- Championship WBC game between Team USA and Venezuela goes tonight in Miami
- Aaron Judge most bet player to hit a home run, and most bet to hit 2+HRs
- Closer Mason Miller good to go for Team USA
A big piece of news on the World Baseball Classic championship game front (8 p.m. EST, Fox): All-Star closer Mason Miller, throwing over 100 mph in Team USA’s semifinal win over the Dominican Republic Sunday night, is available for tonight’s title game against Venezuela in Miami.
Miller Has Dominated
Miller pitched the final two innings in the win over the Dominican Republic, and has thrown 35 pitches during the WBC over 100 mph, securing two saves in the tournament.
Team USA’s Aaron Judge has talked about the WBC being bigger in emotional impact than the World Series, and that may be true, looking at the crowd pandemonium for those games in Miami, especially, but Miller and most of these players are still under contract with MLB teams and have to report back to their teams after tonight.
Miller has had 10 strikeouts in four innings of work. Nolan McLean, a 24-year-old rookie pitcher who plays for the New York Mets, starts tonight for Team USA.
Betting Lines for Tonight
According to BetMGM, most bet players to hit a home run (tickets) are Aaron Judge +220, Kyle Schwarber +220, Ronald Acuna Jr. +450, Bryce Harper +375 and Bobby Witt Jr. +500. Most bet players to hit 2+ home runs (tickets) are Judge +2000, Acuna Jr. +6000, Schwarber +2200, Eugenio Suarez +8000, and Harper +4000.
Team USA is -250 on the BetMGM ML, with Venezuela at +200 (41% bets, 52% handle), with the spread Venezuela +1.5 (+105), Team USA -1.5 (-125, 71% bets, 80% handle). The O/U there is 9 (+100 on the Over, -120 on the Under).
It’s an interesting time for a Team USA-Venezuela sporting event, with political overtones, after the U.S. administration captured Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid in January. A win tonight by the Americans would be their first WBC title since 2017. Venezuela, headed by All-Stars Ronald Acuña Jr., Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez, seeks it first championship in the sixth edition of an event that launched in 2006.
Acuna Jr. Leads Venezuela
At theScore, Team USA is -250 on the ML, with Venezuela at +210, with the spread Venezuela +1.5 (Even), Team USA -1.5 (-120). The O/U there is 8.5 (-125 on the Over, +105 on the Under).
As of this afternoon, 65.3% of bets, 44.4% of handle were on USA ML, 34.7% of bets, 55.6% of handle were on Venezuela ML, and 60.8% of bets, 59.6% of handle are on Under 8.5.
Just 4.3% of all bets and 4.9% of all handle are on Venezuela to win the WBC. Venezuela opened at +1500 and entered the tournament at +1200, the fourth best odds, though significantly behind the top three of the U.S., Dominican Republic (+400 open/+350 to start tourney) and Japan (+325 open/ +425 at start of tournament).
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