Last Night’s American League Highlights
Bradish shuts down Astros
The Baltimore Orioles continue to make the improbable a reality. Rookie Kyle Bradish had the best start of his still short career pitching 8 strong shutout innings, allowing just two hits to the powerful Astros lineup. Ramon Urias hit a two-run shot for the only runs of the game.
Trey Mancini struck out swinging for the final out of the game with two men on base leaving conspiracy theorists everywhere asking if he did so intentionally to keep his former team in playoff contention.
Mariner’s clip Guardians again in extras
In a game that had major playoff implications and atmosphere, the Mariners pulled out another win in dramatic style. For the second day in a row, just three runs were enough for Seattle to beat Cleveland. The game featured a fantastic pitching dual between Shane Bieber and Logan Gilbert. Both starters exited in the 7th inning with the score tied 2-2. Mitch Haniger had the winning hit in the 11th inning to walk off the game for Seattle.
In off-field news, the Seattle Mariners reported agreed to terms with rookie sensation Julio Rodriguez to a long-term deal that could be worth as much as $310 million over 15 years.
Judge to 49 HRs
The Aaron Judge HR watch continues as he approaches the coveted mark of 61 home runs on the season. His current pace over 162 games would put him at 63 for the season which would be most be any player outside the steroid era. Judge’s three-run monster shot to center field accounted for all the Yankees runs on the day as they beat the Athletics 3-2.
Tonight’s Featured American League Game
Blue Jays (68-56) Manoah Vs Angels (53-73) Ohtani Vs, 3:07 EST
The Angels embarrassed the Blue Jays last night 12-0 in a game that saw fielder Whit Merrifield give up the final two runs from the mound in the 9th inning. Toronto looks to avenge their worst loss of the entire season today in a matchup between two staff aces.
Alek Monaoh (12-6) faces Shohei Ohtani (10-8) today in a premier matchup between two of the American League’s best pitchers. Both starters today are all-stars sporting sub-three ERAs and both are still contenders for the Cy Young award this season.
Mike Trout became the Angel’s all-time leader in runs scored last night with a two-run homer in the 8th. Trout now has 1,025 runs scored to set the Angels’ franchise mark.
Toronto sits in a virtual three-way tie with Seattle and Tampa Bay in the American League wild-card standing. But the trio of teams now are looking behind them with the upstart Orioles nipping at their heels only 2.5 games back. The playoffs are out of reach for the Angels, but they are still very capable of making life uncomfortable for Toronto this weekend.
Current Cloudbet Line: Blue Jays -150, 7.5 Under -120
Key Injuries
Angels – Jared Walsh, Mickey Moniak, Taylor Ward, Aaron Loup, Ryan Tepera
Blue Jays – Teoscar Hernandez, Nate Pearson
Today’s Best Bets
The Mariners came up big for me in extra innings with a win but the Rays came up short in a 9-8 loss for a push on yesterday’s card.
American League: Rays (Springs) [-119] @ Red Sox (Hill) $
The Rays came up on the short end of a 9-8 decision last night after stretching out to an early 4-1 lead. They scored 4 runs in the 8th inning to get within one, but could not complete the comeback. That game was a reminder that the Red Sox are still capable of pounding out runs on a good night. But even on a night where they score 9 runs, the outcome was far from certain.
The pitching matchup for today’s game leans in Tampa Bay’s favour. Frankly, I’m just not sold on Boston’s ability to close out close games. I am going to come back with the Rays again today despite the loss last night. Tampa Bay simply appears to be the superior team.
American League: Yankees (German) [-1.5 -127] Vs Guardians (Oller) $
I think it is just about time to jump back on the Yankees’ bandwagon. After setting the American League on fire in the first half of the season, the Yankees kind of took a month off. They now appear to be returning to better form, however winning five in a row. The pitching staff has allowed just 12 runs in those 5 games and the offence seems to be improving as well. The return of Rizzo and Stanton to the lineup is a big boost for New York, although Matt Carpenter’s bat is still badly missed.
Today’s game is a terrible mismatch on paper. But I like the direction the Yankees are now headed and they should easily handle the Athletics today.
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