The past few days in sports have been different than ever before, with boycotts across multiple sports following the Jacob Blake shooting. Blake was shot by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and athletes, teams and franchises throughout the sports world opted to boycott games on Wednesday and Thursday. A stance which was first taken by the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA.
Heading into Friday, it’s expected that many teams will return to the field, court, and ice, with one of the games on tap featuring the Cleveland Indians against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals played a doubleheader on Thursday, so they were not one of the teams to boycott.
Before the two losses suffered by St. Louis against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, the team had reeled off four victories in their past five games and five of the last seven. The Cardinals have played well as of late, and it’s led to them pushing their record to .500, sitting at 11-11, but looking up at the Chicago Cubs in the division.
On the other side, the Indians sit with an impressive 19-12 record thanks to a 7-3 stretch in their last ten games. They remain a half-game behind the Minnesota Twins and tied with the Chicago White Sox in the division. The Indians pitchers have been exceptional to start the season – a group led by Shane Bieber and his 1.35 ERA with 75 strikeouts.
Betting Odds, Prediction & Pick
Betting odds: Cleveland Indians at St. Louis Cardinals (odds TBD)
Projected total: TBD
Pitching: Triston McKenzie (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Daniel Ponce de Leon (0-2, 5.25 ERA)
The pitching matchup for Friday’s game is certainly noteworthy for a few reasons, specifically Indians’ 23-year-old right-hander, Triston McKenzie, who made his major league debut just over one week ago. McKenzie went six innings, allowing only two hits, one run and striking out ten batters over the span of 80 pitches.
McKenzie looked exceptional in his debut, and if that play continues, the Cardinals could be in for a long night. It’s unknown exactly how far into the game the Indians will let McKenzie go, but regardless, if his first game was any indication, he should be in for a big season.
As for Ponce de Leon, the Cardinals’ 28-year-old righty has shown impressive strikeout potential in two of his three starts this season, but hasn’t lasted for more than 4.2 innings. He struck out eight batters against the Minnesota Twins over 3.2 innings, but gave up three runs in a 3-0 loss, then struck out seven against the Chicago Cubs while giving up two runs in 3.1 innings of a 6-3 loss.
If you’re buying into McKenzie’s hype, it’s hard not to like the Indians in this spot, as they’re coming off two impressive wins against the Twins and appear to be riding strong momentum. If you don’t like the Indian’s side here, monitoring the total could be another strong play, especially if the over/under for runs is set anywhere around 8.5 or higher.
Both McKenzie and de Leon are more than capable of avoiding giving up runs, and I think we could see a fairly close, low-scoring game on Friday night.
Pick: Cleveland Indians & Under (if total set at 8.5 or higher)
