Handicapper Art Aronson of AAA Sports Plays Free Picks & Best Bets

This is a 10* on MILWAUKEE

The St. Louis Cardinals have won 10 straight games, putting them in position to make the playoffs as the NL’s second Wild Card. The race for this second Wild Card spot has been wide open all year long as it seems no team “wants it.” (Given that whomever gets the spot must face either the Dodgers or Giants on the road, it’s likely to be a “one and done” postseason venture). But the Cardinals are clearly the hot team right now. But looking at their season as a whole, the Redbirds haven’t really been all that impressive. Coming to Milwaukee and taking the first two games from the division-leading Brewers is impressive, but we see the win streak coming to an end tonight. Now with a four-game lead over the rest of the Wild Card chasers, we could see the Cards start to “let up” in the coming days. The Brewers are a great team, one that has allowed fewer runs than all teams besides the Giants and Dodgers. Today’s pitching matchup of Miles Mikolas vs. Brett Anderson seems like a wash on paper. But Mikolas has only started twice on the road this year and his ERA is 8.59. His WHIP is 2.05. Milwaukee has already clinched a playoff spot and would like to wrap the division up as soon as possible. If they win the next two games, then the pennant is theirs. We really like the fact that the Brewers are 38-18 after losing the first two games of a series. Play on MILWAUKEE

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This is an 8* on CHICAGO

The White Sox magic number to clinch the division remains at two after they lost and Cleveland won on Tuesday. At this point, it’s a formality that Chicago will win the AL Central, however they’d surely like to get things trending in a positive direction before the playoffs. It’s been a rough stretch of late for them, not just losing two straight to the Tigers but also losing five of their last seven games - all to what we’d dub “inferior competition.” In the eyes of many, the White Sox’ 36-39 road record will be a concern when the postseason arrives. But what is interesting about that sub-.500 mark is that the Sox have scored far more runs per game (4.7) than what they have allowed (4.1). So we think the record away from home should be much better than what it currently is. We’ll call for them to avoid the sweep this afternoon as the Tigers “can’t” keep winning. The current four-game win streak is tied for their second longest of the season. Only a seven-game run in mid-July was longer. Casey Mize is 0-3 vs. the White Sox in 2021. He’s now on a pitch count and hasn’t gone longer than three innings in any of his three September starts so far. The White Sox are 43-24 off a loss this year. Reynaldo Lopez is off his worst outing of the year but is hoping for a repeat of the last time he faced the Tigers (almost exactly one year ago) when his team ended up winning 14-0. Hopefully the weather cooperates because we LOVE this play! Play on CHICAGO

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