Happy Tuesday, fellow sports investors! Monday was nice for us on the MLB side of things. We went 2-0 to run our record to 102-96 on the season. Both of our strikeout prop parlays cashed for us with relative ease, so we're going to keep riding those for the foreseeable future.
We've got two of those on tap, as well as a best bet total for June 10th. Good luck, my friends.
CIN at CLE - 6:40 PM EDT and WSH at NYM - 7:10 PM EDT
Andrew Abbott doesn't have overpowering stuff, but he's improved his K-rate quite a bit over the last year or so. The young lefty currently ranks in the 80th percentile in MLB in that category, and he ranks a slightly above-average 53rd in whiff rate.
Abbott should have a fairly easy time finding 4 Ks against this Cleveland lineup. The Guardians have struggled all year long to make consistent contact against southpaws. Cleveland has the 7th-highest strikeout rate against lefties, so this is a dream matchup for Mr. Abbott.
I'll keep putting MacKenzie Gore in parlays until the cows come home, especially if the books want to keep dishing out decent prices on his alternate lines. Gore's stuff is just flat-out filthy. His curveball and slider are both almost unhittable when he's in a groove. Look for him to continue to rack up Ks, even against this tough Mets lineup.
TOR at STL - 7:45 PM EDT and LAD at SD - 9:40 PM EDT
Bassitt has been good to us this season, and I've been more than impressed with how the veteran righty has rejuvenated his career. He's a lot like Seth Lugo in that he has a wide variety of pitches to keep opposing lineups off balance. A lot of folks will be scared off by his poor K-rate against this Cards roster, but I'm not as concerned with a sample size as small as 31 batters faced.
St. Louis does have a high-contact rate against righties, so this matchup is less than ideal. That being said, Bassitt almost always goes 6 innings, so asking him to find 4 Ks seems pretty safe in this spot.
Cease is another one of those consistent strikeout pitchers that I usually like to ride, regardless of the matchup. I am a little worried about Cease, though, since Nick Pivetta only mustered 3 Ks against this Dodgers lineup last night.
However, Cease's fastball is usually 3 to 5 mph faster than Pivetta, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. Even with the Dodgers' fairly low strikeout rate, they still have some guys that swing and miss quite often. Give me Cease to help us cash out this late-night parlay.
CWS at HOU - 8:10 PM EDT
I wanted to play this on the opening line yesterday, but I got distracted and missed the -110 price. Oh well, I don't think it'll matter here with these two subpar offenses. The White Sox and the Astros have combined to score just 7.38 runs per game this season when adjusting for home/away splits.
That number made me interested in the Under 8 right off the bat, and the more I looked into each starting pitcher, the more I was pleasantly surprised. Shane Smith has been one of the few bright spots on this White Sox team, and none of these Astros hitters have ever faced him. The 6'3" righty has an impressive ERA of just 2.45 this season, and I love how he goes right at opposing batters.
On the flip side, Lance McCullers hasn't been too shabby either. He sometimes struggles with his command, but I think his sinker and slider are good enough to hold down this lackluster lineup of the Pale Hose. Let's play the Under and root for a boring game in H-Town!