Cleveland Guardians vs. Boston Red Sox
Handicapper Analysis
Cleveland starts Triston McKenzie tonight, who has been eminently reliable in his most recent starts.
Despite facing the likes of the Yankees, McKenzie has allowed a combined total of one earned run in his last four starts, which totaled 26.2 innings.
Boston's starter, Kutter Crawford, hasn't exactly been bad in his most recent starts.
However, he matches up poorly against Guardian batters.
Primarily, he throws a fastball and cutter.
Cleveland ranks well above-average in slugging against these two pitches from righties.
Moreover, the Red Sox are 1-5 since the second half of the season began.
Expect their poor team form to prolong itself.
Best Bet: Guardians RL (-1.5) at +136 with FanDuel
Chicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants
Handicapper Analysis
Even though a new pitcher starts every game, team rhythm is important to consider when betting on baseball because teams play every day or almost every day, and their collective form tends to carry over from one game to the next.
San Francisco's team form is this: the Giants can't figure out how to win.
Since the second half of the season began, they are 0-7.
One might forgive them somewhat for losing four games to the mighty Dodgers.
However, they were also swept by Arizona.
Conversely, the Cubs have won six in a row, sweeping the Phillies and beating the Mets in the process.
Best Bet: Cubs ML at +124 with FanDuel
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Colorado Rockies
Handicapper Analysis
The Dodgers start Tyler Anderson tonight.
He'll face the Rockies for a third time this season.
Colorado promises to keep improving against Anderson because it matches up well against him.
Anderson is a lefty, and the Rockies own the third-best lineup, as measured by slugging rate, against southpaws.
Moreover, they rank, by far, first in slugging against Anderson's favorite pitches from lefties.
But the Dodgers also match up excellently against Rockie starter Jose Urena.
They rank sixth in slugging against his favorite pitches.
Urena's favorite pitch is his high-velocity sinker, which he throws over three times as often as his other pitches.
L.A. ranks first in slugging against the 93-98 mph sinker from righties.
Best Bet: Over 12 at -106 with FanDuel
Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros
Handicapper Analysis
Seattle starts Logan Gilbert tonight.
He is generally good to blind-bet when he is the underdog.
But my favorite play for this game is the total.
I do like Gilbert -- he is owning the Astros this year, yielding a 2.37 ERA against them in three starts.
However, Astro starter Jose Urquidy also promises to thrive tonight.
His favorite pitch is easily his fastball, and this is a great thing for him tonight because the Mariners have one of the weaker fastball-hitting lineups against right-handed pitching.
Ironically, Seattle's weakness against fastballs from righties has grown since it began its great turnaround into a winning team on June 21.
Best Bet: Under 8 at -105 with FanDuel
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Handicapper Analysis
Philadelphia starts Zack Wheeler tonight.
Wheeler has dealt with a lot of tough lineups -- a third of his starts came against teams that rank top-five in runs per game.
Pittsburgh, however, ranks 28th in the category.
Plus, the Pirates rank 26th in slugging against Wheeler's favorite pitches, the fastball, slider, and sinker, from righties.
Pittsburgh counters with Zach Thompson
His changeup was one of his favorite pitches, although he never threw it that often.
However, he's been phasing this pitch out of his arsenal.
He hardly throws it now.
Philly ranks seventh in slugging against Thompson's favorite pitches -- the cutter, sinker, fastball, and curveball -- from righties.
Best Bet: Phillies RL (-1.5) at -114 with FanDuel
Handicapper Analysis
Cleveland starts Triston McKenzie tonight, who has been eminently reliable in his most recent starts.
Despite facing the likes of the Yankees, McKenzie has allowed a combined total of one earned run in his last four starts, which totaled 26.2 innings.
Boston's starter, Kutter Crawford, hasn't exactly been bad in his most recent starts.
However, he matches up poorly against Guardian batters.
Primarily, he throws a fastball and cutter.
Cleveland ranks well above-average in slugging against these two pitches from righties.
Moreover, the Red Sox are 1-5 since the second half of the season began.
Expect their poor team form to prolong itself.
Best Bet: Guardians RL (-1.5) at +136 with FanDuel
Chicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants
Handicapper Analysis
Even though a new pitcher starts every game, team rhythm is important to consider when betting on baseball because teams play every day or almost every day, and their collective form tends to carry over from one game to the next.
San Francisco's team form is this: the Giants can't figure out how to win.
Since the second half of the season began, they are 0-7.
One might forgive them somewhat for losing four games to the mighty Dodgers.
However, they were also swept by Arizona.
Conversely, the Cubs have won six in a row, sweeping the Phillies and beating the Mets in the process.
Best Bet: Cubs ML at +124 with FanDuel
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Colorado Rockies
Handicapper Analysis
The Dodgers start Tyler Anderson tonight.
He'll face the Rockies for a third time this season.
Colorado promises to keep improving against Anderson because it matches up well against him.
Anderson is a lefty, and the Rockies own the third-best lineup, as measured by slugging rate, against southpaws.
Moreover, they rank, by far, first in slugging against Anderson's favorite pitches from lefties.
But the Dodgers also match up excellently against Rockie starter Jose Urena.
They rank sixth in slugging against his favorite pitches.
Urena's favorite pitch is his high-velocity sinker, which he throws over three times as often as his other pitches.
L.A. ranks first in slugging against the 93-98 mph sinker from righties.
Best Bet: Over 12 at -106 with FanDuel
Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros
Handicapper Analysis
Seattle starts Logan Gilbert tonight.
He is generally good to blind-bet when he is the underdog.
But my favorite play for this game is the total.
I do like Gilbert -- he is owning the Astros this year, yielding a 2.37 ERA against them in three starts.
However, Astro starter Jose Urquidy also promises to thrive tonight.
His favorite pitch is easily his fastball, and this is a great thing for him tonight because the Mariners have one of the weaker fastball-hitting lineups against right-handed pitching.
Ironically, Seattle's weakness against fastballs from righties has grown since it began its great turnaround into a winning team on June 21.
Best Bet: Under 8 at -105 with FanDuel
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Handicapper Analysis
Philadelphia starts Zack Wheeler tonight.
Wheeler has dealt with a lot of tough lineups -- a third of his starts came against teams that rank top-five in runs per game.
Pittsburgh, however, ranks 28th in the category.
Plus, the Pirates rank 26th in slugging against Wheeler's favorite pitches, the fastball, slider, and sinker, from righties.
Pittsburgh counters with Zach Thompson
His changeup was one of his favorite pitches, although he never threw it that often.
However, he's been phasing this pitch out of his arsenal.
He hardly throws it now.
Philly ranks seventh in slugging against Thompson's favorite pitches -- the cutter, sinker, fastball, and curveball -- from righties.
Best Bet: Phillies RL (-1.5) at -114 with FanDuel
