The two MLB teams with the longest droughts without winning a championship will square off in the 2016 World Series starting Tuesday in Cleveland.
The underdog Indians come into the World Series with a price of +170 (bet $100 to win $170) against the favored Chicago Cubs, who are -190 chalk (bet $190 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark to bring home their first MLB title since 1908.
The Game 1 pitching matchup pitting Cleveland’s Corey Kluber against Chicago’s Jon Lester opened as a pick’em and features two of the most dominant aces in the postseason this year.
Despite all the positive attention the bullpen for the Indians has gotten so far, Kluber has seemingly returned to his Cy Young Award-winning form from two years ago in these playoffs, allowing just two runs in 18.1 innings of work over three starts.
The hard-throwing righty has walked seven and struck out 20 after going 18-9 with a 3.14 ERA in 32 starts during the regular season.
Meanwhile, the Cubs have won all three of Lester’s starts this postseason, including two in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers that both resulted in identical 8-4 scores to earn him NLCS co-MVP honors.
Lester has given up just two runs over 21 innings with two walks and 14 strikeouts following a rebound campaign in 2016 that saw him end up 19-5 with a 2.44 ERA after going 11-12 with a 3.34 ERA in 2015.
Cleveland has home-field advantage in the World Series by virtue of the American League beating the National League 4-2 in the All-Star Game at San Diego’s Petco Park on July 12.
However, no team has more road wins this year than the Cubs, who went 46-34 away from home in the regular season and have won three of five in the playoffs to date. And Chicago has a 69 percent chance of winning the World Series, according to PredictionMachine.com.
The teams split four meetings last year, with Lester and Kluber both walking away with no-decisions in the most recent game, won 2-1 by Chicago at Wrigley Field on a Kris Bryant walk-off home run. The Cubs have won six of the last eight head-to-head matchups dating back to 2006, according to the Odds Shark MLB database.
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