How was Friday night for everyone else? Satisfying? I correctly nabbed the Astros, the over and Carlos Correa hitting a home run, so I’d say it was pretty damn satisfying for me. Let’s look to keep the good times rolling here with Best Bets.
As has been and will continue to be the case, I’m doing the game picks over on SportsLine. I’ve gone 14-4-1 thus far in the playoffs — and that was after an 0-1-1 (moneyline and over/under pick) start in the AL wild card game — so hop on over there and subscribe.
In this space, we’ll focus on props, the over/under and other fun.
All odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
Red Sox/Astros over 8.5, -115
The under looked good for most of the game on Friday night, but it was inevitable that more runs would be scored. These are two of the best and most powerful offenses in baseball. Kiké Hernandez was sort of on his own in Game 1 for the Red Sox, which only means the likes of Kyle Schwarber, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez and more are set to bust out the whooping stick in Game 2.
On the other side, I like Nathan Eovaldi and think he throws well in this one, but the Astros offense in Game 1 showed that sometimes it’s only a matter of time with this group. The Astros led the AL in average, runs, hits, on-base percentage, were one of the hardest teams to strike out and were third in slugging.
Simply: I think it’s entirely possible Game 1 was the lowest scoring game of this series and the over still hit.
Dodgers/Braves over 8, -115
The Dodgers led the NL in runs scored this year. They no longer have issues with lefties. The Braves were third in the NL in runs and their most prolific month, offensively, was September. It’ll take some time to get there, as Max Fried has been brilliant for a while and I fully trust the Dodgers pitching staff, but the runs will come eventually. A 5-4 game isn’t necessarily “high scoring” but it gets us home here. It’ll happen.
Carlos Correa homers +500
Yes, I’m going back to the well. We hit it with Correa on Friday and we’re playing it again.
It’s admittedly mostly a hunch. When Correa hit his homer in Game 1 and mimed the “it’s my time” thing by hitting one wrist with his other hand, it rang true. He’s heading to free agency after this month. He feels like the Astros low-balled him in extension offers (they did). He had the best year of his career. Everything is lining up for the former number one overall pick. He’s also 5 for 16 (.313) in his career against Eovaldi. He hasn’t homered off him. Yet. It’s coming, though. Here’s more on why Correa is such a difficult out.
