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A big week of football is over and the NFL is finally back in our lives. The performances of Marcus Mariota, Carlos Hyde, Julio Jones and others carried many fantasy teams to success this weekend while the tough games from Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning and the Seahawks cost many money. The important thing is to not take too much stock in what happens in the first week. The Colts and Seahawks won’t finish 0-16, the Packers and Cowboys won’t go 16-0 and Mariota probably isn’t winning the MVP. Last season the Titans smoked the Chiefs in week one and then lost their next 14 games. So take in what happened in week one, but don’t take it as the way things are. Anything can happen in just one week.
Today we put football aside and get back into baseball. There are some great races coming down the stretch that should keep going down to the last weekend. The Toronto Blue Jays look like world beaters right now and that should become even more defined as they face the lowly Braves this week. They have to be the World Series favorites right now with both the Cardinals and Royals stumbling a bit down the stretch. It’ll be interesting to see how everything shakes out, but right now I’m all-in on Toronto.
MLB Betting Tips:
The Indians have been one of the best teams in baseball this season if you take away their awful first month of the season. They finally clawed their way back to .500 and currently hold just 7% playoff odds, but I guess stranger things have happened. A big part of that is their great defense and pitching. Josh Tomlin is one of those pitchers and I really like him tonight against the Royals. Tomlin has been excellent in his first six starts, posting a 2.85 ERA and 0.73 WHIP with great strikeout and walk rates. His FIP doesn’t quite match the ERA, but he’s going against a Royals team that is really struggling right now going 2-8 in their last 10 games. The Royals send Kris Medlen to the mound who is making the transition from bullpen to starter which can be tough. He hasn’t made it past the sixth in any of his starts and has allowed 3+ runs in three out of four. This is a match-up of a hot team going against a cold one with the pitching match-up favoring the hot one. Take Indians -123.
The Brewers send Ariel Pena to the mound to take on Carlos Martinez and the Cardinals. Pena is making just his second career start, but his minor league career sees him with an ERA over 4. He’s not a great prospect and, if his first outing is an indicator, he won’t make it very deep into this game. I think the Cardinals will hit him. Carlos Martinez goes for the Cardinals who is in his worst stretch of the season with a 5.60 over his past six starts. He’s allowed 3+ runs in each of them and he’s shown no signs of stopping the trend. Taking the Brewers/Cardinals over 8 runs here.
