Unfortunately another 1-2 day last Thursday takes our MLB betting record on the season so far to 14-9. Still a solid record but we’ll be looking to improve on that this Thursday, the 21st of June as we take a look at some of the key games on the 14 game MLB slate.
Seattle Mariners at New York Yankees (9.05pm AEST)
The Yankees are entrenched in a tight battle for the lead in the AL East with their rivals the Boston Red Sox at the moment. They have won seven of their last ten games and hold a 1 game advantage at the moment but are in the midst of a tough series against the 46-27 Seattle Mariners, who will have their ace, Felix Hernandez on the mound in New York on Thursday.
Fernandez hasn’t been fantastic so far this season, currently maintaining a 6-6 record with a 5.44 ERA but as we know, is capable of a dominant performance on any given day. The Yankees batting line-up has been great lately and currently sit third in total runs scored in the MLB.
Jonathan Loaisiga was great in his debut start for the Yankees on Friday, throwing five scoreless innings against the Rays to earn himself a second start. Much tougher opposition on Thursday though, which is why we like Seattle to cause an upset away from home.
Seattle Mariners +1.5
$1.80
Boston Red Sox at Minnesota Twins (10.10am AEST)
The Red Sox will be facing off against the Twins in the middle game of a three-game series on Thursday morning. They went down in the first game of the series 6-2 with ace Chris Sale on the mound and will have another tough matchup Thursday as David Price gets the start. Price has been great over the past few weeks, however, winning his last 6 games in a row with a fantastic 2.64 ERA.
Price will be up against Lance Lynn on Thursday morning, who has struggled mightily in the 2018 season so far. Lynn posted a massive 8.37 ERA in the month of April and while he has improved for the Twins since then, he still allowed three runs against an underperforming Detroit batting line-up through six innings in his last start.
The Boston batting line-up has been up and down over the past week scoring 2, 6, 0, 9, and 2 in their last five matches. Law of averages says they’ll have a decent day with the bat on Thursday and Lynn’s record of late increases the odds of that happening. Back the Sox to get the job done away from home and tie the series up.
Boston Red Sox -1.5
$2.07
Tampa Bay Rays at Houston Astros (10.10am AEST)
The Astros have continued their winning ways over the last few weeks, winning nine of their last ten games and are currently tied with the Red Sox for the most wins in the league. Their batting line-up has been dynamic to say the least, as they lead all of baseball in total hits, total runs and team batting average at a whopping .268.
It also helps when you match a world class batting lineup with arguably the best pitching staff in the game, as the likes of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton have all been dominating for the Astros. Morton will be on the mound Thursday and will be looking to continue a stellar season that currently has him in sixth place in the AL Cy Young race with an 8-1 record and a 2.93 ERA.
He’ll be up against the Rays and Nathan Eovaldi on Thursday, who has a pair have been a bit underwhelming so far in 2018. The Rays currently have a 34-39 record on the season so far while Eovaldi has only managed to record one win through his four starts so far this year. Would be silly to bet against the Astros at home here. I expect a monster win.
Houston Astros -1.5
$1.83
