Last Night’s American League Recap
Mariners and Orioles continue to roll
Seattle and Baltimore continue their American League dominance as each rack up their 8th consecutive wins.
The Mariners are now tied with the Blue Jays for the final wild-card spot in the American League after a come-from-behind 6-5 win over Toronto. Carlos Santana had the go-ahead HR for the second game in a row over the Jays. But it was a game that Toronto should have won as nothing is going right for the Jays right now with just 1 win in their past 10 games. Vladimir Guerrero had a critical error that saw a double-play ball at first base go completely through his glove and allowed for the comeback to happen.
The Baltimore Orioles’ winning streak has put them just one game below 500 and they now sit just 2 games out of wild-card contention. Securing an American League wild-card spot this year would be a major accomplishment for an Orioles team that hasn’t seen the post-season since 2016. The Orioles’ bats exploded for 9 runs over the unfocused Angels while SP Justin Voth picked up his victory in the orange and black.
The Yankees pitching staff had a rare off night allowing 11 runs to the Red Sox. The Yankees have looked human of late after a red hot first half of the season. Trevor Story led the way with 3 hits and 3 RBIs. The Red Sox claim the series win at home against their rivals after dropping game one.
The Twins avoided the weekend sweep in Texas with a 6-5 back and forth game.
Zack Grienke was the story as the Royals rebounded from a dismal performance on Saturday that saw them allow 23 hits. Zack picked up his 3rd win of the season while pitching his 50,000 pitch as a big leaguer.
After previously winning six straight games, the Tigers dropped their second in a row to the White Sox. Gavin Sheets had a couple of hits including the game-tying homer in the 6th. The winning runs came in unearned after a dropped fly ball in the 8th inning for Chicago.
Houston picked up another easy win, this time 6-1 in Oakland. The Astros starting pitching continues their dominance this time with Jake Odorizzi throwing 7 scores innings.
Finally, Tampa Bay Rays finished up a terrible weekend series in Cincinnati by being swept by the last-place Reds. The Rays remain in a wild-card spot but are in danger of dropping out if their current form continues.
Tonight’s American League Best Bets
I picked Minnesota and Seattle yesterday and teams came up with big wins in close games. I only have one best bet today with only 5 games on a lite Monday schedule. The Royals host the Tigers for double hitter today, but I wouldn’t say I like either of those options. That leaves just three games left to choose from.
AL: Red Sox (Bello) [ -108] @ Rays (Wisler) $
Highly touted Red Sox rookie Brayan Bello makes his second career start tonight against the Rays. The hard-throwing 23-year-old did not look good in his debut last week but I am looking for him to rebound with a better effort today.
The Red Sox looks to build off of two consecutive wins over the best team in the American League, the NY Yankees. It is a potential pivot point for Boston as they head into the second half of the season. Their biggest challenges for the wild-card spots, the Rays and Jays, are both struggling at the moment and this is a chance for the Red Sox to put some ground between them.
The Rays had a terrible weekend in Cincinnati getting walked-off twice in extra innings and then getting blown out 10-5 last night against the soft-hitting Reds. Let’s see if Tampa Bay’s poor form continues against their divisional foes.
July’s Best Bets: 16-8, +9.38 Units
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