Best Bets for the Wednesday Night MLB slate!

Atlanta Braves at Texas Rangers (8:05 PM ET)

This game offers the night’s most compelling pitching duel—the Braves’ Spencer Strider versus the Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi. Eovaldi started slowly, but his last three weeks have been lights out. He pitched a complete game shutout (with only 3 hits) against the Yankees at the end of April, and he followed that with an 8-innning/zero run outing against the Angels and then another against the A’s. His current scoreless streak of 28+ innings will get a genuine challenge tonight from the power-hitting Braves, but it’s worth noting that while Atlanta has had its way with left-handed pitching (156 wRC+), it has not necessarily done so against right-handers (99 wRC+). On the other side of the card, the Braves send to the mound their ace, Spencer Strider, who will likely be a topic in Cy Young discussions at the end of this season. After eight starts, his 2.51 ERA and 2.31 SIERA are surpassing his already impressive 2022 numbers. His remarkable 34.8% K-BB mark is supported by an equally remarkable whiff rate of 42.9%, currently the 3^rd best mark in baseball I’m happy to give the under 7.5 runs a shot here, especially noting that these two pitchers tend to go deep into games.

Bet the game total UNDER 7.5 runs (-115).

Cleveland Guardians at Chicago White Sox (8:10 PM ET) 

To say that the Chicago White Sox have “turned things around” might be a bit of an overstatement. But the dark clouds associated with April’s ten-game losing streak have gone away, and there is some sunlight beginning to shine on the south side of Chicago. This is primarily because of the White Sox offense, which since April 29 has ranked top 12 in MLB in wRC+, wOBA, OPS, and batting average. Tonight they face Peyton Battenfield, whose 5.39 xERA and 4.46 xFIP add context to his already weak 4.45 ERA. Mike Clevinger will go for the White Sox, and while his 4.79 ERA and 5.64 xFIP are also scary, it should be noted that the Guards will be without Jose Ramirez again tonight (bereavement leave). That is significant for a Cleveland offense that has problems creating runs—their 77 wRC+ is currently dead last in MLB. The White Sox rarely get back-to-back wins these days, but this spot—at home against a limping Guardian club—is about as good an opportunity as they’ve had in a while. They’ll likely be focused.

Bet the WHITE SOX to win money line (-134).

Best of the Rest 

• Bet the total UNDER 9 runs for Angels Orioles (-110).

• Bet the total UNDER 9.5 runs for Mariners/Red Sox (-122).

• And last but not least, in the circus that is a typical Yankees/Blue Jays matchup—with its eye-line analysis, its “fat boy” references, and its literally sticky fingers— bet the Yankees to win money line (-112).