Teheran, who we have seen very little of in the past couple of years, looked sharp in his return allowing a single run over five innings in his first start of the season.  Manoah has not looked himself at all to date, and doesn't seem to be improving.  He has an ugly 6.45 ERA in May, averaging barely over four innings a start, with equal K's and BB's this month.  He has  been particularly bad at home.  The Blue Jays still haven't gelled as a team and are just 4-6 in their last 10 games. Both offense and relief pitching have been uneven. The Brewers, also 4-6, are as usual light-hitting, but aren't getting the pitching they usually have, including an average bullpen lately.  The Jays are a medium favorite, but I am just not confident that Manoah's troubles are over yet.  Look for a second strong outing from a voice from the past, and take the Brewers to at least keep this one close. Take Milwaukee +1 1/2.  9 stars!

A pair of strong young right handers face off in Houston tonight.  The Astros' Brown has been sharp lately, allowing just 3 runs over 13 innings in his last two appearances.  Varland has also been effective for the Twins, giving up 3 or less runs in his last three starts.  The two teams are similar on paper; first and second in runs-allowed this season, and both with middling offenses.  Houston, now 7-3, definitely has the hotter hand lately.  The Twins are sub-.500 on the road, have struggled in and against Houston, and are having difficulty producing runs lately, scoring three or less in six of nine games.  Both teams have very good relief pitching, and both starting pitchers have seen the total go under consistently in recent games.  With Houston a heavy favorite, the total is the best wager today.  Take the Twins and Astros to go under.

As predicted, the Brewers picked on one of the Jays' struggling starters yesterday.  Today, I expect pay-back from Toronto.  Peralta starts for Milwaukee, and his May results were very mixed.  Two of his last three starts were outright poor, including a 2+ inning 10 run debacle last time out.  He has struggled on the road this season as well.   The Brewers aren't getting the same level of relief pitching we have grown accustomed to, with an ERA approaching 5.00 in the last ten games.   Gausman has been super sharp in 9 of 11 starts.  I am banking on another fine one today.  The Jays' offense has been something of a disappointment this season, but their big bats look to be waking up, led by Bichette and Springer at the moment.  They are hitting right-handers at a muscular .327 pace in their last 10 games. The Brew Crew are as usual struggling to score runs.  Look for the Jays to take it to Milwaukee, especially early. 

Both teams can play defense but both can also produce plenty of points. Games at Denver average nearly 228 points. When the Heat played here during the season, the teams combined for 117 in the first half and 243 for the game. That O/U line was 224. Over is 7-3 when Miami played with 2 day's rest and the over is also 6-1 when Denver played with 3 or more day's rest. We'll also point out that 11 of 17 games have topped the total, when the Heat were coming off a double-digit victory. All of the above, go with the over to start June right.

The Guardians’ hot young pitcher Bibee has had a great start to his first year.  With a little run support in his last outing against the Cards, the 2 hits he allowed over 6 innings should have provided him a result but all he got was one run and no decision. Two games before that he only allowed 2 hits over 7.2 innings but still ended up with no decision as he was only supported with 1 run.   

The Guardians started off the season near the bottom of the majors in hitting but lately they have turned it around.  Since Bibee last pitched they have been averaging 6.5 runs and 12 hits per game.  This alone should put him over the top but combine it with a bullpen that has had a 1.31 ERA over the last 10 and a miniscule .47 over the last 5 and you have a recipe for success for the Guardians and Bibee.

Pitcher Lopez and the Twins might have something to say about this but their hitting has been in the bottom third of the majors for most of the season.  Lopez started out the season strong but has had mixed results as of late with 3 of his last 7 starts averaging more than one earned run against/inning.  Pick the underdog Guardians for a close win on the Money Line.

The Guardians’ Bibee and the Twins’ Lopez are two young pitchers with very solid results lately.  Since being called up April 26th star prospect Bibee has been meeting the high expectations the Guardians have had for him.  With a sparkling 2.88 ERA and an improving 1.08 WHIP he should have a more impressive win/loss record but he just can’t seem to get any run support from the light hitting Guardians.  In his last outing against the Cards he only allowed 2 hits but was only supported with one run and so he took the loss.  Lopez has racked up 81 SO and if you take out the one game against the powerful Dodgers his improving ERA in May would be 2.77.  Against the Guardians’ 29th best OPS in the majors, Lopez should lock things down well.  The Twins are also in the bottom third of the majors for average and OPS.

Both bullpens have been excellent lately.  In their last 10 Cleveland’s relievers have a 1.31 ERA and in their last 5 it is a miniscule .47.  The Twins bullpen has excelled lately too with a 2.23 ERA in their last 10.

All of the above, combined with the Guardians’ over/under in their last 10 being 2-8 and the Twins’ over/under being 3-7 in their last 10 (one game was over by .5), point clearly to a low scoring affair.  Go with the under to start June right.