Three underdogs are Monday night best bets, including Blue Jays in the Bronx.
What a fantastic opening weekend of Major League Baseball! The Texas Rangers currently lead the league in runs scored, the Twins lead the league in home runs and the Mets lead the league in OBP.
The Dodgers are 1-2 and the Cubs are tied with the Cardinals atop the NL Central at 2-1.
Just like we drew it up, right?
Baseball is a long season, and everyone experiences some lucky bounces along the way. We had a strong start to our opening day bets, going 6-1. Five of our six wins paid plus money.
Let’s see if we can keep it rolling for overreaction Monday!
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Toronto Blue Jays (+105) vs. New York Yankees (-125)
Both teams sit at 2-1, but the Jays were more dominant in their wins this weekend. Toronto leads the league in slugging (.545) with 20 runs scored (second) and seven home runs (third). Sure, they were facing the Texas Rangers, but it’s not like the Yankees had it any tougher. The Boston Red Sox rotation isn’t exactly dominant. The Yankees looked good vs. the Red Sox, slugging .412 with 13 runs scored and five home runs. Alex Manoah gets the start for the Jays, and he has a 21.2 K rate and a .232 expected slugging vs. the Yankees. The Yankees will go to the mound with Jameson Taillon, who has a 13.5% K rate vs. this Jays club with a .509 expected slugging. I’ll take plus money on the Jays even though they are in the Bronx.
The Pick: Jays +105
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San Diego Padres (+130) vs. San Francisco Giants (-154)
I am surprised to see the Giants so heavily favored here, so I am jumping all over the Padres. There is an unknown with the Padres pitching, as Nick Martinez will be slotted in for Mike Clevinger, but he has a four-pitch mix and the Giants offense has been anemic. San Francisco has only put up 10 runs in three contests and they are batting only .183. They will send lefty Alex Wood to the mound. Wood can certainly induce some strikeouts from the Padres, but the Padres bats have been hitting .252 with an average of five runs scored per game this season.
The Pick: Padres +130
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Seattle Mariners (+110) vs. Minnesota Twins (-133)
This series has been a good one, with Seattle leading 2-1. I’m going to pick Seattle one more time. Chris Flexen goes to the mound for the Mariners today, and though he doesn’t have great swing-and-miss stuff, he can get the job done. Dylan Bundy, on the other hand, terrifies me. Last season with the Angels, he had an ERA over six, and then he got injured. I can’t bet on him, even with a healthy Byron Buxton backing him up. Give me the underdog Mariners at +110.
The Pick: Mariners +110
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