MLB Baseball Betting for August 23, 2016
Full slate of baseball action for Tuesday:
MLB BASEBALL BETTING FOR AUGUST 23, 2016:
COLORADO ROCKIES AT MILWAUKEE BREWERS:
The Rockies dropped the opening game of this series to the Brewers on Monday night. That means little for Milwaukee since they’re 24.5 games out of first place though they do get to keep the Cincinnati Reds in last place by one full game. The win does improve Milwaukee’s August record to 7-14 -7.4 units. The Rockies are in a bit of a strange limbo. They’re a cut above the two bottom feeders in the NL West, leading the 4th place Padres by 6.5 games and the last place Diamondbacks by 8.5 games. At the same time, they’re still well off the pace of the two top teams in the division trailing the second place Giants by 8.5 games and the first place Dodgers by 9.5 games. At least that’s the case as it stands now but that could quickly change as none of the five NL West teams have a winning record in their last 10 games. The Rockies could be right back in it if they can string some wins together.
In theory, this is the perfect setting for that. Colorado has made money on the road this year (28-34 +4.5 units) though the Brewers are actually a winning team at home (34-29 +6.8 units). Milwaukee’s problem is their horrific play on the road (20-41 -16 units). Jon Gray gets the start from Colorado–he’s been mediocre at best in 2016 but is coming off a brutal three game stretch. Overall, he’s got a 4.76 ERA and a 1.255 WHIP, a road ERA of 4.29 with a 1.277 WHIP and a last 3 ERA of 13.50 with a 2.333 WHIP. The Rockies have gone 10-12 in his starts this year including 3-8 on the road and they actually managed to win one of his last three starts despite his horrible performance. In his last three starts Gray has pitched a total of 12 innings allowing 22 hits, 18 runs and 2 home runs. Colorado managed to outlast the Washington Nationals in a 12-10 win in his last start.
Milwaukee will respond with right hander Chase Anderson who has been very capable at times this season. He’s got a 4.90 ERA overall, a 3.95 home ERA and a 3.00 L3 ERA. Milwaukee has won 9 of his 23 starts including 6 of 11 at home and 1 of 3. The Brewers have lost a ton of money against right handers this season (30-54 -22 units) averaging just 3.6 runs per game. We’ll take a shot on the road team.
BET COLORADO ROCKIES +125 OVER MILWAUKEE BREWERS
LOS ANGELES ANGELS AT TORONTO BLUE JAYS:
The Toronto Blue Jays will enter Tuesday’s action tied with the Boston Red Sox atop the AL East. The Red Sox are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now having won 8 of 10. With their next 8 games against bottom feeders (Tampa, Oakland, San Diego) the Jays are under a lot of pressure to match the BoSox win for win. The good news is that the Toronto schedule is also weak–they play 3 home games against the Los Angeles Angels and 3 home games with the AL worst Minnesota Twins before they travel to Baltimore for a matchup with the third place Orioles (currently 2 games out of first). And lest we forget the New York Yankees aren’t dead yet just 6.5 games behind the AL East leaders.
The Blue Jays are currently using a six man rotation and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey will get the start here. Dickey has been in reasonable form of late though he’s struggled much of the season–and particularly at home. Overall, Dickey has a 4.39 ERA with a 1.341 WHIP and a 5.33 ERA and a 1.408 WHIP at the Rogers Centre. He’s got a 3.31 ERA and a 1.408 WHIP in his last three games. Overall, Toronto is 9-16 in his 25 starts this year but just 3-10 at home. They’ve won 2 of his last 3 starts and the loss wasn’t his fault–Toronto dropped a 1-0 decision against the Yankees on 8/15 despite 5 innings of 4 hit, 1 ER pitching from Dickey.
The Angels will counter with lefthander Tyler Skaggs who hasn’t done much since joining the Padres’ rotation. Overall, he’s got a 5.19 ERA with a 1.578 WHIP and a 5.71 ERA with a 1.558 WHIP on the road. In his last three starts–all Padres’ losses–he’s got a 9.88 ERA and 2.269 WHIP. San Diego has lost 4 of his 5 2016 starts including 2 of 3 on the road. He could catch a break here as Toronto has struggled to hit left handed pitching. They’ve got a 17-18 -7.6 unit record against southpaws averaging just 3.9 runs per game and hitting .229. That’s 19 points off their overall batting average and nearly a full run per game less.
The big news today was that Angels ownership doesn’t blame manager Mike Scioscia for the team’s miserable 2016 season and expect to have him back for 2017. With that weight off, the Angels could steal some wins down the stretch including this game.
BET LOS ANGELES ANGELS +150 OVER TORONTO BLUE JAYS
BOSTON RED SOX AT TAMPA BAY RAYS:
The Boston Red Sox will try to keep their hot streak going as they play the Tampa Bay Rays in the second game of this early week series. Boston got off to a winning start on Monday and are now tied with Toronto atop the NL East. Tampa Bay has shown some moderate improvement in the second half of the season and have won 6 of 10 but are well off the pace in the AL East 17.5 games out of first.
Boston will start right hander Clay Buchholz who is having a disappointing season. He’s bounced between the starting rotation and the bullpen and has pitched better of late. That being said, his YTD numbers are ugly–5.95 ERA overall, 5.46 ERA on the road with the Red Sox losing 11 of his 15 starts including 4 of 5 away from home. He looked sharp in his last start which was a loss at Detroit but not his fault as he went 6 innings allowing 1 run and 6 hits.
Tampa will counter with Chris Archer who has a 2.66 home ERA this year but somehow the Rays are 4-9 in his 13 home starts. He pitched very well in his last two home starts combining for 13 1/3 innings 1 earned run, 7 hits and 16 strikeouts. They were against weaker teams (Minnesota and San Diego) but not sure that justifies his favorite status here. Buchholz is better than his numbers suggest and we’d rather be on the streaking Red Sox.
BET BOSTON RED SOX -105 OVER TAMPA BAY RAYS