Indians-Tigers Who Will Cover?

The Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers will meet on the field at Comerica Park on Friday in a battle of division rivals. The Indians will pin their hopes on the pitching of righthander Paul Byrd in this game. Byrd has a 2-5 record and a 4.67 ERA this season. Byrd's opponent in this one will be Justin Verlander. The Tigers ace righthander has a 5.16 ERA to go along with a 2-8 record this season. NewBodog oddsmakers currently have the Tigers listed as 160-moneyline favorites versus the Indians, while the game's total has not yet been posted. The Indians fell 9-4 to the Rangers as a -125 favorite in the series finale last time out. The combined 13 runs made it OVER the posted over/under (10). David Dellucci had two hits and two RBIs in a losing effort for the Indians. C.C. Sabathia surrendered nine hits and five runs in six innings to suffer the loss. The Tigers were crushed 9-2 by the A's in a sweep of a three-game series on Wednesday, as +130 underdogs. The combined 11 runs made it OVER the posted over/under (8.5). Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez drove in the runs for the Tigers. Nate Robertson was rocked for five runs off eight hits over 6 1-3 innings in the loss. Current streak: Detroit has lost 3 straight games. Team records: Cleveland: 27-33 SU Detroit: 24-35 SU Cleveland most recently: When playing on Friday are 4-6 Before playing Detroit are 3-7 After playing Texas are 4-6 After a loss are 5-5 Detroit most recently: When playing on Friday are 6-4 Before playing Cleveland are 5-5 After playing Oakland are 4-6 After a loss are 5-5 A few trends to consider: Cleveland is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Detroit The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland's last 5 games when playing Detroit Cleveland is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games when playing on the road against Detroit Cleveland is 5-14 SU in its last 19 games The total has gone OVER in 5 of Detroit's last 6 games at home The total has gone OVER in 4 of Detroit's last 5 games when playing Cleveland Detroit is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games at home The total has gone OVER in 4 of Detroit's last 6 games Next up: Detroit home to Cleveland, Saturday, June 7