MLB Tuesday review: Nearly a no-hitter for Giants

bet365 News Team Updated: Aug 30 2023 20:34 Published: Aug 30 2023 15:00

With the MLB playoffs just over a month away, every series matters that much more and there were several matchups between potential Wild Card teams on Tuesday.

The San Francisco Giants and the Cincinnati Reds continued their series, while the Milwaukee Brewers saw their winning run halted at nine games by the Chicago Cubs.

Reds ruin a no-hitter

Two of the potential National League Wild Card teams are the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants, who continued their series by the Bay on Tuesday night.

It’s been smooth sailing for the Giants, as they’ve allowed just a single run in each of the first two games of the series.

It was nearly much more impressive last night. That’s because San Francisco starter Alex Cobb was just a single out away from a no-hitter.

It would have been fitting for Cincinnati phenom Elly De La Cruz to ruin it, but it was actually Spencer Steer, who leads the Reds in hits.

Cincy even put a run on the board, but the Giants were still able to comfortably come away with the 6-1 win and sneak into the third Wild Card spot in the NL, while the Reds are now two games back.

With the result the Giants are -130 to make the playoffs, while the Reds have odds of +250 to do the same.

Brewers streak ends

One of the primary reasons that the Reds are so focused on a Wild Card spot and have decently long odds to make the postseason is because of the Milwaukee Brewers.

They have been gatekeeping the NL Central's top spot after winning nine straight games heading into last night’s contest against the Chicago Cubs.

It had been quite a battle between the Brewers, Reds and Chicago Cubs in the division, but Milwaukee has created a comfortable cushion.

However, the guys in the Windy City aren’t going down without a fight, as they snapped the Brewers nine-game winning streak.

They were able to do so against Milwaukee ace Corbin Burnes, so seeing the low-scoring 1-0 isn’t as surprising.

Neither is the fact that it was Cody Bellinger who drove in the game’s only run, as he has the most RBI since the All-Star Game with 47.

Dodgers roll Diamondbacks

Entering each season, it feels as though the script for the NL West is a foregone conclusion.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will dominate, with the San Diego Padres out to contend and give them a run for their money.

However, this season, it was the Arizona Diamondbacks who filled the Padres’ role, and were even winning the NL West during the first half of the season.

Despite that, we’ve regressed to the mean, with the Dodgers now having a 13.5-game lead in the division after crushing Arizona 9-1 last night.

Their surge since the All-Star break can be attributed to Mookie Betts, who has made huge strides in the MVP market and is now +110 to win it.

That only solidified itself with yet another home run last night, and his 36 are the fourth-most in the National League.

The loss now has the Diamondbacks at +120 odds to make the playoffs.