A nice mix of day games and night games adorn the baseball slate today as we inch closer to the All-Star Break. As always, be sure to monitor weather situations as we have had several rainouts the past few days and the remnants of Hurricane Elsa could have an effect on several games today.
Athletics @ Astros Total Runs After 5 Innings
An interesting righty pitching matchup is going down in Houston this afternoon when Frankie Montas and the A’s battle Lance McCullers, Jr. and the Astros. Both Montas and McCullers have been moderately successful in their last few starts, allowing just 2 ER in each of their last two starts. The issue with Montas and McCullers is their inability to go deep into games, as neither made it through the 6th inning in either of those starts. Oakland and Houston do have potent offenses at their disposal, but both have been bottom third in baseball over the last week in wOBA (OAK – .276, HOU – .312). I like Montas and McCullers’ chances of limiting both offenses through 5 innings and I’ll take the under here.
Pick: UNDER 4.5 (+100 DK, -104 FD)
Reds @ Brewers Moneyline
The top two teams in the NL Central faceoff in Milwaukee on Thursday, with Tyler Mahle taking the mound for the Reds against Adrian Houser and the Brewers. Mahle has been a bit up and down of late, allowing 8 total ERs in 15 IPs against the Cubs, Braves, and Twins with good strikeout numbers. In his last start against Milwaukee however, Mahle was dominant, allowing 1 ER in 6 IP with 12 Ks. Adrian Houser has been equally as inconsistent lately but has done so against the lowly offenses of Pittsburgh and Colorado. Despite this, the Reds are slight underdogs which doesn’t quite make sense to me. I will take my chances with Mahle and the likes of Jesse Winker and Nick Castellanos.
Pick: Reds ML (-103 DK, -108 FD)
Tigers @ Twins Moneyline
Speaking of money lines that don’t make any sense to me. Tarik Skubal and the Tigers are underdogs at +108, going against J.A. Happ and Minnesota. Skubal has turned his season around over the last few weeks and is starting to realize his massive potential. Happ on the other hand is on the back end of his career and his 6.09 ERA is proof of that. Meanwhile, the Tigers offense has been heating up of late (.336 wOBA in last 7), led by Robbie Grossman and Jeimer Candelario. Lefty masher Jonathan Schoop has also had an impressive season and will be a tough out for Happ. At +108, Detroit is an absolute steal here.
Pick: Tigers ML (+108 DK, +106 FD)
Kyle Stanzel Overall Record: 34-36-2
Net Money (Assuming all wagers are $100): +$588.54
Featured Image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)