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 Saturday, July 1:
TOP PLAY
The play: MLB total, Yankees and Cardinals UNDER 8.5 runs
The odds: +100
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Time/TV: 2:15 p.m. (MLB TV)
Our take: The New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals have been two of Major League Baseball’s more disappointing teams in 2023. They were both touted as potential division winners and World Series contenders. As we near the All-Star Break, they sit around 10 games back of their respective divisions.
The Cardinals (No. 12) and Yankees (No. 16) have mediocre offenses that average around 4.5 runs per game. All of that being considered, why is our play under 8.5 total runs for this Saturday afternoon affair?
New York turns to its bonafide ace, Gerrit Cole, while St. Louis has Jack Flaherty on the bump. Cole’s got a 2.78 ERA on the season to date and he hasn’t given up more than three runs in an outing since May 28 against the San Diego Padres. Cole is not the pitcher fans need to worry about, though.
Flaherty has been up and down in his return from injury. Flaherty has posted a 4.95 ERA this season, allowing six earned runs in his last two outings. He did toss six scoreless innings against the Texas Rangers on June 7 to cap off a run of five solid starts.
We’re banking on Flaherty to feed off Cole’s energy and both pitchers to toss gems to start July with a bang. These teams are also incredibly inconsistent at the plate, so we feel as if the under is a safe bet in this one.
DOUBLING DOWN ON ST. LOUIS
The play: MLS, St. Louis City over Colorado Rapids
The odds: -125
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Time/TV: 8:15 p.m. (Apple TV+)
Our take: We’re doubling down and making another best bet using a sports team from the Gateway to the West. I’ve been burned by St. Louis City once before, so I’m cautiously optimistic about this one.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. St. Louis City is on thin ice, but this bet was too good to pass up. It’s not often you get a conference’s best team against its worst team at -116 odds. However, that’s the line Caesars Sportsbook has for this contest between St. Louis City and Colorado Rapids.
Colorado has been atrocious as of late; the Rapids are winless in their last 10 games in all competitions. You have to go back to May 9 to find their last victory and May 6 to their last win over an MLS team. St. Louis hasn’t exactly enjoyed a ton of luck lately, but this is the perfect bounce-back opportunity against a struggling side.
Bradley Carnell’s defense should be solid enough to keep a clean sheet against Colorado, which in turn will likely be enough to take all three points.
HOW WE’VE FARED
- MLB: No runs first inning Mariners vs. Rays (WON)
- MLB: Astros over Rangers (WON)
Friday’s record: 2-0
Total for the week: 4-1, 1 pending
Final total for June: 30-27, 1 pending
Total for 2023: 150-161, 1 pending
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).
