lower back and hip since spring training, allowed three runs and made 42 pitches in the first inning as the Mariners lost 4-3 to the Athletics. He walked in a run, then a second run scored when he threw a wild pitch to the backstop on a fly.
Also, Batista is 0-3 with a 9.42 ERA in four starts and four relief appearances against the Indians (13-15), and Mariners pitchers haven’t been getting much run support in recent weeks.
Right fielder Wladimir Balentien and catcher Jeff Clement were called up from Triple-A Tacoma before Wednesday’s game to give Seattle’s lineup a boost. Outfielder Brad Wilkerson and infielder Greg Norton, meanwhile, were designated for assignment.
Balentien made an immediate impact, accounting for all of Seattle’s runs with a three-run homer in the seventh inning. Prior to the game, McLaren said Balentien would be the Mariners’ everyday right fielder.
"It was time," McLaren said of the duo’s promotion. "We haven’t had much going. We felt it was time to bring new blood in. I’m anxious to see these kids play."
Seattle’s lineup will be facing Paul Byrd (1-2, 4.85 ERA), who went 0-1 with a 9.58 ERA in two starts versus the Mariners last season. But the veteran right-hander is 6-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 10 career starts against Seattle.
Byrd is coming off his first win of the season, allowing four runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings as Cleveland beat the New York Yankees 6-4 on Friday night. It was the first time he has gotten more than two runs to work with this season.
The Indians, though, scored a total of eight runs in their next four games. Cleveland hopes it has finally broken out of its slump after collecting 11 hits and going 4-for-12 with runners in scoring position in the middle game of this series.
Grady Sizemore homered to lead off a game for the 12th time in his career on Wednesday. He is 4-for-7 with three walks, three doubles and four runs in the series.