Phil Naessens 
Welcome to Cash with Flash Best Bets Wednesday MLB afternoon Betting Column. We’re excited to be here and we’ll try and write in this space as often as time allows.
We’re sure you are wondering what an “NBA Guy” is doing writing an MLB betting column here at Win Daily?
That’s a very good question and since you asked, you can rest assured that Cash with Flash Best Bets knows exactly what we are doing. In order to arrive at our MLB conclusions, we’ll be using the principles found in Betting Baseball 101
The most important thing to remember when betting on MLB baseball is finding underdogs as it takes a 52.4 percent success rate at -110 just to break even. This column will offer a mixture of mid to short favorites (-110 to -160) as well as underdogs at +200 and below.
We’re also looking at F5 inning wagers in order to eliminate bullpens and the church league softball extra-inning and doubleheader rules MLB has thrust upon us.
Wednesday’s MLB Best Bets!
Unless otherwise indicated, all wagers are First Five Innings Wagers (F5).
Baltimore Orioles vs Minnesota Twins 1:10pm EST
Game three of this three game series concludes today and the Orioles are looking to avoid a sweep when they visit the Twins this afternoon.
Baltimore has listed Jorge Lopez (1-5, 6.00) as their probable starter. Lopez has allowed six earned runs over his last seven innings pitched but has a dozen strikeouts over those same seven innings. He faces a Twins lineup with a 22.5 percent strikeout rate alongside a .317 wOBA and .175 ISO against righties this season.
Minnesota is expecting righty Michael Pineda to start this ballgame. Pineda has allowed five earned runs over his past 11.1 innings pitched with 12 strikeouts over that same span. He faces a Baltimore offense with a 24 percent strikeout rate, .282 wOBA and .139 ISO. Pineda hasn’t pitched since May 13 making him difficult to back this afternoon.
Cash with Flash: Baltimore +159
St Louis Cardinals vs Chicago White Sox 2:10pm EST
Game three of their season series commences this afternoon. St Louis is looking for a win after losing the first two games of this series.
Righty John Gant (3-3, 2.04) takes the ball against Chicago and he’s allowed two earned runs with seven strikeouts over his past 10.1 innings pitched. He faces a White Sox offense with a 23.3 percent strikeout rate along with a .139 ISO and .320 wOBA against right-handed pitching.
Lefty Carlos Rodon (5-1, 1.27) takes the bump for the pale hose and he’s allowed four earned runs with 18 strikeouts over his last 11.2 innings pitched. He’ll try to tame Cardinals bats with a 18.3 percent strikeout rate, .184 ISO alongside a .344 wOBA against southpaws this season.
Cash with Flash: Under 4.5 runs
Chicago Cubs vs Pittsburgh Pirates 6:35pm EST
Game Two of their three-game scheduled series takes place in the early evening hours and Pittsburgh will look to even this series after suffering a 4-3 loss last night.
Righty Trevor Williams (2-2, 5.97) is the Cubs probable starter and has allowed five earned runs over his last 6.2 innings of work with seven strikeouts over those same 6.2 innings. The Pirates wiff roughly 22.7 percent of their at bats against righties with a .288 wOBA alongside a .108 ISO.
Righty Wil Crowe (0-2, 4.91) takes the bump for Pittsburgh and has allowed seven earned runs alongside a dozen punchouts over his previous ten innings. He faces a Cubs offense with a 25.2 percent strikeout rate, .139 ISO and .309 ISO this season against right-handed pitching.
Cash with Flash: Cubs -140
Good luck today!
