The final weekend in August did not disappoint around the MLB and set up what will be a terrific final stretch of baseball. The Milwaukee Brewers have shown no signs of slowing down while on their eight-game win streak, coming off a sweep of the San Diego Padres in Milwaukee. Elsewhere, tensions flared and boiled over in the Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees game after Randy Arozerena was hit by a pitch and the Seattle Mariners claimed first place in the AL West for the first time this season.
Benches cleared Sunday in Tampa Bay as tempers flared after Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch.
After, Brandon Lowe said the Rays couldn't concern themselves with the Yankees' antics.
"We need each game. They're not really in each game."https://t.co/eVyghYcFrt pic.twitter.com/0MIDfNnzbb
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) August 28, 2023
A busy Monday in the show features 14 games and LWOS has three MLB betting picks for August 28th including a red-hot NL East team in Coors Field. Don’t forget to tail and BOL!
MLB Betting Picks of the Day August 28th
Cleveland Guardians vs Minnesota Twins: Twins ML (-175)
The Minnesota Twins are presented with a perfect opportunity to cement their hold on the AL Central when they welcome their division-rivals Cleveland Guardians into the Twin Cities. The Twins are coming off a four-game, series win over the Texas Rangers and have pushed their division lead to six games.
The Twins will send out veteran pitcher Kenta Maeda who has been solid in his past seven starts. He has a 3.03 ERA in that span to go along with 47 strikeouts. He gets a Guardians side who he hasn’t seen yet this year, but Cleveland ranks in the bottom half of the league in OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ against RHP.
The Twins have been surging recently, thanks to some key bats coming alive. Outfielder Michael A. Taylor owns a .385 batting average and a 1.121 OPS against the Guardians this season. Also look for outfielder Max Kepler (.327, 3 HR in his last 15 games), infielders Jorge Polanco (.302, 3 HR), and Donovan Solano (.310) to stay hot against a right-handed pitcher.
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Atlanta Braves vs Colorado Rockies: Braves F5 TT o3.5 (-140)
The Atlanta Braves may have one of the best lineups in the league and should be looking to tee off when they open a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Braves are 7-3 in their last 10 games and are the second team to reach 40 wins on both the road and at home. The Rockies are 3-7 in their last 10 games and have an NL-worst -181 run differential.
The pitching match-up should give us some runs as Bryce Elder (3.39 ERA v 4.24 xERA) is due for regression and Austin Gomber (5.51 xERA) has been hit hard all season. The Braves are currently 4-0 against the Rockies this season, out-scoring them 40-12 in the process.
The Braves have a team OPS+ of 134 (second-highest this year) and have eight batters above a 100 wRC+. Ronald Acuna Jr. (1 HR), Marcell Ozuna (.333), Austin Riley (.333), and Travis d’Arnaud (1.000, 2 HR) all look to repeat previous success off of Gomber tonight in Coors.
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Houston Astros vs Boston Red Sox: Jose Altuve H+R+RBI o2.5 (+125)
Our final pick takes us to Fenway for the Houston Astros vs. the Boston Red Sox. These two teams just split a highly competitive series in Houston and are battling for three more starting tonight. The Red Sox will send out starting pitcher Chris Sale who gave up four runs in five innings in Houston last time out.
Houston Astros’ second baseman Jose Altuve has had repeated success off of Sale for his career. Altuve is slashing .333/.357/.519 off the left-hander and is batting .356 in the last month. In his career at Fenway Park, Altuve has hit .311 and with an OPS of .824.
Sale throws his four-seam fastball and slider about 80% of the time with batters hitting .248 and .169 off of them, respectively. Altuve has seen these two pitches almost half the time this season and has hit .357 with 17 extra-base hits off of them.
Target the value play on Altuve’s H+R+RBI prop tonight, or look toward his total bases or hits prop.
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Main photo credits:
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
