Imagine the Baltimore Orioles are a better story than the Yankees at present, yet it’s true and we break it down. Also, the Blue Jays changed skippers.
Meanwhile, in the NBA rumors are flying about the New York Knicks making a big trade. All this, along with our NFL Football Focus and more!
About Last Night…
MLB
Overall, it was a rather weird night on the diamond, as the Yankees, Mets and Dodgers all lost. On top of that, Houston almost blew a 5-1 lead in Anaheim to get tied but scratched out a run to win. Nonetheless, seeing the East and West coasters all lose the same evening has been a rare occurrence in 2022.
Baltimore (+110) is now .500 after beating the Cubs on Tuesday night for their ninth straight victory. If this seems very odd, it truly is as the Orioles are the 4th team since 1900 to win nine consecutive games the season after finishing with the worst record in MLB. According to ESPN Stats Baltimore joins the:
- 1902 Browns
- 1993 Dodgers
- 2001 Cubs
A Fun Night for the Athletics
It has been a very long season for Oakland, but for a night, it was fun. The A’s were +145 road underdogs at Texas, blew leads in the 9th and 10th innings before scoring a touchdown and getting a two-point conversion for an 8-run 12th inning to win 14-7. As bad as the Athletics are, they are up +2.7 units on the road which is 10th-best in baseball.
Finally, bad news on the Yankees. New York took a 3-0 lead over Cincinnati into the 9th inning as -300 ML chalk and lost 4-3 as closer Clay Holmes’s power sinker was not sinking. New York was 49-0 when taking a lead into the 9th.
Trendy Talk
MLB
- L.A. Angels are 6-23 (-20.6 Units) vs. a starting pitcher who gives up 0.5 or less homers per start, this season.
- Baltimore is 15-8 (+13.3 Units) after a five-game span where the bullpen ERA was 2.00 or lower.
- Colorado is 34-13 Under playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season since last year.
- The Chicago Cubs are 31-11 Under at home vs. an AL team with a slugging percentage of .400 or worse in the second half of the season.
- Shane McClanahan of Tampa Bay is 18-4 Under playing against a team with a winning record.
WNBA
- The Dallas Wings are 6-2 ATS over Seattle since 2000. (Tuesday)
- Atlanta and Chicago are 18-7 Over in their last 25 matchups. (Tuesday)
CFL
- Montreal is 12-28 ATS in home games against poor defensive teams allowing 400 or more yards a game. (Thursday)
BMR’s Betting Pulse
MLB
Tonight we preview the Astros vs. Angels affair which doesn’t sound like much except Shohei Ohtani is pitching for the Halos. Also on Wednesday, can Tampa Bay make it three straight over Boston?
Thursday, the Dodgers and Cardinals wrap up their series and we are supposed to have a super pitching matchup between the Brewers’ Corbin Burnes vs. the Giants’ Carlos Rodon.
WNBA
On Thursday, Dallas and Minnesota will collide and you can see the game info here and watch on Twitter when the game starts.
CFL
It is Week 6 of the season already and the action starts Thursday. See our game previews and free picks. There is also a massive matchup Friday with 4-0 Calgary at 5-0 Winnipeg.
The Buzz
MLB: Blue Jays Fire Manager
This morning, Toronto skipper Charlie Montoyo was fired with the Blue Jays having slid to 4th place in the AL East and now just two games from last at 46-42.
We are not saying that is the wrong decision, but the lineup card is full of boom or bust players, that starting pitching is average and the bullpen is not that good. We’ll see what the new person changes.
NBA: Knicks Reported in Donovan Mitchell Chase
Though nothing is official, the New York Knicks are exploring trading for Utah’s Donovan Mitchell.
The 25-year-old Mitchell is a New York native, but here is our question. Unless Mitchell and Jalen Brunson are putting up 55 combined points a night, isn’t it a complete defensive liability to have two 6’1 guards playing together in the NBA?
Golf:
Rory McIlroy remains the betting favorite to win the Open at St. Andrews at +1000 according to Bovada’s betting odds. Jordan Spieth has moved into a second-place tie with Xander Schauffele at +1800.
Taking Schauffele to win is a big risk despite him being the current hottest player. It is extremely rare for a player to win three straight times.
Finding Value
In looking at golf bettor’s preferences, Spieth is a 1st or 40th choice. Matthew Fitzpatrick is heavily bet along with McIlroy and Cameron Smith and Justin Thomas are moving up.
There is a faction of bettors high on LIV players Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka based on their history, but not how they have played nearly all year.
Not surprisingly, the sportsbooks’ greatest exposure is on Tiger Woods to win. From this chair, we see that as profit, not exposure.
Football Focus
- Green Bay Packers to Win Super Bowl: +1000 – 3rd overall choice at Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
- Green Bay Packers Season Win Total: Over 11 (-115) / Under 10.5 (-115)
Football Pulse
Certain sportsbooks across the world have taken Green Bay money in recent days as their odds have dropped from roughly +1200 to their present level.
Aaron Rodgers remains one of the three best quarterbacks in the game going into the season. The loss of Davante Adams is large and we are not seeing how that will be easily overcome, though having TE Robert Tonyan back will help, especially if he’s 100 percent.
The Packers’ defense is improving yearly with great players who are getting better and a case could be made the defense might be the best part of this Green Bay squad.
Backing the Pack for Over on the season win total seems like a good bet. What doesn’t seem like a good wager is taking Green Bay to win the Super Bowl.
Though we like Matt LaFleur as a head coach, his play-calling and judgment in the postseason have been ordinary at best and until we see something different it’s hard to Back the Pack for NFL picks.
Out The Door
MLB: Early Games Checkup
As we went to post, the Mets have the early lead on the Braves and if New York wins, they have to feel great about winning a road series against a club that has been hot and gained a lot of ground on them.
In his last four starts, Los Angeles Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani is 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP. Tonight his laboring team faces Houston and Christian Javier who has a 2.84 ERA in his last three starts. The first inning bet of UNDER 0.5 is a reasonable -135. Worth a look?
Who is Right?
Baltimore has won nine in a row and the Cubs have dropped five straight. A Spenser Watkins (4.15 ERA vs. Justin Steele (4.13) matchup does not get the heart rate up.
The total has hardly moved at Over 8 (hovering around -115) and just over 60 percent of the tickets sold are on the Over. Yet, the cash is all over the Under, in the upper 80s percentile. Will the sharps prevail again knowing Steele has a 3.14 at Wrigley Field?
Let’s get some winners and see you back here Friday.
Calculators
