We preview our top 3 matches in this week’s installment of Major League baseball for 26 July 2017.
With over 50 more rounds to go in the second half of the Major League Baseball Season, the two teams with the most wins in each League are: The Houston Astros with 66 wins (American League), and the LA Dodgers 69 wins in the National League.
The Boston Red Sox are nine wins away from the American League leaders, but face a current three game losing streak that they’ll need to overcome in order to catch up to the leaders.
Placed second in the Nationals League, stand the Washington Nationals who are 10 wins shy of their conference leaders, the Dodgers. Bryce Harper and his team need to up the ante if they are to surge up the standings.
Teams will continue playing the three-match series format.
This week we look at the Washington Nationals versus the Milwaukee Brewers, LA Dodgers against the Twins, and lastly the Red Sox who are taking on the Mariners.
*Fixtures and betting for all other three-match series games will be included at the end of the article.
Wednesday 26 July
Boston Red Sox 8/10 vs Seattle Mariners 9/10
This is the fourth time the two teams have faced off this year, currently, the Mariners lead their three-match series 1-0, after winning the opener on Tuesday morning. The Mariners shut out the Red Sox 4-0 as their pitcher James Paxton played the starring role.
The Red Sox have now lost three on the trot, with one loss coming at the hands of the Mariners. The Mariners, on the other hand, have two wins and three losses in their last five matches.
Seattle will have the formidable Robinson Cano who hit the deciding homer in the All-Star game a few weeks ago who will be joined by team mate Kyle Seager as the both will strap their gloves up in search of another win against the Red Sox. Seager hit the only homer in the opener taking his season tally to 14, while Cano is on 19 homers this season.
The Red Sox Hitter, Mookie Betts, will need to bring his best swing in game two in order to cover his teams’ 1-0 deficit. Mookie has hit 17 homers this season with 70 runs
.
With match two ahead of us – Bet on the Mariners to take it.
Washington Nationals 7/10 vs the Milwaukee Brewers 1/1
The Nationals and the Brewers will enter a three match series starting tomorrow, the former lead by only six games in second spot. A clean sweep 3-0 series win will help them with the momentum they need to topple their second spot leaders just to be sure to make it into the playoffs.
The Nationals have won three of their last five matches while their counterparts have won one from their last four when the Pirates handed them a whitewash.
Both teams are gifted with designated hitters, but we’ll see whose swing will rise to the occasion. National’s star Bryce Harper is a great outfielder and on the bat, he’s notched up 24 Home runs, 109 hits, and 80 runs, a healthy record to say the least. The Brewers have more of a consistent hitter line-up in the form of Eric Thames and Travis Shaw, who’ve scored 62 and 55 runs respectively.
This is my game of the week, and it feels it will go to the wire. I’ll play it safe and go for the Washington Nationals to live up to their favourites tag.
LA Dodgers 5/10 vs Minnesota Twins 29/20
With a playoff finish in plain sight, the Dodgers are edging closer to their finish line, but with over 50 rounds of matches to go, it’s too early to call. The Dodgers currently lead the Twins 1-0 after a tightly contested 6-4 victory.
Marching on to the end of the season, the Twins break even with 49 wins and 49 losses, Minnesota side are seventh in the American League standings. A clean sweep here against the Dodgers could see them climb into the top five of their conference.
The Twins will hope Miguel Sano their Home Run Derby participant fires. His opposition hitter Cody Bellinger is having a good July and hit the winning homer in last night’s match.
It will be interesting to see how the two teams will fare as both are evenly matched, I’ll swing with the Twins to take the second match at a valuable 29/20.
Fixtures for 26 July
Teams in bold tipped to win match.
|
Time
|
Odds
|
Home
|
Away
|
Odds
|
|
|
20:20
|
4/10
|
Chicago Cubs
|
V
|
Chicago White Sox
|
33/20
|
|
1:05
|
11/20
|
New York Yankees
|
V
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
27/20
|
|
1:05
|
13/10
|
Philadelphia Phillies
|
V
|
Houston Astros
|
11/20
|
|
1:05
|
15/20
|
Washington Nationals
|
V
|
Milwaukee Brewers
|
1/1
|
|
1:07
|
9/10
|
Toronto Blue Jays
|
V
|
Oakland Athletics
|
8/10
|
|
1:10
|
11/20
|
Cleveland Indians
|
V
|
LA Angels
|
13/10
|
|
1:10
|
13/20
|
Detroit Tigers
|
V
|
Kansas City Royals
|
11/10
|
|
1:10
|
13/20
|
Tampa Bay Rays
|
V
|
Baltimore Orioles
|
21/20
|
|
2:05
|
13/20
|
Texas Rangers
|
V
|
Miami Marlins
|
11/10
|
|
2:15
|
13/20
|
St Louis Cardinals
|
V
|
Colorado Rockies
|
23/20
|
|
3:40
|
6/10
|
Arizona Diamondbacks
|
V
|
Atlanta Braves
|
12/10
|
|
4:10
|
5/10
|
LA Dodgers
|
V
|
Minnesota Twins
|
29/10
|
|
4:10
|
17/20
|
San Diego Padres
|
V
|
New York Mets
|
9/10
|
|
4:10
|
9/10
|
Seattle Mariners
|
V
|
Boston Red Sox
|
8/10
|
|
4:15
|
7/10
|
San Francisco Giants
|
V
|
Pittsburgh Pirates
|
21/20
|
Written by Lungelo Mdladla for @Hollywoodbets.net
