It’s been an amazing two-plus weeks. A second consecutive 3-0 night on Tuesday makes for 13 winning nights in the last 14.
Here are the bets for Wednesday, May 4.
Mariners-Astros Under 8 (-115)
The rare 8 these days. The Mariners can’t score. They were shut out in the first two games of this series and now they are facing Justin Verlander. The Mariners’ ceiling for runs in this game is two or three, and even that seems high. The problem is Mariners’ starter Matt Brash isn’t any good. He has walked 10 in his last two starts and six of those came in a start against the Astros. The Astros could cover this number on their own, which is scary, but the odds of that are small.
Yankees -115 over Blue Jays
Two days ago, I would have signed up for the Yankees winning one game in Toronto. I just didn’t want them to get swept. Now it looks like they will sweep the Blue Jays, sweep their fourth straight series and extend their winning streak to 12 straight.
Nestor Cortes shut out the Blue Jays for 4 1/3 innings in April, and while that doesn’t seem like much, with this Yankees bullpen, 4 1/3 scoreless is more than enough because once they come in, it’s zeros for the rest of the game.
Yusei Kikuchi’s numbers against the Yankees read like a joke. In 83 combined plate appearances, the Yankees are hitting .356/.434/.644. Yes, a 1.078 team OPS. DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres, Aaron Hicks, Anthony Rizzo, Tim Locastro, Aaron Judge, Jose Trevino, Joey Gallo and Marwin Gonzalez all have an OPS of at least 1.000 against Kikuchi.
The money line has gotten worse since I took it on Tuesday night, but I would take this money line at any number.
Angels-Red Sox Under 9 (-115)
Garrett Whitlock is starting for the Red Sox. In two opens/starts/whatevers, he hasn’t allowed a run. I’m glad the Yankees protected Nick Nelson and Brooks Kriske on their 40-man so Whitlock could end up with the Red Sox. Not only is Whitlock likely to shut down the Angels for a few innings, the Red Sox’ offense is abysmal.
Reid Detmers is a young lefty, and you never want to trust any lefty at Fenway Park, let alone one as inexperienced and with as shaky stats as Detmers, but like the Astros game, I think Whitlock is enough to back this under.
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Last modified: Jul 23, 2023
