MiDWeST TRiBaL AmBUsH

Toronto Blue Jays @ Cleveland Indians (B.Cecil @ M. Talbot)

I'll address a few reads I've picked up on in the recent past about both ball clubs. I think the Jays hit better away from the Sky Dome than they do at home-as their record would suggest. Their bats run hot and cold, and as the last series with the Oakland A's would confirm (Toronto took 3/4 games) the lineup clicked, a nice recovery after getting home swept by the Red Sox. Game 1 in this series poses a different kind of problem for the Jays. Cleveland has settled into their home stand, and coming off a 3 game series with the charged up Minnesota Twins (winning 1/3), they will be well prepared for the Jays who start their road trip tonight in the MidWest. Cleveland starter Mitch Talbot has been on my radar since I watched his 1st game in Detroit. He got hammered for 4 runs in the 1st 2 innings, but then breezed through the Tigers lineup until he hit his roundoff 100 pitch max. No team has been able to hit him since (Record: 3-1, 2.05 ERA), and none of the Jays have ever faced him before. Since I watched Talbot finish off Detroit that 1st game, Ive bet on him every start- and bookmakers hadn't picked up on him, as Cleveland was always getting the underdog spots. The Jays counter with a proven to be effective weapon of their own- the reasoning behind the close line (Jays +106). They called up former 1st round pick Brett Cecil from Las Vegas (AAA), a couple starts back and he has not disappointed thus far. Last year, he faced the Indians twice in the Sky Dome and dominated them both games (N/R, o.69 ERA) in 13 total innings pitched-but they did bat .265 against him which does not indicate Cecil was dominant, in comparison to such few runs being scored against him (2 runs, 1 earned) in the 2 starts. Pitching in Cleveland however should be a different jungle for Cecil-he has never pitched in the Jake before and now the Indians hitters including the likes of Sizemore, Choo, Cabrera, Hafner, Peralta etc. have seen him a for a 3rd time and get him in their house. He may settle down on them as the game goes on, but I have a feeling the Cleveland hitters will make it very uncomfortable for him, early. On the other side of things, I don't think the Jays will hit Talbot today all that well if at all, and Cleveland has been able to give him run support since his 1st start. The Indians are also due for an offensive breakout, and that lineup can score in bunches, especially after the Twins did a pretty good job of holding them in check the last series. Psychologically, this is going to be a tough series for Toronto batters after eating through the Oakland rotation.

Cleveland Indians (-112)

I could have made my feature the Yankees over Baltimore tonight...haha sometimes U gotta earn it though.---ah, What the Hell...

New York Yankees (-1) (-225)