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Wednesday’s Diamond Notes

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
6 minute read
Hottest team: Athletics (11-3 last 14)

Oakland remained on fire following a road series victory over the Angels as the A’s knocked off the AL Central-leading Twins on Tuesday. The A’s rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Twins, 8-6 as a short underdog, as Oakland has posted 20 runs in the past two victories. The catalyst for Oakland was catcher Chris Herrmann, who drilled a grand slam in his second at-bat of the season to give the A’s a 6-3 advantage, as Oakland improved to 4-1 in the last five series openers.

The A’s continue their series with Minnesota at the Coliseum with right-hander Mike Fiers taking the mound this evening. Fiers is unbeaten in his last five starts, while the veteran has allowed one earned run in each of his past three outings. The A’s have won six of Fiers’ eight starts at the Coliseum this season, while Fiers beat the Twins twice in 2018 after getting acquired by Oakland in August.

Coldest team: Tigers (1-9 last 10)

Detroit couldn’t end its cold stretch last night, but it wasn’t its fault. The Tigers and White Sox were postponed due to rain in Chicago, as the two teams will play a double-header today. Actually, the AL Central rivals were scheduled for a double-dip today prior to Tuesday’s outcome, as last night’s scheduled affair will be made up in late September. The Tigers last beat an American League opponent on June 12 at Kansas City, while losing 13 of their past 15 games, including four straight road losses.

In the last matchup between the White Sox and Tigers in Chicago back in late April, the Sox captured both matchups, including rallying from an 8-1 deficit in a 12-11 win on April 26. Left-hander Daniel Norris will start in the double-header opener this afternoon for Detroit as he has given up two runs in three of his last four starts with the Tigers splitting those contests.

Hottest pitcher: Sonny Gray, Reds (4-5, 3.94 ERA)

Cincinnati and Milwaukee have split a pair of exciting games at Great American Ballpark as the Reds walked-off past the Brewers last night. Gray started slowly this season in his first year with the Reds, but the right-hander has pitched well since the middle of May. Cincinnati has won seven of Gray’s last eight starts, including a 3-1 mark at Great American Ballpark during this stretch. Gray defeated the Cubs his previous start by allowing two earned runs in 6.1 innings of a 6-3 win, while tossing six scoreless innings at Milwaukee last month in a 3-0 victory.

Coldest pitcher: Yu Darvish, Cubs (2-4, 4.98 ERA)

Darvish pitched well at Dodger Stadium in a 2-1 victory on June 15 by giving up one run and two hits in seven innings of work. However, the veteran right-hander has been tagged his last two starts for nine runs in 11 innings of work as the Cubs lost to the Mets and Braves at home. Chicago has struggled of late on this road trip by dropping three straight at Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Darvish lost to the Pirates at Wrigley Field earlier this season as a -165 favorite in April, 5-2 by yielding five runs in 5.1 innings of work.

Biggest OVER run: Red Sox (8-2 last 10)

In the series heard around the world this past weekend, the Red Sox allowed 29 runs in a pair of losses to the rival Yankees in London. Boston’s offense did its share by scoring 21 runs in those two games, as the lineup stayed hot in Toronto on Tuesday by plating 10 runs in a 10-6 victory. The offense can’t be blamed for the recent woes as Boston has compiled 50 runs in the last six contests, while scoring less than six runs once in the past 10 games. Chris Sale takes the mound tonight at Rogers Center for the Red Sox as the OVER has hit in each of his past two starts, while the OVER is 2-0 in his two outings against Toronto this season.

Biggest UNDER run: Braves (6-2-1 last nine)

Atlanta went through a stretch of 10 consecutive OVERS in June, but that trend has turned around heading into July. The Braves were blanked by the Phillies last night, 2-0, suffering their first shutout since early May against the Dodgers. The offense hasn’t been terrible during this UNDER stretch (except for last night), as Atlanta had scored five runs or more in its previous five games. The Braves played to three UNDERS in four games against the Cubs, while now hitting the UNDER in their second straight home game following a 13-game OVER streak at SunTrust Park. Bryse Wilson makes his third start of the season for Atlanta, as the right-hander allowed six runs in less than five innings of a 9-7 defeat to the Cubs last Saturday.

Matchup to watch: Astros vs. Rockies

Houston and Colorado let the ball fly at Coors Field on Tuesday as the Astros outlasted the Rockies, 9-8 as a +120 underdog. The Astros jumped out to a 5-2 lead before the Rockies rallied for five runs in the fifth inning to take a 7-5 advantage. Houston scored the final four runs of the game in the seventh as Yuli Gurriel’s second homer of the night proved to be the difference. Colorado has now cashed the OVER in seven of the past eight games at Coors Field, as the Rockies have allowed at least eight runs in seven of those contests.

The Astros seek their fifth consecutive win tonight as Wade Miley heads to the mound. The left-hander shut down the Mariners in a 2-1 home victory by allowing three hits and one run in six innings to improve to 4-1 at Minute Maid Park this season. However, the Astros are 1-3 in Miley’s last four starts on the road, but tossed 4.2 scoreless innings in the NLDS last October at Coors Field in a 6-0 victory as a member of the Brewers.

Peter Lambert counters for Colorado, as the right-hander started his career with a pair of impressive starts against the Cubs. However, the California native has been knocked around for 16 runs in his pat three starts (12.2 innings), while the Rockies are 0-3 in those outings. The OVER has cashed in each of Lambert’s last four starts, while Colorado last lost consecutive games at Coors Field to the same opponent back in May against Arizona.

Betcha didn’t know: Where did the latest surge from the San Francisco offense come from? The Giants have tallied double-digit runs in three consecutive games, including putting up a 10-spot in Tuesday’s 10-4 blowout of the Padres. The Twins, who lead baseball in runs, have not scored 10 or more runs in three straight contests this season, as the Giants face right-hander Cal Quantrill tonight at Petco Park. The last time Quantrill started a game back on June 14, the Rockies scored a total of 12 runs (granted, the game was at Coors Field) in a 16-12 setback to the Padres.

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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