Indians Seek 20th Straight Win: Biggest Moneyline Favorite Ever?

As I write this, the Indians lead the lifeless Tigers 9-0 at the end of the sixth inning, so I will take full responsibility if the streak ends tonight. The Indians will be going for 20 consecutive wins tomorrow night at Progressive Field with Cy Young candidate Corey Kluber on the mound. Where does a streak of 20 straight wins rank in the history of baseball? It would be tied for second best all time.

21: 1935 Cubs
20: 2002 Athletics
19: 1947 Yankees, 2017 Indians
18: 1953 Yankees

Kluber has been ridiculous over his past 19 starts, going 12-2 with a 1.89 ERA with an insane K/BB ratio of 194/21 over that span. He will face a Tigers team that is 2-8 in September, including 0-4 against Cleveland. Detroit will counter with southpaw Matthew Boyd tomorrow night; Boyd is 5-9 with a 5.93 ERA this season, but has actually had success in the past against the Indians with a 1.93 ERA over four appearances (three starts).

Kluber opened -380 and is currently listed as a -420 favorite, which is insane for any regular season baseball game. However, this is not the largest moneyline ever, although there is still a lot of time for this price to rise. The largest moneyline of the last 13 seasons actually occured last year on June 6, 2016 when Clayton Kershaw closed anywhere from -435 to -450 against the Atlanta Braves, who started Bud Norris.

The result?

The Dodgers won 4-0, although they only led 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning,
so it was certainly no walk in the park for anybody crazy enough to lay -450 on an MLB game.

So, are you betting on Kluber and the streak, or are you taking this insane dog price with a pitcher who has had previous success vs the Indians knowing this is ultimately Cleveland so it probably goes wrong somehow?

I will leave you with this…

The Indians are currently tied with the 1947 Yankees for the third-longest winning streak in the history of baseball. Who ended that streak? You guessed it. The Detroit Tigers. Fred Hutchinson threw a two-hit complete game shutout in July 1947 to prevent the Yankees from getting to 20. Will the Tigers do it again? It was not all bad news for that team, as the 1947 Yankees went on to beat the Dodgers in the World Series, something the record-holding 1935 Cubs did not do. They went on to lose the 1935 World Series to, you guessed it, the Detroit Tigers.

I did not include the 1916 New York Giants 26-game winning streak nor the 1880 Chicago White Stockings 21-game winning streak since both included ties.