After a 2-1 night on the diamond, we're now 25-17 on the year. The Rangers cashed for us at a nice dog price, and the Mariners pulled through against the lowly A's. Our only loss was because of the Twins bullpen, who melted down to lose to the White Sox in 10 innings.
Let's keep it up with 3 MLB Best Bets for Wednesday, May 3. Best of luck with all of your picks! Thanks, as always, for reading.
Best Bet: Rangers (-120)
Let's run it back with the Rangers for a little daytime action at 2:05 Eastern Time. Texas is a solid 12-5 at home, and we think their bats will be too much for rookie Brandon Pfaadt, who'll be making his MLB debut. The young right-hander was 2-1 this season in AAA with a 3.91 ERA, but Texas is averaging 6.88 runs per game against righties!
The Rangers will send Andrew Heaney to the mound today, and he's 2-2 with a 5.07 FIP this season. That number scares us a tad, but his hard-hit rate is only 32.3%, which is pretty impressive. Heaney may not even have to worry about facing rookie phenom Corbin Carroll, who's missed the last 2 games with a knee contusion.
If this game comes down to bullpens, Texas has the edge. Rangers relievers have a combined ERA of 3.33, while the D'backs pen is at 4.67. Let's roll with Texas in what we think is a price that's too cheap.
Best Bet: Mariners -1.5 (+105)
In the spirit of running it back once again, let's go with the Mariners to take care of business against the A's. This time we'll play the run line, which Seattle shouldn't have a hard time covering in this spot.
The M's will start Logan Gilbert, who has a FIP of 3.33 and a hard-hit rate of only 36.5%. The A's are only hitting .209 against righties this year while only averaging 3.57 runs per game against them. Gilbert should dominate Oakland tonight.
Oakland will counter with lefty JP Sears, who is 0-2 this year with a 6.23 ERA. Seattle's lineup is still scuffling somewhat, but they're averaging 5 runs per game off of lefties. Look for the M's to get to Sears early and often in this one.
Best Bet: Braves (-132)
Atlanta just barely made our card, but we think there's enough value to pull the trigger. Getting a stout Bravos offense at under -140 sounds like a steal. However, the Marlins will have the starting pitcher edge with Braxton Garrett, who's been almost unhittable with a FIP of only 2.78.
The Braves will send Kyle Wright back out against Miami today after his last outing was cut short due to a rain delay. The young righty hasn't had his best stuff this year, but he's performed much better over his last 3 starts (3.29 ERA). We think the Braves bullpen is also slightly better than the Marlins.
The main edge for Atlanta in this one is their lineup. Braves hitters are batting .282 against lefties, while Marlins hitters are only batting .230 versus righties. Look for Acuna, Albies, Riley and company to do the heavy lifting in this one for Atlanta.
