Major League Baseball Parlay Of The Day 4-3-21

Yesterday was a bit of an up and down day as we finished with an overall record of just 5-6, but we did pick up money line underdog winners on the White Sox, Astros, and Rays, so depending on how you made your plays, you may have still found a way to grind out a little profit on a high variance day of Major League Baseball betting. Today, we are right back at it with a full slate of action on tap for the first Saturday of the Major League Baseball season. Let’s get started with everyone’s favorite way to play, the parlay!

Money Line Parlay

Not all parlays are the same. In this first section, we are going to focus on money line parlays. The money line is your most basic way to bet on a baseball game. Because baseball has so few runs scored, we don’t see a point spread on a game like we do with the NFL and the NBA; rather, MLB betting offers a money line bet. With a money line bet, if you want to bet the favorite, you have to lay odds, and if you want to bet the underdog, the book will lay you odds. One example would be the New York Yankees as -200 betting favorites. That means you win $100 for every $200 that you bet on New York if the Yankees win. If you want to take an underdog, an example would be The Seattle Mariners +200. That means for every $100 you bet, you would win $200 if Seattle comes in.

Atlanta Braves (-114) at Philadelphia Phillies

Zack Wheeler was the next big thing in New York for several seasons during his stint with the New York Mets. Wheeler never could quite live up to that hype in the Big Apple, but last year, in his first season with the Philadelphia Phillies, he started to really figure things out as he posted the lowest ERA of his career at 2.92. Wheeler stopped trying to strike everyone out like he was prone to do in New York, and he was able to greatly reduce his walk and home run rates, which led to a successful season in his debut for Philly.

Here’s how the #Braves will line up today in Philadelphia.

Presented by @TruistNews | #ForTheA pic.twitter.com/hR5QTA6jGw

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 3, 2021

Charlie Morton came oh so close to picking up a ring last year with the Tampa Bay Rays, and he has turned into a bit of a hired gun late in his career as he is playing on his 3rd team in 4 years. Morton has a wealth of playoff experience, and the Braves brought him in to be the wily veteran of this young starting rotation. This is a tight line and deservedly so, but I feel that Morton is going to be on point in his first start with Atlanta, and after seeing the Phillies take game one of this series on Opening Day, I expect Atlanta to tie things up today in game two. I’ll back the Braves as small favorites.

Houston Astros (-130) at Oakland Athletics

I have taken the Astros in each of the first two games of this series, and I will back them again in game three. I am way down on the A’s this year as I feel they just haven’t done enough to replace all of the key pieces they lost from last year’s squad, and I think Oakland struggles a lot this year. I am not overly high on Houston either, as they have some holes in their roster as well, but they are going to be the far superior team this season. The Astros were dogs in the first two games of this series, and the books have finally caught up here in game three as they are now small favorites as they look to take a commanding three games to none series lead.

This afternoon’s game details, presented by @ChampionEnergy.

🕒: 3:07pm
📺: @ATTSportsNetSW
📻: @SportsTalk790 #ForTheH pic.twitter.com/E8NGiXts3O

— Houston Astros (@astros) April 3, 2021

Houston will start Lance McCullers Jr, a guy that is finally healthy after missing all of the 2019 season with an injury. McCullers isn’t quite the ace that we all thought he would be when he was drafted in the first round back in 2012, but he is a nice piece of this Astros rotation. For Oakland, they are starting Cole Irvin, a kid that has a total of 3 career starts and a lifetime ERA of 6.75. Irvin had a nice spring, but man, is this a bad number. The Astros should be significantly bigger favorites, and I will look to back them at this attractive price.

Tampa Bay Rays (-120) at Miami Marlins

It is day three of the Major League Baseball season, and I will already make my 3rd bet on the Tampa Bay Rays this year. I am not sure that I am going to be backing the Rays a lot this season or not, as its too early to tell if young guys like Randy Arozarena are ready to do what it takes to lead Tampa Bay back to the World Series, but in this series against the Marlins, they are the better overall team by a fairly wide margin.

We were down 4-2 in the 9th

Then the ⓒⓘⓣⓡⓤⓢ kicked in!@GEICO pic.twitter.com/DqWkZLUbXz

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 3, 2021

The Rays took the lead for good in game one in the 8th inning, and they battled back last night to win it in the 9th inning, and the Marlins have to feel deflated after losing such close games late. Expect Tampa Bay to do the same thing again in game three with the ageless veteran Rich Hill taking the mound against Elieser Hernandez, who, while being an exciting young prospect, has still done most of his work in relief and has a lifetime ERA of almost 5 runs. The Rays will make it 3 straight against a Marlin’s team that has to be frustrated right now.

$100 Bet Wins $509

Game Total Parlay

The game total bet, commonly known as an over/under bet, is when you bet on how many total runs will be scored in a game. These totals tend to range from 7 or 8 runs on the low end, up to 12 to 13 runs on the high end, and you have to pay juice on both sides of the action. A typical totals bet would be, for example, 8 total runs with -110 juice on the over or the under. If the teams combine to score 9 runs or more, the book pays out the over bets, if the game comes in at 7 runs or less the books pay the under bets, and if the total lands right at 8 runs, all bets push.

Texas Rangers at Kansas City Royals Over 9.5 Runs (-110)

The Rangers and the Royal broke out the bats on Opening Day when they combined for a whopping 24 runs. The game said a lot more about each team’s pitching staff than it did about their lineups though. Rangers starters Kyle Gibson only managed to get a single out before allowing 5 earned runs, and Royals starter Brad Keller wasn’t much better, as he lasted just an inning and a third, getting blasted for 6 runs, all earned. I expect more fireworks today with Mike Minor trying to bounce back after being awful last year in stops with Oakland and Texas. Minor matches up with Japanese import Kohei Arihara who will be making his first-ever Big League start. We are going to see runs scored at ease by both squads as this one sails to the over early on.

St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds Under 9 Runs (-110)

Tyler Mahle was decent last year for Cincinnati, and with the Reds losing starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, Mahle needs to step his game up big time this year for the Reds if they want to make it back to the postseason after breaking through with their first playoff appearance since 2013 last year. The Cardinals will answer Mahle will their franchise stalwart, the 100-year-old Adam Wainwright. Wainwright still finds a way to get guys out, and against a Reds team that doesn’t have a lot of pop right now, I see him pitching well. This feels like a classic National League game with solid pitching and a low final score. I am jumping on the under.

Minnesota Twins at Milwaukee Brewers Over 7.5 Runs (-110)

The Minnesota Twins have some of the heaviest bats in the Major Leagues. They showed that on Opening Day, when they scored 5 runs on 10 hits in their loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. What the Twins don’t have, though, is a good bullpen. In that game, the bullpen gave the game away late when they got blasted for 4 runs in the last two innings of play. Brewer’s fans had to love seeing Christian Yelich pick up a couple of hits, and they badly need him to get back to his MVP form from 2019 after an off-year last season. There is too much power and not enough pitching in this game to not love taking the over on such a small total.

San Francisco Giants at Seattle Mariners Over 8.5 Runs (-110)

This has been a fun series so far in Seattle between the Giants and the Mariners. In the opener, they combined for 15 runs and went into extra innings, and last night, the game went over as well, with a 6-3 final score sneaking in over the 8.5 run total. I see this game going much like the first couple of games as both of these teams have much better bats than they do arms. Mariner’s starter Chris Flexen has an ERA north of 8 runs in his 11 career starts, and Logan Webb for the Giants has never once posted an ERA below 5 runs in his career, and I see this game getting wild.

$100 Bet Wins $1,000

The Daily Dog

Do you want a chance at jumbo payouts? The best way to stack the cash fast is by parlaying underdogs! You can find high-value underdogs on the board basically everyday betting Major League Baseball, and there is no way to win faster than by parlaying a couple of dogs together and getting paid.

St. Louis Cardinals (+104) at Cincinnati Reds

I don’t think the Cincinnati Reds are going to win very many games this season. They fluked their way into the playoffs last year, riding a Cy Young Award-winning season from the recently departed Trevor Bauer, while taking advantage of the expanded playoffs. I am shocked to see them as favorites in this game against a St. Louis team that should be the class of the NL Central this season. Yeah, I know that Adam Wainwright is older than dirt, but the guy still won 14 games in 2019 and posted a stellar 3.15 ERA last year in 10 starts. The gas tank has to be running on fumes, but until it runs out, I’ll still back him in nice spots like this one.

Minnesota Twins (+118) at Milwaukee Brewers

We already touched on this game a bit above, but I am fairly surprised to see the Twins as dogs here. Jose Berrios has very quietly emerged as a force in the American League as he hasn’t posted an ERA above 4 runs in any of the last 4 years, and he averaged over 13 wins a game before last year’s shortened season. Berrios was the ace of this Twins staff before they brought in Kenta Maeda, and while he doesn’t get a lot of attention, he is a solid starter.

Ready to slide into the weekend. pic.twitter.com/rtPdOhoxbb

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 2, 2021

For Milwaukee, the Brewers will go with young strikeout artist Corbin Burnes. Burnes was unbelievable last year for Milwaukee, posting an absurd K/9 ratio of 13.3 and taking home Cy Young Award votes. But it is hard to trust any 2020 stats with the weird season we had, and in 2019 Burnes posted an ERA of 8.82 in 32 appearances. Berrios is the more consistent guy, on the better team, and I love backing him as an underdog.

San Francisco Giants at Seattle Mariners (+105)

This is a complete coin flip of a game. Neither starter can be trusted at all, and both teams have shown that they can swing a bat so far in this series with a combined 24 runs scored through the first two games. This is just a standard home dog number play where I always want to be on the home team getting some juice if all other things are equal. I sure wish the M’s had last year’s Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis on the field tonight, but I’ll always take a coin flip home dog any time and hope the variances breaks our way.

$100 Bet Wins $812

Get Rich Or Die Trying

In this final section, we are going to go for the jumbo payouts! These are your lottery ticket types of plays that aren’t going to come in all that often but pay off big time when they do. A wise man once said, if you don’t swing hard, you never hit any home runs. Well, in this section, we swing for the fences!

Texas Rangers (+135) at Kansas City Royals

The Royals stink. But so do the Texas Rangers. Both of these teams are going to lose a bunch of games this season as they are both mired in the early stages of a multi-year rebuilding process. But the first game of this series was a lot of fun to watch, and I expect another high-scoring affair tonight. There are certain teams that should be big favorites, and there are certain teams that should never be heavily favored. The Royals are firmly in the never category this year, and I will happily fade them and hope that Mike Minor hasn’t shaken off last year’s woes.

Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs (-160)

They say that you can never go home again, but Cubs fans are hoping that isn’t the case for starting pitcher Jake Arrieta. Arrieta was amongst the best pitchers in the National League during his 5 years with the Chicago Cubs, posting a 68-31 record with a 2.73 ERA and taking home a Cy Young Award back in 2015. Arrieta left Chicago for Philly, and things never worked out as well as Phillies fans had hoped in the City of Brotherly Love. At 35 years old, the end is near for the longtime hurler, but against the worst hitting team in baseball, I think he will still be able to get some outs in his return to Wrigley. I’ll lay a little wood on the Cubbies in what could be a blowout.

Arizona Diamondbacks (+195) at San Diego Padres

The Padres are going to be priced super aggressively all season long. And while they are certainly a very talented team, this number feels inflated. Caleb Smith had a nice season last year and was really good after he was traded to Arizona, as he posted a 2.45 ERA in 4 appearances for the DBacks. Smith was the centerpiece of the deal that sent Starling Marte to Miami, and he is a candidate for a breakout season in 2021. Joe Musgrove has bounced around a bit in his career, and he is hoping that with the Padres, he is going to improve upon his lifetime 29-38 losing record with some added run support. The Padres are great, but with a shaky Joe Musgrove on the bump, they shouldn’t be laying more than -200. I’ll back the DBacks to pull off the upset in a high risk high reward play.

Chicago White Sox (-127) at Los Angeles Angels

Yesterday’s 12-8 game between the White Sox and the Angels is what a lot of Angels games are going to look like this year. They have some decent bats with guys like Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon, but their pitching staff is in shambles. Alex Cobbs gets the nod in this one trying to slow down these hard-hitting White Sox. The Orioles brought in Cobb in 2018 to be the ace of their staff, but after 3 seasons in Baltimore that saw Cobb post a 7-22 record with a 5.10 ERA, he is hoping to restart his once-promising career in LA.

Yermín Mercedes goes 5-for-5 in first career start. #ChangetheGame pic.twitter.com/oa1ijqGJdL

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 3, 2021

He is in a tough spot tonight as he is standing across from Lance Lynn, a guy that finished in the top-6 of the AL Cy Young Award voting in each of the last two seasons. Lynn was a prime trade target for the last couple of years and has finally found a home with the playoff-bound White Sox, and he gives them some much-needed veteran support. Maybe it is just the Angels hater in me, but this line feels stupidly underpriced as I see the White Sox smashing Alex Cobb and the Angels.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies Over 11.5 Runs (-110)

I have taken the over in both games of this series between the Dodgers and the Rockies, and I will make that same play tonight in game three. I just can’t resist getting the best hitting team in the Major Leagues at Coors Field. I said in yesterday’s bet that the Dodgers could hit double digits all by themselves, and they did just that as they plated 11 runs. Rockies starter Jon Gray was terrible last year, and he is going to get pounded again as this one coasts to the over, powered by Mookie Betts and this ferocious Dodgers lineup.

Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs Under 11 Runs (-110)

For whatever reason, I feel like Jake Arrieta heading back home to Chicago is going to be a sneaky good move for the Cubs. Arrieta hasn’t been great since leaving the North Side, but I think he is going to find some success in Chi-Town the 2nd time around. If he pitches well and shuts down this weak-hitting Pirate’s team, it will be nearly impossible for Chicago to score enough runs by themselves to push this game to the over. We usually see double-digit totals reserved for games at Coors Field with bad starters on the mound, not games at Wrigley with former Cy Young Award winners starting.

$100 Bet Wins $7,238

Wrap Up

Parlays are a great way to make quick cash, and here you have four different ways to get in on the parlay bet action! Betting on Major League baseball can be both fun and exciting, as well as being very profitable! Make sure you swing by TheSportsGeek’s Major League Baseball betting page, where our team of pro handicappers bring you sharp betting advice and free MLB picks each and ever