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Tampa Bay Rays. In my opinion, baseball is just about the streakiest of all the major sports. You play a hot team, and fade a cold team. Right now, the Tampa Bay Rays are red-hot, winning five in a row and seven of their last 10 outings to take control of the competitive American League East at 48-33. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals possess the worst record in the American League, dwelling in the Central division cellar at 35-50. Tampa Bay has taken five of the last seven meetings against Kansas City. With a combination of consistent hitting and a top-10 pitching staff, this team is looking very good right now. In all sincerity, Kansas City ranks in the bottom third both in scoring and in team ERA. Jax and Cameron are scheduled today. While neither starter possesses a winning record just yet, the Rays right-hander has only allowed just two earned runs in his last 20.0 innings pitched over the last four games. He owns a road ERA of 2.96, and over his last three games, he is 2-1 with a 1.20 ERA. He took down this very same Royals team just six days ago, allowing zero earns runs and just five hits in 5.0 innings pitched. The Kansas City left-hander has gotten steamrolled in three consecutive outings, yielding a combined 12 earned runs on 23 hits in just 14.1 innings pitched. His home ERA is 4.61, and he did lose to this very same Tampa Bay lineup just six days ago as well. Take the Rays. Thank you. |
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Minnesota Twins. Don’t look now, but the Minnesota Twins are making a run for the American League Central. Winning two in a row, they have now climbed into third place in the division just 4.5-games back. They took Game 1 of this series yesterday, and overall, thus far in 2026, have taken three of four meetings against the Houston Astros. They too, are in third place in their division, the American League West. While the Astros pitching staff owns slightly better numbers, the Twins lineup is significantly stronger. Minnesota is averaging over 4.85 runs per game and ranks in or near the top-10 and just about every major offensive category. This has been an issue for Houston. I mentioned a moment ago their pitching staff is a little bit stronger. However, that just isn’t the case with today’s starters. Ryan and Burrows are scheduled. The Twins right-hander is 5-4 with a 3.18 ERA on the campaign. The team has won seven of his last 10 outings as he is not allowed a single opponent to put a better than four earned runs on him going back to April 1. On the road, he is a respectable, 2-1 with a 3.15 ERA, and he has the confidence of knowing he already took down this opponent back on May 20 at home, shutting down the Astros lineup, yielding just four hits and one earned run in 6.0 innings pitched. The Houston right-hander owns some ugly numbers, going 3-8 with a 5.48 ERA this season, and playing at home this season, things go from bad to worse as he’s just 1-4 with a whopping area of 7.05. He was the losing starter in that May 20 game against the Minnesota Twins. Any way you look at it, Minnesota is the play. Take the Twins. Thank you. |
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Los Angeles Dodgers. In all honesty, anytime I can get the Dodgers at this price, I think it offers us value. Let’s face it, they own the best overall record in baseball at 55-30, this team has separated themselves from the rest of the NL West, owning an 11.0-game cushion in the division. They enter today’s matchup winning three in a row, and six of their last seven contests, which does include yesterday series-opener with the Athletics, 9-4. That victory gave them three straight against their in-state, American League rival, and going back a bit, they have taken eight of the last 10 overall meetings. The Athletics, at the beginning of the season was surprising a lot of people out there. However, they have come back down to Earth, losing three in a row and seven of their last 10 to drop them into fourth place in the AL West, at 40-45. Very simply my friends, their numbers are not very good. They score a lot less than the Dodgers, while their pitching staff allows a lot more earned runs. As a matter of fact, they rank 29th in pitching. Speaking of which, Wrobleski and Springs are scheduled. The Los Angeles left-hander has been superb this season, earning a 9-2 record, with a very respectable ERA of 2.71. Away from home, he is 5-1 with a 2.89 ERA. And against American League opponents in 2026, team has won four of his five turns. The Athletics left-hander owns some troubling numbers, going 3-7 with a whopping ERA of 5.52. At home in 2026, he is just 2-5 with a 6.43 ERA. The team is just 1-7 and his eight starts against National League foes. Take the Dodgers. Thank you. |