Three bets worth considering on a Wednesday night

Oakland Athletics at Baltimore Orioles
Oriole Park at Camden Yards – Baltimore, MD
6:35 PM ET
SuperBook Line: Baltimore -190

It’s early in the season, but one trend seems like it’s going to continue. The Orioles are one of the most-entertaining teams in all of baseball. They’re middling a bit at 6-5, but they’ve already played some doozy games, including a 12-8 win last night over the A’s.

Expect some more runs to be scored in this one. Both starting pitchers have double-digit ERAs.

Baltimore has Dean Kremer on the hill. The righty is 0-0 on the season, with a 10.13 ERA. In his last outing, he gave up four runs on five hits in 5.0 innings of work against the Yankees.

Oakland counters with Ken Waldichuk. The lefthander is 0-2 on the season, with a 14.54 ERA. He was shelled for eight runs on eight hits, in just 3.0 innings of work against the Rays in his last start.

The A’s might be the worst team in baseball. They’re 2-9 record certainly suggests so.

The Orioles won the first two games of this series in convincing fashion. Expect that to continue.

The juice could be worth the squeeze on the moneyline. But laying the run line makes some sense here, given that Baltimore has won four times by two runs or more this season.

Richard DeMala’s pick: Baltimore -1.5 (+105)

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Seattle Mariners at Chicago Cubs
Wrigley Field – Chicago, IL
2:209 PM ET
SuperBook Line: Even

This is a nice little early season pitching duel at Wrigley Field. Marcus Stroman is on the hill for the Cubs, while Logan Gilbert pitches for the Mariners.

Stroman has been extremely sharp so far this season. The righthander boasts a 2-0 record, hasn’t allowed a run and has racked up 14 strikeouts. He blanked both the Brewers and Rangers over six innings, giving up a total of just five hits across two games.

Both of those starts came at home, which bodes well for Chicago. Having their ace on the mound gives the Cubs a chance to stay hot. They’ve won four out of their last five, while being victorious the last six times Stroman has been on the mound, dating back to next year.

Meanwhile, the Mariners are on a three-game losing streak and are just 4-8 on the season. Gilbert was roughed up a bit in his last start, giving up three runs on six hits in 4.0 innings against the Guardians. He’s 0-1 on the season with a 3.60 ERA.

Ride the hot hand. Back the Cubs and Stroman at Wrigley Field.

Richard DeMala’s pick: Chicago M/L (-105)

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Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves
Truist Park – Atlanta, GA
7:20 PM ET
SuperBook Line: Atlanta -267

This is a great spot for the Braves, evidenced by the steep moneyline. Atlanta has won the first two games of the series, with a great chance to add another victory tonight.

Spencer Strider is on the hill for the Braves. Atlanta has won his last seven home starts.

The Reds counter with Hunter Greene. Cincinnati is 0-7 in his last seven road starts.

The first two games of the series have been tight. Atlanta squeaked out a 5-4 win in 10 innings on Monday, while racking up a 7-6 victory last night. Expect that trend to be broken in this one.

Greene is prone to surrender the long ball and has allowed 5 runs across his first 8 innings of the season. That doesn’t bode well against a team that has scored 58 runs in 12 games, the third-highest total in the National League thus far.

Take the Braves. And roll the run line.

Richard DeMala’s pick: Atlanta -1.5 (-125)

Perfect Parlay

Today’s best packaged deal

1. Toronto Raptors M/L (-215)
2. New Orleans Pelicans M/L (-215)

It’s hard not to like the two favorites in tonight’s play-in games, both of whom are in very similar spots. They’re 5.0- or 5.5-point favorites at home, looking to keep their seasons alive. If the Raptors win, they’ll face the Heat, while the Pelicans are trying to advance to take on the Timberwolves. This is a great combo.

Richard DeMala’s Two-Leg Parlay = +115

Around the Nation

Things we’ve learned this week

Everyone Suffers Occasional Brain Farts – The Lakers led 98-95 in Tuesday night’s play-in game, following Dennis Schroder’s three-pointer with just 1.1 seconds left to play. But they were forced to go to overtime in order to beat the Timberwolves, thanks to a lapse in judgment from Anthony Davis. The star center committed a silly foul on Mike Conley’s desperation three from the corner, allowing the point guard to tie the game up from the foul line. LeBron James joked about the blunder after the game.

The Saga Continue – It feels like Aaron Rodgers is already a Jet. It’s been more than a month since the quarterback emerged from his darkness retreat and announced to the football world that he wanted to play in New York next season. Everyone sort of turned the page at that point, expecting a deal to go down soon. But at this point, nothing has happened. And the Packers are playing things close to the vest, feeling no rush to oblige their disgruntled, mercurial quarterback.