MLB Betting Previews – Thursday, August 23 Parlay
All six MLB divisions remain up for grabs as the regular season continues to grind-on through the dog days of summer. While these close races have a tendency to make handicapping the games a bit more difficult, after carefully analyzing all the pitching matchups for this Thursday’s slate we have uncovered a golden opportunity for a two-team parlay.
Game 1: Oakland Athletics vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Money Line: Oakland +145 Tampa Bay -155
Total Line: 8
Bartolo Colon was scheduled to get the start but because of his recent suspension, Oakland will turn to Tyson Ross for Game 1 of this series. The right-hander has not made a start since June 28 and is 2-8 overall with a 6.35 ERA. He has given-up four or more earned runs in half of those starts.
Tampa Bay will counter with Alex Cobb as its starter for Thursday night. He got smoked for eight runs on 12 hits in less than three innings his last time out. Overall, the right-hander is 7-8 with a 4.74 ERA. He is 1-1 against the A’s with a 4.76 ERA.
The Athletics are 0-7 in Ross’s last seven starts against a team with a winning record, while the Rays are 8-3 in their last 11 games against a right-handed starter. Oakland has won four of its last five games in Tampa but with Ross on the mound it is not going to beat the Rays this Thursday night. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Game 2: Minnesota Twins vs. Texas Rangers
Money Line: Minnesota +135 Texas -150
Total Line: 7.5
Minnesota is reduced to playing the role of spoiler in this year’s playoff race. It will go with Scott Diamond as its starter for Game 1 of this series. The left-hander is 10-5 overall with a 2.95 ERA and coming off another quality start in a game against Seattle this past Saturday. He has not given-up more than three earned runs in each of his last five starts.
Texas is expected to send Roy Oswalt to the mound in place of rookie phenom Yu Darvish, who is out with a sore leg. The right-hander had been pitching out of the bullpen for most of the month but did make a start against Toronto last Saturday and gave-up one earned run on two hits in a little over four innings of work. Overall, he is 4-2 with a 6.04 ERA,
The Twins are 5-1 in Diamond’s last six starts in Game 1 of a series and 6-2 in Game 1 of their last eight series overall. The Rangers are 5-2 in Oswalt’s last seven starts and 5-2 in their last seven games at home. Minnesota has just one win in the last seven meetings, but bank on the Twins stunning Texas at home on Thursday to lock-up the back-end of this parlay.
