Tonight, Pittsburgh sends its ace, Gerrit Cole (13-3, 2.30 ERA), to the mound as a -117 favorite against Jason Vargas (5-2, 4.10) with a total set at 7 (OVER -115). Cole has won eight of his last 10 starts and the Pirates have gone 14-4 behind him this season. With a win tonight, he could become the first pitcher since 1971 (Dock Ellis) to win 14 for Pittsburgh before August.
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Cole has been great everywhere in 2015, but he seems to get tougher on the road. He’s 6-2 with a 1.82 ERA with the Pirates winning seven of his nine starts away from PNC Park. He also has been stellar against the AL over his young career, going 6-0 in eight starts.
Vargas hasn’t pitched since a June 8 win at Minnesota. But he had perhaps his best outing of the season with six scoreless innings before being sidelined for the past six weeks with a strained left flexor muscle. Prior to the injury, Vargas had allowed two or fewer runs in four straight starts. In a rehab stint at Double-A Northwest Arkansas on July 13, he picked up the win, allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings of work.
The price looks rather cheap with baseball’s winningest pitcher going against a guy coming off an injury, so we’ll side with the Pirates to win their fifth straight against Kansas City.
Tuesday MLB betting picks
Orioles/Yankees UNDER 8.5 (-120) 7:05 pm ET Mets/Nationals UNDER 7 (-125) 7:05 pm ET Red Sox/Astros OVER 8.5 (-105) 8:10 pm ET Pirates (Cole) -117 at Royals (Vargas) 8:10 pm ET Cardinals (Wacha) -125 at White Sox (Rodon) 8:10 pm ET
