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Wednesday’s Diamond Notes

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
6 minute read
Hottest team: Yankees (16-1 last 17)

It looks like no one can stop the Bronx Bombers at this point, not even the rival Red Sox. Following a dramatic walk-off win over Cleveland on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep of the Indians, the Yankees continued their ascent towards the top of the AL East standings with a 3-2 victory over Boston on Tuesday. Giancarlo Stanton drilled a pair of home runs for the Yankees, while Luis Severino struck out 11 batters in six innings of work.

The Yankees pulled into a tie for first place with the Red Sox at 25-10 as the two teams have split four meetings this season. New York seeks its 11th consecutive home victory as Masahiro Tanaka takes the mound. The veteran right-hander is fresh off three straight quality starts as the Yankees are 3-0 in this stretch, while Tanaka has yielded five earned runs in 18.2 innings. In his only outing against the Red Sox this season, Tanaka was knocked around for six earned runs in five innings, but New York managed a 10-7 victory at Fenway Park.

Coldest team: Orioles (0-7 last seven)

Baltimore might as well be living in this category, especially after Tuesday’s dreadful performance. The Orioles returned home from an 0-6 West Coast swing against the Angels and Athletics to host the Royals, but were blitzed for 10 runs in the first inning of a 15-7 loss. Dylan Bundy failed to record an out in seven batters faced, as the Orioles have allowed at least 10 runs three times in the last six games.

Andrew Cashner looks to get Baltimore on track in Game 2 of its series with Kansas City as the righty is winless in his last five outings. Cashner has allowed 15 runs in his past three trips to the mound, while Baltimore owns an 0-4 record in his four starts at Camden Yards. Last season as a member of the Rangers, Cashner tossed six scoreless innings in a 1-0 win over the Royals, while scattering three hits.

Hottest pitcher: Gerrit Cole, Astros (3-1, 1.42 ERA)

Probably the top acquisition this offseason from a pitching perspective has been Houston picking up Cole from Pittsburgh. The former UCLA standout has tossed at least seven innings in six of seven starts this season, while tossing a one-hitter in his last outing at Arizona. Cole struck out a season-high 16 batters in and 8-0 blowout of the Diamondbacks, while improving to 3-0 on the road this season. The Astros look to close out the road sweep of the Athletics this afternoon as Cole allowed a season-high three earned runs against Oakland in an 8-4 home win on April 29.

Coldest pitcher: Nick Pivetta, Phillies (1-2, 4.76 ERA)

Things were looking up for Pivetta through the first month of the season as Philadelphia won each of the right-hander’s first five starts. However, Pivetta has gone backwards of late by losing against division rivals Atlanta and Washington in his past two appearances. In last Friday’s outing against the Nationals, Pivetta lasted only one inning and yielded six earned runs and five hits in a 7-3 defeat. Pivetta returns to the mound at Citizens Bank Park tonight for the third game of a four-game set against the Giants as Philadelphia has won each of the first two contests.

Biggest OVER run: White Sox (4-1 last five)

Chicago has played some wild games on its current homestand as the OVER has cashed four times against Minnesota and Pittsburgh. The White Sox and Pirates played a see-saw battle last night as Chicago jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Pittsburgh rallied for a 10-6 win to cash the OVER of 9 ½. Chicago has allowed at least five runs in each of the last five games, while entering today’s action at 0-5 this season at home in Game 2’s of a series. Reynaldo Lopez tries to turn around Chicago’s luck, but he has hit the OVER in three of his last four starts, although the Sox have scored 13 runs in his past two outings.

Biggest UNDER run: Brewers (10-3-1 last 14)

Milwaukee has cleaned up this season against poor competition, but the Brewers were able to knock off Corey Kluber and the Indians on Tuesday, 3-2 to finish UNDER the total of 8. The pitching staff started the season hot, but the Brewers have been inconsistent on the mound by allowing three runs or fewer in six of the past 10 games, while also giving up five runs or more four times in this stretch. Junior Guerra heads to the hill for Milwaukee this afternoon, as he was lit up for five earned runs in five innings of a 6-4 loss to Pittsburgh his last time out.

Matchup to watch: Braves vs. Rays

Atlanta and Tampa Bay have been two surprising teams through the first month of the season. The Braves bounced back from a three-game home sweep at the hands of the Giants to blank the Rays on Tuesday, 1-0 to pick up their 20th win of the season. Atlanta extended its road winning streak to six, while pitching its third consecutive away shutout.

Tampa Bay has erased a 4-13 start to the season by compiling an 11-5 record the last 16 games. The Rays’ offense has struggled the last two games by plating only one run in losses to the Blue Jays and Braves after scoring 11 runs in the first two wins last weekend against Toronto. Southpaw Ryan Yarbrough makes his second start of the season after pitching in relief in his past four appearances. Yarbrough was tagged for five runs in 4.2 innings of his first start against Philadelphia, a 10-4 loss on April 15.

The Braves counter with right-hander Julio Teheran, who shut down the Mets his last time out by tossing seven scoreless innings in an 11-0 road victory last Thursday. Atlanta has won five of Teheran’s seven starts this season, although both losses have come away from SunTrust Park. In Atlanta’s last six road victories, the Braves’ pitching staff has allowed a total of four runs.

Betcha didn’t know: You’ve probably heard about James Paxton’s no-hitter from Tuesday night as he shut down the Blue Jays in a 5-0 gem. The no-no was already the third tossed this season in Major League Baseball. So the question heading into today is how have both the winning and losing teams fared in the next game?

Sean Manaea no-hit the Red Sox on April 21, as the Athletics followed it up with a 4-1 home underdog victory the next day. The Dodgers combined on a no-no against the Padres last Friday night in Mexico, but lost to San Diego the following night, 7-4 as the OVER easily hit. Unfortunately, the sample size for no-hitters is small the last few seasons as only one no-no was tossed in 2016 by Jake Arrieta and one in 2017 by Edinson Volquez.

Biggest public favorite: Cubs (-220) vs. Marlins

Biggest public underdog: Royals (+115) at Orioles

Biggest line move: White Sox (+115 to +100) vs. Pirates

You can reach Kevin Rogers via e-mail at rogers@vegasinsider.com

Kevin Rogers can be followed on Twitter at virogers.

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