Another great weekend of baseball, topped off by Justin Verlander’s third no-hitter, has once again shook up the MLB Wild Card standings. Oakland has been bumped back out of the race, with the Indians and Rays trying to keep things that way. Meanwhile, the Phillies are still trying to claw into a Cubs lead. We take our first September look at the odds, care of Bovada.
We start with that Phillies (+1.5 -145 RL, +128 ML) team, who drew a bad luck start against the Reds (-1.5 +125 RL, -148 ML). They’ll be facing the red hot Anthony DeSclafani (9-7, 4.05 ERA), and have the disappointing Drew Smyly (2-6, 6.95 ERA) on the mound in response. DeSclafani’s recent beautiful outing against the Marlins might be better than he will generally be, but Smyly has just been awful. Bet on the Reds to win big here with the over, sending the Phillies further down the standings (O/U 10.0).
Meanwhile, can the Orioles (+1.5 +130 RL, +255 ML) beat the Rays (-1.5 -150 RL, -310 ML) and give Oakland some help in the standings? Simply put, no. Ryan Yarbrough (11-3, 3.36 ERA) takes the mound for the home town Rays, and he should have an easy enough time staying ahead of Asher Wojciechowski (2-7, 5.12 ERA). Yarbrough’s record doesn’t reflect several great starts he gave Tampa in August, and we can expect that to continue here. Bet the Rays for the money line and the under (O/U 8.5).
Finally, the White Sox (+1.5 +110 RL, +210 ML) start a four day visit to Cleveland (-1.5 -130 RL, -250 ML), who also want to hold off Oakland. Aaron Civale (2-3, 1.96 ERA) was great for the Indians against Detroit recently, and his odds look good against Ross Detwiler (2-4, 6.45 ERA), who was atrocious against the Twins in his last outing. Bet the Indians and the under here. (O/U 10.0).
Tonin’s record yesterday: 2-5
Tonin’s record this season: 114-95
