MLB Best Bets: Baseball Picks, Predictions for Saturday, August 7th
A fantastic week of MLB baseball rolls on into a 16-game Saturday slate, and we couldn’t be happier. We’ve got the Windy City Showdown, the LA Freeway Series, and an AL East slugfest of a double-header between the Red Sox and the Blue Jays. Life is good!
You know what else is good? Our Bets of the Day. Our top picks went 2-1 Friday, with a “(player-popup #ryan-weathers)Ryan Weathers”:/players/ryan-weathers-2039967’ fourth-inning implosion keeping us from a clean sweep for the day. Still, we are 44-31 on Bets of the Day for the season, and the momentum just keeps building.
So hop on board the Money Train if you haven’t already—and if you’ve been with us all season, chugga chugga choo, there’s more winning to do!
MLB Betting Picks, Predictions — August 7th
Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs
Pitching Matchup: Carlos Rodon vs. Adbert Alzolay
MLB Bet: White Sox -200
I’ve been all over the White Sox this season, which has proven to be fruitful. The South-Siders steered us to victory once again Friday, winning the series-opener of the Crosstown Classic against the cleared-out Cubbies. Expect more of the same in the Saturday matinee, with AL Cy Young candidate taking the mound for the ChiSox.
The veteran southpaw and first-time All-Star has a sparkling 2.49 ERA and 0.965 WHIP. He has struck out a whopping 149 batters in 104.2 innings, and walked just 28. Rodon’s opponents are slashing just .192/.258/.316. Most of his stats and metrics are career-bests, including his 12.8 K/9 and 35.2 percent K rate. He has been magnificent, and he should devour the new-look Cubs lineup after the departures of Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javier Baez.
Adbert Alzolay, on the other hand, has struggled of late and should continue to experience hardships against the elite White Sox offense. Alzolay has given up four earned runs on seven hits in each of his last two starts (against Cincy and DC). He has surrendered four or more runs on five different occasions since June 7, and he’s only made it six-plus frames twice since May 28. His ERA now stands at 4.85, and he’s 4-11 on the season.
The White Sox have their mojo back up and running right now, after a roller coaster of a start to the second half of the season. I was on board for the ChiSox sweep yesterday, and I’m doubling down on it today. Give me the hefty -200 moneyline since BetMGM won’t even offer us a run line as of Saturday at 2:00 a.m.
Toronto Blue Jays vs. Boston Red Sox (Game 1)
Pitching Matchup: Robbie Ray vs. Nick Pivetta
MLB Bet: Blue Jays -1.5 (+120)
The Red Sox were clearly due for some second-half regression, and it certainly wasted no time arriving. Boston has gone 9-11 since the All-Star break, due to rotation inconsistency, sluggish offense, or both. The Sox have won just two series in the second half. They have been swept by the Rays, and lost series to the Yankees and Tigers. And on Friday night, they got dumped by the Blue Jays 12-4, with Toronto plating nine runners in a frenzied fifth inning.
Now Boston must do battle with Robbie Ray, who is my dark horse pick to come up the rear of the Cy Young race. This dude has very quietly pitched like an ace this season, and he has the numbers to prove it: 9-5 record, 3.04 ERA, 1.086 WHIP, 154 strikeouts and just 33 walks in 124.1 innings.
Ray has faced Boston three times this season, and he’s winning the battle so far. On June 13, he struck out 10 Sox and allowed three runs in six innings to collect his fourth win. On July 21, he stumbled a bit, taking the L after giving up four runs in five innings. One start later (on July 28), he struck out eight and allowed just one run on route to his ninth win. The Sox are batting just .219 against Ray this season.
Making things murkier for Boston, Ray is 4-1 with a 2.53 ERA in day games this season. And the Sox are countering with Nick Pivetta, who has won just two games since the end of May. The 28-year old righty has seen Toronto three times in that span, and he has given up 14 total runs across those three starts (6, 4, 4, respectively). This should be another easy W for the Jays, who are tied with San Fran for the MLB lead with 165 homers.
Baseball Quick Picks
Tampa Bay Rays -1.5 (+135) at Baltimore Orioles (Shane McClanahan vs. Spenser Watkins) – I like McClanahan a lot, and he seems to like playing against the Orioles. In his July 20 start vs. Baltimore, the rookie allowed just one run on four hits while striking out seven and taking the W. He followed that up with quality starts against the Yankees and Red Sox. I like Tampa by 2.
Toronto Blue Jays -160 vs. Boston Red Sox (Game 2, Jose Berrios vs. Tanner Houck) – The self-loathing Sox fanhood continues—Berrios is far and away better than Houck, and the Blue Jays are a beast of a lineup. It could be an ugly Saturday for Alex Cora’s club.
Atlanta Braves -1.5 (-135) vs. Washington Nationals (Charlie Morton vs. Josiah Gray) – I like everything about the Braves’ matchup here—studs vs. duds, buyers vs. sellers, proven veteran pitcher vs. inconsistent young hurler. Give me Atlanta at home in an easy victory.
San Diego Padres -1.5 1st 5 Innings (+100) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (Yu Darvish vs. Taylor Widener) – The Padres are heavy favorites in the complete game ML and -2.5 run line—so bet on the pitchers! Darvish at Petco Park is a decent bet to get the Padres a two-run lead over the D-backs through five.
Los Angeles Dodgers -2.5 (+100) vs. Los Angeles Angels (Julio Urias vs. Jaime Barria) – Now this 2.5-run line I will bite on. The Dodgers have Trea Turner off the COVID-19 list, and they are hungry after another stinging extra-innings loss. Urias has 13 wins on the season, tied for the most in the majors. Make it 14 tonight.
Image Credit: Imagn