Thursday, April 17, 1:08 PM on STOh, FSDT

Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan

Cleveland - Carrasco, C (0-2) vs. Detroit - Verlander, J (1-1)

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The Cleveland Indians will be hoping that Carlos Carrasco will give them a much better outing than he has in his previous two when he takes on Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers Thursday.

Carlos Carrasco had another bad outing in his second start of the season when he couldn’t even make it through five innings against the Chicago White Sox. The 27-year-old righty gave up five runs on six hits while striking out five and walking three. His season ERA now sits at 7.84 and he's walking 4.4 hitters per nine innings.

Even though Miguel Cabrera has hit a home run against Carrasco, the Indians pitcher has held him to just three total hits in 11 matchups. Torii Hunter, on the other hand, has dominated the righty, going 6-for-12 with a double, triple and two home runs.

Justin Verlander looked like his old self when he faced the San Diego Padres in his third start of the season. He was able to go seven strong innings and struck out eight while giving up just two earned runs on eight hits. He now has a 2.57 ERA on the season and has yet to give up a home run.

The one hitter on the Indians who has had Verlander's number over the years is Michael Brantley, who has a career batting line of .395/.439/.474 in 41 career plate appearances against the righty. Carlos Santana absolutely does not like facing Verlander, getting just six hits in 32 at-bats against him.

Cleveland Betting Trends

Cleveland is 8-5-0 against the Over/Under

Run differential for Cleveland is -0.2

Detroit Betting Trends

Detroit is 4-5-1 against the Over/Under

Run differential for Detroit is +0.1

Injuries to Watch

Cleveland

04/15/14 CF Michael Bourn Hamstring 15-day DL (3/21) probable
04/10/14 3B Lonnie Chisenhall Personal out indefinitely
04/01/14 1B Jason Giambi Ribs 15-day DL (3/21)

Detroit

03/28/14 LF Andy Dirks Back 15-day DL (3/29)
03/28/14 P Bruce Rondon Elbow 60-day DL (3/29), out for season
03/27/14 SS Jose Iglesias Stress Fracture 60-day DL (3/29)
03/27/14 P Octavio Dotel Elbow 60-day DL (4/20)

Josh's Pick: Take Detroit

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