Major League Baseball Preview: Dodgers Primed for a Comeback, Blue Jays and A’s Expected to Excel offensively – Great

This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ PM Newsletter, the ultimate daily sports gambling guide. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday afternoon here.

All times Eastern | Game odds via SportsLine consensus

---

🔥 The Hot Ticket

Dodgers at Marlins, 6:40 p.m. | Watch live: MLB.tv

• The Pick: Dodgers (-147)
• Key trend: The Dodgers have won eight of their last 10 road games.

While dropping three of their last three games isn’t ideal, I’m still riding with the Dodgers here.

Of course, three of those losses came at the hands of the Braves, which is not particularly shameful. Despite those struggles, the Dodgers still are averaging 5.7 runs over their last 10 contests. Los Angeles has also scored at least seven runs in six of those games. That’s not exactly surprising for a lineup that has scored the second-most runs and slugged the second-most home runs in the majors this season. 

The Dodgers will be facing Marlins starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo on Tuesday. While Luzardo has allowed zero runs over his last two starts, I just don’t see that trend holding up against one of the best offenses in baseball. Prior to those two outings, Luzardo had surrendered a total of 16 runs in his other three starts during the month of August. One of the Luzardo’s biggest strengths comes in the strikeout department, but the Dodgers rank 18th in the strikeouts, so I’m not counting on many swing and misses in this spot.

Look for the Dodgers offense to continue to swing the bat well and get a much-needed road victory.

---

💰 More MLB picks

Blue Jays at Athletics, 9:40 p.m. | Watch live: MLB.tv

• The Pick: Over 8 (-111)
• Key trend: The under is 8-2 in the Blue Jays’ last 10 games.

The Blue Jays offense has been thriving in recent weeks. While the Athletics don’t exactly possess a similar lineup, the over is still very much in play in this spot.

It’s hard to find an offense around baseball that has been as productive as the Blue Jays lately. Toronto is averaging 6.5 runs over its last 10 games. The Blue Jays are coming off of a six-run performance against the A’s on Monday, which followed up a weekend in which they racked up 27 runs in three games against the Rockies. 

To make the matchup even more enticing, the A’s are sending starter Ken Waldichuk to the mound; he owns a 2-7 record and 5.92 ERA on the year. In addition, Waldichuk has surrendered five long balls over his last three starts. Considering that the Blue Jays possess quite a few power hitters in Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Matt Chapman, and George Springer, they should have no problem pushing runs across in this one.

While the A’s are one of the worst teams in baseball though, they’ve still been scoring runs at a decent pace recently. Oakland is averaging 4.8 runs over their last 10 games, including scoring at least nine runs on three occasions during that span. While the A’s don’t have a dynamic offense, they should be able to help get us to the over.

Brewers at Pirates, 6:35 p.m. | Watch live: MLB.tv

• The Pick: Brandon Woodruff Over 7.5 Strikeouts (-113)
• Key trend: Woodruff has recorded at least eight strikeouts in three of his last five starts.

The Brewers have been one of the league’s more consistent teams this season, and a great deal of that success can be contributed to the team’s pitching staff. In fact, Milwaukee has a 3.95 ERA on the year, which is good for the sixth-lowest in all of baseball. That’s why I have no problem backing Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff’s strikeouts prop in this spot.

Woodruff has been throwing the ball well as of late. The right-hander has tallied at least eight strikeouts in three of his last five outings. In fact, Woodruff has racked up 19 strikeouts in his last two starts alone. Woodruff returned to the mound last month after missing the bulk of the season with a shoulder injury. Since being back on the field, he’s lasted at least six innings in three of his five starts, so there’s a good chance that he can last through the majority of the game. It also doesn’t hurt that the Pirates rank 10th in strikeouts in the majors, so Woodruff should be able to record a great deal of swing and misses here.