MLB Lines: Cleveland Indians vs. Minnesota Twins Pick: July 20th 2010

Cleveland Indians vs. Minnesota Twins
Pick: Over 9.5 Runs -110 MLB line
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The Indians have now won five straight games after beating the Twins on Monday night. The two teams will send a pair of struggling pitchers to the mound tonight. Minnesota’s Kevin Slowey is 8-5 with a 5.05 ERA in 18 starts this season. He has given up 11 runs and 22 hits in his last 15.3 innings of work. As a whole, the league is hitting Slowey at a .305 clip. In two starts against the Indians, Slowey has given up four runs and 14 hits in 13 innings pitched. Travis Hafner (6-16), Austin Kearns (2-6), and Andy Marte (2-6) all hit him well. Cleveland has scored seven runs or more in three of their last five games. They are hitting over .250 as a unit over their last eight games.

Cleveland’s Justin Masterson has been horrible on the road. He’s 1-5 with a 6.75 ERA in ten starts away from Cleveland. In those games, he has struggle because he puts too many batters on base; his WHIP is 1.90. The righty is 0-3 with a 5.57 ERA and a WHIP of 2.00 in four career starts against Minnesota. This season, Masterson has given up nine runs and 15 hits in 11.7 innings pitched to the Twins. Michael Cuddyer (5-13), Orlando Hudson (4-8), Joe Mauer (3-8), Denard Span (4-8), and Jim Thome (2-6) all have good numbers against him. The Twins have gone Over in 8 of their last 11 games. They’ve pounded out 10 hits or more in 8 of their last 11 games as well. Cleveland sports a bullpen with an ERA near six on the road this season, and since we expect Masterson to struggle, Minnesota should score plenty of runs making this a high-scoring game.