Game 4 of a 4 game series in Miami as the Marlins finally got some offense after two batters hit by pitch and a few base hits starting in the bottom of the 8th before losing that lead in the 9th going to extras and rallying from 2 down for a 5-4 win in 10. Today its an early start as most teams do on the last game of the series for the road team to be able to travel comfortably. Its Braxton Garrett who has never faced the Pirates, he is their 2016 7th overall pick in his 18th game. Against Zach Thompson who has never faced the Marlins but spent his only season in the majors as a Marlin last year and as such you would expect them to have him scouted as well as a team could have a pitcher scouted without having faced him. I’m generally not a big fan of playing over/unders but to me this seems like a decent time to play the over as 7.5 is usually where you would see the number for a pitchers duel and I’m not sure if this one is quite ready for that billing. Garrett 1-3 with a 4.33 ERA and Thompson 3-6 with a 4.38 ERA. My pick here is Miami -153 and over 7.5
Game 4 of the 4 game series in Denver where the Padres look to leave 2 and 2 after blowing two 3 run leads last night before allowing 4 more for a 10-6 loss. The have another ace on the mound Blake Snell who has two starts vs. Colorado this year, a 2 earned run no decision that was a 4-2 Rockies win and a 4 earned run loss in Denver. Last year he gave up 2, 1 and 7 in his 3 starts vs. the Rockies so he is still looking for his first win vs the division rival. While he has had a rough season to this point his last two outings have been San Francisco and the Dodgers striking out 11 and 12 allowing only 1 run in both those games. Freeland is 2-0 this year vs. the Padres, allowing 2 and 4 in those games. Last year he was a no decision and 2 losses vs. the Padres however he only gave up 3 and 1 run in the losses and just had no run support. After the way things have broken wide open with runs the last two nights after things went to the bullpen once again I like the over 11.5 here. Things could go either way as the Rockies have taken a liking to the Padres bullpen arms. My picks are over 11.5 and Padres -129.
Houston now 8-4 vs. the Angels on the year has split the first two games of the series. The Astros 3rd in the league on team money for the year on their money line stats. Valdez in his 4th start this year vs. the Angels, he is 1-1 with 1 no decision that the Astros won. In the loss he gave up 6 in 4.1 innings. Detmers in his 2nd start vs. Houston this year, he gave up 2 runs in 4 innings in what would turn into a 13-6 Astros win. Last year he did get a win going 6 innings allowing only 1 run. My pick is the Astros -155.
As always Best Of Luck and Enjoy your Thursday.