Hurry up…we’ve got a plane to catch!
With Wednesday afternoon’s scheduled meeting between the Oakland A’s and Boston Red Sox representing a classic “getaway” spot on the schedule, this is a great time to talk about how sharps (professional bettors) handle this betting opportunity.
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Sharps noticed long ago that weekday afternoon or Sunday afternoon games where BOTH teams are about to head to the airport tended to skew Under their market Over/Unders. Nothing works all the time in baseball handicapping. If a starting pitcher doesn’t have his stuff, fans could still be treated to a scoreboard fireworks show. Same thing if the wind is blowing out (particularly in good hitting parks).
But generally speaking, these games are lower scoring. Among several reasons…
- Offenses are often less potent because managers commonly rest star hitters in a “day-game-after-a-night-game” scenario to help them manage fatigue rigors.
- Offenses are often bleary eyed in a glaring sun, especially if the prior night’s game lasted deep into the evening.
- Offenses are less patient, swinging too aggressively rather than building runs with sequential hits.
- Umpires have a plane to catch too. Home plate umpires area known to enlarge the strike zone in later innings to help move things along.
- Depending on a game’s starting time, shadows across the infield may also help the pitchers miss opposing bats.
Can particular teams be favored by this situation. If sharps see that a certain roster is still producing in getaway games by patiently creating runs, smart money isn’t afraid to back them And, obviously, if one offense is resting key players while the other isn’t, that’s a likely bet.
Sharps will also look for teams to fade…betting against strikeout prone offenses, or also-rans in the second half of the season that are just going through the motions.
Neither the A’s nor Red Sox should be in the tank on the first day of May. But, either (or both) could be distracted before Oakland flies to Pittsburgh to continue a long Eastern swing, and before the Red Sox fly to Chicago to start a four-game series Thursday night against the White Sox.
Those teams may have a plane to catch, but we’re not going anywhere!