7월 20일 best MLB bets

San Diego Padres at Atlanta Braves (-165, 8)

It’s highly unlikely any analysts predicted these two teams would be leading their respective divisions at this point of the season. But here they are and both squads have discovered some offense recently.

The Braves have played to three straight overs while San Diego has cashed four in a row after averaging 8.8 runs per game during its streak. But make no mistake; the success of these clubs is a direct result of quality pitching.

“When you think about them, you think about their pitching. Their pitching is fantastic,” Derek Lowe said of the Padres’ staff which boasts the best ERA in baseball. “We're very confident in our starting pitching. It should be a great three-game pitchers' duel hopefully."

Under bettors just wet their pants. The starting pitchers in this matchup also strengthen Lowe’s prediction. There haven’t been more than eight runs scored in seven of Wade LeBlanc’s last eight starts and Jair Jurrjens has pitched two straight unders since returning from the disabled list.

The Friars are riding a four-game winning streak while Atlanta is 22-5 in its last 27 home games. So instead of trying to find a winner, the safest bet would be to take the under.

Pick: Under

Boston Red Sox at Oakland Athletics (-120, 8)

After five straight victories the A’s are back in AL West contention. And surprisingly, all of those wins came behind an offensive awakening.

Oakland has plated 40 runners during its streak and averaged just under seven runs per outing during a three-game sweep of the Royals.

"We did everything right in this series," said Kevin Kouzmanoff. "We're all feeling pretty good right now and we're all taking advantage of our opportunities."

The Red Sox offense has been depleted by injuries but the heart of the order consisting of Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz and Adrian Beltre can still carry a team. Production from Mike Cameron and Bill Hall has also supplied Boston with some extra pop.

All three games in a series between these teams earlier this season sailed over the posted total with an average of 13.3 runs per game and no fewer than 10. Going back to last season, seven straight overs have cashed between these clubs and 10 of the last 13.

Oakland Coliseum is known as a pitchers’ park but Mother Nature will be assisting over bettors Tuesday with wind projected to blow directly out to center field at 15 mph.

Pick: Over

Streaking

David Bush (4-7, 4.07 ERA), Milwaukee Brewers

Bush’s numbers aren’t going to blow bettors away but here at Covers, we fully support the "Just Win Baby" philosophy of Al Davis, and Bush has done that. The former Blue Jays prospect is on a six-game, quality start streak.

He sports a 2.40 ERA during the hot run and the under has cashed in his last four outings.

Tommy Hunter (6-0, 2.39 ERA), Texas Rangers

This Texas righty is flying a bit under the radar these days with rotation members C.J. Wilson and Cliff Lee grabbing most of the headlines. Hunter has been dynamite since rejoining the big league club in early June.

The Rangers are 7-1 in his eight starts and he’s yet to allow more than three runs in an outing this season.

Slumping

Mike Leake (6-1, 3.53 ERA), Cincinnati Reds

Leake’s drop in production was an inevitable. The kid was pitching out of his mind for the first half of the season and you’ve got to figure that right arm of his is getting tired.

The Reds don’t agree with us. Leake pitched the longest outing of his career in his last start, going 8.1 innings. He was fantastic through the first eight innings but the Phils knocked him around for five runs in the ninth inning.

He’s delivered duds in four of his last six starts and he owns a bloated 6.14 ERA over the cold streak. 

Returning

Dallas Braden (4-7, 3.83 ERA), Oakland Athletics

It seems like a long time ago that Dallas Braden threw that perfect gem. He was pretty average after the game of his career and made his way to the disabled list in the last week of June. He complained of soreness in his pitching elbow but we’re not sure if that played a role in his shaky minor league rehab start.

Braden pitched 4.0 innings, allowed three runs and was taken out of the park twice.