Ricky Dimon
The proverbial second half of the Major League Baseball season begins with a full 15-game slate on Friday. We’re back from the all-star break and back with a bang. The schedule includes Red Sox vs Cubs, Giants vs Blue Jays, Yankees vs Braves, Astros vs Mariners and Brewers vs Dodgers. There are more than enough betting opportunities with which to work, so let’s try to take advantage.
Below is my mega parlay, and also be sure to check out all of our MLB picks.
Red Sox ML (+110)
Tigers -1.5 (+135)
Cardinals ML (+100)
MLB parlay odds: +887
Boston Red Sox ML over Chicago Cubs (+110)
The Cubs may have the better record overall, but no team is hotter than the Red Sox. At least no team was hotter heading into the all-star break. Boston is a on a 10-game winning streak, and momentum should be able to carry over in the second half. Lucas Giolito is toeing the rubber for the visitors and he has delivered a quality start in 6 consecutive appearances. Chicago is countering with Colin Rea, who probably isn’t as good as his overall numbers suggest. Some regression is likely, and it could come right away against a confident Boston lineup. Rea’s propensity for giving up home runs may bite him in this one. Give me the Red Sox to remain red hot as small underdogs.
Detroit Tigers -1.5 over Texas Rangers (+135)
For Detroit, the first half went well pretty much from start to finish. The Tigers are 21 games over .500 can pretty much coast to the AL Central crown, although they will have to stay sharp if they want to hold off the likes of Houston for the top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Reese Olson is taking the mound for the Tigers on Friday. Olson may not be Tarik Skubal, but who is? Olson is Detroit’s second-best starter – and that means he should be good enough against Texas on Friday. The right-hander has impressed since returning from the IL earlier this month. In 2 starts back in the rotation, Olson has allowed only 3 earned runs across 9.1 innings of work. For Texas, Patrick Corbin will get the nod. The veteran left-hander is 7-10 in his 17 starts this season could have his hands full with a Detroit lineup that ranks fourth in baseball with a .779 OPS against lefties. With a guaranteed 9 full innings at the plate as visitors, the Tigers have good value to win by multiple runs.
St. Louis Cardinals ML over Arizona Diamondbacks (+100)
This series is a big, even if these 2 NL teams aren’t in the same division. Arizona is 5.5 games out of a wild-card spot, while St. Louis remains firmly in the hunt — sitting 6.5 games out in the NL Central lead and 1.5 games out of wild-card position. On the bump for the Cards is Sonny Gray, who enters with a 9-3 record and a 3.50 ERA. Merrill Kelly has also been solid for the Snakes, but their bullpen ERA of 4.94 is the fourth worst in all of baseball. The Cardinals score 4.6 runs per contest and boast a .715 OPS, so they should be able to do some damage late once they chase Kelly. I’ll back Gray and a superior Cardinals bullpen to lead their team to second half-opening victory.
