Xam’s Daily Gems:
Tigers +1.5 -146 FanDuel
The Blue Jays don’t score a lot of runs and Yusei Kikuchi has a career ERA of 4.59 on the road. The Blue Jays are 11-16 on the road and the Tigers have an elite back of the bullpen. Key will be Casey Mize improving on his 4.57 ERA this year. He’s been great at home, with a 2.74 ERA this season.
Red Sox Money Line -148 DraftKings
Tanner Houck may be the best pitcher the Red Sox have right now. He has a 1.94 ERA this season. Tobias Myers will go for the Brewers. The Red Sox are trying to avoid the sweep, so they’ll be fired up and will have all of their premium bullpen arms available as needed. The Red Sox have the lineup to score runs against a young pitcher. Scoring has been too much of an issue for the team this season.
Braves -1.5 -142 DraftKings
The Braves are trying to avoid a sweep and send Chris Sale to the mound. With a 2.22 ERA this year, he’s been everything they could’ve hoped for. Pittsburgh’s southpaw today, Martin Perez, has had a tougher time of it. He comes into today with a 4.80 ERA. The Braves have the lineup to torch any pitcher, and they need a win to get themselves back on track. Manager Brian Snitker will be sure to utilize every bullpen arm that he needs to for this win, but it’s really about the offense. They’re slumping and have to get back on track.
Twins Money Line -174 FanDuel
Twins ace Pablo Lopez goes for the Twins who are looking for the sweep. The Rangers are just having a terrible time of it, now 5 games under .500. Lopez has an ugly 4.72 ERA on the year, but he’s better than those number suggest. He has a respectable 3.49 ERA at home though. The Rangers boast a tough lineup but he’s good enough to get outs here. The Twins have a better lineup than people give them credit for.
Angels +1.5 -162 DraftKings
Ben Lively has over a 4 ERA on the road this year, so the Angels should be able to score some runs today. Southpaw Reid Detmers hasn’t been good this year, with a 5.80 ERA. It’s a tough lineup to try and get right against, but trying to avoid a home sweep should have the Angels motivated.
Astros Money Line -166 FanDuel
The Astros are a better team through and through. Ronel Blanco has had a solid season and the Astros are finally starting to hit like everyone knows they can. Losing a series to the A’s would be embarrassing, but the Astros have been in this position before.
Timberwolves/Mavericks Over 207.5 Points -110 FanDuel
Games 1 and 2 both went over this Total, despite Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns not playing well. They will bring the energy in a must win game for the Timberwolves, while the Mavericks LOVE scoring at home. Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and their friends will look to essentially end this series by going up 3-0, and they’ll need their offensive prowess to do it.
Diamondbacks Money Line-134 FanDuel
Marlins/DBacks Over 8.5 Runs -120 DraftKings
Cardinals Money Line -136 FanDuel
Yusei Kikuchi Over 4.5 Ks -150 FanDuel
Kikuchi has 6 or more strikeouts in each of his last 2 starts and 3 of his last 4. Two of those efforts came on the road! He knows how to miss bats and control the strike zone.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto Over 5.5 Ks -158 FanDuel
Yamamoto is a strikeout machine. 6 or more strikeouts in each of his last 2 starts and 3 of his last 5. He’s had 5 strikeouts or more in all of those appearances.
Sean Manaea Over 4.5 Ks -140 DraftKings
Manaea has been missing bats often this season. He struck out 6 Giants when he faced them in San Francisco in late April. The Mets have used a ton of bullpen arms recently and will need length from Sean today.
Mets Team Total Runs Over 3.5 +100 FanDuel
The Mets face Giants ace Logan Webb today, but he’s been bad on the road this year with a 5.34 ERA. The Giants have also used their elite bullpen arms often this series, so they’ll be less inclined to do so today. The Mets have hit 11 home runs in their last 4 games, so the offense is showing signs of life.
Joe Musgrove Over 4.5 Ks -116 FanDuel
Musgrove struck out 9 batters in his last home start and each starter for the Padres struck out at least 5 batters in this series. He’s a veteran pitcher who knows how to miss bats and the Yankees can get strikeout happy.
Padres Team Total Runs Over 3.5 -110 DraftKings
The Padres have an offense that can pop off against anybody. Clarke Schmidt has a career ERA of over 4 and the Yankees have already won this series. They’re 8-2 in their last 10 and winners of 4 straight, so if they go down early they may use some of their lesser bullpen arms, giving the Padres chances to score late in the game.
5/25 Premium PODs: 2-2 -0.83 Units
Jordan Hicks Over 3.5 Ks -165 Win +.61 Units
Astros/A’s Over 8.5 Runs -122 Loss -1 Unit
Red Sox ML -142 Loss -1 Unit
DBacks ML -180 Win +.56 Units