Ricky Dimon
The week in Major League Baseball continues with a full 15-game slate on Friday. It’s an intriguing schedule that headlined by 2 in-city rivalries – White Sox vs Cubs and Mets vs Mets – in addition to Braves vs Red Sox, Cardinals vs Royals and Astros vs Rangers. There are more than enough betting opportunities, so let’s try to take advantage.
Below is my mega parlay, and also be sure to check out all of our MLB picks.
Guardians -1.5 (+130)
Tigers ML (-126)
Rangers -1.5 (+120)
MLB parlay odds: +808
Cleveland Guardians -1.5 over Cincinnati Reds (+130)
The Guardians simply can’t wait to face Reds starter Brady Singer on Friday evening. Jose Ramirez is 12-for-27 lifetime against Singer with 3 home runs; Steven Kwan is 9-for-23; Will Brennan is 7-for-15; Nolan Jones is 5-for-7; Kyle Manzardo is 4-for-5; Bo Naylor is 4-for-10. There is no reason to think that Singer will be able to change anything based on his current form. The right-hander is saddled with a 4.97 ERA so far in 2025 after getting torched by Houston for 7 runs on 9 hits and 1 walk in just 2.1 innings this past Saturday. Cleveland is countering with Tanner Bibee, who faced Philadelphia last weekend and befuddled one of the best lineups in baseball to the tune of 1 run allowed in 7.0 innings. The Guardians have won 3 of his last 4 starts. With 9 at-bats guaranteed as the road team, Cleveland should be able to cover the run line.
Detroit Tigers ML over Toronto Blue Jays (-126)
Don’t look now, but the Tigers are tied with the Dodgers for the best record in baseball at 29-15. Detroit can stake its claim as the current best team in the entire league since it boasts a much better run differential than L.A. — and everyone else. This club is simply playing awesome baseball right now, with a 3-game winning streak and an 11-3 record in its last 14 overall. Jack Flaherty is taking the mound for this series opener against Toronto. Although he has not been good this season, we know what the veteran right-hander can bring to the table on any given day. Fortunately for the visitors, whatever he brings on Friday should be far superior to Bowden Francis. The Blue Jays’ right-hander is 2-5 with a 5.40 ERA and just 30 strikeouts through 41.2 innings of work. Give me the Tigers as relatively small favorites.
Texas Rangers -1.5 over Houston Astros (+120)
Lance McCullers Jr. of the Astros is close to an automatic fade every time he toes the rubber. The 31-year-old righty has made only 10 appearances since getting injured early in the 2021 postseason. To say that McCullers has failed to recapture the form of his brief glory days would be an understatement. He is 0-1 with a 15.75 ERA through 2 outings this season. No, that is not a misprint – 15.75. Now LMJ has to face a Texas team that is enjoying by far the longest current winning streak in MLB at 6 in a row. Four of the 6 have come by multiple runs and the Rangers’ total run differential during this stretch is +22. Adding insult to injury for Houston, Nathan Eovaldi is going for Houston. Eovaldi is 4-2 with a 1.78 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and 60-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 55.2 innings. Don’t overthink this one; let’s back the Rangers to absolutely roll.
