Welcome back to a preview of some MLB games. Getting back on the horse last week paid off and it’s been a slow but steady revival on the season profits. A tad unlucky on one day made a potential big win into a tiny loss, and as I always say it’s such a tiny margin in baseball. You have to accept the good and the bad. There is a full slate of games schedule but there are many game snow that I won’t even waste time looking into. This time of the season I want to always be betting in games involving a relevant team, be it trying to clinch their division or in a wild card race.
Wednesday 24th
Plays
Best Bet – Indians $1.65 (2u)
Next Best – Cubs -1.5 $1.72 (1u)
Jays/Cardinals $2.52 (0.5u)
Tigers $1.90 (0.5u)
Minnesota Twins vs Detroit Tigers (10.10am AEST)
Twins ($1.94) – Gibson (5-7, 4.90 ERA)
Tigers ($1.90) – Sanchez (6-12, 5.94 ERA)
Prediction
Tigers. Anibal Sanchez is having arguably his worst season of his career, but he has proven to be a solid pitcher in the past. The Tigers have dropped off a bit of late but are still in the picture for the AL Wild Card. They have been scoring runs lead by the ageless Miguel Cabrera and Justin Upton. Kyle Gibson gets the start for the Twins who’s home stuff has been poor, 1-4 with a 4.64 ERA and .300 BAA. Minnesota languish near the bottom of the MLB and even though this matchup is pretty even statistically I can’t side with the twins. The money is solid for the Tigers, who traditional beat up on Minnesota.
Suggested Bet
Tigers $1.90
Oakland A’s vs Cleveland Indians (12.05pm AEST)
A’s ($2.30) – Manaea (4-8, 4.73 ERA)
Indians ($1.65) Salazar (11-4 3.57)
Prediction
Indians. We missed out on the Indians RL play the yesterday, but they did get the win 1-0, but had more than one chance to score a few. Danny Salazar will start for the Tribe, as they continue to push away from the Tigers in the AL Central. Cleveland have lost only 3 of his last 12 starts, his last outting was his worst but he was coming back from the treatment table and gave up 3 runs in just the 1 inning. I expect that won’t happen here, in conversation for the AL Cy Young perhaps, he has been so good all season. We go the cash last time we went against Manaea, not that he is a bad pitcher but he just can’t be guaranteed run support from a poor Oakland lineup. He will give up a couple of runs and with a pretty consistent Indians offense. I really like the $1.65 on the Indians here.
Suggested Bet
Indians $1.65
Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants (12.10pm AEST)
Dodgers ($1.93) – Maeda (12-7, 3.29 ERA)
Giants ($1.91) – Bumgarner (12-7, 2.25 ERA)
Prediction
Dodgers. What a huge series this is, the Dodgers have a half game lead on the division and will want to at least end the series in that spot. San Fran have had a huge fall from grace, owning a terrible 11-23 record since the All Star break. It really puts into perspective how good they were in the 1st half. Madison Bumgarner starts the series for the Giants and he is a big time pitcher. 2016 he has been subjected to many games with little to no run support. LA have got to him a few times this season already. Kenta Maeda has worked his way back into the Dodgers fans good books, after winning 4 of his last 5 starts, and he was quality back in April against the Giants going 7 Innings giving up just the 1 run to earn his 2nd career MLB Win. The Dodgers bats are warming up at the right time, and after slugging 18 runs yesterday, they will be thirsty for more. You could coin toss this one but the way both teams are trending the smart choice is with LA.
Suggested Bet
Dodgers $1.93
San Diego Padres vs Chicago Cubs
Jake Arietta hasn’t been his best post All Star break, but he is still one of the top arms in the game. Chicago just have to much fire power in that lineup to compare to the Padres who are doing a poor job at trying to resemble a team rebuilding. Take the Cubs to win by 2, maybe 3. Cubs -1.5 $1.72
St Louis Cardinals vs New York Mets
New York are still in the wild card picture but a bad series loss here would likely signal the end. St Louis as per usual are getting the job done at the right time of the season and with Jon Niese throwing meatballs to the Cards it could be a long day. Maybe I’m just a scorned Pirates fan annoyed at how bad he was for us…. I dunno, but St Louis should take this. Maybe multi material. Cards $1.55
Toronto Blue Jays vs Los Angeles Angels
Once again 2 teams heading in opposite paths, the Jays have been impressive lately and they look to be warming up for October. Yes, RA Dickey is not the pitcher he once was but those Jays bats on any given day. The Angels rank near bottom in most pitching stats, over the course of the series they will give up a few. Banking on it being in game 1. Jays $1.63
All Prices Quoted via Crown Bet at time of writing.
Hopefully your thoughts on the games match up with mine. As always these are only a select few games I was interested in, feel free to share your opinions on any games at @MLB_TheProfits on Twitter. Happy Punting.
