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MLB plays of the day: Maeda undervalued vs. Brewers

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MLB was chock-full of bad pitching Tuesday, with more than half the teams in action plating six runs or more. Wednesday's slate features plenty of high totals - including one between two of this year's most disappointing arms. Here are our best bets for the day.

Chicago White Sox (-115) at Detroit Tigers (-105)

Starting pitchers: Dylan Cease (2-1, 4.05 ERA) vs. Matthew Boyd (0-1, 9.20 ERA)

If you like pitchers who get hit hard and can't strike anybody out, you'll love this matchup. Both starters have been among the biggest letdowns of 2020. Boyd has been especially dreadful, posting the second-worst ERA of any qualified starter along with the fourth-worst soft-contact rate (7.8%) and underwhelming strikeout totals (7.98 per nine innings).

Cease's soft-contact rate (7.3%) has been even worse than Boyd's, and he's striking out fewer batters - which is a problem when he's giving up so many line drives per batted ball. His swinging strike rate (8.1%) and first-pitch strike percentage (48.3%) are both among the worst in MLB, so his awful expected ERA (6.67) is no surprise. Not only is Cease falling behind in the count, but he can't miss bats when he does.

The White Sox pounced on Tigers starter Tyler Alexander for five runs in the first four innings Tuesday, and they should have no trouble getting to Boyd on Wednesday. The same goes for Detroit's bats versus Cease. Enjoy the fireworks.

Pick: Over 9 (-110)

Minnesota Twins (-140) at Milwaukee Brewers (+120)

Starting pitchers: Kenta Maeda (2-0, 2.65 ERA) vs. Eric Lauer (0-1, 9.53 ERA)

Maeda is one of the most underappreciated pitchers in the majors. Fifteen of his 17 innings this year have been scoreless, and his 0.65 WHIP is fourth-best among qualified starters. His fastball is the most valuable in baseball on a per-pitch basis, according to FanGraphs, while his slider and changeup are unhittable when he's cooking.

He's been impressive so far in 2020, touting an elite swinging strike rate (14.2%) and first-pitch strike percentage (66.1%) in his first full run as a regular starter. He should have his way with a Brewers lineup that's been dreadful against fastballs and currently owns a bottom-five punchout rate (28%).

Milwaukee will counter Maeda with Lauer, who was chased after three innings in his first start last week. He won't stand a chance against the Twins' bats, which should provide plenty of run support to keep Maeda's perfect record intact.

Pick: Twins (-140)

(Odds source: theScore Bet)

C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.

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