Chicago Cubs @ New York Mets
St Louis Cardinals @ Milwaukee Brewers
Tampa Bay Rays @ Houston Astros
Chicago Cubs @ New York Mets
Time: 7:10 p.m. EST
Starting Pitchers
CHC: Kyle Hendricks – R (9-9, 3.20 ERA/1.10 WHIP)
NYM: Noah Syndergaard – R (9-6, 3.71 ERA/1.18 WHIP)
Moneyline – Cubs @ Mets (-130)
The Mets opened as sizeable favorites in this matchup of solid starting pitching, and it looks as if that’ll be the case until this line closes. Most people would be willing to give the Mets the benefit of the doubt in this matchup, even though they’ve lost four straight games, but it’s true – do have the upper hand here
Cubs Betting Form
Kyle Hendricks has looked great since coming off the injured list, allowing two runs or fewer in nine of those 10 starts. However, that one misnomer came not too long in a road start against the Reds, where he allowed 12 hits (three homers) and seven runs over 2 2/3 innings. In fact, Hendricks has been much worse on the road with a 4-7 record and 4.76 ERA – compared to a 5-2 record and 1.79 ERA at home.
The Cubs’ offense got back on track last night with a couple of two-run homers en-route to a 5-2 win. However, tonight’s matchup against the Mets will make it hard to get back in that groove. We’ll tell you why in just a sec.
Mets Betting Form
Noah Syndergaard was almost traded away from the Mets last month, but they’re certainly glad they held onto him. Since the All-Star break, he’s 3-2 with a 1.82 ERA in eight starts with 55 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings and only one home run allowed. This is certainly a much-improved version of the guy we saw earlier this season, and Syndergaard has been making it an absolute chore for every opposing offense he’s gone against.
It might take a little while for the Mets’ offense to get to Hendricks tonight, and they should do so eventually. They have scored two runs or fewer in four of the last five games, but this is a team that’s due for a win.
Betting Tip: Mets (-130)
Look for the Mets to get back on the good foot tonight with an important victory over one of the teams they’re chasing in the NL Wild Card race. Syndergaard is dealing too well at the moment for this team to blow an opportunity to finally get a win.
St Louis Cardinals @ Milwaukee Brewers
Time: 2:10 p.m. EST
Starting Pitchers
STL: Jack Flaherty – R (8-6, 3.32 ERA/1.09 WHIP)
MIL: Jordan Lyles – R (8-8, 4.68 ERA/1.36 WHIP)
Moneyline – Cardinals (-125) @ Brewers
The Cardinals were -140 favorites at the open but have since dropped down slightly to -125. Perhaps, there are some that think the Brewers will play much better as they try and avoid the sweep. After all, Milwaukee is quickly falling out of both the NL Central and Wild Cards races, but it certainly won’t be easy against a St. Louis team that has won 15 of its last 18 games with its best pitcher on the mound.
Cardinals Betting Form
That pitcher is Jack Flaherty, who has been absolutely untouchable over his last nine starts, allowing two runs or fewer each time out and one run or fewer in seven of those outings. Even more impressive is the fact that Flaherty has allowed no runs in four of his last five starts – a total of one run allowed in a span of his last 32 innings!
The Cardinals’ offense had another big night on Tuesday scoring six runs, and that’s the seventh time they’ve done so in the last eight games. Once again, St. Louis will have a tough matchup on paper, and you have wonder if they’ll sit a regular starter or two since this is a day game.
Brewers Betting Form
Jordan Lyles has been outstanding since coming to Milwaukee, allowing one run or fewer in four of his five starts. Something has definitely started to click for the right-hander since donning the uniform, and this will be his biggest start since doing do. As we mentioned above, the Cardinals’ offense is rocking and rolling, but it’s possible that Yadier Molina and maybe even another starter gets the day off.
The Brewers aren’t going to score many runs today, that’s just how teams have been performing against Flaherty in his current form. Not to mention, their current form, which hasn’t been enough over the last handful of games.
Betting Tip: Under 8.5
All in all, we’ve got two pitchers in peak form with the lowest total we’ve had in the series thus far. Flaherty is the true key to keeping this total from going over while Lyles will also have a big part in that. Let’s have ourselves a good old-fashioned pitching duel, shall we?
Tampa Bay Rays @ Houston Astros
Time: 8:10 p.m. EST
Starting Pitchers
TB: Ryan Yarbrough – L (11-3, 3.29 ERA/0.87 WHIP)
HOU: Gerrit Cole – R (15-5, 2.75 ERA/0.95 WHIP)
Moneyline – Rays @ Astros (-200)
The Astros absolutely cleaned up on the Rays last night, and that’s now a total of 26 runs they’ve posted over the last two games. It’s kind of shocking to see they moneyline not move at all since the open, given how well Houston is playing and how Tampa Bay is at the other end of the spectrum. Nonetheless, we shouldn’t be too skeptical.
Rays Betting Form
Ryan Yarbrough has pitched incredibly well of late, but he’s been doing against some of the worst teams in baseball. The Rays typically use the left-hander as the second pitcher that comes in after the “opener”, but they know been deploying him as the actual starter over these last three games. Unfortunately, for the Rays’ sake, Yarbrough probably won’t last too long in this game and that means we’ll see more of their bullpen, which has been getting rocked over the last few games.
Everyone say a prayer for the Rays’ offense in this one as they’ll be facing one of the best pitchers in baseball. There’s almost no chance they’ll do well against him in their current form.
Astros Betting Form
Gerrit Cole is certainly making a case to be the American League’s Cy Young Award winner. This guy has been flat-out dominant, with six straight starts allowing two runs or fewer and one run or fewer allowed in five of those starts.
As we mentioned at the top, Houston’s offense has 26 runs over the last two games. Yarbrough could potentially give them some trouble early, but there’s no guarantee of that. Look for one of the most potent offenses to overcome at some point in the game.
Betting Tip: Astros (1.5-run line: -102)
The Astros have won nine of the last 10 games that Cole has started, with all of those wins coming by two runs or more. Given the current form of the Rays’ bullpen, that shouldn’t be a problem tonight.
