- The Yankees won Game 1 of their AL Wild Card series 12-3 and lead the series 1-0
- Masahiro Tanaka starts Game 2 for New York while Carlos Carrasco goes for the Indians
- First pitch is Wednesday at 7:08 pm EST from Progressive Field in Cleveland
The New York Yankees walked up to the best pitcher in 2020 and chased him from his first career playoff start on Monday night.
Shane Bieber lasted 4.2 innings, giving up seven runs, including home runs by Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres. The loss puts the Indians down 1-0 in their best-of-three Wild Card series.
Now Cleveland has to reset with Game 2 on Wednesday at a windy and potentially wet Progressive Field.
Yankees vs Indians Game 2 Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | -126 | -1.5 (+132) | Over 8.0 (-104) |
| Cleveland Indians | +108 | +1.5 (-156) | Under 8.0 (-118) |
Odds as of Sep. 29th at FanDuel
In our Game 1 Preview, caution was the name of the game. Yes, Bieber was outstanding in 2020, but his career numbers against the Yankees were not good. And without a 2020 barometer to go off of, unfamiliarity seemed like an advantage for New York.
Now that the aces are out of the way, it may seem safe to back a high-scoring game once again. But the Game 2 match-up has a particularly stingy history.
Carrasco Looks to Give Indians Game 2 Edge
Carlos Carrasco and Masahiro Tanaka have been here before.
In 2017 the two engaged in a classic ALDS pitchers duel. Carrasco went 5.2 scoreless, while Tanaka twirled seven shutout innings of his own. The lone blemish belonged to Cleveland’s bullpen in a 1-0 loss.
Fast forward to 2020.
Tanaka vs Carrasco: 2020 Comparison
| 10 | Starts | 12 |
| 3-3 | Record | 3-4 |
| 3.56 | ERA | 2.91 |
| 4.8 | Innings Per Start | 5.7 |
| 44 | Strikeouts | 82 |
| 8 | Walks | 27 |
| 1.167 | WHIP | 1.206 |
| 4.42 | FIP | 3.59 |
While his other numbers are good, Carrasco walked the seventh-most batters in the AL this year. Of the top ten in that category, he actually finished with the best ERA. How? He had the best K/9 rate of the top ten and the fourth-lowest H/9.
The Yankees can make use of that. They walked the most (251) out of any team in baseball and hit the fifth-most home runs. Now Carrasco’s groundball/flyball ratio and ground out/air out were both top 10 in the AL, and his home run percentage was 2.9%.
Carlos Carrasco is disgusting. 🤮🍪
6th K thru 3. pic.twitter.com/eAfWQQ0gC8
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 26, 2020
Tanaka seems to be getting stretched out. After an August that saw him complete five innings just twice, he made it through the fifth in four of five September starts. His average game score is 51.4, but since August 26th, he’s finished below 48 just once in six starts.
Asked if Masahiro Tanaka is thinking about the fact that tomorrow could be his final start with the #Yankees, the right-hander said it's the end of a "chapter" after seven seasons in New York, but he's focused on this month and trying to win the World Series.
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) September 29, 2020
Neither pitcher has dominated the opposition in their careers. Carrasco is 5-5 in 12 games (nine starts) against the Yankees with a 4.04 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. Tanaka is 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA and 1.34 WHIP in six starts against Cleveland. He’s struggled at Progressive Field with a 5.09 ERA in three starts.
Indians Offense Needs to Show Up
Cleveland’s lineup wasn’t great in Game 2. Jose Ramirez came up with a big RBI double and Josh Naylor homered, but Game 1 left a lot to be desired.
And while everyone shares the blame, there are three names that need to cobble something together on Wednesday.
Lindor, Santana, Reyes in 2020
| Player | AVG | HR | RBI | BB | OBP | SLG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Santana | .199 | 8 | 30 | 47 | .349 | .350 |
| Franmil Reyes | .275 | 9 | 34 | 24 | .344 | .450 |
| Francisco Lindor | .258 | 5 | 27 | 24 | .346 | .415 |
The trio combined to go 0-for-12, but perhaps the most worrisome is Lindor.
Over the last eight games of the regular season, Lindor went 5-for-36 with one extra-base hit and one RBI. He hit .272 over the other 52 games with 20 extra-base hits.
It’s been a year to forget for Francisco Lindor w/ runners in scoring position.
Entering tonight, he was hitting .172 (10-for-58)
1 HR
5 2B
14 RBI— Jensen Lewis (@JLEWFifty) September 26, 2020
If their lead-off man continues to struggle, Cleveland will have trouble taking two in a row from the Yankees.
Yankees Eyeing ALDS
It would be easy to back the runs in this one after a high-scoring Game 1. But both Carrasco and Tanaka have done some of their best work in the postseason.
Carrasco has his work cut out for him, but he can frustrate the Yankees long enough for the Indians to scrape a couple of runs together. Cleveland gets back into the series and forces a Game 3.
The Pick: Indians (+108), UNDER (-118)
The post Yankees (Tanaka) vs Indians (Carrasco) Game 2 Picks and Odds – Sep 30th appeared first on Sports Betting Dime.
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