MLB Dinger Tuesday: Braves' Marcell Ozuna is on a roll

Well, how about that for a start to the week? Jose Altuve hit for the cycle, Garrett Cooper went 3-5 and Christian Yelich went 2-5. It almost makes us opting for just one hit each feel wrong in some way, which it of course was not. We may as well continue backing some bats: it is Tuesday after all.

Dinger picks for this fine Tuesday

You know us, we tend to opt for the games with the highest expected boosts to homers, and two are projected to see a massive jump in the long ball.

Angels at Phillies

Philadelphia seems to have a perfect blend of humidity and barometric pressure today, resulting in a 31% expected boost in HRs. Say no more. This seems like an ideal game to take advantage of the Dinger Tuesday promo that awards us free bets for each homer hit: both offenses rank above average for HRs/game.

Bryce Harper (+430 FanDuel)

Harper knocked a homer yesterday, his fourth HR in his past seven games. The Phillies' slugger has been steady at the plate lately, currently riding a seven-game hitting streak that includes 13 hits and 28 total bases.

That's a hot bat we can follow. Harper is made even more enticing when you check his history against Angels starter Tyler Anderson. In nine plate appearances against Anderson, Harper has two homers and two doubles. If you're looking for a safer bet at plus-money, Harper's total bases line is set at just 1.5 (+110). 

Harper has loved hitting HRs against Los Angeles, with four in his past four meetings with the Angels.

Braves at Rockies

The Colorado heat is aiding a 26% boost to homers, a 27% boost to extra-base hits and a 29% projected increase in runs scored. There should be plenty of fireworks at the plate, and we'll gladly back any game that has the Braves playing; no team has hit more HRs than Atlanta this season.

Marcell Ozuna (+290 FD)

Similarly to Harper above, Ozuna is rolling at the plate, knocking a hit in seven straight games. In that stretch, Ozuna has tallied 13 hits and 31 total bases. He's blasted five homers during this hitting streak, and today seems as good as any to keep it rolling.

Ozuna has seen Colorado starter Peter Lambert four times and has a HR against him in that small sample size.

In the news ...

Cardinals release expected starting QB Colt McCoy — Hmmm, the expectation all summer has been that Colt McCoy would start the year for the Cardinals while Kyler Murray recovers from a torn ACL. Not so fast. Arizona has released McCoy and placed Murray on the physically unable to perform list, which means either newly acquired Josh Dobbs or rookie Clayton Tune will be Arizona's starting quarterback to begin the season. This Cardinals team is going to be bad this year, like, bad-bad. Their win total is set at just 3.5 games, but the better market feels like Arizona to have the fewest wins in the league this season at +220 on DK.

Conference realignment continues with ACC considering adding three schools — While the big schools flocking to the SEC and Big Ten garners the immediate attention, it also forces the schools being left behind to figure out their own futures, and fast. Three such schools are nearing a deal to join the ACC: Cal, Stanford and SMU. SMU is so desperate to join a Power 5 conference that they're willing to forgo all broadcast money for nearly a decade just to get in. Side note: If Cal and Stanford join the conference, surely we'll need a new name for the Atlantic Coast Conference, no? As for this year's version of ACC football, Clemson is the +145 favorite to win the conference, followed by Florida State at +155. No. 8 Florida State has the biggest game of the young season this coming Saturday when they host No. 5 LSU. LSU is favored by 2.5 points.

Today's Bark Bets is written by Griffin Carroll