ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS @ BOSTON RED SOX – 4:10PM
The Dbacks travel to Boston to take on the Red Sox today in what will be the only three game series these teams will play against each other this season. The Diamondbacks have some momentum coming off a three game sweep of the MIami Marlins while the Red Sox just won their series against the American League West leading Houston Astros on the road 2-1. The pitching matchup today will be a clash of two pitchers that have been winning a lot of games lately for their respective teams. The Dbacks will be starting Ryne Nelson and they have won 7 games out of his last 9 starts going back to July 2nd. The Red Sox will be going with Brayan Bello and they have won 8 games out of his last 9 starts over that same time period. There’s a lot of great bets to look at in this game. The Dbacks are currently priced as the underdog (+114 on the Moneyline on FanDuel) and the Red Sox have one of the worst home records in the majors (29-32). You could look at taking the over on the total runs scored or even just some batter props with both pitchers having an ERA over 4. One of the biggest opportunities with betting markets today in this game is on Ryne Nelson’s strikeouts as his line for K’s is currently sitting at over/under 4.5 on FanDuel. Nelson has gone over 4.5 strikeouts in his last 4 games and has had at least 5 strikeouts or more in 7 out of his last 8 starts. Meanwhile the Red Sox are notoriously among the teams that strikeout the most in baseball. They currently rank 3rd on the season as a team with 1,223 total strikeouts. In the month of August alone they rank 3rd with 193 strikeouts and in night games this season they are 2nd with 803 strikeouts. With how well Nelson has been pitching over the last couple months and how often this Red Sox team strikes out ,look for Nelson to go over again on his strikeout line.
The Pick: Ryne Nelson OVER 4.5 Strikeouts
PHOENIX MERCURY @ ATLANTA DREAM – 4:30PM
The Mercury take on the surging Atlanta Dream today for a rematch after their last game on Wednesday where the Dream won 72-63. The Dream are now 1 game back of the Chicago Sky for the final playoff spot in the WNBA standings. They are on a 3 game winning streak since coming back from the Olympic break with impressive victories against playoff bound teams including the Connecticut Sun and the Seattle Storm to go along with their win against Phoenix. With the Mercury continuing to play short handed (Rebecca Allen and Charisma Osborne both still out with injuries) the Dream will have the upper hand again in this matchup between the momentum they have and their home court advantage. The Mercury only had 8 players suited up last game and two of those players had originally signed with the team over the offseason on training camp contracts (Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and Natasha Mack). More simply put this is not the best version of the Mercury that we are seeing on the floor right now. Griner, Taurasi, Cloud, and Kahleah Copper all have had to play increasing minutes to pick up the slack and over the course of the game you see the toll that the heavier minutes takes. Nothing speaks to this better than the disparity in rebounds between these two teams when they played on Wednesday. The Mercury were out rebounded 47-33, with the biggest difference coming on the offensive glass as Atlanta had 16 offensive rebounds and the Mercury only had 3. Offensive rebounds are a product of playing with high energy and clearly the Mercury were lacking that. You can also look to the 4th quarter score in that game as another sign that the Mercury just ran out of gas by the end as The Dream won the 4th quarter 24 points to 15. Without their missing players Phoenix will continue to struggle with imposing heavier minutes on their aging stars and having to utilize lesser players than who they would normally have on their bench. Look for the Dream to win this game again as the conditions should be very similar to what we saw on Wednesday.
The Pick: Atlanta Dream Moneyline
OTHER BETS TO CONSIDER:
Atlanta Dream 4th Quarter Winner
Tina Charles 10+ Rebounds
Angel Reese OVER 13.5 Points
Connecticut Sun -10.5 Spread
Arizona Diamondbacks Moneyline
Los Angeles Dodgers Moneyline
Milwaukee Brewers Moneyline
Houston Astros Moneyline
Detroit Tigers -1.5 Run Line
New York Yankees OVER 4.5 Alternate Total Runs
LONG SHOT PARLAY:
3 Legs +3449 Odds
Tina Charles 12+ Rebounds
Ryne Nelson 7+ Strikeouts
Houston Astros -1.5 Run Line
A $5 wager pays $172.47