Orioles @ Rays Pitcher to Record a Win
The Tampa Bay Rays are once again steamrolling their way to the playoffs and unfortunately, the hapless Baltimore Orioles have incurred their wrath this month. Over six games in August, the Rays have won each and every game in dominating fashion, outscoring the Orioles 58-21 in that span. Jorge Lopez was absolutely blasted by the Red Sox in his last start allowing 9 hits and 7 ERs in 3.1 innings, yet Baltimore will continue to trot him and his 6.14 ERA out to the mound. Shane McClanahan earned a win in each of his two starts against Baltimore this season, allowing just 4 ER over 12 innings while racking up 15 strikeouts. As long as he gets through 5 innings, a win should be easy work for McClanahan and the Rays this afternoon.
Pick: Shane McClanahan to Record a Win (-105 DK)
Athletics @ White Sox Total Runs O/U 9
With the return of Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert, the lefty-mashing White Sox are back in business! Jimenez (.500 wOBA) and Jose Abreu (.461 wOBA) in particular have been crushing the ball over the last two weeks, contributing to the teams .348 wOBA in that span, good for 8th in baseball. Cole Irvin labored quite a bit in his most recent start against Texas, allowing 8 hits and 3 ER in 5 innings, and he won’t be able to get away with as much against the power in this White Sox lineup.
Meanwhile, the Oakland Athletics have been even hotter over the last two weeks with a .356 wOBA, although they have been stymied a bit by Chicago pitchers in this series. Dylan Cease continues to rack up good strikeout numbers, but he has allowed 3 ERs in each of his last two starts without being able to pitch into the 6th inning. Matt Chapman is finally starting to turn things around after a difficult year and his fellow corner infield namesake Matt Olson continues to put up big numbers. I’m looking for runs aplenty in this one, as both offenses continue their hot-hitting ways with an afternoon shootout.
Pick: OVER 9 (-110 DK, -102 FD)
Mets @ Dodgers Total Runs O/U 9.5
After being shut out for most of the game, the Mets lineup finally exploded for 4 runs in the 12th inning to take the final game of the series against San Francisco. Could the infuriating Mets offense finally start to turn it around? Jonathan Villar and Michael Conforto have actually hit the ball pretty well of late and if the likes of Jeff McNeil and Dom Smith can get it going as well they might have something. The Dodgers will be deploying a bullpen game on Thursday, so the Mets could have a chance to put up some crooked numbers if they can get to a few of Los Angeles arms.
Taijuan Walker was very impressive in his last start against these Dodgers, but prior to that, he was in the midst of a tough five-start stretch. With how potent the Dodgers lineup is and the recent hot hitting from guys like Max Muncy, Corey Seager, and Will Smith, I don’t think we will see a repeat performance from Walker. Even with New York’s struggles at the plate, these two teams scored into double digits in 2 out of the 3 games they played against each other last weekend and I’m predicting more of the same tonight.
Pick: OVER 9.5 (+100 DK, +100 FD)
Kyle Stanzel Overall Record: 41-51-2
Net Money (Assuming all wagers are $100): –$481.39
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)