MLB Best Bets for Wednesday, August 5: Sticking with Skenes

Full slate of MLB games today and after cashing Grayson Rodriguez 6+ K's last night at plus money as part of the Betspresso 4-leg parlay, we are ready for some more winners.

Let's dive into my MLB best bets for Wednesday, August 5th.

MLB Best Bets for Wednesday, August 5

• Angels – Orioles Under 8 (-117 at Lucky Rebel)
• Pirates ML (+108 at Lucky Rebel)

Los Angeles Angels vs Baltimore Orioles

Last night's Orioles game had to be a weird one for their front office, players, and their fans. It was the first game played since they traded away their former number one overall pick, Adley Rustchman to the Boston Red Sox and it was the first time facing Grayson Rodriguez who used to be the top pitching prospect in baseball for Baltimore.

The Orioles had envisioned Rustchman and Rodriguez being a dominant battery for the O's for the next decade and last night was a reminder of how wrong it has gone for Baltimore. With all that being said though, the Orioles were able to win last night and now are just 1.5 games back of the final wild card spot.

Last night the Orioles won a 3-1 pitching duel against the Angels and I think tonight could be similar. Low scoring game with both starters going deep into the game. Reid Detmers will take the mound for the Angels and Trevor Rodgers will get the ball for the Orioles. There was thought that both guys could get moved at the trade deadline, but neither did and now we have a really solid pitching matchup on Wednesday night.

It's been another brutal season for the Angels, but a couple of their pitchers have been solid this season including Detmers. He is 9th in the MLB in strikeouts with 145 and 15th in WHIP at 1.10. He will be facing an Orioles lineup tonight that is middle of the pack against left handed pitching. They rank 14th in the MLB in OPS (.706) and 18th in the MLB in runs scored (140) vs left handed pitching.

The Orioles philosophy has never quite made sense to me. A good amount of the position players they draft are left handed hitters and yet they don't like to play a lot of their left handed hitters vs lefty pitchers. Even though the numbers don't look terrible they usually struggle vs left handed starters, especially good ones, and I would expect more of the same tonight against Detmers.

As for Trevor Rodgers he has been great recently. 7 of his last 8 starts he has given up two earned runs or fewer. Going up against one of the worst offenses in baseball I would expect another good performance out of him. Total of 8 I think is too high. I like the under.

Bet: Angels – Orioles Under 8 (-117)

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Milwaukee Brewers

 

If you have been following baseball pretty closely you know it's been well documented the struggles of Paul Skenes this year compared to his lofty standards. Coming into the year this guy was the massive favorite to win NL Cy Young and really hasn't looked the part. He is 9-9 on the season with a 3.90 ERA and 156 strikeouts. In his last two starts he has given up five earned runs which has definitely brought up some cause for concern. Tonight Skenes will face one of the best teams in baseball in the Milwaukee Brewers, a team he has had great success against in his career.

Skenes has faced the Brewers twice this season including a start back in late April where he threw a 7-inning shutout only allowing 1 hit. In his career against the Brewers, Skenes is allowing a .183 batting average and no current player on the Brewers has recorded more than 2 hits against Skenes outside of Cristian Yelich.

The last two starts Skenes has given up 5 runs have been against division opponents, the Cubs and Reds. You wonder if these hitters that get to see him multiple times a year are starting to pick up on way to attack him. Tonight is a big start for Skenes to see if maybe he does have an issue or these last two starts were fluky.

I'm willing to buy a little bit of the dip and get some value on Skenes in this matchup. It's not often you get him as an underdog, but that's what we get tonight. I think Skenes pitches well and the Pirates win the game. I'll take Pittsburgh on the money line.

Bet: Pirates Moneyline (+108)

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