Life’s better when you’re picking winners. Miggy gets us into the seventh inning and Jose Abreu‘s blast was all the White Sox needed en route to a 2-0 win at home. Meanwhile, Samardzija and Anderson took turns escorting us to a no-sweat under at Coors to complete a 2-0 day. We’re 3-0 this month and 13-1 since the end of July so there really isn’t much to try and explain these days, let’s just get to the good stuff.
Free Pick
I first toyed with Toronto on the run line tonight with everything seemingly in line for a Blue Jays romp. The Yankees have taken the first two games of the series and had to absolutely deplete their ‘pen last night to do it. Plus New York is trotting out a minor leaguer coming off of injury who has thrown more than four innings a total of once in his intermittent big league career. It’s not like the oddsmakers haven’t taken notice. The Jays are laying -110 on the road run line, but something else has me steering in another direction. And I’m in full-on gut mode right now.
Instead we’re going to the National League, where it would seem Vegas might be up to something. Noah Syndergaard and Anthony DeSclafani face-off in a matchup between two young horses with sub-3.00 ERAs and necessary nicknames. Yet most books have offered a total of 8.5, which seems suspicious considering the guys taking the mound for both teams.
“Disco” has posted a 1.14 WHIP in just over 100 innings (16 starts) this season. He’s been ideally consistent and comes off two straight plus starts where he’s allowed 10 hits and two earned runs in 16 innings combined against the Diamondbacks and Cardinals. The Mets, meanwhile, tend to get a little skimpy with their run support when Thor takes the mound and I have a funny feeling today could be the latest case in point. It doesn’t mean Syndergaard won’t deal with his team in the wild card hunt. He’s allowed seven (!!) hits over his last three outings (22 innings) and should overpower the Reds this afternoon. He’s for Harambe and we’re for him. This one feels like a low-scoring game that the home team could even win in eight and a half.
I’ll be following along starting at 7:35 PM African Standard Time. Let’s go low!
Gut Says: Under 8.5 -115
YTD: 32-22-1 +4.90
2015: 31-25-5 +1.09
2014: 45-28-3 +9.02
cincinnati reds • desciafini • harambe • mets • new york • nl wild card • syndergaard • thor