In today’s MLB betting guide, the Cleveland Guardians get their ace on the mound for the series finale against the Minnesota Twins, while the Toronto Blue Jays host the Tampa Bay Rays in a very important series.
Cleveland Guardians (-155) vs Minnesota Twins (+125)
The pitching matchup in this game looks a lot closer than it is since the Twins defense has done very well and saved Chris Archer more than once. His ERA (earned run average) is 3.14 but his FIP (fielding independent pitching) is 4.74. He gives up more than an ideal amount of walks and his strikeouts per nine innings is 7.1 as opposed to Cleveland’s ace Shane Bieber’s 9.3.
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Not much more can be said about Bieber other than he is very consistent and a great pitcher even though he has given up two to three runs in each of his past three starts. Regardless, he will go deep into the game for the Guardians and always give them a chance to win. Neither team has been the greatest of late with the Guardians going 4-6 in their past 10 and the Twins going 5-5. This is the fifth game of an important five-game series between the teams fighting for the first spot in their division with each team winning twice thus far. Cleveland won yesterday’s game and Bieber will give them the pitching needed to take the series decider. Take the Guardians and the under (U8.5, -105).
Toronto Blue Jays vs Tampa Bay Rays
Though the Blue Jays had a good series against the Boston Red Sox, their starter today, Yusei Kikuchi, shouldn’t inspire much confidence in the team considering he hasn’t had a good start since May 16. Since then he’s had seven starts and hasn’t pitched more than five innings while raising his ERA from 3.38 to 5.08.
The Blue Jays are still 23-15 at home while the Rays are 15-17 on the road. This is a very important series and the Rays are close to the Blue Jays in the standings but have also lost two in a row. As the Blue Jays took two of three games in another very important series against the Red Sox, they will have to count on their bats to carry them today as they have had from their entire lineup. The Rays’ bats have been quiet other than Isaac Paredes, so Kikuchi may have a shot. If he can just go five innings by the way he’s pitched as of late, that’s a win. Be careful with this one when picking the Blue Jays but be sure the over will hit.
Odds via Yahoo and BetMGM.
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