Ricky Dimon
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Center stage on Monday obviously belongs to March Madness, which comes to what should be a thrilling conclusion between the two best teams in the nation in Gonzaga and Baylor. But don’t forget about Major League Baseball, of course. A total of 13 games are on the schedule—more than enough with which to formulate some intriguing plays on the betting market.
Here is our four-team mega parlay for today’s MLB action:
Yankees -1.5 (-110)
Cardinals ML (-110)
Rays -1.5 (+130)
Brewers ML (-110)
Parlay odds: +1624
For this parlay we have two American League East favorites covering the -1.5 spread and two National League Central clubs on the money line. Let’s break down each of the four legs one by one.
New York Yankees -1.5 over Baltimore Orioles (-110)
The Orioles are actually atop the AL East following the opening weekend of play. However, facing the Yankees will probably be a lot different than what the Red Sox brought to the table. Baltimore’s No. 4 starter, Jorge Lopez, gets the ball Monday night in New York against Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery. Lopez had a tough 2020 season with Kansas City and Baltimore, as he pitched to a 2-2 record with a 6.69 ERA in 10 appearances. Montgomery has the potential to become something of a sleeper in NYY’s rotation He will likely get off to a fine start to this season at the expense of a less than imposing Baltimore lineup. Montgomery may not fire any kind of complete-game shutout, but with a powerful lineup behind him he can definitely be effective enough to contribute to a comfortable win.
New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioples preview and picks
St. Louis Cardinals ML over Miami Marlins (-110)
After losing their first series of the year, the Cardinals head to Miami—where they should get on the winning track. Although the Cards scored only one run this past Saturday, they crossed the plate 17 times in their first two outings. Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt are both hitting .385 for the the season. Clearly Arenado is wasting no time getting adjusted to his new surroundings with St. Louis following an offseason trade from Colorado. Taking the mound on Monday is Daniel Ponce de Leon, who is not an ace but is good enough to give St. Louis’ offense a good chance at powering its way to a win every time out. The Marlins are countering with Trevor Rogers, who endured a rough rookie campaign to the tune of 19 earned runs allowed in 28.0 innings of work.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Miami Marlins preview and picks
Tampa Bay Rays -1.5 over Boston Red Sox (+130)
The Red Sox had a thoroughly unspectacular offseason. They brought back manager Alex Cora after a one-year suspension stemming from the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, but who knows if that is even a good thing? What they could have really used is an upgrade in the player personnel department. This once-proud franchise is simply lacking in talent at the moment and it showed in the opening series of the 2021 campaign. Boston scored only five runs in three games to get swept by the Orioles, who are not exactly a juggernaut. Tampa Bay took two of three games from the Marlins. The Rays are sending Michael Wacha on the mound and he has actually had some Fenway Park success in his career. He should have some more on Monday.
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox preview and picks
Milwaukee Brewers ML over Chicago Cubs (-110)
The losses of starting pitchers Yu Darvish, Jon Lester, and Jose Quintana from the Cubs’ rotation meant they had to look to the bottom-feeders of their division—the Pirates—for rotation depth. Chicago signed Trevor Williams this past offseason after Pittsburgh designated him for assignment. Williams is taking the mound on Monday and there is no reason to be confident about his chances for success. He digressed from 2018 to 2019 and then got even worse in 2020, when he went 2-8 with a 6.18 ERA in 11 starts. Opponents have hit close to .300 in each of the last two seasons against Williams. The Brewers took one of three games from Milwaukee in their opening series, which is not great but also not terrible. Veteran left-hander Brett Anderson should give them the pitching edge in this one.
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago Cubs preview and picks
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