In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

Additional Model Predictions & Bonuses ⬇️

Sportsbook Offers & Bonuses- Click Here

There were no model predictions yesterday, August 18, 2024.

10 MLB games are scheduled to take place today. Our model’s predictions for all 10 matchups can be found below.

Tampa Bay Rays @ Oakland Athletics

Model Predicts- Rays ML, OVER 7.5, Athletics +1.5

The Tampa Bay Rays will begin a long 10-game road trip on Monday, with the first stop coming in Oakland, California to battle the Athletics.

The Rays begin their road trip with tons of momentum on their side, a result of sweeping the Diamondbacks over the weekend. Those wins brought Tampa Bay’s record back above the .500 mark for the season, and while Oakland sits well below. 500 at 53-71, the Athletics have done some good things recently as well, winning five of the last seven contests.

Our model shows some value on backing the Rays tonight, but it also expects this to be a high-scoring contest. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Tampa Bay Rays

• Enter today on three-game win streak

  • All three wins came vs Diamondbacks

  • Scored at least five runs in all three games and posted +7 run differential in series

• Offense appears to have emerged from slump

  • Last 3 games- 139 wRC+, .369 BABIP, .841 OPS, and 20.6% Strikeout rate

  • 12 games prior- 71 wRC+, .264 BABIP, .587 OPS, and 27.3% Strikeout rate

• Starting pitcher- Taj Bradley

  • Due for slight regression- 3.49 ERA vs 3.83 xERA

  • Vulnerable to barrel- 10.6% Barrel rate ranks in bottom 8% of MLB

Oakland Athletics

• Split weekend series vs Giants

  • Outscored Giants 2-0 in Game 1, but lost 4-2 in Game 2

  • Have now won five of last seven games

• Offense continues to be among MLBs best

  • Last seven games- Rank 8th in wRC+ (119), 5th in BABIP (.333), and 11th in OPS (.743)

  • Have hit 32 home runs and scored 112 runs in 26 games since All-Star break

• Starting pitcher- Joe Boyle

  • Due for positive regression- 7.39 ERA vs 4.87 xERA

  • Poor command (17.1% Walk rate), vulnerable to fly balls (33.7% Ground Ball rate)

What’s the Play?

Our model sees value on both the Rays money line and the over here, but we are going to back the over today’s best bet.

To most people’s surprise, the Athletics continue to be one of the more consistent hitting teams in the MLB during the second half of the season. Since the All-Star break the A’s own a 115 wRC+ and .746 OPS, ranking in the top-10 of the MLB in both categories. Unfortunately the team has been all over the place in the last seven games, scoring between 1 and 9 runs in that stretch, but they get a solid matchup today vs Taj Bradley, who has allowed four homers and 15 earned runs over his last three starts.

Additionally, Tampa Bay has turned things around offensively, and will face a pitcher in Joe Boyle that is only making his second start since May 5th, giving the rays another chance to stay hot.

Both offenses are in a position to roll here. As a result, we’ll be backing the over.

The Play: Over 7.5 (-110)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Tampa Bay Rays- 62-61 overall this season, 3-0 in last three games

• Minnesota Twins- 70-54 overall this season, 34-30 as the away team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Arizona Diamondbacks- Over is 68-51-6 this season, 31-27-4 as the away team

• Miami Marlins- Over is 44-17-2 this season as the home team, highest win percentage in the MLB (72.1%)

Run Line Trends ➕➖

• Cincinnati Reds- Run line is 69-55 this season, 29-15 as a road underdog

🤕 Ketel Marte aggravates ankle injury in loss to Rays. Arizona Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte aggravated his sprained left ankle during a check swing in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, requiring assistance to leave the field. Marte had just returned to play after a three-game absence and was used as a pinch hitter. Manager Torey Lovullo mentioned there were no new updates on Marte's condition, noting the team needs to reassess his recovery timeline, while the Diamondbacks are also managing injuries to other key players.

🔱 Mariners snap five-game losing streak with win over Pirates. George Kirby pitched six strong innings, allowing two runs and helping the Seattle Mariners end a five-game losing streak with a 10-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Kirby, who had struggled in his previous outing, bounced back by delivering five shutout innings and pitching with a determined mindset. The Mariners' offense supported him with key hits, including home runs from Cal Raleigh and Josh Rojas, while the Pirates' recent struggles continued as they lost their 13th game in 16 attempts.

Today’s trivia requires you to dig into multiple pockets of your brain, testing your knowledge of recent events as well as those that happened decades ago.

See how many of the below questions you can get correct. Answers are provided at the end of the newsletter.

Question #1- In Super Bowl XXIII, Joe Montana famously led the San Francisco 49ers to a game-winning touchdown drive against the Cincinnati Bengals. Which wide receiver caught the winning touchdown pass?

Question #2- Who is the only pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game in the World Series, and in which year did they achieve this feat?

Question #3- Which player has won the most NBA championships in their career, and how many championships did they win?

Anyone know what has happened on August 19th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On August 19th…

1921- Detroit Tigers star Ty Cobb becomes the fourth player in MLB history to reach 3,000 career hits. Cobb reached the milestone in a victory over the Boston Red Sox, becoming the youngest player to reach the mark and joining Cap Anson, Honus Wagner, and Nap Lajoie on the list. He would go on to finish his career with 4,189 hits, which ranks second all-time behind only Pete Rose.

1957- The New York Giants baseball team’s board of directors votes to relocate the team to the West Coast. The Giants would migrate across the country just one year later in 1958, taking a talented roster that included Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Juan Marichal to Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California. However, the move did not result in the Giants winning, with the team failing to win a World Series for its first 29 years in the Bay Area.

1995- Mike Tyson returns to the boxing ring for the first time after serving a three-year prison sentence. Tyson showed no rust in his first fight back, dropping Peter McNeeley with a right hook in the first 10 second of the bout. McNeeley would go down again after an uppercut from Tyson, forcing his trainer into the ring and ending the fight by disqualification after just 89 seconds.

1. John Taylor

2. Don Larsen (1956)

3. Bill Russell (11)