Have sportsbooks left us any MLB betting spots to take advantage of today? Suarez offers up a couple baseball picks to consider.
It's been a while since I doled out a couple plays and I'm
hoping the little break has a positive effect. Sometimes it's truly beneficial
to take some time off and recharge your batteries. Not that it's been a bad
season by any stretch. My focus lately has mainly been on the Olympics but I'm
glad to get a chance to knock out a pair of winners in the major leagues today.
The four heavy chalked teams of the day are the Washington
Nationals (@ Houston), Los Angeles Angels (versus Colorado), Tampa Bay Rays
(against Toronto) and the Chicago White Sox at home to Kansas City.
Are any of these favorites included in our MLB picks for tonight?
Baltimore Orioles vs. Seattle Mariners
My first pick is a risky one, but I like the value on an
improved Blake Beavan against the Orioles tonight.
A quick look at Beavan's numbers wouldn't tell the whole
story. Sure he's 7-6 with a 5.06 ERA, but dig deeper and you'll see that he's
given up a total of five runs over his last three starts. Beavan has won four
straight decisions entering his matchup with Baltimore.
It also has to be noted how terrible Orioles starter Zach
Britton has been since getting activated from the DL. He has a 8.35 ERA in four
starts and his WHIP stands at an amusing 2.02. How often do you see a WHIP over
2.00?
Remember too that the Orioles have a worse home record than
they do away from Baltimore. They're an even 26-26 at Camden Yards and have
actually lost five straight series at home.
On the other end, the Mariners have actually been playing
well so far in the second half, going 15-9 since the All-Star break.
They have Beavan, enjoying his best stretch of the season,
on their side, while the Orioles are just praying and hoping that Britton
doesn't completely implode again. With the baseball odds makers listing them at +118, I'll take the underdog price on Seattle here.
Play the Seattle Mariners +118
Chicago White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals
A huge pitching mismatch here sees Kansas City's Bruce Chen
get a crack at pulling off an upset over White Sox ace Jake Peavy.
The chances of that actually happening are rather slim, that
is if past numbers are any indication. Chen has been a mess over the past five
weeks, seeing his ERA rise from 4.53 to 5.66 in his past eight starts.
This is a guy that couldn't get out of the third inning at
home against Cleveland in his latest start. A guy that's gone 3-6 with a
painfully high 6.68 ERA in 13 away outings this season. In Chen's one
appearance against the White Sox this year, he gave up nine hits, six runs and
three home runs in 4 and 2/3 innings.
Compare those kind of stats to Jake Peavy and you see why
I'm liking Chicago, even on the runline, for tonight.
Peavy did struggle against the Royals a few weeks ago, but
since then has allowed only six earned runs in three starts, a period that's
spanned 21 innings. He's also been excellent at home as of late, allowing two
or fewer runs in five straight at U.S. Cellular Field.
As a team, the White Sox are playing some of their best
baseball of the season. They're 10-3 over their last thirteen and have won five
of their last six. Behind Peavy, I think they'll grab another victory.
Play the Chicago White Sox -1.5 (+100)