MLB Baseball Picks

The Nats and the Braves will meet for the 10th time this season when they open a three-game set tonight in Washington. Atlanta starter Dallas Keuchel has just four career starts against Washington over his career with his team losing all four. The Nationals starter Patrick Corbin has had excellent numbers against the Braves and comes into this game ultra-sharp allowing three or fewer runs in seven consecutive starts. Zank digs into the pitching stats and a slew of other statistics to come up his MLB pick for today.

The Red Sox took the first three and will be getting the brooms ready for a sweep with a win tonight. They’re the hotter club winners of five of six and on paper have the edge in starting pitching tonight with Chris Sale on the mound. The line does reflect this (Boston -180) so the question is, do they warrant the risk or is there a better way to play this game. Get Zank’s take and prediction.

The Cubs lost for the fourth time in their last five games with the series opening loss last night to the Brew Crew. They hope to reverse their form tonight when they send out lefty Jon Lester who pitched well earlier against Milwaukee. Chase Anderson gets the starting duties for the Brewers to make his first start this season against the Cubs, but his resume versus Chicago is solid. Is the under the smart play here? Read on to get Zank’s game prediction.

Gerrit Cole has been fantastic this season with a 77.3% QS rating. He’s hasn’t faced the Cardinals team since 2017, but he does have solid historical numbers against a half dozen current St. Louis players. Is this enough to play the Astros at a big -180 price? MLB capper Jamison weighs out a few angles and feels that one team stands out on the value index.

The visiting Braves opened as a -125 favorite at some books with Mike Soroka getting the start. The Phillies go with Jake Arrieta who pitched well in his lone start against Atlanta this season. There may be some value in backing the home side tonight. Zank breaks it all down and gives out his projected winner.

The Yankees will try to rebound off a disastrous outing by Tanaka in the series opener. They have the edge in the pitching match-up with Paxton having a considerable edge in pitcher vs. batter statistics over Cashner’s historical numbers versus the Yankees line-up. Read on to get Jamison’s betting opinion and suggested wager.

The Yankees have had the upper hand this season versus the Red Sox taking six of seven meetings. Today’s starters Masahiro Tanaka and Rick Porcello were the starters back in a June 29th match in England and were roughed up for six runs a piece in a 17-12 New York win. Will the scorekeeper get a workout again or will one of the starters step up their game? Get our capper’s take and moneyline pick.

The Yankees rallied for seven runs against the Twins bullpen to take a 14-12 win last night. Tonight they play the rubber match at Target Field with the Twins starting Jake Odorizzi (6-0 at home) and the Yanks giving the ball to J.A. Happ (3-0 on the road). Zank digs into some of the key match-up stats and gives out his top pick.

Minnesota roughed up Yankees starter CC Sabathia for seven runs (6 earned) in the opener to draw first blood in 8-6 victory. This time around the runs may be scarcer with Domingo German getting the start for New York and Kyle Gibson getting the honors for Minnesota. MLB prognosticator Dan Jamison weighs out the matchup and points out a couple of key trends to back up his suggested bet.

Boston and Tampa meet up tonight with both clubs not playing at their peak. Boston just dropped two of three at Baltimore and the Rays have lost five of their last six and have hit a meager .204 over their last seven games. The Rays have scored two or fewer runs in four of their last five games. On the bright side for the Red Sox, Eduardo Rodriguez has pitched well as of late, allowing only 4 earned runs in his last 18 innings which is good for a 1.96 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. Conversely, the Rays have beaten the Sox five our of the last six meetings. Check out Dan’s take on how this one will play out.