Best Bets in Sports: Two Bets As MLB Wild-Card Series Continues

It’s another day full of baseball with Game 2 of the MLB wild-card series beginning at 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday. With wins, the Rangers, Twins, Diamondbacks and Phillies can advance to the division series. A win by the Rays, Blue Jays, Brewers or Marlins will force a deciding Game 3 on Thursday. Three of the games yesterday totaled five runs or fewer and each game today has a total of eight runs or fewer. The home team is favored in each game. Here are my best bets for the games:

Alec Bohm OVER 1.5 total bases (+105 on BetMGM Sportsbook)
Bohm is better against left-handed pitching, and the Marlins are starting Braxton Garrett. Bohm is batting .303 with nine doubles, 12 home runs, a .929 OPS and a .384 wOBA against left-handed pitching in 155 at-bats. Bohm batted third last night, between Trea Turner and Bryce Harper, against left-handed Jesus Luzardo and will likely do the same tonight. Bohm is five-for-nine with a home run against Garrett, who has allowed a 45.1% hard-hit rate. 

Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays, (Rays ML -145 on Caesars Sportsbook)
The Rays lost Game 1 of the series, 4-0. They played a sloppy game and made four errors. Jordan Montgomery went seven scoreless innings and allowed six hits, allowing the Rangers to use only two relievers to close it out. One of the weaknesses of the Rangers is the bullpen. The 4.77 bullpen ERA was the seventh-worst in baseball and the worst of any team in the postseason. They will likely need the bullpen for several innings today. Nathan Eovaldi starts for the Rangers and he has struggled since returning from a forearm injury. He has a 9.30 ERA and 1.62 WHIP in his last six starts. Zach Eflin has been excellent for the Rays, especially at home. He has a 3.30 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and a 29% strikeout rate at home this season. The Rays have the better bullpen and the offense will bounce back against Eovaldi and force a Game 3.

Yesterday’s record: 0-2 (-2 units)
All-time record: 53–30 (+15.8 units)