Wednesday Night Free MLB Picks – Tigers @ Indians Odds, Lines, Picks and Predictions – MLB Betting 8-10-11

Free MLB Picks, Tips and Odds: Detroit Tigers @ Cleveland Indians Favorite, Moneyline, Total and Expert Predictions 8/10/11: With their loss to the Indians last night in fourteen innings the Detroit Tigers now lead the AL Central by a mere three games on this same Tribe club. It was David Pauley who was charged with the loss last night, actually at 1:52 this morning, when he graced the hand of Kosuke Fukodome with an errant ball with the bases loaded. Doug Fister was only able to work two innings in last nights loss as an hour long rain delay shelved his evening early. Fister, the pitcher brought over from the Mariners, coughed up two runs in the first and he has many Tigers fans questioning if he was the correct hurler to bring over. Aside from Pauley’s slip up in the bottom of the 14th, the Tigers bullpen actually preformed magnificently as they worked 11 scoreless innings. The Tigers bullpen has been an up and down roller coaster all year long but they are slowly coming around and the timing couldn’t be better. The Tigers have the offense to stay alive, the pitching to compete, but until their bullpen can consistently perform and get out of jams then the Tigers will continue to be a pretender.

The Cleveland Indians stand to only be 1 game back of the division leading Tigers by Thursday night and defensive performances as like last night will give them a really good chance. Starting pitcher Justin Masterson worked only two innings due to an hour-long rain delay last night, so it was the Indian’s bullpen that stepped up to the plate and delivered a valiant performance. The Tigers did get their hits however, but each time the Tribes defense would rob the Tigers out of scoring chances. With the Indians defensive performance over the past week they will not rush Grady Sizemore back from injury. Many thought that centre field would take a major hit with the absence of the all-star, but Ezequiel Carrera has stepped in quite admirably and has made the change seamless. The trait of most playoff clubs is excellent depth and the Indians have taken the better part of 6 years to build their depth and get to a position where they are not hurt when a player goes down.

Our complimentary selection tonight will be the Cleveland Indians who will be sending their big trade deadline acquisition in Ubaldo Jimenez to the mound tonight for his home debut. The ex-Rockie hurler has had a rather errant year to this point, but there are signs that point to him creeping closer and closer to the type of pitcher he was last season. The 2010 MLB season saw Jimenez burst onto the scene and he was the unquestioned ace of the Rockies pitching staff. Ubaldo can pitch with power, slow things down and locate, and he has excellent deception, the Indians are banking on this kid to find his all-star form before the stretch towards the playoffs. Jimenez does not have great stats against the Detroit Tigers lifetime, 3 career starts, but he should turn a good performance in as it is his home debut and he will want to bounce back from a poor Indians debut in Texas. The Tigers will send their young hurler in Ricky Porcello to the mound tonight in hopes that he can pick up his 12th win on the season. Detroit is 2-8 SU in its last 10 games when playing Cleveland and is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against the Indians. The emotions will be high tonight and the fans should turn out as the Tribe will be playing with the chance to pull within two games of the AL Central lead. We will consider the Tribe leaning on the efforts of Ubaldo Jimenez tonight and mustering out another hard earned victory against their divisional nemesis in the Tigers. Cheers!

Free MLB Picks and Expert Tips: Cleveland Indians -130(Moneyline)

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