Thursday was another long day in the Tuley’s Takes home office as we wrapped up our contributions to the VSiN College Football Betting Guide that’s coming out next week, while also continuing our battle with a sore throat from hell.
But, hey, the NyQuil knocked me out Wednesday night/Thursday morning and at least the pain went away, so hopefully the worst is behind us. I also felt a lot better after intermittently watching the Rangers’ shut out the Marlins 8-0 to easily win our Best Bet of the day as Jon Gray came through for us with six shutout innings and the offense and bullpen took care of the rest. Let’s recap the rest of the short Thursday card and then see if we can find another live dog on Friday (note: you’ll see below that we found the ONLY winning dog on Thursday, so it’s still slim pickings at times). Thursday’s recap MLB: Dodgers (-121) re-rallied to beat Giants 9-6 late Thursday as faves went 5-1 in return from the All-Star Break. The lone upset was by the Rangers (+ 117 in 8-0 rout at Marlins). Home teams 4-2, including Astros sweeping Yankees as -130 home faves in both games. Overs 4-2. More MLB: Faves lead 821-545 SU (60.1 percent) on the season with 23 games closing pick-'em (faves usually win around 59 percent, so still ahead of that pace, but gap has been narrowing). Home teams lead just 724-665 (52.1 percent, but usually closer to 54 percent). Unders lead 688-635-64 (52 percent). Friday’s Takes Mariners + 100 or better vs. Astros: It’s hard to tell if a team can keep the momentum from a winning streak before the All-Star Break (Seattle won their last 14 games before the break), but I’d have to think the team is still feeling good about itself, plus also probably pumped to reunite with rookie Julio Rodriguez after his breakout performance in the Home Run Derby. It all looks like positive signs to me, and we get even money with a team on a 14-game (albeit interrupted) winning streak. Astros are also in a letdown spot after sweeping Yankees yesterday and then having to travel. I’m not thrilled with a lot of dogs on Friday’s card, but I’m also going to play the Angels/Ohtani + 135 at the Braves. If this was closer to pick-’em, I would pass, but this looks like fair value and Ohtani should be ready after showing his priorities are in the right order by not pitching any innings in the All-Star Game. Good luck today (and every day!).