UNDER 9.5 CLEVELAND:
This is the same pitching matchup of 6 days ago with Bartolo Colon and Ismael Valdes. Normally, I would stay away from an Under play when the teams just faced these pitchers in this short of period, but this will not be a factor in this game. Too many things in this game outweigh this.
Cleveland is a team that continues to struggle offensively. They are averaging just 2.3 Runs per game their last 16 games. Even worse, they are averaging just 1.5 Runs per game their last 6.
Cleveland is hitting just .222 for the year off righties and just .200 their last 10 games vs righties.
Look for Valdes to pitch another good game today. Valdes has pitched very well in his career vs Cleveland. In 3 career starts, he is 2-0 with a 3.71 ERA. Even if Cleveland does get to him at sometime in this game, which his highly unlikely how they are batting lately, the Texas bullpen has really been coming on strong of late. The Texas Pen is sporting a very low ERA of 1.50 their last 10 games.
Bartolo Colon is going for the Tribe today. Colon is a workhorse. He's averaged 105 pitches in his 6 starts this year, so expect Colon to go deep into this game. The Cleveland bullpen has been shaky as of late, but don't expect the pen to be a factor today with Colon on the mound.
Colon has been dominate vs these Texas hitters. The probable lineup today is hitting a combined .221 career off Colon. That is out over total of 131 career AT BATS.
Although Texas is hitting very well vs lefties this year, Colon is right-handed and the Rangers are struggling vs Righties. Texas is hitting just .252 overall vs righties this season and just .241 their last 10 games vs them.
Another big angle why the recent meeting is not gonna hurt with this Under is the fact regarding the Home Plate Umpires.
That game last Sunday had Bruce Froemming as the Home Ump. Froemming has always been known for a very small strikezone. This just shows you how impressive Colon and Valdes were in that game. The game ended with a score of 2-1.
Expect the pitchers in this game to have an easy time of it.
Home Plate Umpire is John Hirschbeck. Hirschbeck has always had a very large strikezone. In his last 56 games, 40 have gone Under the total! 
Expect the hitters to really struggle today.
Cleveland also looks to maybe have their defensive woes taken care of. They have made no errors their last 2 games, so maybe Charlie Manuel's "screaming" closed door meeting with his players has paid off. Although that will not make the Tribe hit any better, at least they should remain focused defensively, thus not allowing any unearned runs today, 'cause as we all know unearned runs due to errors will kill off those "Under" plays.
Good luck....might want to get this one early, noticed the line moving a little.
