BY JIM DERRY | Home Field Sports
Each day, one of our experts will offer up a best bet (or two or three) that mobile sportsbooks are offering. It might be a traditional spread bet, a player prop or one of the various odds boosts that books offer.
Here are our best bets for Thursday, April 13:
Top play
The play: MLB money-line parlay, Blue Jays over Tigers and Cardinals over Pirates
The odds: +220
The book: FanDuel Sportsbook
Time/TV: Blue Jays-Tigers at 7 p.m.; Cardinals-Pirates at 7:45 p.m. (Both on MLB TV)
Our take: Detroit has been bad – even by their poor standards as of late – to start the season, and tonight they have Spencer Turnbull on the hill, and in his first two starts since coming off Tommy John surgery, he has allowed 12 earned runs in eight innings pitched with just four strikeouts.
The Blue Jays’ hitters have to be licking their chops to face a guy who wasn’t even that great before his injury, as he is 11-27 lifetime with a 4.51 ERA with 109 walks allowed in 279 innings.
For St. Louis, they’re back at home after a 3-3 road trip in Milwaukee and Colorado, where they scored 16 runs in their past two games. They hope to keep the bats going against Pittsburgh’s Vince Velasquez, who has a 9.82 ERA through two starts.
The Cardinals will go with Jordan Montgomery (2-0), as he has allowed just three runs in his first two starts – both victories.
High scoring in the Bronx
The play: MLB total, Twins at Yankees over 8.5 runs scored
The odds: -102
The book: DraftKings Sportsbook
Time/TV: 7:05 p.m. (MLB TV)
Our take: It is unseasonably warm (almost hot) in The Bronx on Thursday, which should have the bats heating up with two young pitchers going in the Twins’ Joe Ryan against Yankees rookie Jhony Brito.
The duo has averaged about five innings pitched so far this season, which means this could be a bullpen special. And with temps in the low 80s to start the game, there should be a few long balls in this one.
How we’ve fared
NBA play-in: Pelicans -5.5 over Thunder (LOST)
PGA, Heritage Classic: Collin Morikawa to finish in top 20 (PENDING)
Wednesday’s record: 0-1, 1 pending
Total for the week: 1-4, 1 pending
Total for April: 8-15, 1 pending
Total for 2023: 73-85, 1 pending
NOTE: If a line or odds are minus, it considers the juice one must lay to place the bet. Ex: Team A is -160 on the money line, one would have to bet $160 to win $100 (or $16 to win $10). OR Team B is a 5-point favorite at -110, one would have to bet $110 to win $100 (or $11 to win $10.)
Conversely, on positive lines, if Team C is +140 on the money line, $100 would bring in $140 (or $10 to win $14).
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