If you’re in the mood to place an MLB wager during your work week, see below for some games and matchups to keep your eye on, as well as some trends that have been lucrative so far this season.
Editor's note: All betting lines are courtesy of Sports Interaction, and current as of time of publication.
Wager to watch: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. overs on total bases
The White Sox and Blue Jays play a four-game set at Rogers Centre beginning Monday night.
The player to watch from a betting-prop perspective is Toronto’s Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who is slashing .318/.375/.318 over his past seven games with zero homers and 4 RBIs. Gurriel Jr., though, has been raking all month by slashing .333/.382/.569 in August with three homers and 11 RBIs in 51 at-bats.
Right-hander Lance Lynn (10-3, 2.26 ERA, 1.07 WHIP) gets the start for Chicago tonight. Gurriel Jr. is slashing .279/.315/.450 with 10 homers and 38 RBI against righties this season and is hitting .290/.330/.468 with eight homers and 27 RBIs at home in 2021.
Feel free to ride Gurriel's hot-hitting August and look for some value on the over when it comes to total-bases props.
Wager to watch: Taking the over
If you like cheering for the over, this series is for you. The Twins wrap-up their road trip against the Red Sox with a three-game series in Boston beginning Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
Minnesota has been an over machine this season. The Twinkies are a robust 72-46-6 (61 per cent) to the over this season which ranks first in the majors. Minnesota have been even better as the visitor by going a spectacular 37-19-5 (66.1 per cent) to the over, which is tops in baseball. The Twins are also 36-27-2 (57.1 per cent) to the over in non-divisional games which is the second-best mark in MLB.
Need more evidence to take the over in this series? Here you go! The over is 8-3-1 in Minnesota’s last 12 games following an off day and 7-1-1 in their last nine games against the American League East. The over is 19-5-4 in Twins’ last 28 road games against teams with a winning record.
Boston, meanwhile, have been a mediocre 55-67-3 (45.1 per cent) overall to the over this season, ranking near the bottom in Major League Baseball. The Red Sox are also 28-33-2 (45.9 per cent) as the home team to the over which is in the middle of the pack in the MLB. The under is 4-1 in Boston’s last five against the American League Central and 7-2 in their last nine versus a team with a losing record.
All that goes to say: I lean the over in each game of this three-game series when the odds are posted. I understand that the Red Sox have been trending to the under lately, but those Minnesota trends are just too juicy to ignore, like the over is 35-15-5 in their last 55 against a team with a winning record.
Wager to watch: Giants on the run line
The New York Mets take on the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field to kick off a three-game series Tuesday night which, again, is a big-time mismatch on the run line. c I know we highlighted this series last week, but this matchup is just too juicy to ignore. San Francisco is a buzzsaw against the run line this season. The Giants are a remarkable 75-49-0 (60.5 per cent) overall against the spread this season, which is the best in baseball. The Giants are even better on the road by going 40-23-0 (63.5 per cent) versus the run line as the visitor which ranks second in the MLB and 41-29-0 (58.6 per cent) in non-divisional games, plus they're 6-1 straight up in their last seven against the National League East. San Francisco is 16-5 in their last 21 games following an off day.
The Mets, meanwhile, stink against the spread in 2021. New York is a lacklustre 54-70-0 (43.5 per cent) against the run line overall, which ranks third-worst in baseball. The Mets are also a 24-35-0 (40.7 per cent) as the home team versus the run line and 34-38-0 (47.2 per cent) in non-divisional games. New York is also ice cold by going 2-8 in their last 10 overall straight up and 2-9 in their last 11 versus the NL West.
Finally, the Mets are 1-7 straight up in their last 8 during game 1 of a series while the Giants are 40-19 in their last 59 overall.
It’s simple in this series, take the team that gets it done against the run line against the team that doesn’t and is struggling. Look at taking San Francisco against the run line for each game of this series.