Minnesota Twins pitcher Bartolo Colon made a little history over the weekend when he beat the Arizona Diamondbacks despite not pitching all that well. In earning the win Sunday, Colon became the 18th pitcher to have beaten all 30 major league teams. The others: Al Leiter, Kevin Brown, Terry Mulholland, Curt Schilling, Woody Williams, Jamie Moyer, Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, A.J. Burnett, Javier Vazquez, Vicente Padilla, Derek Lowe, Dan Haren, Kyle Lohse, Tim Hudson, John Lackey, and Max Scherzer. Pretty impressive! The MLB betting lines for Tuesday games are not up yet, although, here are two betting picks for two series scheduled to take place early this week. So stay tuned for more betting odds and betting picks for this week’s baseball games here at MyBookie.
Analyzing the MLB Betting Series You Shouldn’t Miss This Week
Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Indians
When: Monday-Thursday, 7:10 PM ET Where: Progressive Field TV: MLB Extra Innings Stream: MLB.tv Radio: MLB RadioMLB Betting Playoff Preview?
These two clubs lead their respective divisions fairly comfortably and there’s a good chance they could meet in the ALDS a second straight season – the Indians surprisingly swept the Red Sox in the 2016 ALDS. In a schedule quirk, it’s the third straight Monday these teams play.
On July 31 they started a three-game series in Boston and the Red Sox won that game 6-2 as well as Game 3 12-10. However, Game 3 was rained out. That was made up last Monday at Fenway and the Indians won that game 7-3.
The Indians just finished a four-city trip in which they went 8-3 against the Rays, Red Sox, Twins and Royals. They outscored the opposition, 58-26. Boston beat the Yankees on Sunday to take two out of three from their AL East rivals. They have won 14 of their last 17 games.
Cleveland remains without former All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley. Brantley (ankle) has resumed some baseball activities but is still spending most of his time wearing a walking boot on his right foot. Brantley has already missed nearly two weeks with what the Indians called a mildly sprained right ankle, but it doesn’t sound as if a is imminent. Brandon Guyer and Austin Jackson will continue to share time in left field.
Top Baseball Betting Picks for Tuesday, August 22
Probable Pitchers
Both teams are led by their starting rotation and both have legitimate aces at the top. Corey Kluber is slated to start Wednesday night for Cleveland, one day before Boston’s Chris Sale, although we can expect about a Kluber-Sale matchup in Game 1 of a division series. Sale is the clear AL Cy Young leader right now with Kluber closing ground.
LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (4-3, 3.97) vs. RHP Mike Clevinger (6-5, 3.75) Monday at 7:10 p.m.; RHP Doug Fister (2-6, 5.56) vs. RHP Carlos Carrasco (12-5, 3.76) Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.; LHP Drew Pomeranz (12-4, 3.30) vs. RHP Corey Kluber (12-3, 2.67) Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. and LHP Chris Sale (14-5, 2.62) vs. Trevor Bauer (12-8, 4.50) Thursday at 7: 10 p.m.
Texas Rangers at LA Angels
When: Monday-Thursday, 10 PM ET Where: Angel Stadium of Anaheim TV: MLB Extra Innings, ESPN (Tues & Wed.) Stream: MLB.tv, WatchESPN Radio: MLB RadioAlso MLB Betting Playoff Preview?
Entering this series, the Angels are tied for the AL’s second wild-card spot with Minnesota and Texas is just 2.5 games out. The Rangers presumably had given up on the season after they traded Yu Darvish to the Dodgers at last month’s deadline but they are far from done.
They are likely down one of the top sluggers in MLB for this series as 3B/OF Joey Gallo suffered a non-displaced nasal fracture during his collision with teammate Matt Bush on Sunday. Gallo was to be re-examined on Monday before potentially joining the team in Los Angeles. In addition to the nose injury, he’ll have to pass through the concussion protocol before he’s cleared to rejoin the Rangers. It remains unclear if he’ll require a trip to the disabled list, but it seems likely he’ll miss at least a couple of games.
Gallo is tied for second in the American League with 35 home runs while batting .205 for the Rangers. Bush has thrown 47⅓ innings out of the bullpen for Texas, with a 3.04 ERA and 53 strikeouts.
The Halos aren’t sure on the status of center fielder Cameron Maybin as he remained out of the Angels’ lineup Sunday. He hasn’t played since Wednesday due to nagging right knee soreness. It’s the same knee that sent Maybin to the disabled list and he might have to head back there if he doesn’t improve soon. Ben Revere has been leading off in Maybin’s place.
Probable Pitchers
Monday: Rangers (Cole Hamels, 8-1, 3.48) at Angels (Tyler Skaggs 1-3, 3.63). Tuesday: Rangers (Tyson Ross, 3-2, 7.02) at Angels (Ricky Nolasco 5-12, 5.16). Wednesday: Rangers (Andrew Cashner 7-9, 3.32) at Angels (Andrew Heaney 0-0, 9.00). Rangers (Martin Perez, 8-10, 5.26) at Angels (JC Ramirez, 11-10, 4.15).
The Angels are coming home after a nine-game coast-to-coast road trip to Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Their postseason hopes have been strengthened by the return of Mike Trout from the disabled list. They are 19-13 since Trout came back from a torn ligament in his left thumb. He was hitting .342 with 10 home runs, 23 RBIs and a .640 slugging percentage in those 31 games.
Trout has a career .339 average against the Rangers, the sixth-highest all-time among all opponents with at least 300 at-bats against them. Elvis Andrus has a career .314 average against the Angels. That’s the highest ever by a Rangers player with at least 300 at-bats against them.
MLB Betting Expert Predictions
Because these are each four-game series, you can only bet on the first three on the series line. I like Cleveland even though it might lose Game 1 and Texas as it should win Games 1 & 3.
