The Cleveland Guardians have gained early control of the division lead in the American League Central and will look to pad that lead further on Thursday when they conclude their series on the road with the Houston Astros.
Cleveland Guardians vs. Houston Astros (-142, 9)
Rookie Spencer Arrighetti gets his fourth career MLB start and enters having gone 0-3 in his first three starts with a 10.97 ERA.
While the advanced numbers show Arrighetti is nowhere near as bad as his ERA would indicate with his fielding independent at 3.82 with recording 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings, command issues have forced him out of games early.
Arrighetti is issuing 5.9 walks per nine innings, which has led to each of his three starting being four innings or shorter, and the bullpen behind Arrighetti has not been of much help.
Entering Wednesday, the Astros bullpen had a 4.90 ERA, which ranked 25th in the league while the Guardians’ 2.49 ERA in the bullpen led the league entering Wednesday.
The Guardians bullpen figures to be on speed dial on Thursday with Logan Allen getting the start, whose 3-1 record is a bit deceiving with his 5.46 ERA and 5.14 fielding independent.
Fortunately for Allen, the Guardians lineup has been one of the most improved units in the league from a season ago, entering Wednesday fourth in the league in scoring with over 5.2 runs per game after ranking 26th in this category a season ago.
With the Astros 16th in runs per game entering Wednesday, the Guardians will lend Allen enough support to pick up a win on Thursday.
The Play: Guardians +120
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