The Daily Sweat: The MLB playoffs are here, with 4 wild-card matchups
The MLB playoffs are finally here.
It took until the final day of the 162-game regular season for the postseason bracket to be finalized, setting up four wild-card series that all begin Tuesday.
The day’s action begins with the two American League matchups: the Texas Rangers vs. the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays vs. the Minnesota Twins.
The Rangers had a whirlwind regular season. They were the front-runners in the AL West most of the way before a few brutal stretches in the second half. However, they were able to rebound and finish with a 90-72 record, two games ahead of the Seattle Mariners and tied with the defending World Series champion Houston Astros.
Because the Astros went 9-4 vs. the Rangers during the season, the Astros held the tiebreaker and won the division, sending the Rangers to the best-of-three wild-card round to face the Rays. The Rays, at 99-63, have the fourth-best record in baseball but couldn’t chase down the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East.
For Game 1 of the Rangers-Rays series, the Rays have Tyler Glasnow on the mound and are -150 home favorites at BetMGM. The Rangers will counter with Jordan Montgomery.
For Game 1 of the Blue Jays vs. Twins series, it’s a pretty even matchup, with the Twins listed at -115 and the Blue Jays at -105. The Blue Jays finished third in the AL East but earned the last wild-card spot by finishing a game ahead of the Mariners. The Twins, meanwhile, comfortably won the AL Central.
In the National League, the NL Central-winning Milwaukee Brewers will host the Arizona Diamondbacks while the Philadelphia Phillies host the Miami Marlins. The Brewers, who will have 2021 Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes on the mound, are -185 favorites at BetMGM. The Diamondbacks will go with rookie Brandon Pfaadt, who has just a 5.72 ERA on the year.
In the nightcap, the Phillies — the defending National League champions — will send out ace Zack Wheeler opposite Marlins lefty Jesus Luzardo. The Phillies are -165 favorites at BetMGM.
A beautiful stretch of football ahead
Other than the MLB postseason, there’s not much going on in the sports world Tuesday. The WNBA Finals don’t begin until Sunday, the NHL season starts next week, and the NBA season doesn’t begin until later this month.
There’s no football Tuesday, but it’s the last day for quite some time that we can say that. Starting Wednesday, there will be 50 consecutive days with either college or NFL football. That'll go all the way through Nov. 22.
That streak is in large part thanks to mid-week college football. MAC games being played on weeknights is nothing new, but now Conference USA is getting involved. There will be two C-USA games Wednesday and two more games Thursday.
On Wednesday, Middle Tennessee is a 3.5-point home favorite over Jacksonville State, while New Mexico State is favored by 6.5 points at home over Florida International. On Thursday, Liberty is an 18.5-point home favorite over Sam Houston State, and Western Kentucky is favored by 5.5 points on the road over Louisiana Tech.
What’s the best bet?
I’m going to take the Blue Jays at -105 in Game 1 of their series with the Twins.
Even though it’s on the road, I like the Blue Jays having Kevin Gausman on the mound. The Blue Jays also have the better bullpen and a really deep lineup. The Twins have been dealing with some injuries and faced weaker competition in the AL Central for much of the season.
