MLB Best Bets for Tuesday, July 26, 2022

We had a solid start to the work week with a 2-1 day. Somehow the one I was most confident in lost fairly quickly. It wasn't a terrible start for Tony Gonsolin, but one inning really did him in. Oh well, as I've said a bunch, a winning day is all I'm searching for.

Rays vs. Orioles

If the season ended today Shane McClanahan would be your Cy Young winner. He has had a nice little layoff since the All-Star break and we are now starting the second half against the Orioles. If you wanted to pay the price, you could take the Rays moneyline, I just don't think it would be worth it. But, similarly to Gonsolin yesterday, McClanahan has been great against opponents and held them to low scores. He has't allowed more than three earned runs all year, and only allowed three earned runs twice this year. And, aside from two starts against the Yankees in June, opponents haven't scored more than three in a game against the Rays since April when McClanahan starts. Take the Orioles under 3 runs.

Cardinals vs. Blue Jays

I'm not sure what suddenly clicked for Berrios, but he went from being a complete fade and disaster to now having four consecutive strong starts, including three straight quality starts. The Blue Jays have also won all four of those games. Will he keep the form up against the Cardinals tonight? It is possible. Andre Pallante has been solid for the Cardinals, despite one really bad outing against the Braves. If you take that out, he's gone five outings without allowing more than three earned runs. If you look at him since the start of June, the Cardianls are 4-5 in his starts, and he's allowed 23 earned in 44.1 innings. He's going to allow a couple runs, and despite Berrios' improvement, I think he will allow a couple too. I like the over 4.5 through five innings in this one.

White Sox vs. Rockies

I've been spending a lot of time bashing the White Sox this season. They have underperformed in almost every possible way. I do like Michael Kopech though. Overall, he's been pretty consistent and he has had strong outing against most teams. Have there been a few hiccups? Of course, and most of them have happened since the start of June. In fact, his ERA has risen every game for the last six games. Tony Larussa is also potentially the worst manager in baseball right now. So why am I taking the White Sox tonight? They face German Marquez. I can't count on Marquez for anything. In fairness to him, he's pitched better of late, but at home, on the year he has a 6.68 ERA. That's high, even for Coors Field. I'm taking the White Sox at -110.