Top MLB Betting Picks of the Week – August 26th

The Minnesota Twins are starting to pull away from the Cleveland Indians again, winning seven of ten to take a 3 ½-game lead in the American League Central. Cleveland has dropped six of ten and now faces a fight even to get a wild card, as they are in a virtually dead heat with Tampa Bay and Oakland for the last two spots into the AL postseason bracket. The New York Yankees and the Houston Astros still have comfortable leads in their divisions, with New York leading the East by nine games and Houston leading the West by 9 ½. In the National League, Atlanta leads the East by six games now, winners of eight of their last ten. St. Louis has caught fire, winning eight of ten to lead the Central by 2 ½ games. The Dodgers have only won five of their last ten, but none of their rivals in the West have done better over their last ten, so Los Angeles still leads the division by 20 games. We have a couple of primo MLB betting picks for the week ahead.

Top MLB Betting Picks of the Week – August 26th

No. 3 won a three-game series vs. No. 1 this weekend. How’d the rest of @JATayler‘s power rankings turn out? https://t.co/tCP7WksXmC

— SI MLB (@si_mlb) August 26, 2019

Monday, August 26

Atlanta at Colorado (3:10pm ET)

• Projected Pitching Matchup: Julio Teheran (8-8, 3.53 ERA) (ATL) vs Tim Melville (1-0, 1.29 ERA) (COL)

Julio Teheran has been steady for the Braves all season, even if that 8-8 record does not quite show it. In his last ten starts, Teheran has permitted more than two earned runs just twice — and more than three earned runs once, in a shelling at the hands of the New York Mets on August 15. In his last start, at home against the Miami Marlins, Teheran threw seven shutout innings, scattering five hits and striking out nine while walking just three. If the Braves can get their offense squared away, they should be able to get Teheran that ninth win. Colorado counters with Tim Melville, who makes his second start of 2019 on Monday. His first start was a beauty, as he threw seven innings of two-hit, one-run ball against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with a solo shot the only thing standing between him and shutout pitching. He struck out four and walked two, but one number stands out — 15 outs via fly ball. That isn’t as dangerous in a pitcher-friendly stadium like the one in Arizona, but Colorado’s Coors Field is not a place where you want people hitting fly balls. MLB Betting Prediction: Atlanta 5, Colorado 3

Tuesday, August 27

Texas at Los Angeles Angels (10:07pm ET, FS1)

• Projected Pitching Matchup: Mike Minor (11-7, 3.17 ERA) (TEX) vs Andrew Heaney (3-3, 4.31 ERA) (LA)

Texas took three of four when these two teams met in the Lone Star State last week. Mike Minor was one of the Rangers’ All-Stars, but his ERA has increased from 2.90 to 3.17 over his last two starts. Those last two outings came against the Twins and the Angels; he permitted nine runs on 18 hits over 12 ⅔ innings, striking out a dozen while walking three. In his two starts before that, he had thrown 15 combined shutout innings, but he may be hitting the wall a bit, losing some endurance in a long, hot Texas summer. The Angels actually torched him for six earned runs in his last start, but the Texas offense pulled off an 8-7 walkoff win. Andrew Heaney gets the start for the Halos. Over his last six starts, his ERA has come down from 5.40 to 4.31, and he shut the Rangers down when he started against them on August 20, throwing eight innings of one-run, four-hit baseball, fanning 14 batters without a single walk, yielding a solo home run as his only run. If the Rangers are not any more patient this time around, Heaney will cool that Texas offense off. MLB Betting Prediction: Los Angeles 5, Texas 2