Ricky Dimon
The week in Major League Baseball wraps up with a full 15-game slate on Sunday. It includes Brewers vs Blue Jays, Mariners vs Guardians, Diamondbacks vs Dodgers and Braves vs Phillies. The Pickswise team is on an 15-4 run in this MLB best bets series. Let’s build on that momentum and hopefully deliver some more winners today!
Make sure you also check out our MLB picks for every game on Sunday, August 31.
MLB best bet: Cleveland Guardians ML over Seattle Mariners (+100)
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing
Cleveland has home-field advantage in this one and that alone could make the difference. The Guardians are nothing special at Progressive Field (35-32), but the Mariners are 5 games under .500 at home compared to 14 games over .500 at home. To the surprise of surely no one, Cleveland won the first 2 contest of this season. It is on a 4-game winning streak overall, while Seattle is a horrendous 5-11 in its last 16 overall.
What’s even more notable with the home-road splits is the pitching matchup. Tanner Bibee of the Guardians is sporting a 3.58 ERA in his own friendly confines, while it balloons to 5.64 when he has to venture outside of Cleveland. Kansas City’s Bryce Miller has been terrible everywhere this season (3-5, 5.98 ERA, 1.50 WHIP), but he is especially bad on the road (6.52 ERA, .295 opponent batting average). Moreover, Bibee is 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA in 2 starts
MLB best bet: Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals Under 7.5 (-115)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing
Whenever Tarik Skubal takes the mound for Detroit, your first inclination has to be on the under. A total of 7.5 isn’t especially low for a game in which Skubal is toeing, so the under is once again the play with this Tigers game. Skubal has actually looked human this month, so it feels like he is due for a dominant outing. Obviously arguing that someone is “due” really isn’t strong enough analysis to send someone to the betting window, but there are also numbers to back it up. Skubal has faced the Royals twice this season; in those starts he compiled a 1.50 ERA and an 11-1 strikeout to walk ratio. The Tigers won the 2 games while giving up a total of 4 runs.
Kansas City is countering with Michael Wacha, who comes in with a 3.39 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. The right-hander has been especially impressive of late. He pitched to a 3.10 ERA in July and his August ERA is currently 2.87. In 3 appearances against Detroit, Wacha is sporting a 2.45 ERA. A pitching duel between these 2 teams just ensued on Saturday, when the Royals prevailed 3-1. Something similar could be in store for the series finale.
