MLB Best Bets for Thursday, August 5, 2021

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It is a getaway day for many teams, and that means there are a lot of day games. That doesn’t mean we don’t have an opportunity to make some cash today, though. Let’s try and head into the weekend strong.

Pirates vs. Reds

The divisional matchup between the Pirates and Reds leads us to our first play of the day. Cincinnati has won three of the last five games they’ve played, and won all of them by two or more runs. Sonny Gray pitches for them tonight, and while the days of him being an ace pitcher are probably behind us, he has performed well against Pirate hitters, holding them to just a .216 batting average. Wil Crowe pitches for the Pirates, and he has had a nice stretch in July. His last outing may have been the best of his season going six scoreless against the Phillies. Today I’m playing the Reds runline at -122.

Twins vs. Astros

There really shouldn’t be much of a question about this game. Framber Valdez is a strong and consistent pitcher. I expect him to go six or seven innings tonight and give up maybe three runs at most. The bigger question I have for the game is how good Griffin Jax is going to be tonight. Can he hold the strong Astro offense down and keep them from scoring six runs? It is possible, but this looks like it will be maybe four or five innings from him then turned over to the bullpen. I think the score stays low enough on both sides of the scoreboard and we get to the under on the game at 9.5.

Royals vs. White Sox

A couple of stats for you: the White Sox are almost 20 games over .500 at home so far this year. They are hitting .256 against lefties and .253 at home. Dallas Keuchel has been underwhelming for the White Sox this year. In his one start against Kansas City, he gave up four runs in six innings and the Sox lost the game. The big difference, though, is that Jorge Soler is no longer on the Royals – he accounted for two home runs in that game. Daniel Lynch has had three night starts for the Royals, and he has given up 14 earned runs in 11 innings. The first time he faced the White Sox, he gave up eight earned in 0.2 innings. Play the White Sox -1.5 at -102 even with Keuchel’s struggles.