Gallery Sports’ Betting Picks for April 26, 2023

After Dalton Brown got back on track with a 2-1 day Tuesday, he’s back with three more picks for Wednesday’s slate hoping to improve on a 40-36 record overall.

12:10 p.m. CT: New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins

The Pick: Yankees First 5 Innings +0.5 (-122) at FanDuel

The New York Yankees will look to avoid being swept in a Wednesday matinee at Target Field in Minneapolis. The Twins, who have struggled against New York for the better part of two decades, have clinched the season series against the Yanks for the first time since 2001. I expect New York to bounce back on Wednesday, largely because I believe in what Domingo German has accomplished so far in 2023. German dominated Minnesota on April 15, producing 11 strikeouts while pitching 6.1 innings of one-run ball en route to a win. The righty has yet to allow more than five hits in any one start and has walked just seven batters all season (five of which came in one outing). He appears to be a steadying force in a New York rotation that has needed just that so far in April. On the other side, New York’s hungry lineup will get its shot at an aging, struggling Kenta Maeda, who hasn’t looked quite right since returning from injury. Maeda isn’t walking anyone, but his contact profile leaves plenty to be desired, and his fastball velocity has ticked downward by two miles per hour since 2019. The righty also lasted just two innings in his last start at Boston before leaving with an injury, calling into question his health and longevity heading into Wednesday’s start. I give New York a small starting pitching advantage here, and their lineup has been a tick better than Minnesota’s against righties so far in 2023 as well. Domingo German has already shown what he’s capable of doing to this Twins lineup, and it is more than enough for me to take the half-run and back New York in the first five innings.

2:40 p.m. CT: Kansas City Royals at Arizona Diamondbacks

The Pick: Diamondbacks -1.5 (-118) at BetRivers

It’s Zac Gallen Day in Phoenix, Arizona, and I am excited to back the Diamondbacks ace as he takes on the struggling Kansas City Royals (5-18). Gallen enters Wednesday afternoon’s series finale having pitched 20.2 scoreless innings against the Padres, Marlins, and Brewers, all of whom have performed significantly better against righties than the dead-last ranked Royals in that split (57 wRC+, 10 full points behind 29th-place Washington). Gallen has yet to allow a run at Chase Field this season over 14 innings of work, either. His 2.58 ERA is impressive as is, but is backed up by an even more stellar 2.33 xERA. Given the circumstances, it would not be unreasonable to expect seven scoreless frames from Gallen on Wednesday – after all, that’s essentially what he’s given the Diamondbacks in each of his last three straight starts. Ryan Yarbrough will make his first start for Kansas City, although he’s steadily built up his workload – in his previous outing, he made 52 pitches over four innings at Anaheim. It would be a surprise for Kansas City to let him throw more than 65-70 pitches on Wednesday, leaving the Royals’ 29th-ranked bullpen (6.30 ERA) exposed for what will likely amount to at least half of the afternoon. Even so, that bullpen could be an improvement from what Kansas City’s seen from Yarbrough himself – the lefty has pitched to a 7.62 ERA (6.75 xERA) in 13 laborious innings so far this season. There are no guarantees in sports betting, and especially not in baseball – but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a game with more signals pointing toward one side than this one all season.

8:38 p.m. CT: Oakland Athletics at Anaheim Angels

The Pick: Angels -1.5 (-110) at Caesars

The Anaheim Angels will host the Oakland A’s for the third in a four-game set on Wednesday night from The Big A, and should comfortably take a 2-1 advantage in the series behind lefty Patrick Sandoval. Sandoval posted a 1.80 ERA against Oakland over 25 innings last season, going 2-0, and for his career holds a 1.84 ERA against the Athletics through nine starts. Sandoval has quietly developed into one of the better young left-handed pitchers in baseball and is undervalued in this matchup after facing a murderer’s row of lineups over his last three starts (Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Yankees). Sandoval has already pitched well against Oakland this season as well, tossing five innings of two-hit ball on April 1. He’s opposed by Luis Medina, a right-handed pitcher making his Major League debut for the Athletics. Medina’s minor-league numbers are not impressive – the righty has posted a 15-24 record with a 4.83 ERA over 94 starts, including eight walks over just 9.1 innings of work this season. Last year, Medina went 5-7 with a 5.24 ERA while pitching for two different Double-A clubs. There is no real indication that he’s ready for this opportunity, but the A’s are incredibly thin in their starting rotation and don’t have much of a choice. Anaheim’s offense is more than capable of making Medina’s first start miserable, so with Sandoval on the bump, I’m more than comfortable laying the run and a half. Did I mention that Oakland’s bullpen ranks dead last in baseball with a 7.03 ERA?