MLB Baseball Betting for September 27, 2016
Full card of baseball action for Sunday as the season enters its final week:
MLB BASEBALL BETTING FOR SEPTEMBER 27, 2016:
CHICAGO CUBS AT PITTSBURGH PIRATES:
The Chicago Cubs slumped into the All Star Break after a torrid start and the mainstream sports media couldn’t wait to pronounce the team as ‘DOA’. They were overrated all along and were the beneficiary of a weak early season schedule. The collectively chortled and looked forward to the second half when the Cubs would completely unravel. It didn’t quite work out that way. The Cubs quickly found their footing and have gone on to put up the best record in the second half going 45-21. They’ve had the NL Central wrapped up for what seems like a month now. They clinched the best record in baseball over the weekend but they’ve continued to play well every night. That’s something that manager Joe Maddon has insisted on–even when the team doesn’t have any tangible goals to play for he expects them to compete:
“Beat up the day. You have to beat up that day somehow.”
“I don’t get caught up in the macro of the whole thing. We cannot go about our business from inside in that manner. It will definitely have a bad ending if you do. That’s why I constantly preach the day.”
The Cubs have done just that and that mentality could win them a championship. And the lack of this mentality is precisely why the Pittsburgh Pirates are unlikely to make the playoffs. The Pirates slumped to start the season and although they went on a couple of decent runs they never really developed the ‘confidence of a winner’. Some of the local media had worse things to say than that suggesting right around midseason that the team ‘didn’t care’. The fan base has by and large taken a more reasonable stance toward the team’s shortcomings suggesting that it’s a good opportunity to get their young prospects some playing time.
Pretty simple handicap here–I want the team that seeks to ‘beat up the day’.
BET CHICAGO CUBS -155 OVER PITTSBURGH PIRATES
NEW YORK METS AT MIAMI MARLINS:
The Miami Marlins are a longshot to make the playoffs at this point–they’re 4.5 games out of the second playoff spot but have to deal with five other teams vying for the two wildcard spots. Their bigger concern is much more difficult to accept–they’ve got to play out the string while emotionally devastated by the tragic death of pitcher Jose Fernandez in a boating accident. There’s simply no way for the team to adequately deal with the loss of a friend and teammate in a short timeframe.
Sunday’s game was cancelled after the news of Fernandez’s death broke but Monday’s game was played as a tribute to their teammate. The entire team wore Fernandez’s #16 as a symbol of remembrance and the Marlins played inspired baseball at the outset of the game. Second baseman Dee Gordon showed a flair for the dramatic as he hit a home run in the first at bat of the game. The Marlins went on to open up a 7-0 lead after five innings.
The game is still underway at this writing but for our purposes the outcome of the game doesn’t really matter. The reality is that the Marlins couldn’t have made the playoffs under the best of circumstances and the rest of the year will decidedly *not* be the best of circumstances. This game will be the most difficult game that Miami plays the rest of the way. There’s no way for the team to not be emotionally drained after Monday’s tribute. Now the finality of Fernandez’s loss starts to kick in. The day to day absence will start to be felt and the players on the roster will mourn in their own way. They won’t be able to find some sense of closure until the offseason.
The Mets no doubt feel awful about the loss of a member of the Major League Baseball fraternity but they’ve got a job to finish. They’ve got a tenuous grasp on the top playoff spot in the National League with the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals breathing down their neck. They’ll be able to quickly regain their focus and will be opposed by a team that is obviously not in the mental and emotional state to be competitive. Sadly, the Marlins’ offseason begins here.
BET NEW YORK METS -165 OVER MIAMI MARLINS