We have a busy day in the MLB playoffs, as all four pairings will take to the field at some point in the day. Where do we believe that the best value lies for you MLB picks tonight, and how can we parlay then together to boost our payout?
After a 2-0 in Monday’s MLB article, we swung and missed last night. We are back for more today with a parlay to add to our MLB picks on the evening, looking to maximize our profits. See what we have in store for these critical divisional series showdowns.
Baltimore at Yankees
After splitting a pair in Camden Yards, Baltimore must
travel to the Bronx and Yankee Stadium to take on Huroki Kuroda (16-11 3.32
ERA) while the O's send 28 year old rookie Miguel Gonzalez (9-4 3.34 ERA) to
the hill. MLB odds makers have opened up New York a -175 favorite, but
Baltimore money has driven the line down to -165.
Miguel Gonzalez will be shook by the Bronx.
I have been to playoff games in Yankee Stadium and it is
unlike anything in sports. The atmosphere is absolutely wild, and it so loud that
it feels like the building is literally shaking and going to come tumbling
down. Now this will be Gonzalez's first ever post season start, which is
already huge pressure on his shoulders to not let his team go down 2-1 on the
road, but adding the pressure of having to pitch in this type of hostile
environment in the Bronx could make this kid a nervous wreck. This is going to
lead to disaster, especially considering the Yankee lineup is much more suited
for hitting in their home ball park.
Baltimore is still not hitting.
Despite getting the Game 2 victory, the O’s lineup is seeing
its stars players struggling. JJ Hardy is hitting .171, Adam Jones .125, Matt Weiters .125 (that's their two, three
and cleanup hitter) while Manny Machado is still hitless in the post season,
and Jim Thome is hitless as well.
As if they weren't pressing enough, they will take on Hiroki
Kuroda tonight, who was been an absolute rock. Kuroda has compiled 200 hundred
plus innings on the year while maintaining a 3.34 ERA. He closed out the season
with two starts where he did not allow more than two earned runs.
Kuroda is deadly in Yankee Stadium, with a 2.72 ERA, giving
up just 105 hits in 135 innings pitched on just 40 earned runs.
Play the Yankees
Listen, this series is all tied up at 1-1 which would make
you think this is anyone’s series. Given the fact that the odds makers have the
Yankees favored at -225 to win the series goes to prove just how uneven it is.
MLB Pick: Yankees -163 is the first leg of our parlay.
Detroit at Oakland
Oakland salvaged the series last night and lived to play
another day as they were saved by great pitching. That won't be the case
tonight as they send a very young AJ Griffin to the mound, who struggled to
close out the season. Detroit counters with Max Scherzer. The baseball betting
lines have not been set yet, but no matter what, we like the Tigers to end
things tonight.
AJ Griffin is out of gas.
This kid is one of Oakland’s biggest prospects and he lived
up to the hype with a 3.06 ERA, 64 Ks to just 19 walks in 82 innings pitched
for a 7-1 record. The thing is that he closed out the season on a brutal run.
In his last three starts he has given up 18 hits while lasting just 12 innings
for an ERA of 6.39 and a WHIP that reaches almost 2. In his last start against a potent Texas lineup
he lasted just 3 innings getting drilled for 7 hits on 5 runs. Griffin is a big
strikeout pitcher and over his last three, he has only tallied 8 strike outs.
So he is missing his swing-and-miss pitches, and if he cannot find them
tonight, the A’s could be in big trouble.
Max Scherzer
Again, we will go back to Oakland leading the Majors in K’s.
We saw what happened in Game 1 when they faced Verlander, 11 Ks and a loss.
Game 2 against Fister, 8 Ks in just 5 innings and took the loss once again. Now
they will face Max Scherzer who has major swing and miss stuff. Check this out,
on the year Max has struck out 231 in just 187 innings pitched! Those are sick
numbers.
We see the same result here as Game 1 and Game 2 and Oakland’s
season coming to an end tonight. It’s been a nice ride for the A's but it’s
time for the better ball team to move on to the next round.
MLB Pick: Add Detroit to the final leg of the final. Good luck
everybody!