Suarez looks to end the weekend right with two more baseball winners. What are the sportsbooks offering in terms of betting value today?
The biggest favorite today would be the Los Angeles Angels,
who have Jered Weaver on the mound, at home against the Seattle Mariners. The
Angels are listed as high as -250 on the moneyline.
We're on a good run at the moment so let's try to keep it up
with two more successful MLB picks.
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. San Diego Padres
The Pirates have lost three straight, are just 3-6 over
their last nine, and find themselves in danger of getting swept at home by the
Padres. However, after going over the beseball odds, I like Pittsburgh to get it done today and cover on the runline.
Erik Bedard gets the call for Pittsburgh and he's feeling
good about himself after dominating the Chicago Cubs in his latest start. He
gave up only two hits in seven innings, striking out five and walking none.
Bedard has been miles better at PNC Park this season, going
3-4 with a 2.38 ERA in 10 home starts. He's 3-8 with a 6.75 ERA on the road so
you can see why I'm feeling much more confident in Bedard's chances of pitching
well today.
Further backing up a solid start for Bedard is the fact he
owns a 3.03 ERA in day assignments this season, as opposed to posting a 5.07
mark at night. Pair in Ross Ohlendorf's struggles and the Pirates are looking
mighty enticing.
Ohlendorf, who has an overall ERA of 5.61 and WHIP of 1.59,
been been an utter disaster in away outings this season. He has a 8.34 ERA outside
of San Diego and is also sporting a 6.38 ERA in day starts.
Due to this clear pitching mismatch and Pittsburgh's
desperation to avoid a sweep, I'm adding the Pirates to my baseball picks.
Play the Pittsburgh Pirates -1.5 (+125)
Chicago White Sox vs. Oakland Athletics
Switching gears, I'm completing the day with an UNDER play
in a MLB matchup that features two pitchers who are throwing the ball great.
Who would have thought Bartolo Colon would be so effective
at 39 years old? He posted a 3.27 ERA in June, a 2.65 ERA in July and hasn't
given up an earned run in his last 20 and 2/3 innings of work. In the process,
Colon's ERA has plummeted from 4.34 down to 3.38.
The veteran has been even better on the road too (2.81 ERA
versus 3.78 at home), going 5-2 in nine starts away from Oakland.
In Colon's one start against the White Sox this season, he
allowed two runs in seven innings but got the loss in a 4-0 defeat.
Chicago sends out Chris Sale, who continues to dazzle. He's
13-3 with a 2.59 ERA and 1.02 WHIP on the year, but his road splits are what's
really catching my eye. Sale is 6-2 with a 1.71 ERA (batters are hitting .191
against him) at U.S. Cellular Field this season. When he came up against
Oakland in late April, he held them to six hits and two runs in eight innings.
A pitcher's duel seems likely in this game so we'll go ahead
and latch onto the UNDER to finish off today's MLB action.
Play the UNDER 8 runs