Chad Hartsock
ConsultantChad's Picks
My favorite rivalry in baseball right now is the Los Angeles Dodgers vs the San Diego Padres. With the win last night, the Padres pulled half a game ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West, which only adds to this rivalry. These games are must-watch, with lots of energy and spice. On Monday, the Dodgers gave Yamamoto the standard treatment, where he pitches lights out, allows barely anything, but the offense refuses to score. Happens all the time. Michael King was exceptional on the other side though, and it pushed the Padres’ winning streak to 4 straight (and ended a 5-game winning streak for the Dodgers). Look for the Dodgers to rebound on Tuesday, and this is a spot where you can either hammer the Money Line or roll the dice on the Run Line. I’ll take LA to win.
Emmet Sheehan and Giffin Canning will toe the rubber. This should be a lopsided mismatch. Sheehan had a rough start to the season, but he has allowed 2 runs or less in 4 of his last 5 starts. He is far better than Canning, who I am surprised to find pitching for the Padres. He has made 3 starts this month, allowing 6 runs in each of the last 2 outings. It is not likely that he will find better results against the mighty Dodgers. I am not sure how you would make a case for the Padres tonight with Canning on the mound, whom most of the Dodgers have also seen several times. Give me Sheehan and the Dodgers to win this one and even the series.
Dodgers vs Padres Prediction: Dodgers ML (-160) available at the time of publishing. Playable to -180.
The Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays continue their series on Tuesday after the Rays exploded for a 16-6 victory on Monday night. It was a day when every ball was hit hard, and everything found a hole. The win also meant that the Rays passed the Braves for the best winning percentage in baseball. Naturally, most of the betting world will back them to win again tonight, and that is probably enough reason to go the other way. I will take the Orioles on the Money Line.
Kyle Bradish and Giffin Jax will face off on the mound. Bradish has been pitching well of late, and Baltimore certainly needs him to pitch more like a staff ace. Jax, on the other hand, has worked most of the season out of the bullpen but has recently slid over to the rotation for a couple of starts. Obviously, he won’t stay in the game long, both because of pitch count limitations and because Tampa just never lets pitchers go through a lineup a third time. So we can expect to see a lot of the Rays’ bullpen. I’m not sure if it matters much tonight, but the O’s do get Jackson Holiday back in the lineup. The lineup is starting to look a bit more like it was supposed to for Baltimore. Still, I will back Bradish and the Birds to even the series.
Orioles vs Rays Prediction: Orioles Money Line (+100) available at the time of publishing. Playable to -110.