A fantastic slate of baseball is on tap, giving us plenty of MLB bets to make. I’ll give you some of my favorite baseball best bets for tonight that you can tail on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Follow me on Twitter for daily MLB picks and info @SBuchanan24.
Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox
The Pick: Blue Jays Team Total over 4.5 runs -110
Cooper Criswell is listed as the starter for tonight’s game at Fenway Park. He’s technically starting but I view this as more of an extended opener. Criswell has been bouncing from the bullpen and the rotation while also dealing with time missed due to since the All-Star break. Over the past month, he’s made six appearances, two of which were starts and hasn’t thrown more than 4.2 innings in any of them. The month of August in particular hasn’t been very kind to him, as he’s logged 10.2 innings allowing nine runs on 18 hits and only six strikeouts. So, if I think Criswell is going to be in and out of this game fairly quickly, that means we’ll get a good chunk of the game with the Red Sox bullpen.
They just pitched a bullpen game yesterday, which was part of a double-header. It’s no secret the bullpen has been one of the worst in baseball lately and the numbers back it up. Over the past week, the Sox bullpen has a combined 4.74 ERA across 19.1 innings. To “help” with the heavy workload the bullpen has endured, the Red Sox selected Rich Hill, who’ll be active for tonight’s game. So if this game ends up being a Criswell/Hill combo, I’d feel strong about the Blue Jays to score at least five runs tonight. I like them so much, I added them to this parlay you can select on DraftKings Sportsbook tonight.
Kansas City Royals at Cleveland Guardians
The Pick: Royals moneyline +130
I like the Royals as road underdogs in Cleveland. One of the moves made at the trade deadline was acquiring Michael Lorenzen to help bolster their rotation and he’s done just that. Since joning the Royals, Lorenzen has a 1.99 ERA through 22.2 innings, allowing just five runs on 17 hits to go with a .281 wOBA. This will be the second time he’ll face the Guardians, as he shut them out through seven innings back in May. This offense has been stumbling lately, averaging just 3.7 runs over their last 10 games.
The Royals will be facing Gavin Williams, who has been in the rotation since early July. For whatever reason, his numbers at home have been the biggest problem. Through just 17.2 innings, Williams has allowed 17 runs on 27 hits, giving him a .419 wOBA. The Royals are clicking on offense right now, averaging five runs per game over the last 10. With a potential lopsided pitching matchup, I think grabbing the Royals as a +130 underdog is the way to go here.
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Baltimore Orioles
The Pick: Shohei Ohtani over 1.5 bases -105
I don’t know if it’s totally necessary to write out a blurb about why I like Ohtani to go over his total bases. The man is a freak of nature and doesn’t stop hitting. But, tonight in particular, I like this spot for him against Cole Irvin. I usually stay away from left on left matchups but Ohtani is an exception. He has a .359 wOBA and a .215 ISO against lefties through 190 plate appearances this season. He also has very good numbers against sinkers from lefties with a .407 wOBA and a .234 ISO. This is the main pitch for Irvin, who has thrown it 33% of the time. This matchup overall isn’t a good one for Irvin against a very good hitting club against lefties. Thus, I’ll be backing Ohtani to go over his total base total tonight.
Follow me on Twitter for daily MLB picks and info @SBuchanan24.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests. The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups.
