Ricky Dimon
Show Bio
The week in Major League Baseball gets underway with a 13-game slate on Monday. It includes an afternoon showdown between the Rays and Yankees, who are concluding a wraparound 4-game series. The rest of the schedule is at night, headlined by Phillies at Twins, Brewers at Cubs and Giants at Dodgers.
Below is my mega parlay, and also be sure to check out all of our MLB picks.
Cardinals ML (+114)
Braves -1.5 (+136)
Royals -1.5 (+140)
MLB parlay odds: +1112
For this parlay I am going with 2 favorites on the run line and 1 underdog on the money line. Let’s break down each of the 3 legs.
St. Louis Cardinals ML over Pittsburgh Pirates (+114)
The Cardinals have some nice momentum after taking 2 of 3 games in Atlanta to begin the proverbial second half of their 2024 campaign. They dropped the opener in extra innings before taking the next 2. Dating back to the first half they have won 4 of their last 6 contests. Next up for St. Louis is a 3-game set with Pittsburgh. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they will see Paul Skenes – but not until Tuesday. On Monday they have a date with Pittsburgh right-hander Mitch Keller, who is certainly no slouch but at the same time isn’t Skenes. Keller has cooled off following a hot start, with a 5.06 ERA through 3 July starts. The Cards are countering with Andre Pallante, who has impressed since moving from the bullpen to the starting rotation in late May. This is a good opportunity for St. Louis to extend its winning streak to 3 games.
[promo_code type=”promoSingle” ids=”375790″ titles=”Bet $5 and Get $150 in Bonus Bets OR $1,000 Back If Your First Bet Loses!”]
Atlanta Braves -1.5 over Cincinnati Reds (+136)
Reynaldo Lopez taking the mound should be just what the doctor ordered for Atlanta to get back on track following its pair of setbacks against St. Louis. Lopez is coming off an appearance in the All-Star Game, and to say it was fully deserved would be a gross understatement. The 30-year-old right-hander leads Major League Baseball in ERA by a country mile at 1.88. He is also sporting a 7-3 record and the Braves have won 6 of his last 8 starts. Whereas Lopez pitched just a third of an inning in the Midsummer Classic, Hunter Greene of the Cincinnati Reds threw 18 pitches in a full inning of work and surrendered 2 runs during the NL’s 5-3 loss to the AL. No, it isn’t a huge workload; but it still isn’t great. Give me the Braves to win by multiple runs.
Kansas City Royals -1.5 over Arizona Diamondbacks (+140)
Don’t be fooled by Cole Ragans’ pedestrian 6-6 record. He has been throwing absolute darts for Kansas City this season. The 26-year-old lefty boasts a 3.16 ERA and 1.14 WHIP to go along with a spectacular 141-to-38 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 116.2 innings of work. Through 2 July appearances he has surrendered just 3 runs in 14.0 innings. Ragans is a big reason why the Royals are 10 games over .500 and winners of 7 of their last 9 contests. The Diamondbacks are a mere 2 games over .500 and not really looking like the defending National League champions. Arizona is going with Yilber Diaz, whose big-league career is off to a strong start but with an extremely limited sample size. Monday marks just his third-ever appearance. Look for Ragans to get more than enough run support.
