Kevin Davies
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The MLB postseason continues on Monday, October 7 with a pair of ALDS Game 2s as the Detroit Tigers take on the Cleveland Guardians while the Kansas City Royals battle the New York Yankees in the Bronx. I’ve picked out my MLB best bets for each game today, so let’s dive in! Make sure you also see our MLB picks for these games and every matchup in the MLB playoffs.
Detroit Tigers vs Cleveland Guardians best bet: Under 6.5 (-132)
This is one of the lowest totals of the entire season. The total opened at 6.5 and quickly moved down to 6, but I think there’s plenty of value taking an alternate line of Under 6.5 at this price. Let’s start with the main reason for taking the under in this game: Tarik Skubal. The lefty won the Triple Crown in the American League and is the soon-to-be AL Cy Young winner, as well. His incredible regular season continued into the postseason as he shut down the Astros in the Wild Card round. The ace went 6.0 scoreless innings and surrendered just 4 hits while striking out 6. That outing extended his scoreless streak to 17.0 consecutive innings without allowing a run which explains just how dominant he’s been recently.
The Guardians own a 1-0 series lead coming into this afternoon after a big win over Tyler Holton in Game 1. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tigers even the series with a win tonight behind Skubal. But instead, I’ve turned to the total. The Guardians’ bats are likely going to be limited for 6 innings against Skubal and then a few innings against a rested Detroit bullpen. As for the Tigers’ offense, I’m not expecting too much. Yes, they beat the Astros in the wild-card round, but they don’t get a lot of extra-base hits. They rely on stringing singles together which is something Matthew Boyd has been great at avoiding. Boyd joined the Guardians in mid August and has been a crucial part of their rotation down the stretch. He finished the regular season with a 2.72 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 8 starts and is fortunate enough to have a very-rested bullpen to back him up. I like a low-scoring game on Monday.
Read our full Detroit Tigers vs Cleveland Guardians prediction
Kansas City Royals vs New York Yankees best bet: Under 7.5 (-110)
The Yankees were able to escape Game 1 with a 6-5 win, but it wasn’t easy. New York battled back multiple times to regain the lead against the struggling Royals bullpen which wasn’t able to limit the walks. Fortunately for Kansas City, Cole Ragans has been fantastic at pitching deep into games. He has completed at least 6.0 innings in his last 5 straight starts, including his only postseason start so far. Ragans went up against a strong Orioles squad and threw 6.0 scoreless innings and held their hitters to 4 hits with 8 strikeouts. He was brilliant under the bright lights of the postseason, and now he travels to the bright lights of New York City to face the Yankees. The southpaw faced the Yankees only once in the regular season and it came just a few weeks ago in September. The New York lineup was able to scratch across 2 runs on 3 hits but struck out 7 times in 6 innings.
Carlos Rodon will be a bit of a wild card in the postseason. The lefty had an up-and-down regular season but still finished with a 3.96 ERA and 1.22 WHIP 32 starts. He was solid down the stretch with a 2.20 ERA in September and earned a spot in the postseason rotation. Rodon’s first task will be limiting a very top-heavy Royals lineup that struggled against him in the regular season. The Kansas City lineup managed just 3 earned runs and 10 hits in 13.0 innings against Rodon in 2 regular-season starts. Plus, Game 1 was just the 2nd time since September 17 that the Royals managed to score 5 runs in a game. I have very little confidence in the K.C. lineup right now but a lot of confidence in these 2 aces.
