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MLB Picks for August 19th
Kansas City Royals @ Chicago Cubs
Start Time – 2:20 pm EST
Wrigley Field
Broadcast – MLB TV
Good starts from Brady Singer has kept this line closer than it ought to be. He’s held opponents to 3 or less earned runs over his last five starts – although it’s worth noting two of them were against the Yankees, who’ve had a sputtering offense as of late. The Royals have been bad lately though (and all year for that matter). They’ve lost six of their last nine.
Justin Steele may have not been the best version of himself in the last few starts, but the Cubs get behind their guy and score for him. They’ve won five straight and ten out of eleven that he’s started. They’ve covered the runline in half of those, so I’ll take a stab at Cubs -1.5 (+105).
New York Mets @ St. Louis Cardinals
Start Time – 7:15 pm EST
Busch Stadium
Broadcast – FOX
Don’t look now, but the Mets are scoring some runs now that they are virtually eliminated from the post-season. They’ve scored seven or more in three of their last five and here we have the total set at only 8.5. That alone helps guide me to like the over at -110.
On the pitching side, Miles Mikolas got shelled by the MLB-worst Atheltics last time out. Their offense touched him up for four earned over 6.1 innings. Kodai Senga has also allowed eight earned over his last 17,2 innings. Certainly less, but that Mets bullpen should help the over as well.
Baltimore Orioles @ Oakland Atheltics
Start Time – 9:07 pm EST
Oakland Coliseum
Broadcast – MLB TV
The night game in Oakland presents a weird matchup. The Orioles are going to send in Cole Irvin, who spent a couple years in Oakland and most recently they have been using as a reliever. This will be just his second start since July 7th, which doesn’t exactly warm your heart if you’re trying to back them,
Oakland on the other hand has a pitcher who is surging in Ken Waldichuk. He’s allowed only two earned runs or less in three of his last four starts. The downside is that this terrible Oakland team lost every one of those games. While I really like Waldichuk, you can’t trust the Atheltics for a full game, so I’ll take them in the first five innings at +135.
Prop(s) of the Day – Jesse Scholtens o3.5 Strikeouts
Colorado is one of the worst teams in the league when it comes to striking out (28th if you want to get specific). Jesse Scholtens has been a bit of a spark for this White Sox team. Since leaving the bullpen to join the rotation, he’s gone at least six innings in each of his three starts. Additionally, he’s struck out at least five guys in all of those starts. Four against the Rockies should be child’s play for him, which makes it one of my favorite MLB bets for August 19th.
If you’d like even more MLB bets for August 19th, be sure to check out the MLB Gambling Podcast. The guys are dropping daily episodes to make you the smartest guy at the bar.
