Andrew McCutchen @ St Louis Cardinals
- Cutch has recorded 13 hits and four doubles in a large sample size of plate appearances against Cardinals veteran, Lance Lynn. He’s also hit a homer and recorded a pair of extra-base hits over the last seven days.
Adley Rutschman vs San Francisco Giants
- Rutschman has recorded 2 hits in 3 at-bats against Blake Snell, including a double that registered an average exit velocity of 95.7 MPH off the bat.
Blake Snell is back on the rubber for the Giants for this key inter-league game against the O’s.
San Francisco is well out of the playoff race at this stage, but they could be a nice bet to snap their current four-game losing skid based on some of Snell’s numbers during the second half of the season.
The reigning Cy Young-award winner has been elite since the All-Star break, posting the second-lowest ERA in the league (1.76) to go with only 2 HR allowed.
Most importantly, Snell leads the league in strikeouts during that time frame, which should worry an O’s team that has posted a mid 19-24 record against inter-league opponents.
- Tip: Back the Giants to Win @ $1.82
- Player Pick: Blake Snell Over Strikeout Total
Cole Ragans is back on the mound for his third start of the year against the division-rival Tigers.
The star lefty blanked them across six innings to combine with 13 strikeouts earlier in the year, following that performance up with another solid two-run outing against Detroit in August.
The Tigers rank towards the bottom of the league in runs scored against southpaws and 11th in strikeout rate, so despite their late Wild Card surge, I’m with the Royals and Ragans’ arm.
- Tip: Tigers Under 3.5 Runs
- Player Pick: Cole Ragans Over Strikeout Total
Leaning towards a low-scoring game here with Luis Gil and Bryan Woo taking the mound.
The pair have been tough to score runs against over the course of the season, particularly Gil, who shutout the Cubs two starts back before giving up just one earned run against the Royals last week.
Likewise, Woo is coming off a solid outing against a tough Padres lineup, lasting 6.2 innings and coughing up only a pair of runs. He also ranks bottom 10 in earned runs allowed during the second half of the season.
- Tip: Under 7 Runs @ $1.90