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.
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Here are our best bets for Sunday, July 2:
TOP PLAY
The play: MLB money line, Angels over Diamondbacks
The odds/bet: -110 ($33 to win $30)
The book: BetMGM
Time/TV: 4:07 p.m. (MLB TV)
Our take: This line has jumped the fence; the Diamondbacks opened as favorites, but the Angels have been catching steam in the betting market. Still, we have a reasonable price here to back Orange County’s finest.
On one level, the thinking here is motivational: The Diamondbacks won the first two games of the series, and the last thing the Angels want is to suffer a sweep to end their last homestand before the All-Star break. L.A. has its first contending team this late in the season and years, and going into a tailspin before the break would be damaging. You don’t always get fully motivated teams for all 162 games of an MLB season, but we should get one here.
It’s true the Angels must face Arizona ace Zac Gallen, who likely will be named to the All-Star team at some point during the game. But Gallen has never pitched in Anaheim, and he’s shown just a few signs of wearing down over the past month, alternating good starts with bad ones and seeing his strikeout rate decline.
On the other side, lefty Reid Detmers has been red hot for the Angels, going 1-0 with a 1.05 ERA over his past four starts. What’s more, the Diamondbacks have an OPS 50 points lower against lefties, so this is a great spot for Detmers and the Angels to get a much-needed win.
WNBA SUNDAY
The play: WNBA, Dallas Wings -6 over Washington Mystics
The odds/bet: -110 ($11 to win $10)
The book: Caesars Sportsbook
Time/TV: 3 p.m. (ABC)
Our take: This is one of those lines that catches your eye: How is Washington. at 9-6, a 6-point dog against 7-8 Dallas? Part of that is home-court advantage, yes, but dig deeper and there are a couple of others factors at play here.
One is that the Wings have played better than their record indicates. By point differential, these teams are actually right next to each other in the WNBA standings, fourth and fifth place. Throw in the fact that the Mystics will be without leading rebounder Shakira Austin because of a hip injury — and that Dallas is the best rebounding team in the league at 38.7 per game — and you can see how this matchup is a problem for Washington.
HOW WE’VE FARED
Saturday’s best bets
- MLB: Cardinals-Yankees UNDER 8.5 runs (VOID – starting pitcher change)
- MLS: St. Louis over Colorado (WON $10)
Saturday’s profit/loss: +$10 (1-0)
Total for the week: +$106.85 (5-1, 1 pending)
Total for July: +$10 (1-0)
Total for 2023: -$338.75 (151-161, 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).
