MLB Betting: Monday Best Bets

Michael Rathburn breaks down the board for Monday's MLB action and zeroes in on the Orioles-Astros and Cubs-Indians games to round out his four-wager card.
MLB Betting: Monday Best Bets

Previous day 3-2

Overall 37-20

Tough day yesterday going 3-2 but losing on Dinelson Lamet's under 6.5 strikeouts at -167 hurt big time. I like the options on the very short slate tonight. 

Houston Astros at Baltimore Orioles 7:05 pm EDT

Jake Odorizzi (-177) vs. Keegan Akin

Two teams going in opposite directions are the Astros and Orioles. With a weaker pitcher on the mound (Jake Odorizzi) we get some more affordable pricing on the Astros.  While I'm not laying -160 on the Astros to win, I will lay ½ run to 1.5 runs especially in a game with a 10.5 total. Laying runs in higher total games is a much safer bet vs. doing it when the total is low like under eight.

The Astros are 8-2 in their last 10 and 16-4 in their last 20; while the Orioles are 1-9 last 10, 6-14 last 20, and 6-24 in their last 30 games.

BET – Astros -0.5 F5 (-110) for 1 RW buck

BET – Astros -1.5 (-120) for 1 RW buck 

Cleveland Indians at Chicago Cubs 8:05 pm EDT

Adbert Alzolay (-155) vs. Aaron Civale

Two teams from the respective Central divisions go at it tonight in a nice pitching performance with Aaron Civale vs. Adbert Alzolay.  Both lineups project to be a tad on the weaker side and the Indians shift over to the National League, thereby losing the designated hitter. Alzolay has a 27% strikeout rate this year and the Indians have struck out 24% of the time in this split over the last 30 days. 

BET – Under 4 runs F5 (-125) for 1 RW buck

BET – Alzolay over 5.5 strikeouts (-102) for 1 RW buck

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Known as “Rath” in the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) community, he has helped run operations for two prominent daily fantasy sports startups. Michael has taken his insider knowledge and expertise in daily fantasy sports to the content side. Rath won the 2016 FSWA "Baseball Article of the Year, Online" award and was a finalist for the FSWA Best Baseball Series in 2011.
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