Each day, one of our experts will offer up a best bet (or two or three) that mobile sportsbooks are offering. It might be a traditional spread bet, a player prop or one of the various odds boosts that books offer.
Here are our best bets for Tuesday, June 20:
TOP PLAY
The play: College World Series, LSU (money line) over Tennessee
The odds: -118
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Time/TV: 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Our take: LSU opened as slight underdogs in this elimination game, but we still see value in the Tigers even though Tennessee appears to have the upper hand in the pitching matchup.
It’s unclear who the Tigers will start with on the mound today, whereas Tennessee has a clear No. 3 starter in Drew Beam, but we’re still rolling with the Tigers since their lineup had been so dominant prior to last night’s contest against Wake Forest.
Wake Forest’s pitching has been the best in the country, so we expect the Tigers to bounce back and score enough runs tonight to avoid elimination even if their pitching is somewhat shaky.
PHILLIES MONEY LINE PLAY
The play: Phillies (money line) over Braves
The odds: +126
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Time/TV: 6:40 p.m. (TBS)
Our take: Both the Braves and the Phillies are on serious winning streaks to where something has to give tonight, and we see value in the Phillies even though the Braves have been the better team this season.
Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider will be on the mound tonight, and while he’s been as dominant as ever in the strikeouts department, he’s been much more vulnerable to giving up runs as of late and could have trouble against a Phillies lineup that’s arguably the hottest in MLB right now.
The Braves also have a powerful lineup, but Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez has been in a grove having had success against tough lineups like the Dodgers and Diamondbacks to where we’ll roll with the underdog in this matchup.
HOW WE’VE FARED
• MLB, Diamondbacks at Brewers UNDER 7.5 runs (LOST)
• College World Series, LSU (+1.5) over Wake Forest (WON)
Monday’s record: 1-1
Total for the week: 1-1
Total for June: 18-20
Total for 2023: 138-154
NOTE: If a line or odds are minus, it considers the juice one must lay to place the bet. Ex: Team A is -160 on the money line, one would have to bet $160 to win $100 (or $16 to win $10). OR Team B is a 5-point favorite at -110, one would have to bet $110 to win $100 (or $11 to win $10.)
Conversely, on positive lines, if Team C is +140 on the money line, $100 would bring in $140 (or $10 to win $14).
