Back Rockies against Rangers in battle of below .500 teams, plus other best bets for Tuesday

Good afternoon gamblers, it's Chris Bengel back in the driver's seat with you. After all of that posturing, Kevin Durant is staying with the Brooklyn Nets for the foreseeable future after the two sides agreed to continue their partnership.

Back in June, Durant had originally asked the Nets to trade him. But the star forward has had a change of heart after weeks of drama. It'll be interesting to see if this blows up in the Nets' face or turns out to be a wise move in order to pursue an NBA title.

But enough about basketball. Let's dive into Tuesday's baseball picks!

All times Eastern, and all odds via Caesars Sportsbook

🔥 The Hot Ticket

Rangers at Rockies, 8:40 p.m. | TV: MLB.TV

Key Trend: The Rockies are 8-3 in their last 11 games against a starter with a WHIP greater than 1.30
The Pick: Rockies (-115)

We have a battle between two below .500 teams in interleague play on Tuesday. Still, it's a closely contested matchup where there is definitely some money to be made. Despite having the worse record, I'm confident in backing the Rockies at home.

The pitching matchup isn't exactly a pair of Cy Young candidates in German Marquez for the Rockies and Dane Dunning for the Rangers. However, Dunning has been brutal on the road this season and Coors Field will not help him. In 11 road starts this season, Dunning has put together a 0-5 record and a 5.08 ERA. Even in games in which he's only surrendered two or three runs, he's yielded his fair share of hits to the opposition.

Meanwhile, Marquez has really pitched well over the past month and change. In his three August starts, the right-hander has surrendered three runs or less in each of those outings while also lasting six innings in each contest. Marquez has also yielded two runs or less in five of his last seven starts, dating back to July 10. Oh, and despite being 17 games under .500, the Rockies are tied with Toronto for the highest batting average (.262) in all of baseball. Look for Colorado's offense to do enough to back another solid outing from Marquez.

💰 The Picks

⚾ MLB

Braves at Pirates, 7:05 p.m. | TV: MLB.TV

The Pick: Over 7.5 (-120): -- This is one of those situations where we need to take advantage of a low over/under. Realistically, this is a spot where the Braves could get us to the eight runs that we need by themselves. They rank second in the majors in home runs (187) and third in RBIs (574).

On the other hand, Pirates starter JT Brubaker is coming off a strong performance in which he didn't allow a run across seven innings in a win over the Red Sox. Still, Brubaker has a 4.66 ERA at home on the season and prior to his start against the Red Sox, he got shelled for seven earned runs on 12 hits in just 4 1/3 innings against the Phillies.

Despite having the second-worst batting average in all of baseball, the Pirates also have scored at least five runs in three of their past five games. While I'm expecting the Pirates' lineup to rack up a ton of runs against Braves starter Max Fried, they're certainly capable of scoring a few runs to help us get to the eight-run total that we need.

Key Trend: The over is 3-0-1 in the Braves' last four games with the total set at 7.0-8.5

Giants at Tigers, 7:10 p.m. | TV: MLB.TV
The Pick: Carlos Rodon Over 7.5 Strikeouts (-135) -- The Tigers have struggled all season as they currently have the third-worst record in the majors. Detroit also possesses the fourth-worst batting average while recording the sixth-most strikeouts. Considering all of that, attacking Giants starter Carlos Rodon's strikeout prop is definitely the way to go.

Rodon has allowed one run or less in three of his last four outings. In addition, he has recorded at least 10 strikeouts in three of his last five starts while also coming off of an 11-strikeout performance against the Diamondbacks in his last start. He should go deep into this game against a Tigers lineup that has been very stagnant for the most part. While eight strikeouts is a fairly large number, it's one that Rodon should be able to easily clear in this spot.

Key Trend: Rodon has registered at least 10 strikeouts in three of his last five starts