Ryan Hodges
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Wednesday brings yet another jam-packed 15-game slate in the MLB. Some contending teams have taken care of business this week and some teams have not. As the number of games becomes fewer and fewer, there are some division and wildcard races that will make for fantastic entertainment down the stretch. Wednesday night’s schedule will contribute even more to the chaos. You can also read our MLB predictions for picks on every game, but for now, let’s dive into our YRFI/NRFI best bets.
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Houston Astros vs Baltimore Orioles: NRFI (+115)
The starting pitching matchup is the primary reason the NRFI looks good in this game, especially at +115 odds. Cristian Javier will start for the Astros and Jack Flaherty will start for the Orioles. Javier has shown his upside in his young career as he is coming off a season in which he hurled a 2.54 ERA in 148.2 innings pitched. The Astros will need Javier to pitch well down the stretch if they are going to win the AL West and make a deep playoff run. Houston is as good as any organization at setting up their starting pitchers for success. Look for Javier to execute on a good game plan in what is somewhat of a big matchup in August against a potential playoff opponent.
This will be Jack Flaherty’s second start since the Orioles acquired him from the Cardinals at the trade deadline. His first start went about as well as he and his new team could have hoped. Flaherty earned a win against the Blue Jays by tossing 6 innings, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits and racking up 8 strikeouts. He will probably still have a bit of adrenaline looking to make a good impression on his new organization and fans in his first start at home as an Oriole. Flaherty should be able to deal for at least a few innings and keep the Astros off the board early on.
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Atlanta Braves vs Pittsburgh Pirates: YRFI (+100)
The over has been rolling for both the Braves and the Pirates lately, including on Tuesday. There have been 27 runs scored in the first two games of this series with 4 runs scored in yesterday’s first inning. The over has hit in 5 of the Braves’ last 6 games and in 4 out of their last 5 on the road. The total has also gone over in 5 out of the Pirates’ last 7 games and in 5 out of their last 6 at home. Their combined over/under record this season is 119-98-7 and in their respective last 10 games is 14-6 in those combined 20 games. The pure matchup of Braves vs Pirates looks great for high totals which has a very good chance to take off in the first inning once again on Wednesday.
Max Fried will get the start for the Braves and Quinn Priester will start for the Pirates. This Braves lineup is obviously one of the best, if not the best, in baseball. Priester is a rookie starting just his fifth game. He has not found it yet as he has allowed 16 earned runs in 19.2 innings pitched. The Braves are the best team Priester will have faced so it will not get any easier. His counterpart Max Fried has proven to be a very good pitcher, but has been battling injuries. This will be Fried’s seventh start of the season and second since May. It would not be a surprise if he is not as sharp as he works his way back.
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