Not many gave Seattle much of a chance in New York in its last series and after blowing a lead for Felix Hernandez in the opener, the Mariners responded with two wins to close the series. I expect the Mariners to carry that momentum into Cleveland and get back to the .500 mark for the first time since April 8th. Rookie phenom Brandon Maurer takes the hill in search of his first road win of the season and after a rough start to his big league career, he has settled in. After posting a 16.20 ERA through two starts, he has posted a 3.45 ERA over his last five starts and he will be facing Cleveland for the first time in his career, a significant edge. The Indians have been playing exceptional as they have gone 14-4 over their last 18 games and are now tied with Detroit for first place in the National League Central following the Tigers loss last night. The offense still remains a concern as they are hitting just .233 over their last 10 games and they will look to ride the arm of Ubaldo Jimenez. Like Maurer, he got off to a slow start but has settle in with three straight solid starts, two of which have been quality outings. Cleveland has won his last four starts which makes this a good time to go against him as I do not see this success continuing. The Indians are 0-5 in his last five starts when their opponent allows two runs or less in their previous game. Also, we play against American League favorites of -110 or higher that are hitting .265 or worse with a bullpen ERA of 3.75 or better going up against a starting pitcher with an ERA between 5.70 and 6.20. This situation is 32-17 (65.3 percent) over the last five seasons. 9* (915) Seattle Mariners

Toronto got off to a miserable start this season with so many high expectations but it has started to put something together as it has won four straight games heading into this series with the Yankees. The Blue Jays were swept here in four games in their first visit last month and are just 1-6 in seven meetings this year. I expect them to rebound from that and keep their winning streak alive behind Mark Buehrle. It has been an inconsistent start to the season as he has posted five rough outings to go along with three quality starts but he is coming off his best outing of the season at Boston and I see it continuing. The Blue Jays have lost both of starts against the Yankees by identical 5-3 scores and while they have scored three runs or fewer in four of his last five starts, the rejuvenated offense has the ability to keep it going. New York has dropped two straight games following a solid 7-1 run and the offense continues to struggle. The Yankees have scored more than four runs only twice in their last 14 games and have averaged just 3.4 rpg over that stretch. They have been successful because of a solid pitching staff and Hiroki Kuroda is near the top of the list. He has a 2.31 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in eight starts and he is riding a six-game quality start streak. That includes two quality performances against Toronto, both times in which he was matched up against Buehrle. I see the streak ending here against a Toronto offense that has caught fire, scoring 33 runs over its last three games. The same situation is in play here as we play against American League favorites of -110 or higher that are hitting .265 or worse with a bullpen ERA of 3.75 or better going up against a starting pitcher with an ERA between 5.70 and 6.20. This situation is 32-17 (65.3 percent) over the last five seasons. 9* (917) Toronto Blue Jays

The Tigers got lit up last night in this series opener as Justin Verlander tied a career high by allowing eight runs in just 2.2 innings. Detroit has lost two straight and is just 3-6 over its last nine games following a great run where it went 9-1 over its previous 10 games. The Tigers have fallen into a first place tie with the Indians and I feel this is a great opportunity to get back into the win column. Rick Porcello has gotten off to a very rough start with a 6.68 ERA through six starts but looking deeper shows all of the damage was done in just one outing when he allowed nine runs on nine hits in just 0.2 innings against the Angels. Since then, he has gotten back on track as he has tossed three straight quality outings while posting a 3.72 ERA and 0.93 WHIP over that stretch. He has been hit or miss against the Rangers as he has allowed 18 runs in three bad outings but also has three quality performances to his credit as well. The Tigers are 20-8 in Porcello's last 28 starts on standard rest. Texas has been red hot as it is 10-3 over its last 13 games and has taken a commanding seven-game lead in the American League West. The Rangers have been doing it with a mixture of solid pitching and a potent offense but they are 0-7 in their last seven games when scoring three runs or fewer and I see that taking shape again here. They send Nicholas Tepesch to the mound and the rookie has been pretty solid for the most part. He has three quality starts in seven games including one against the Astros last time out but he has been unable to string together quality outings as he has followed up his first two with a loss in his next start. The Tigers are hitting .282 against right-handed pitching over their last 10 games. 10* (921) Detroit Tigers

Ottawa lost the first game of this series and while 4-1 score looks like a blowout, the Senators actually played a very solid game. They were hurt by penalties as they allowed two power play goals which was a surprise and can be blamed on possible first game jitters. Ottawa led the league during the regular season in penalty killing as it stopped 88 percent of power plays and some slight adjustments for Game Two should have it back into the groove. Winning ion Pittsburgh is a challenge but the Penguins showed some vulnerability against the Islanders as they lost one home game and went just 1-2 following a win in that series. Ottawa is coming into this game with the right attitude though as it feels it could have taken Game One with a few bounces its way and feels it can steal this game before heading home. Ottawa is 8-2 in its last 10 road games against teams that are scoring on 19 percent or higher of their power plays so it has been up to the challenge for the most part. Additionally, the Senators are 12-4 this season revenging a road loss and they fall into a great situation where we play against teams in the second half of the season with a winning percentage of .700 or better that have won four of their last five games and playing a team with a winning record. This situation is 43-25 (63.2 percent) since 1996. 9* (11) Ottawa Senators