MLB Best Bets of the Day: July 22, 2012

Look for Lynn to post some exciting numbers today.

After a less than stellar day yesterday we hope to put that pain behind us and move on.  We have some decent pitchers going today, and some, well, terrible ones… Jeremy Guthrie will be making his Kansas City Royals debut; Jordan Lyles will be looking to improve upon his 6.81 road ERA; Lance Lynn is going for his 12^th win; Philip Humber and the White Sox will be looking to regain the division lead.

Houston at Arizona 4:10 PM Lyles vs Collmenter

As mentioned, Jordan Lyles doesn’t perform well on the road and luckily for the Diamondbacks, they’ll be facing the righty and the putrid Astros offense at home today. Arizona hitters haven’t faced Lyles much, but when they have they’re hitting .524 with an OPS of 1.190 – Not a great sample size, but a little is better than nothing.

Look for Justin Upton, Gerardo Parra and Miguel Montero to have some run-producing at bats today.

Picks: Diamondbacks -1 ½ (Even) and Over 9 (-120)

Chicago Cubs at St. Louis 2:15 PM Wood vs Lynn

Since giving up five earned runs or more in three consecutive starts in June Lance Lynn has been dominant. Lynn is sporting a 0.69 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in July and has recorded 17 strikeouts in just 13 IP. Furthermore, current Cubs are hitting just .227 against the 25-year-old red bird.

If those numbers don’t get you excited about taking the Cardinals, take a look at these numbers – .429, 15, 2, and 4 – Those are the team average, hits, home runs, and RBI versus Travis Wood in just 35 at bats. The southpaw for the Cubs has pitched poorly of late, and he allowed eight earned runs to the Marlins the last time he took the mound.

Pick: Cardinals -1 ½ (Even)

Minnesota at Kansas City 2:10 PM Deduno vs Guthrie

Ladies and gentlemen, this is going to be a barnburner! A 29-year-old pitcher with two career starts and an ERA at 5.59 going against a pitcher who has an even higher ERA (6.35) leads me to believe that this one is going to be crazy and crazy early. Over the last seven days these two teams are averaging a combined 10.7 runs per game. On top of that, current Twins are hitting .288 against Guthrie and the red hot Joe Mauer leads the team with a .556 average and two home runs.

Use Joe Mauer in your daily fantasy baseball games and if you’re feeling really lucky, go ahead and parlay the Twins and the over.

Pick: Over 10 ½ (-110)

BONUS PICK: Rays -1 ½ (+105)

See below for all the day’s lines.