Tag: MLB

MLB Betting Preview for Friday, April 5 (Afternoon Games)

[2:10 p.m. EST] Seattle Mariners (-130) at Chicago White Sox – Total: 8
SEA: Yusei Kikuchi – L (0-0, 2.53 ERA)
CHW: Reynaldo Lopez – R (0-1, 9.00 ERA)

The Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox are two teams heading in opposite directions to start the 2019 campaign. Seattle has been absolutely raking, scoring 56 runs over the first eight games this season. On the other hand, Chicago cannot seem to get out of its own way, committing eight errors over the first five games.

To me, this one is simple, as the Mariners and their offensive ways should be able to put plenty of pressure on the White Sox defense and continue their suffering. Not to mention, Mariners’ starter Yusei Kikuchi is legit, and there’s not much tape on him. Expect the White Sox offense to struggle quite a bit seeing him for the first time in regular season action.

Seattle moneyline is the play here…

* Final Score Prediction: Seattle Mariners: 9 – Chicago White Sox: 3

[4:10 p.m. EST] Los Angeles Dodgers (-129) at Colorado Rockies – Total: 10.5
LAD: Kenta Maeda – R (1-0, 4.05 ERA)
COL: Tyler Anderson – L (0-1, 9.00 ERA)

Speaking of offenses that are clicking, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been rockin’ and rolling with 55 runs scored through the first seven games – unsurprisingly, Dodgers’ games have gone over the total in six of those seven. Justin Turner is 13-for-28 with four extra-base hits (1 HR) against today’s Colorado Rockies’ starter Tyler Anderson, so hopefully, his scouting report will give an upper-hand advantage to the rest of his Dodgers’ teammates — not that they really need it nowadays.

After posting six runs in each of their first two games, the Rockies have only scored five runs in their last five. We can attribute that to some very solid pitching performances from the opposition and possibly being out of that Rocky Mountain environment for too long. Well, now the Rockies are heading back to the high altitude where the team is much more comfortable. If Colorado can get Kenta Maeda out of the game early, its offense can take advantage of a Dodgers bullpen that has not been great early on, allowing the fourth-most runs in MLB so far this season.

Typically, offenses don’t bode well at Coors Field in the first month of the season, but today’s environment should play more like a game in May or June. Temperatures are expected to be damn-near perfect in the upper 60s for baseball today in Denver.

Over 10.5 is the play here, with the Dodgers swinging hot bats and the Rockies coming back to Denver for some home cooking on the offensive end…

* Final Score Prediction: Los Angeles Dodgers: 8 – Colorado Rockies: 7

[4:15 p.m. EST] San Diego Padres at St. Louis Cardinals – Total: 7.5
SD: Nick Margevicius (0-1, 1.80 ERA)
STL: Jack Flaherty – R (0-0. 8.31 ERA)

St. Louis Cardinals’ starter Jack Flaherty has a very bright future ahead of him, but proving that in the season debut was a lot tougher against a potent Milwaukee Brewers lineup. Today, he’ll go head-to-head with San Diego Padres’ little-known rookie Nick Margevicius, who had an impressive debut, albeit, against a weak San Francisco Giants’ lineup. It’s too early to pinpoint the outlook on Margevicius, considering he has only made two starts above the Single-A level – one in Double-A, one in MLB – but it is worth noting that his control has been quite magnificent early on in his minor-league career.

With all that being said, the moment of the Cards’ home opener at Busch Stadium could prove to be too much for the young lefty. Not only that, but Flaherty should improve greatly from his season debut and have a great performance against a Padres’ lineup that hasn’t been that impressive on offense.

Cardinals on the moneyline is the play here…

* Final Score Prediction: St. Louis Cardinals: 5 – San Diego Padres: 2

[4:35 p.m. EST] Tampa Bay Rays at San Francisco Giants – Total: 7
TB: Tyler Glasnow – R (1-0, 1.80 ERA)
SF: Dereck Rodriguez – R (1-0, 3.60 ERA)

This is an excellent matchup of young hurlers taking place at Oracle Park today, between Tyler Glasnow of the Tampa Bay Rays and Dereck Rodriguez of the San Francisco Giants. Not only that, but neither team’s offense has really gotten off to a great start either.

It may be simple, and it may be short, but there is just one trend in this game that you can’t ignore. Especially, when the game is being played in San Francisco – a place where offense go to die.

That trend, you were asking for? All seven of the Rays’ games have gone under the total, while five of the seven Giants’ games have suffered the same fate.

Under seven runs is the play here, and I’ll give the Giants the win in their home opener. What a nice guy I am…

* Final Score Prediction: San Francisco Giants: 4 – Tampa Bay Rays: 2

MLB Betting Preview for Afternoon Games on Thursday, April 4

Welcome to a beautiful Thursday afternoon of MLB action! We’ve got four games on the early slate to break down, so without further ado…

[1:05 p.m. EST] Kansas City Royals (-105) at Detroit Tigers – Total: 8
KC: Jakob Junis – R (1-0, 4.76 ERA)
DET: Spencer Turnbull – R (0-1, 5.40 ERA)

Junis has absolutely owned the Tigers over the course of his career, going 6-1 with a 3.12 ERA in seven starts (eight appearances) – he went 4-0 with a 1.95 ERA in five starts against them last season. That should be enough confidence, but you have to think this Tigers squad is a bit too giddy after taking the last two games of their series with the Yanks in New York.

Turnbull is still looking for the first win of his MLB career and he’ll have a tough time doing it against a speedy KC bunch. Being mostly a sinker-ball pitcher, Turnbull could get chipped away at in the cold Detroit weather by a lineup that can put a lot of pressure on the Tigers’ defense.

KC’s bullpen has the fourth-worst ERA (7.27), but the Tigers’ bats aren’t doing much damage either, with only 12 runs over the first seven games. It’s time for the turnaround!

Also, the wind will be blowing in at 9 mph from left field, so that should keep the ball in the park a bit more.

* Final Score Prediction: Kansas City Royals: 4 – Detroit Tigers: 3

[1:10 p.m. EST] Washington Nationals at New York Mets (-128) – Total: 6.5
WSH: Stephen Strasburg – R (0-0, 6.00 ERA)
NYM: Noah Syndergaard – R (0-0, 6.00 ERA)

This is a starting pitcher’s rematch from the second game of this season, as the Mets got the 11-8 victory the first time around. Strasburg (8) and Syndergaard (7) had a combined 15 strikeouts in six innings apiece last Saturday, but they also gave up four earned runs each in the process.

Vegas has certainly left its mark on this game with a 6.5-run total, and you have to think we’re heading for a pitcher’s duel. The Nationals will be without one of the best base-stealers in the game, Trea Turner, and that should alleviate a great deal of stress that Syndergaard might have about keeping runners on base. In fact, April has been one of the better months over his career, allowing only one homer in 82 2/3 innings since 2016.

The Stras hasn’t been quite as good as Thor in the month of April, but it is worth noting that he does have a 24-5 record with a 2.52 ERA in 34 road starts since 2016.

All in all, we should look for both pitchers to rebound and put on quite the performance. But we’re giving the Mets the win, given their recent hot streak to begin the 2019 campaign.

* Final Score Prediction: New York Mets: 3 – Washington Nationals: 2

[3:05 p.m. EST] New York Yankees (-200) at Baltimore Orioles – Total: 8
NYY: James Paxton – L (0-1, 1.59 ERA)
BAL: Alex Cobb – R (Season Debut)

It seems like the remaining healthy players on the Yankees’ roster should be sporting bubble-wrap because they could be the next ones to land on the Injured List (it’s still the Disabled List, I don’t care what anyone says). Those remaining Yanks will head to Baltimore to face the Orioles, who are playing the home opener. Typically, this is a place that New York has gone in and dominated, especially in the crowd, but the start to this season has been anything but typical for the Evil Empire.

Alex Cobb was supposed to take the mound on Opening Day for the O’s before a minor injury negated that opportunity. After a dreadful start to the season, Cobb had some good performances down the stretch, but I don’t think we should be looking for more of the same today. And perhaps, it’ll do the Yanks some good to get away from their anxious fans in the Bronx.

James Paxton will take the mound to do what the Yanks paid him to do – win ball games. He wasn’t bad at all in his season debut against this same O’s squad, allowing four hits, one walk and two runs (one earned) over 5 and 2/3 innings while striking out five.

Neither team has been crushing the ball to start the season, but I do think it’ll do the Yankees some good to hit the road and get their minds right. Look for them to get to Cobb early en route to the victory.

* Final Score Prediction: New York Yankees: 8 – Baltimore Orioles 3

[3:37 p.m. EST] Boston Red Sox (-114) at Oakland Athletics – Total: 8.5
BOS: Eduardo Rodriguez – L (0-1, 10.38 ERA)
OAK: Brett Anderson – L (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

The Boston Red Sox capped off a thrilling win on Wednesday night with a three-run ninth inning, and the hope is that they take this momentum into today’s game against Brett Anderson and the A’s bullpen. And Lord knows, the defending champs need to get back on the good foot, with only two wins in their first seven games of the season.

The Red Sox pitching has finally settled down a bit, allowing only four runs in the last two games. This comes after they allowed 41 runs over the first five games of the season — Yikes!!! That trend should continue, as today’s starter Eduardo Rodriguez has a 2-1 record and 2.33 ERA in four career starts against the A’s, including a 1-0 record and 1.69 ERA in two starts at Oakland.

I don’t think the Red Sox pitching woes are fully solved in the bullpen, though. After all, there should be some fatigue after playing all these extra playoff games over the last few years, including the World Series run last season. However, this is a desperate Boston team and they get the bats going today.

* Final Score Prediction: Boston Red Sox: 7 – Oakland Athletics: 4

MLB Opening Day Betting Preview for Thursday, March 28

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – MLB Opening Day!!! Sure, the start of baseball is the true signal that summer and warm weather are right around the corner, but it’s the game that we have missed so much. Sit down and get comfortable, folks — we’ve got 162 of these to get through. Let’s just start with the first day, though. Here are three games that we should all be keeping an eye on today.

MLB Betting Preview for Thursday, March 28 (Opening Day)

[1:05 p.m. EST] Over 9 – Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees
BAL: Andrew Cashner – R
NYY: Masahiro Tanaka – R

The New York Yankees hit an MLB-record 267 home runs last season, and they’ll look to pick right back up where they left off against Andrew Cashner and the Baltimore Orioles. Cashner went 1-2 with a 4.26 ERA in four starts against the Yanks last season, and he’ll have to deal with a New York lineup that had the second-most homers (49), only one behind the Milwaukee Brewers, during Spring Training. Aaron Judge led the way for the Yanks with six homers, 15 RBI and a 1.394 OPS down in Florida, while Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, Troy Tulowitzki, Luke Voit, Greg Bird and Brett Gardner all raked as well. Masahiro Tanaka gets the ball on Opening Day for the Yanks, but he was much less effective at the (un)friendly confines of Yankee Stadium, going 5-5 with a 4.09 ERA in 12 starts there last season. He also allowed a .272 batting average there, compared to .212 on the road. Yankee Stadium is one of the best parks in all of baseball for offense and we should be reminded of that in the first game of the season. The Spread Knowledge system likes the over!

 [4:05 p.m. EST] Houston Astros at Tampa Bay Rays (+120)
HOU: Justin Verlander – R
TBR: Blake Snell – L

In what will likely be the second-best pitching matchup of the day (sorry, deGrom-Scherzer takes the crown), Justin Verlander and Blake Snell will go toe-to-toe at Tropicana Field to open the season. Snell was a remarkable 10-1 with a 1.27 ERA in 14 starts at home last season, and the Spread Knowledge system likes him to pick back up on that string of success and lead the Rays to a win. It won’t come easy, though, as Verlander was 12-2 with a 2.14 ERA in 15 road starts last season. This one will likely come down to the bullpens, in which Tampa Bay may have a slight advantage. Not to mention, Carlos Correa could miss this game with a sore neck and that would be a glaring hole in the Astros’ lineup. The Spread Knowledge system leans in favor of the home team Rays on Opening Day!

Update: Carlos Correa will indeed miss today’s game. 

[4:10 p.m. EST] Colorado Rockies at Miami Marlins (+126)
COL: Kyle Freeland – L
MIA: Jose Urena – R

Kyle Freeland gets the ball for the Colorado Rockies on Opening Day, and it’s worth noting that he has had a better record and ERA at Coors Field in each of his first two MLB seasons. Reason being, he’s from Colorado and grew up learning to pitch in the high altitude. Call it what you will, but Freeland just isn’t the same pitcher away from home. Perhaps the oddsmakers are giving the Miami Marlins the benefit of the doubt on Opening Day, but their +126 moneyline odds to win outright don’t measure up to a team that is supposed to finish last in nearly every category this season. In fact, there are actually four teams with lesser moneyline odds today than the Marlins. The value is there for Miami, especially with Jose Urena on the mound. He has made incredible strides in each of the last two seasons, and the 1.18 WHIP that Urena sported in 2018 is a true testament to how far he has come. The Spread Knowledge system is rolling with MIA in this one!

Don’t forget to check out our NBA and NCAA value picks to be released later today!