Game Review

7-28-20

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Game 1: Toronto Blue Jays at Washington Nationals

Pick: Nationals ML (-137)

Are the Blue Jays ahead of schedule? They dropped a tough series in Tampa Bay after winning on opening day, and have bounced back to win two straight in Washington. They are still without Bo Bichette, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. both hit their first home runs of 2020.

On the other hand, the Nationals offence has really struggled, scoring less runs in all their loses (4) combined than in their lone win. Losing Rendon in the offseason and Juan Soto to COVID-19 has taken the life out of this offense. It’s very early in the season but it’s concerning to see the Nationals drop three straight winnable games. It felt like the public was unfairly against the Nags, especially given the darling Blue Jays make for a trendy dog. This time the public was right.

Result: 5-1 Blue Jays

Game 2: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Minnesota Twins

Pick: Twins ML (-143)

The Twins offense continues to roll, lighting up Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez for 6 runs in less than four innings. The Twins pitching has been solid to start the year, nothing notable yet but a reliable bullpen is a huge piece of most playoff teams. 

The line in this one felt like it respected the Cardinals too much on the road. I jumped at the opportunity to take the streaking Twins against an interior opponent at lower that -150 juice. Donaldson hit his first home run as a Twin and Jorge Polanco continued his early hot streak with this bomb.

Result: 6-3 Minnesota

Game 3: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Texas Rangers

Pick: Diamondbacks ML (-105)

I hate to dip into the well too many times but the books have been low on Arizona thus far. Kyle Gibson did not look bad for Texas at all, but a critical error in the first inning by Isiah Kiner-Falefa led to an early 3-run deficit. Merrill Kelly took a no-hit bid into the 7th inning until Rougned Odor hit a solo home run. I would love to see Arizona’s offense break out soon, to take some pressure off their young pitching staff. This could be an important series for the D-Backs. Winning this series on the road could get that roster going. Early on it feels like I will have my eyes on Arizona quite often in 2020.

Result: 4-1 Diamondbacks

Game 4: Seattle Mariners at. Los Angeles Angels

Pick: Mariners ML (+160)

My early fade of the Angels backfired in this one, even though the Mariners had some sharp line movement to their side. The Mariners played a gusty series against the Astros, although losing 3/4 games to the far more talented Houston side. Kyle Lewis has been incredible thus far. He will cool off but I am hopeful that this is the kind of player he will become.

Getting Rendon back proved to be the difference maker for the Angels, as he got on base three times, including an 8th inning home run. The lineup becomes much more threatening when he’s in it and takes some much needed pressure off Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. In a resounding win for the Angels, the player I’ve been most impressed with to start their season is David Fletcher. He is one of the toughest guys to strike-out in the Majors and he continues to swing the bat well leading off for LA.

Result: 10-2 Angels

San Diego Padres at San Francisco Giants

Pick: Giants ML (+130)

The Giants were another team I viewed as a “live dog” and had some sharp line movement towards their side. It was Zach Davies’ first start for the team, which I believe is overachieving quite frankly. It feels like nobody on this team is hitting except Tatis and Eric Hosmer. To their credit, the starting pitching has performed well in their first turn around the rotation and the bullpen is solid as was expected.

Not much else to say about this one. I took a shot in the dark, at a price i was very comfortable with. This Giants roster is just plain bad, they blew multiple opportunities to get ahead in the game. In other news, Tatis went oppo-taco at Oracle. Kid is incredible.

Result: 5-3 Padres

7-28-20
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