Welcome back to a preview of some MLB action to close out your weekend and start you working week. With 3 weeks left of the regular season there still is many questions to be answered. The NL Central race is back on after the Cardinals recent worries, the AL west and East still in limbo as well. Safe to say the Mets, Royals and Dodgers are just sitting by waiting for October to come around, we may see them rest some pitchers, the Mets already have started to do so. It was a decent week of return with Alt Total multis looking good with a couple of close calls that could of made the week even better. With a focus on teams that are in the playoff picture the choices on games become limited, however there is a decent lineup around here. Let’s get to it.
Monday 14th
Best Bet – Cardinals at $1.75
Next Best – Angels at $1.92
Alt Totals Multi – o5.5 Royasl/O’s, o6.5 Jays/Yankees, o5.5 Cardinals/Reds at $2.44
Toronto Blue Jays vs New York Yankees (3.05am AEST)
Blue Jays ($2.14) – Dickey (10-10, 4.01)
Yankees ($1.74) – Tanaka (11-6, 3.57)
Prediction
Blue Jays. The biggest series of the weekend closes out with another intriguing battle. The Jays have taken all 3 games so far and taking the 4th will surely cement themselves a top of the AL East. Creating a decent gap for the Yankees even though they can redeem themselves in the remaining season series between the two next week. Toronto has not lost a game in which Dickey has started in his last 10, over his last 15 he has gone 7-4 with a 3.16 ERA so he has hit his form at the right time. While his season spilts on the road look poor going 2-7 with a sad 5.02 ERA. His record against the Yankees this season has been better with a 1.27 ERA and a batting average against sub .200. Troy Tulowitzki looks to be out of the Jays lineup however they have the depth to still put up runs. Masahiro Tanaka will be given the task to hold the Jays bats at bay, In his 3 starts against them this season he has gone 1-2 with a decent ERA of 3.32. Very hard to split this game and no doubt we will see some home runs, being held in Yankee Stadium after all. Think the price has to sway you the side of the Jays though, and with Mark Teixeira gone for the season the Yankees numbers have dropped.
Suggested Bet
Blue Jays at $2.14
St Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds (3.10am AEST)
Cardinals ($1.75) – Wacha (15-5, 2.96)
Reds ($2.13) – Iglesias (3-7, 4.19)
Prediction
Cardinals. What a shock over the last few days as he Cardinals have now dropped to only having a 2.5 game lead in the NL Central. Losing the first 3 games of this series against the bottom dwelling Reds. They have only won 2 of their last 10 and the issue is the batting, scoring only 19 runs over those 10 games and 3 in this series in Cincinnati, which is a hitting friendly ballpark. They will get some players back from injury but the concerns also have to be with career high pitch counts for Wacha and Martinez. Having said that I think they just have to win this game by hook or by crook. Wachas last outing wasn’t his best lasting only 4 innings. However in his last 7 starts he has put up solid numbers going 4-1 with a 2.09 ERA. Plus he owns the Reds this year going 3-0 with a 0.89 ERA over 3 starts. Raisel Iglesias has been the direct opposite with his record against the Cardinals 0-1 holding a 5.73 ERA. Cardinals need to snap the streak and they have the right man on the mound to do so.
Suggested Bet
Cardinals at $1.75
Milwaukee Brewers vs Pittsburgh Pirates (3.35am AEST)
Brewers ($2.68) – Jungmann (9-6, 2.87)
Pirates ($1.49) – Liriano (10-7, 3.28)
Prediction
Pirates. The team that is looking to take advantage of the Cardinals slump is the Pittsburgh Pirates, and they have managed to avoid the Brewers jinx over them in the last 2 games in particularly the last game winning 10-2. Liriano will make the start after Gerrit Cole was given a break in the rotation. He was great his last time out giving up only 3 hits in 6 innings. He did however get tagged against the Brewers last week giving up 4 runs in 5 innings of work. Taylor Jungmann has been excellent against Pittsburgh this year winning all 3 starts having only a 1.35 ERA only the way. Pittsburgh have more to play for however the Brewers will love to rain on the occasion. I don’t think I’d be taking the price on offer for Pittsburgh here. Something has to give and I think we may see some runs. Brewers have a knack of getting to Pittsburgh early.
Suggested Bet
Alt Total o5.5 at $1.40
Houston Astros vs Los Angeles Angels (5.35am AEST)
Astros ($1.92) – Fiers (7-10, 3.66)
Angels ($1.92) – Heaney (6-3, 3.52)
Prediction
Angels. Two teams still with their post season fate to be decided. Can Houston hang on a top the AL west, the Angels also not out of it and there about s but are running out of time. Andrew Heaney gets the nod for the Halos and like most young pitchers, he has been inconsistent. There looks to be a solid mid rotation arm here, but its early days. His last few starts have been average 5.35 ERA over his last 7. However his only start against the Astros this year was decent. Last time Fiers pitched against a team from LA he had a no hitter. He has been okay since his move from the Brewers and has a 2.92 ERA with this impressive defence behind him. The Bookies can’t split them and the Astros have been in a bit of a slump of late not winning back to back games since the end of August. No one would of expected the Angels to miss out on the post season and they may well push it to the last week to signal the end of their 2015 campaign. Losing only 3 of their last 10 they are doing their best to stay relevant. Think they nudge this one as well.
Suggested Bet
Angels at $1.92
Kansas City Royals vs Baltimore Orioles (10.00am AEST Live ESPN)
Royals ($1.82) – Cueto (9-11, 3.24)
Orioles ($2.03) – Chen (8-7, 3.48)
Prediction
Orioles. What a whirlwind series these two have had with 42 runs over the 2 games already. 3 grand slams, 2 in one inning by the O’s. Baltimore are a very frustrating team to be involved with, the ultimate Jekyll and Hyde team, they can be fun to watch though especially at Camden Yards with those big hitters in that lineup. Wei-Yin Chen will get the start for the O’s and he has given up 9 earned runs in his last 2 starts not pitching beyond the 5th in either. He is a solid pitcher but is prone to lapses and issues with his control. Speaking of lapses, Johnny Cueto has been in a huge rut snce his move from Cincinatti, going 2-5 with a 4.86 ERA since. Giving up 21 earned runs on his last 4 starts including 6 against these Orioles in 5 innings just over a week ago. After the first 2 games of this series will there be runs again ? Or will the ESPN curse of unders be around again. I would be surprised if this game didn’t have a few runs and a few home runs especially, Chris Davis putting himself in the shop window in front of the national audience perhaps.
Suggested Bet
Alt Total o7.5 Runs at $1.77
All prices quoted via Crownbet
For records. Best Bet 2 Units, Next Best 1 Unit, Multi 0.5 Units (unless stated otherwise)
Hope you all have a good week with your MLB betting. 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.
