Load up on these pitchers to deliver the K's

Two-for-three again on Dinger Tuesday! We sure hope some of you are taking these straight, as that is always the more responsible approach to long-term betting. This writer has been tossing his coffee money on parlaying them and is forced to pass on an afternoon Starbucks run today because of it. While Wednesday's MLB highlight bet here is structured as a parlay, know that you can use this info however you see fit. We've got three pitchers that feel primed to rack up the strikeouts. Here's how we're approaching it.

Shane McClanahan 6+ Ks, Zac Gallen 5+ Ks, Andrew Heaney 6+ Ks (+124 FD)

We've got our eyes on three pitchers today. We begin our bets by loading up an alternate line on their strikeouts, one lower than the set line on most books.

The first ace to toe the rubber tonight is Shane McClanahan of Tampa Bay. The Rays will be facing the Angels, a team that has struck out at the sixth-highest rate against LHP on the year. McClanahan has reached 6+ strikeouts in 19 of his 23 starts this year, which includes an 11-K gem against the Angels back in May. Los Angeles has struggled getting on base against lefties, which gives us the belief that McClanahan can pitch deep into the game. It also gives us plenty of time for him to flex his elite swinging strike rate. McClanahan has gone for 7+ Ks in 18 of 23 starts this year, if you'd prefer to take his over 6.5 (which we'll get to in a moment).

Zac Gallen will be the next to get going when the Diamondbacks visit the Royals tonight at 8:10 p.m. ET. Bringing Gallen down to this 5+ strikeout mark makes him look like quite the enticing option, as he's reached that total in eight straight games. Gallen is fresh off his best strikeout performance of the year, fanning 12 Giants just six days ago. Kansas City is striking out at the sixth-highest rate against RHP over the past 30 days, and this is another example of a team ranking well in the bottom-half of hitting success against righties. We're confident Gallen can give us six-plus innings, and with him averaging 1.0 Ks/inning, that would be all we need. Gallen's line is set at 5.5, which he has gone over in three straight and five of his last eight.

Andrew Heaney of the Dodgers brings up the rear in this trio, and we're opting to bring him down a number, although that does nothing for his season hit-rate. Heaney has made just eight starts this year and has been on a limit for pitches, not yet reaching 90 thrown. The Los Angeles lefty has been one of the best strikeout pitchers of the year when he's on the mound. His 1.48 Ks/inning rank in the 98th percentile and his swinging strike rate is in the 93rd percentile. The translation there: Heaney is a pure strikeout pitcher making people miss with regularity. Heaney and the Dodgers will face Milwaukee tonight. The Brewers have not been able to figure out LHPs this year. Their strikeout rate is second-highest and their wRC+ is second-to-last, meaning their hitting isn't there. Heaney just saw the Brewers, striking out 10 in the process. He's piled up 7+ Ks in four of eight. This is a bet on two things, the first of which is building off what he just showed us last week against this team. It's been a popular sentiment for our targets, but the fact Milwaukee has had such difficulties getting on base against lefties raises our confidence level that even on a pitch-count, Heaney delivers us six-plus innings tonight.

Those are our three strikeout targets today. You can join us on the above play, or you could take their standard over/unders. Our approach is to wager 1 unit on the above play, and .5u on their listed totals. The best odds for that secondary play is on DraftKings.

.5u: McClanahan over 6.5 Ks, Gallen over 5.5 Ks, Heaney over 6.5 Ks (+427 DK)

In the news ...

Postseason golf continues with Tour Championship tomorrow —The FedExCup playoffs come to a close this weekend with the Tour Championship. The event is a bit different than your typical PGA Tour weekend. Players gain strokes before the tournament tees off based on their place in the FedExCup standings. For example, the No. 1 player in the standings, Scottie Scheffler, will begin the weekend 10 strokes up. Second place is awarded eight strokes, third place seven strokes and so on. Thanks to the big edge, Scheffler is the betting favorite to win with starting strokes at +225. Patrick Cantlay is behind him in both the standings and the betting board at +300 to win. 

Kevin Durant staying put — Well, that was fun. After requesting a trade and then requesting the Nets fire their coach and GM, the game of chicken has ended. Brooklyn appears to either have called KD's bluff or found a way to mediate the situation. The two sides are moving forward together for the upcoming NBA season, and after some people were able to grab the Nets at 50-1 to win the title, their odds are back to +700.

Keeping tabs on Jimmy Garoppolo — Garoppolo, currently still on the San Francisco 49ers, is a perfectly cromulent starting quarterback. It's been clear that his future is not with the Niners, and it's only a matter of time before he swaps teams. Reports have emerged that San Francisco is worried that if they release him he will sign with division rival Seattle. That's a fair concern from our point of view. Man, do the Seahawks need a QB. This feels like the next NFL domino to fall. It's only a matter of time. A shift to a team like Seattle could grab our attention for a player like DK Metcalf to go over his receiving yards, a line a bit deflated with the lack of a quality arm throwing to him.

Today's Bark Bets is written by Griffin Carroll