Jon Jansen 
A trio of doubleheaders highlight today’s Major League Baseball slate. Add in a couple of great starting pitching matchups and you have an intriguing 9/14 MLB slate of games. No matter if you’re watching these games intently or in the background as you watch Monday Night Football, let’s pick some winners for tonight’s games!
Have to give my guy Jason Mezrahi some credit for this one. Because of how new the 7-inning doubleheaders are, I’ve never looked deep into ways to handicap these games any differently. However, Jason brought to my attention the first three inning bets and I’ve liked this play so far. The Cardinals are throwing out Kwang-Hyun Kim on the mound who has been nothing but spectacular so far this season. Kim has not allowed an earned run in his last three starts. Now I will admit, there is a concern here because the Brewers have hit left-handed pitchers well this season. Of the starts that Kim has had, he has faced teams like the Pirates, Reds and Cubs. The Cubs are 24th in wOBA against LHP, Reds are 23rd and the Pirates are 16th. Brewers are 7th. One thing I’m counting on here is for the Brewers to start sluggish after they were no-hit last night and for the Cardinals to get after the 6.06 ERA and 1.44 WHIP Josh Lindbolm. Kim might not win the game, but with the way he has pitched, I think you can rely on him for a good clean three innings.
Despite the starting rotation concerns, the Braves have been on a roll since their 29 run output against the Marlins September 9. Braves are the best team in baseball against right-handed pitching. Now this is a less than stellar pitching matchup with Touki Toussaint and Jorge Lopez, who both have ERAs over 6. Now if you don’t trust Toussaint, that’s completely fair, but this more falls on the shortcomings of the Orioles. Their last four games the Orioles have only score three runs and no more than one run in each of those games. The Braves are hot and even Kyle Wright was able to secure a victory over Max Scherzer and the Nationals yesterday. The Braves are red-hot right now and their success against RHP, first in wOBA and second in wRC+, leads me to believe they get on the board early against Lopez. If you want, the full-game ML is a good play, but it depends on if you’re willing to pay the price (-175 ML at DraftKings Sportsbook).
Thanks so much for reading my article MLB Betting: 9/14 MLB Slate. You can follow me on twitter @jjansen34 and Win Daily @WinDailySports. Check out more MLB and sports betting articles at Win Daily Sports.
