Betts Best Bet to Hit Total Bases Prop

The most-anticipated of Tuesday’s games lived up to the hype as a grand slam by Kyle Tucker led the Houston Astros to the win over the American League-leading Baltimore Orioles. A rare meltdown by dominant Baltimore closer Felix Bautista made some MLB news, although not as much as the Orioles suspending announcer Kevin Brown for having the nerve to say that the Orioles have turned the table in terms of wins and losses against American League East rival Tampa Bay.

There were four one-run games on Tuesday with three of them won by the visiting teams. When looking at the MLB predictions, 11 of the 16 matchups were won by the team listed as the favorite.

Keep an eye on the Colorado-Milwaukee, Miami-Cincinnati and Chicago Cubs-New York Mets games. Milwaukee leads both the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs by 1½ games in the National League Central Division race.

The MLB spreads might be impacted by the availability of Atlanta’s MVP candidate Ronald Acuna Jr., who was hit by a pitch in Tuesday’s win over Pittsburgh. Teammate Matt Olson is looking to drive in at least one run in his 12th straight game after becoming the first MLB player in 2023 to hit the 100-RBI mark.

According to MLB playoff odds, the Atlanta Braves(+350) have the best odds to win the World Series, followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers at +450. Houston (+650), the Tampa Bay Rays(+700) and the Texas Rangers(+800) aren’t far behind.

Wednesday’s Best Bets

Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers only has a .259 average in 27 career at-bats against Arizona’s Merrill Kelly. Four of his seven hits have gone for extra bases and that includes three home runs. Betts takes a 15-game hitting streak into the game so it is worth going with Betts at -120 to go over 1½ total bases, especially since he has two home runs in the last three games.

Max Fried allowed just three hits and no runs in six innings when he started for the Atlanta Braves for the first in nearly three months. He is set for another start on Wednesday against Pittsburgh so why not take a chance on the moneyline at even odds for Fried to have at least six strikeouts in a win by the Braves.

There isn’t much history between Adolis Garcia of the Texas Rangers and Oakland’s probable starter Austin Pruitt. However, with four home runs in eight games in August, rolling with Garcia at +115 to go over 1½ total bases seems like a smart way to proceed.

Joining Some Select Company

When you suit up for the Atlanta Braves franchise and accomplish something that the legendary Hank Aaron never managed to do, it is worthy of mention.

Matt Olson drove in his 100th run of the season to become the first player this season to hit triple digits in RBIs. It took Olson 111 games to get to 100 RBIs and that is tied for the franchise record with Wally Berger for the fewest games needed to reach the century mark.

Olson has also set a franchise record with RBIs in 11 games in a row as he has 20 RBIs while batting .395 during that stretch.

Remember Me?

There will be a familiar face on the mound at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Wednesday. This will be the 102nd career game for Miami’s starting pitcher Johnny Cueto at the field that used to be his home away from home.

This will be just the third time Cueto starts in Cincinnati since leaving the Reds during the 2015 season. He is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA to go with 18 strikeouts and three walks in 12 innings of work.

Cueto finished 92-63 with an ERA of 3.21 in 213 starts with the Reds over eight seasons. He is just 51-47 with a 3.85 ERA since leaving Cincinnati. When he was with the Reds, he went 49-22 with a 2.91 ERA when he was pitching at home.

So Much for the Sequel

It didn’t take long for Houston Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez’s quest to join Johnny Vander Meer as the only MLB player to toss back-to-back no-hitters to come to an end.

After walking leadoff hitter Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle took the 12th pitch by Valdez out of the park to give the Baltimore Orioles the early 2-0 lead. Valdez allowed eight hits and six runs in seven innings and looked to be on his way to a loss as Houston trailed 6-2 when Valdez left the game.

Jeremy Pena got Houston a little closer with an RBI single in the eighth inning. The three-run margin made it a save situation for the Orioles so in came Felix Bautista.

Bautista didn’t allow a run in his last nine appearances, but he quickly got into trouble by walking Jon Singleton and giving up singles to Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez. Kyle TuckerRyan Pressly retired the Orioles in order in the bottom of the ninth inning for the unlikely 7-6 win.

Quite the Story

The final result was not one for the record books. However, the Boston Red Sox were happy to have infielder Trevor Story back on the field.

Story, who hit 16 home runs in 94 games during his first season with the Red Sox, made his season debut on Tuesday. Story was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts while batting third for Boston in a 9-3 loss to Kansas City.

The loss combined with a win by the New York Yankees dropped Boston back into last place in the American League East. However, Boston is just five games in back of Toronto in the race for the final playoff spot in the American League.

Injury Update

There are some pretty prominent names making it into injury reports going into Wednesday’s action.

Atlanta outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., who is listed by the MLB betting lines as the front-runner in the National League Most Valuable Player race, is questionable to face Pittsburgh after leaving Tuesday’s game with an elbow issue. Tests on the elbow came back negative. Acuna did hit his 26th home run of the season before leaving the game.

That is still better news than Tampa Bay is getting for Cy Young Award contender Shane McClanahan. There is a fear that he could miss the remainder of the season for the Rays with a forearm issue.

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter J.D. Martinez is dealing with hamstring and groin injuries and his status for Wednesday’s game with Arizona is up in the air.

The list of ailing position players with Minnesota continues to grow. The American League Central Division-leading Twins are already without designated hitter Byron Buxton, outfielder Alex Kiriloff and shortstop Royce Lewis and now outfielder Max Kepler is questionable to face Detroit with a toe injury. Also, infielder Donovan Solano is dealing with a leg injury.

Cincinnati outfielder Jake Fraley is on the injured list with a fracture in his toe. The timeline for the return of second baseman Jonathan India has been pushed back while relief pitcher Alex Young is questionable for Wednesday’s game with Miami due to back spasms.

Colorado just recently got second baseman Brendan Rodgers back and now he is dealing with a hamstring issue that has him questionable for Wednesday’s matchup with Milwaukee.

For the Brewers, recently acquired first baseman Carlos Santana is questionable due to illness.

Baltimore infielder Adam Frazier is questionable for Wednesday’s game with Houston as a result of a thumb issue.

Philadelphia outfielder Brandon Marsh is on the injured list with a knee contusion.

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill is questionable to face Tampa Bay on Wednesday with a knee issue.

Boston Red Sox infielder Justin Turner is day-to-day with a heel injury.