Only one month out from the beginning of the post season, this is the time when the games are starting to matter a lot more. Especially against divisional rivals. Business isn’t sorted as yet in a few divisions, AL West and Central along with the NL Central are where the struggles and back and forth inter division games mean so much more. Angels and A’s continue sparring, while the Royals and Tigers try to keep pace ahead of an important series next week. Those teams out of the race still play an important role and it’s still rare to find a game that won’t impact the post season in some form (Besides the best bet game listed below).
Sunday 31st
Best Bet
Over 8.5 runs Rockies/D-Backs at $1.92
Next Best
Yankees $1.84
Multi
Orioles -1.5 into Best Bet at $4.28
Detroit Tigers vs Chicago White Sox (Game 1) (3am AEST)
Tigers ($1.92) – Scherzer
White Sox ($1.92) – Sale
Over/Under – Over 7.0 ($1.92) Under 7.0 ($1.92)
Prediction
Tigers. Great pitching matchup here with Scherzer up against Sale. Scherzer is 15-4 on the year with an ERA of 3.13. In his 4 starts against Chicago this season he is 4-0 with an ERA of 0.96 and opposing hitters going .190. Impressive to say the least. Not to be out done, Sale is 10-3 with an ERA of 2.03. Chicago’s bullpen has blown a lot of Sale’s potential Wins with dreadful showings, so the record for him should read a bit better. In his 2 outing against the Tigers he was pretty solid pitching through 7 innings allowing only 1 run but he got the loss. Scherzer has only the 1 loss in the last 2 months which was tough to take considering he pitched 7 innings only giving up 2 runs. Both teams can on their day put some runs up but they have been very inconsistent of late and if Chicago don’t hit home runs they don’t tend to win. Run line set at 7.0 seems right and I’m happy to side with the unders. However both bullpens are known to implode, keep that in mind. I expect a pitching duel and it’s tough to pick sides with these two pitchers. I’m taking Detroit to win, however suggested play is the Under 7.0 runs considering they all share the same price.
Suggested Bet
Under 7.0 runs at $1.92
New York Yankees vs Toronto Blue Jays (3am AEST)
Yankees ($1.84) – Pineda
Blue Jays ($2.01) – Hutchinson
Over/Under – Over 8.5 ($1.92) Under 8.5 ($1.92)
Prediction
Yankees. I’m doing it, I’m going against my blacklist rule. A team that often has inflated or undervalued odds depending which way you look at it seem about right here. A perennial multi killer in the Yankees. Michael “Pine Tar” Pineda has been very impressive since coming back from injury. In those 3 starts he has gone 1-0 with an ERA of 2.08, walking only 1. On the season he is 3-2 with an ERA of 1.95 in 7 starts. With only 1 of those starts being a rough one the rest have been pretty solid. New York will need to turn his quality starts into wins as they continue to push for the wild card spot. It seems a long time ago we were winning day in day out with this Blue Jays team who were just printing money for us. A mid season injuries really put a stop to their stellar start. With a slumping run scoring rate and a rising team ERA it has spelt trouble. Hutchinson has been erratic, 8-11 with a 4.68 ERA. His home ERA is at 5.88 and games played during the day 6.33. I can see him giving up a few runs and if Pineda continues his form I’m happy with that $1.84 on offer for New York
Suggested Bet
Yankees at $1.84
Minnesota Twins vs Baltimore Orioles (9am AEST)
Twins ($2.57) – Gibson
Orioles ($1.54) – Tillman
Over/Under – Over 8.0 ($1.88) Under 8.0 ($1.96)
Prediction
Orioles. Tillman has been splendid of late going 4-0 in his last 6 starts with only 8 earned runs. Since the All Star break he has posted an ERA of 1.86 which ranks amongst the top in the league. A huge reason for the Orioles surge to the top of the AL East has been great pitching. Tillman has been at the forefront of that backed up by a solid bullpen. With huge hitters in the ranks the Orioles have a menacing looking batting line up. Gibson will have his work cut out for him, coming off a rough outing where he gave up 5 earned runs on 8 hits in just over 4 innings. 11-10 on the year with an ERA of 4.31. Giving up 19 earned runs in his last 5 starts in under 30 innings pitched. He has had a hard time of late. Not the place and team you want to try and get out of a slump against. I feel it continues and the Orioles win. Taking the -1.5 line at $2.23.
Suggested Bet
Orioles -1.5 at $2.23
Other Suggested Bets
Colorado Rockies vs Arizona Diamondbacks (10am AEST)
Cutting to the chase. Run line set at 8.5. In their 13 meetings so far they have cleared that 8 times. In the 5 that didn’t get over 8.5 they hit 8 runs 3 times and 6 runs in the other 2. Hitting friendly ballpark, pitchers not exactly in amazing form. Over 8.5 runs at $1.92 will do me very nicely.
All Prices Quoted via Sportsbet at time of writing.
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.
Please Note:
All of the above are the opinions of the author and are not recommendations or advice. The author may not be taking every bet listed above. Bet at your own risk.
All of our information is provided free. If you want to show your support, if you are wanting to join a new bookmaker, please use our banners. Thanks.
