Party it up people its the weekend and there's a big slate of Major League Baseball to wager on! Thursday's article got me out of the weeds for now as it was the first winning day in about 3-4 articles so I am antsy to get back into the market and find some more winners to get that bankroll back in positive figures. Today's piece features a myriad of different bets from an under in the 1st 5 innings, a pitcher's strikeout prop, a team's run total and a player prop on the best player in baseball! Enjoy the summer weekend festivities while they last and check out these bets and hopefully we can all head into Sunday happy campers. 

  • Thursday's Record: 2-1
  • Season Record: 46-42-1
  • Bankroll: -0.82 units
 

MLB Best Bets for July 22

Toronto Blue Jays at Seattle Mariners 

It's a cross divisional matchup this afternoon between two playoff hopefuls as the Blue Jays head into game 2 of their weekend series against the Mariners. The opening game went to Seattle in a 3-2 and the low scoring affair was not surprising given the pitchers on the mound and the fact that each team's offense has been middle of the pack all season long. The Blue Jays have averaged just 4.47 runs per game this season and the Mariners just 4.46 runs per game so that has me looking at an under of sorts. I am okay with the overall game total of 7.5 runs but I would rather bank on the starting pitchers keeping things low in the 1st 5 innings as Kevin Gausman with his 3.03 ERA goes up against Logan Gilbert and his 3.65 ERA. The pair of pitchers should go 5 innings each if all goes as it should and the number is an even 4 runs for the line so give me the under on that to start off the matchup. Not done there though as Kevin Gausman's strikeout prop is looking good too! It sits at 7.5 strikeouts which is a high number but for him it makes sense as he has topped the number in 9 starts this season and the Mariners are whiffing 9.8 times per game, the 2nd most in the MLB. Even more recently they have struck out 12 times on average over the past 3 games! Expecting the pitchers to come to the forefront in this one now let's watch them deal!

Pick: Blue Jays & Mariners 1st 5 Innings Under 4 Runs (-110 on BetMGM)

Pick: Kevin Gausman Over 7.5 Strikeouts (-105 on DraftKings)

Baltimore Orioles at Tampa Bay Rays 

What an incredible run it has been for both of these teams as we head towards August especially the Orioles who have shocked the baseball world with their play and 59-38 record to this point. The Rays are no slouches either as they sit at 61-40 with the best record in the American League right now. This series has started out slow with just 10 combined runs through the opening pair of games but I have a feeling the home team is going to bust out today. Grayson Rodriguez is slated to start for the O's today and while he has potential and loads of talent his first MLB season has been inconsistent. Dating back to June he has allowed 30 earned runs over 6 starts for an ERA of well over 9 and he has given up many hits as well. Hard to imagine things going well against the Rays who average the 4th most runs in baseball this season. With that being said I like the team total for the Rays today as it sits at 4.5 runs and is plus money on some sportsbooks! Not sure if the Rays win the game but that won't matter to me as long as they score 5 runs which they should be able to. 

Pick: Tampa Bay Rays Over 4.5 Team Total Runs (+105 on DraftKings)

Pittsburgh Pirates at Los Angeles Angels  

In game one of this series Shohei Ohtani didn't register a single hit but he did walk 3 times and register 2 runs on the night. That kind of stat line doesn't normally help the betting market but if you had his hits, runs and RBIs last night at 1.5 you hit the over anyways! That number of 1.5 is his line again tonight and its a relative value at just -130 so I am locked into that as Ohtani has gone over this prop line in all 5 of his last 5 games and its hard to see him slowing down against a Pirates team that is just terrible right now. Ryan Borucki will open for the Pirates on the mound and he is a below average pitcher with a 4.63 ERA. After he is done the bullpen behind him isn't much better so look for Ohtani to have himself a day and go over that prop line of 1.5!

Pick: Shohei Ohtani Over 1.5 Hits/Runs/RBIs (-130 on DraftKings)

**all bets are one unit unless specifically mentioned.