Ricky Dimon
The week in Major League Baseball continues with a full 15-game schedule on Saturday. It’s an intriguing lineup that includes Reds vs Cubs, Brewers vs Phillies, Twins vs Mariners and Yankees vs Dodgers. The Pickswise team has been in fine form through 2 months of the season, sporting a 52-33-4 record in this best bets piece. Let’s keep it going as we get into my MLB best bets of the day!
Also don’t forget to check out our MLB picks for Saturday’s slate.
MLB best bet: Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals Under 7.5 (-110)
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing
Whenever Tarik Skubal takes the mound for Detroit, you immediately have to think that a low-scoring affair is in the cards. There is no reason to think that Saturday’s matchup will be any exception. Skubal, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, is 5-2 with a 2.49 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 92-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 68.2 innings. The left-hander has recorded at least 11 strikeouts in 3 of his last 4 starts and his most recent appearance was a complete-game, 2-hit shutout of Cleveland.
The good news for the Royals, however, is that they are playing at home and countering with Michael Wacha. That combination has been extremely successful. Wacha is sporting a 2.18 ERA at Kauffman Stadium compared to 4.40 on the road. Over his last 3 home outings, the right-hander has allowed only 1 run in 18.0 innings of work. This definitely has a chance to be the lowest-scoring game on Saturday’s entire MLB schedule.
MLB best bet: Boston Red Sox vs Atlanta Braves Under 8.5 (+100)
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing
Even with Ronald Acuna Jr. back in action, Atlanta’s offense continues to underwhelm. The Braves put up 9 runs against the Phillies on Thursday, but that was an aberration to the rule. They have lost 5 of their last 7 contests and in those 5 setbacks their run totals are 1, 3, 0, 4 and 1. Now the home team has to face Walker Buehler, who is 4-2 with a 3.95 ERA. The righty has been awesome over his last 6 appearances, allowing just 9 earned runs in 32.2 innings during this stretch.
The Red Sox are playing equally bad baseball. They have dropped 5 of their last 6 games and in 4 of those they scored a combined 5 runs. In other words, Atlanta right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach should be in line for a dominant performance. Schwellenbach has delivered 7 quality starts in 10 outings this season, and on another occasion he missed that distinction by only 1 run (4 allowed in 7.0 innings). Like Buehler, Schwellenbach has been especially impressive in May. Both clubs’ cold bats can be expected to struggle against 2 pitchers in outstanding form.
