It looks like the Yankees and Red Sox might finally be waking up from their doldrums, as they have both won six of ten, but they are still behind the 14-8 Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. Seattle had fallen out of first place in the AL West despite that terrific start until Houston went to Texas and dropped two of three over the weekend. Cleveland slipped out of first place in the AL Central and find themselves a game behind the Twins. The Pittsburgh Pirates have surged into first in the National League Central, winners of seven of 10, while the Cubs are finally back at .500 but 2 ½ games out. In the NL West, the Dodgers are starting to pull away, thanks to the Padres dropping six of ten after realizing that signing one great player in the offseason doesn’t turn you into a contender immediately. What MLB games should you consider for your MLB sports betting this week? We have a couple of picks for you.
Top MLB Betting Picks of the Week – April 22nd Edition
Back at it tomorrow. 👊#RootedInOakland pic.twitter.com/MmtJRZet6V
— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) April 22, 2019
Rangers vs Athletics
- When: Monday, April 22, 10:07pm ET
- Projected Pitching Matchup: Mike Minor (2-1, 2.60 ERA) (TEX) vs Chris Bassitt (0-0. 0-00 ERA) (OAK)
Mike Minor got shelled on Opening Day, giving up six runs on five hits in 4 ⅔ innings against the Chicago Cubs. Since then, though, he has thrown terrific ball, with 23 innings in his last three starts, permitting just two runs on 13 hits. His last outing, on April 16 against the Angels, was a complete game shutout in which he permitted just three hits while striking out seven, needing just 103 pitches to finish the game. While much of the Rangers’ starting rotation is a garage sale of retreads waiting for the rebuild, Minor is the exception. The Rangers’ bats are thumping right now, as they scored 20 runs in a pair of wins over Houston Saturday and Sunday and are just two games out of first in the AL West.
His counterpart in Oakland will be Chris Bassitt, who makes his season debut for the Athletics on Monday night. He did pitch as a starter through much of the 2018 season and faced the Rangers on September 7, permitting a pair of runs on three hits over three innings. However, he has not pitched more than four innings in a major league game since September 21, when he threw four innings of one-run ball against the Minnesota Twins. Because Bassitt has not seen the Rangers much, he should have the advantage the first time through the order, but I see the Rangers catching onto him and delivering the win.
Final Score Prediction: Texas 6, Oakland 2
Dodgers vs Cubs
- When: Tuesday, April 23, 8:05pm ET
- Projected Pitching Matchup: Kenta Maeda (3-1, 3.80 ERA) (LA) vs Jose Quintana (2-1, 3.43 ERA) (CHI)
Kenta Maeda has either pitched lights out this season or has struggled, as his four outings have shown. He started the season with a decent outing, throwing 6 ⅔ innings of three-run, five-hit ball against Arizona in a game the Dodgers’ offense would control in an 18-5 laugher. Since then, he has held Colorado to a run on four hits over five innings, gotten shelled by the Cardinals for five runs on seven hits, and then limited the Reds to a run on four hits over 6 ⅔ innings. Wrigley Field is friendly to hitters, and Maeda is more of a fly-ball pitcher than a ground-ball pitcher; even in that dominating win over the Reds, he had 13 fly-ball outs and six ground-ball outs. If he can’t keep the ball down on Tuesday, the Cubs could feast.
Jose Quintana has been a major find for the Cubs since he came from the White Sox via trade. He got lit up by Milwaukee on April 5, giving up three home runs and eight hits overall in three innings that saw eight earned runs score. Since then, though, he has not permitted a run, throwing 14 scoreless innings in his last two starts combined, permitting 10 combined hits and striking out 18 in wins over Pittsburgh and Miami. If Quintana can keep that stuff coming against the Dodgers, the Cubs should roll.
Final Score Prediction: Chicago 4, Los Angeles 2
