Welcome back to a preview of some MLB action to supplement your mid week sporting action. With the All Star game just around the corner and the teams being announced we are officially into the 2nd half of the season. A lot of story lines still to unfold, the NL has its pace setters and there probably is only 7 teams in there with a chance of post season baseball. The AL on the other hand is jam packed and you can make an argument for all 15 teams that they still have some chance of at least a wild card spot. A few games I’m keen on tomorrow, lets get to it.
Best Bet – Nats/Dodgers -1.5 at $2.65
Next Best – Cardinals at $1.95
Best Totals Line – Under 8.0 Runs Astros/Indians at $1.90
Cincinnati Reds vs Washington National (9.05am AEST)
Reds ($2.47) – Lorenzen (3-3, 3.58)
Nationals ($1.57) – Gonzalez (6-4, 4.16)
Prediction
Nationals. After chasing Max Scherzer out of the game rather early on Wednesday, the Reds continued their dominance over the Nats this season and are now 4-0 and have put up a decent amount of runs in each game. The will be throwing Michael Lorenzen on the mound to face off against Gio Gonzalez. Gio has been in pretty good form of late at home, giving up only 1 earned run over 14 innings in his last 2 starts. His home ERA sits at 2.44 where he has gone 4-1. Not only an impressive home record, his starts against the Reds over the last few years has produced a 1.33 ERA over 4 starts. Lorenzen in his first year in the MLB has been pretty solid and has produced a couple of decent starts but he has looked too inconsistent and is coming off a 90 pitch 4 inning belting from the Brewers. Nats to finally get a win over the Reds in 2015.
Suggested Bet
Nationals at $1.57
St Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs (10.00am AEST)
Cardinals ($1.95) – Wacha (10-3, 2.66)
Cubs ($1.89) – Hammel (5-4, 2.89)
Prediction
Cardinals. A huge series in Chicago with both the NL Central rivals looking to prove a point. St Louis will look to get through this series and the upcoming Pirates series unscathed and still firmly above their division rivals. While the Cubs are trying to show they are the real deal now and can compete with the big boys. They took 2 games off the Cardinals Wednesday after losing the opening game of the series on Tuesday. Always hard to go against Michael Wacha, even though he is starting to creep towards career high in innings pitched for a season. Can he avoid injury problems to that shoulder for the remainder of the year ? Very solid pitcher and has the gloves behind him to get him out of trouble. He gave up only 1 run in 6 innings in his start against the Cubs this season where St Louis won 8-1. Hammel gave up 4 runs in 4 innings last time out against the Cardinals, and in 2014 in 2 starts against the Cards had an ERA of 6.35. St Louis do have injury concerns for the long term, however in a one off game that probably won’t mean too much. Both teams can get runs, I feel it may depend on which pitcher can go further into this game. On track record you have to side with Wacha.
Suggested Bet
Cardinals at $1.95
Philadelphia Phillies vs Los Angeles Dodgers (12.10pm AEST)
Phillies ($4.10) – Morgan (1-1, 2.13)
Dodgers ($1.25) – Kershaw (5-6, 3.08)
Prediction
Dodgers. So, Clayton Kershaw didn’t make the All Star team. Yet (fan votes still to come). You think he probably turns up and throws a gem in this next outing. While he started the season slow he has been in very good form of late however it would be nice if his teammates decided to give him some run support. No better time than now, and against an inexperienced arm in Adam Morgan. You can’t read into Morgans MLB stats, small sample size. His Triple A figures are not great 0-6 with an ERA of 4.74. He will face better hitters here. I expect Dodgers to finally give Clayton some runs to work with. However that price $1.25 is just insane, take the -1.5.
Suggested Bet
Dodgers -1.5 at $1.69
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.
