The stars were out yesterday as Scherzer dominated the Mets, Mookie did everything for the Sox as they beat the Astros, and Aaron Judge padded his home run lead. Melky Cabrera showed he still has some fight in him as he gunned down a runner at the plate and hit a home run capping off a 33 point night. Glad I had him on my team.
We have a full slate of games today so let’s break them down.
Low-Scoring Plays
Washington Nationals @ New York Mets – The Mets ran into trouble yesterday as Scherzer had his way with them. Today won’t get any easier as Strasburg takes the mound for the Nats. Strasburg had a rough outing his last start, look for him to bounce back for have an extremely strong game this time out. Usually I don’t like teams getting shut down two nights in a row however the Mets aren’t good enough to beat Strasburg.
Targets: Strasburg, Harper, Turner
Tampa Bay Rays @ Detroit Tigers- Chris Archer takes the mound for the Rays who is having a strong season. He strikes out a ton of batters and doesn’t let many reach base as his WHIP is 1.18. The Tigers aren’t a great team and should have a hard time in this one. As a team the Tigers have hit .244 off of Archer with 3 home runs in 131 at bats. Archer is an expensive play but will be worth it.
Targets: Archer, Longoria
Chicago Cubs @ Pittsburgh Pirates –The Cubs need to figure something out and get their season turned around fast. One of their main problems has been their struggles pitching. Arrieta hasn’t been great this year and needs a game to get him back to his dominant form. This is the game, Pittsburgh is one of the worst offenses in baseball, Arrieta should come up big. He will be a cheaper option compared to Archer or Strasburg and will be a solid play for your second pitcher.
High-Scoring Plays
New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics – Tanaka pitches for the Yankees which means Tanaka is about to get lit up again. Tanaka will struggle in this one as the Athletics are a strong team that hits the long ball. They don’t hit for average however, they are able to hit home runs like any team in the game. Judge is due for a home run or two in this one as well, however Oakland’s long ball will be too much for Tanaka.
Targets: Alonso, Davis, Healy
Boston Red Sox @ Houston Astros – A game that I expected to be very high scoring yesterday but it was not should be high scoring today. Both offenses are too good to be shut down two nights in a row. Porcello pitches for the Red Sox who isn’t having a great season the Astros will score some runs off of him. However I like Boston to give Porcello the run support and help him pick up this win. Betts has been hot, Moreland has been driving in runs and Bogaerts will have a big game.
Targets: Betts, Bogaerts, Bradley Jr.
Arizona Diamondbacks @ Philadelphia Phillies – Jerad Eickhoff looks to get his first win for the Phillies, however he won’t get it in this one. Arizona has been great this year as they are 7th in the league in runs scored, batting .261 as a team and 90 home runs. To put that into perspective the Red Sox who should have one of the best offenses, only have 58 home runs on the year. Arizona should win this one big, look to stack number of their batters.
Targets: Goldschmidt, Lamb, Drury
Undervalued Plays
Lugo – NYM – SP – Lugo is making his second start of the season as he shined in his first one. It will be a tough game trying to beat the Nationals however the Nationals scored 7 last night so they shouldn’t score much tonight.
Alonso – OAK – 1B – This should be a lock for your lineup, he hits a ton of home runs hits above .300 and is going against Tanaka. Look for him to have a great game today and destroy Tanaka in this one.
Lowrie – OAK – 2B – This is another play I love in your lineup as he is a cheap second baseman that is hitting nearly .300. Murphy and Altuve are too much money and will suck out money of your entire lineup.
Hamilton – CIN – OF – Hamilton is a great play as he can swipe a bag at any time during this game. His batting average isn’t stellar however against the Angels he should be able to have a big game.
Check out our MLB Breakdown Spreadsheet and our newly-released Pitcher Breakdown Spreadsheet (these picks – all over/unders – are now at 51.5% accuracy since May 21) where you can compare key statistics and numbers for today’s games.