Well, that was a rather unfulfilling night on the diamond! We had a sweat-free win backing the over in Chicago, a disappointing loss from the Brewers, and a void due to Griffin Canning being pulled from his start against the Braves. Add it all up and we're back to square one.
Let's take a look at a couple plays that stand out on Tuesday night as we look to get things moving in the right direction.
Rays (-110) @ Yankees (-110)
The Rays slowly appear to be turning a corner. They've won three of the past four and four of six overall, which is a decent feat considering they've had series against the Marlins and Astros in that span.
The offense has come alive, with the Rays scoring at least four runs in five of those games. That's a big step up from what we've seen over the past month and change.
I think they're in a great spot to keep it going Tuesday night against Carlos Rodon and the Yankees. The Rays own a 13-5 record versus left-handed starters this season, and Rodon hasn't pitched anywhere close to expectation since returning to the rotation.
Rodon has conceded 13 earned runs through just four starts while posting some truly miserable underlying metrics. Nearly 47% of his pitches not put in play have been called balls, and his xwOBA of .357 is alarmingly high.
If not for some very good batted ball luck - opponents are hitting .207 on balls put in play - Rodon's counting numbers would look even worse.
The Rays should be able to get to him relatively early and plate a few runs. If they can do that, they have a great chance of leading through five.
Even with Aaron Judge back in the mix, the Yankees' offense is very exploitable. They've plated three runs or fewer in three of four games since he rejoined the lineup.
New York is likely heading for another tough outing against Zach Eflin. Among projected starters, only Spencer Strider owns a higher strike rate over the last month. Eflin consistently finds the strike zone and keeps the ball down, owning a 50% ground ball rate in that span.
I expect he'll neutralize the Yankees' offense in the first half and help the Rays grind out a lead through five.
Bet: Rays F5 moneyline (-110)
Johan Oviedo under 5.5 strikeouts
Oviedo isn't exactly a strikeout artist. The 25-year-old righty recorded six or more strikeouts in just seven of 21 starts this season, a porous 33% success rate.
He's had a couple of ceiling games of late, but there are still a lot of red flags in his profile. He has walked nearly 11% of batters over the last month and owns a .367 xwOBA in that span, worse than all but Zack Greinke among those projected to start today.
That's not a great recipe for strikeouts, even against the Tigers. They don't have a great reputation at the plate, but they've been a lot stingier on pitchers of late.
Detroit faced 16 righties since the beginning of June, only five of whom managed to go over their strikeout line.
High-end arms like Joe Musgrove, George Kirby, Luis Castillo, and Kevin Gausman are a few of the many who haven't been able to get the job done.
Given some of the concerning trends we're seeing from Oviedo, and with the Tigers stiffening up at the dish, I expect he'll run into the same problems.
Odds: -110 (playable to -125)
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.
