Finally, after a personal sports betting black hole (don’t follow the NBA before the playoffs, not doing well on hockey, don’t trust the Champions League), we’re finally back with baseball starting up. Granted, it doesn’t really feel like baseball season yet, but after that stretch, I’ll take whatever I can get to bet on for today.
Of course, with my luck being what it is, we make the comeback on Three-Play Thursday, so hitting one of these isn’t going to be easy. But we’re going to try for it anyway; here are my best plays for April 7.
EARLY BASEBALL PARLAY: CARDINALS TTO 3.5, METS ML, GUARDIANS-ROYALS U8, +400
St. Louis absolutely hammered J.T. Brubaker last season and averaged five runs a game against Pittsburgh in 19 meetings. The Cardinals believe they’re a better team than last season, and the Pirates aren’t even pretending to try to be good this year. St. Louis should put some runs on the board here.
The Mets shelled Patrick Corbin when they faced him a year ago, and I think the Nationals are a worse team than they were last season. As for the Guardians and Royals, Shane Bieber is usually automatic as an under pitcher, given that Cleveland’s hitting is so weak. I think Zack Greinke does his part and keeps this total low.
LATE BASEBALL PARLAY: REDS-BRAVES U4.5 F5, ASTROS-ANGELS O8, PADRES F5 ML, +445
Tyler Mahle pitched well for Cincinnati last year, and I think he’ll get into an interesting pitchers’ duel with Max Fried in this one. I don’t expect either to duck out early in this matchup, so the under looks good to me. The Astros and Angels tend to hit each other well, as the over has gone 21-10 in the teams’ past 31 meetings. Finally, San Diego’s bullpen is a bit suspect, so this is a time to take the Padres to get the early lead and get out.
NHL PARLAY: PREDATORS-SENATORS O6, RANGERS ML, DEVILS ML, +465
Yes, I’m going to jump back in on hockey despite having sworn it off. Nashville has been an over team all season long and Ottawa gives up a lot of shot opportunities, so there’s a good chance we see goals here. The Rangers are coming off a pair of wins over the Penguins and have dominated Pittsburgh in New York, and the Devils have won nine of their past 10 matchups with the Canadiens. It’s not a great slate of games, but it’s worth a try.
