Rays at Indians 8/31/18 - MLB Picks & Predictions

Progressive Field will play host to a Friday night clash between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Indians. The Rays come into this series having won nine of their last ten games and six of those have come against division leaders. On Wednesday, C.J. Cron and Tommy Pham homered to power Tampa Bay to an 8-5 victory at Atlanta.

Talented twenty-five year old righty Tyler Glasnow (1-3 4.18 ERA) will make his sixth start as a member of the Rays. Glasnow, who was acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh, has struck out 32 batters over his last 23 plus innings of work. The Cleveland Indians are running away with the AL Central Division title, but have to tighten up their bullpen for the postseason. On Thursday, Jason Kipnis connected on a three-run blast to power Cleveland to a 5-3 victory versus Minnesota. Brad Hand notched his sixth save for the Indians, who have opened up a 14-game lead for first place.

The Indians will counter with 2015 Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber (16-7 2.91 ERA) on Friday. Kluber ranks second in the American League in wins and third with a sparkling 0.98 WHIP through 179 plus innings.