We took it on the chin last night, losing both the money line bet and the over/under with the Guardians and the Pirates. That puts us in the negative (-$12.54) after two days. Obviously that’s not where we want to be but this is, after all, just picking a random baseball game and going with it. I guess you could also say that it’s a learning experience.
For today’s event we’re going with Detroit (42-52) at Kansas City (28-68). The Tigers are throwing Eduardo Rodriguez (5-5, 2.70 ERA) and the Royals have Ryan Yarbrough (2-4, 5.29 ERA) on the mound.
Pitchers
Rodriguez has what we’re looking for in a pitcher, in terms of consistency. He’s posting a 2.7 ERA on the season and has allowed an average of 2.8 earned runs, per game, of the last five. He’s fanned seven batters in each of his last two outings but has only recorded one win during that span.
Yarbrough is a bit interesting in that he’s got a 5.29 ERA on the season but over the last five he’s only allowing two runs per game. His strikeout count is lower than Rodriguez but he also has one more win over the last five games than his counterpart from Detroit does.
Over the last five games Detroit has given up 19 total runs while the Royals have surrendered 27 runs over the last five.
The Lineups
Spencer Torkelson and Zack McKinstry lead a Detroit lineup that has plated 24 runs over the last five games. Torkelson has gone yard a team-best 14 times and has knocked in 51 RBI. McKinstry paces the Tigers in batting average with a .244 mark.
The Royals are led by Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez at the plate. Witt has 16 home runs on the year and has knocked in 51 RBI. Perez is batting .258 but is also currently listed as day-to-day on the disabled list.
The Streaks
The Tigers are 3-2 over the last five games and the Royals are 2-3. The two teams have split this series so far with Detroit taking the first game by a final of 3-2 and then the Royals out-slugged the Tigers on their way to an 11-10 win on Tuesday night.
The Odds
Tigers -1.5
Tigers -150 on the ML
O/U 8.5
I feel like the safest bet on here is the Tigers and the money line. However, at -150 you’re not going to win much. Monday and Tuesday gave us 1-run games and I feel like we’re looking at a third in a row tonight. I’d take the Royals +1.5
I’ve not hit the over/under yet since I started this project but I do like the over for tonight and it’s at a safe -110 so there’s not a lot of juice. That’s what I’m marking down as the best bet.
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