The Daily Sweat: Padres, Braves have been reliable for MLB bettors as road team
It’s a travel day in Major League Baseball, resulting in a lighter-than-usual slate of just eight games for Thursday.
But two of the MLB teams in action — the San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves — have been very reliable for bettors as the road team.
Let’s start with the Padres, who find themselves in a contested National League West race with the Los Angeles Dodgers. At this point, the Dodgers have a 1.5-game edge in the standings and those two clubs begin an important four-game series at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night. It’s just the second series the two sides have played so far this season with four more to come over the course of the second half.
The Dodgers are -135 favorites on Thursday night at BetMGM with the Padres listed as +115 underdogs. The Padres have won at an impressive clip as a road underdog this season, going 12-6 straight-up.
On the whole, the Padres are 25-15 on the road with an even better 28-12 mark vs. the run line as a road team. The Padres are +1.5 (-175) on the run line in this one with Joe Musgrave on the mound against the Dodgers’ Mitch White.
Over in the National League East, the Braves are steadily gaining ground on the New York Mets. After a sizzling start from New York, the Braves are now just three games out of first place as they go for a three-game road sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Braves took Game 1 of the series 5-3 by getting to the Phillies bullpen in the late innings. On Wednesday night, it was a 3-1 decision as Braves pitching stifled the Phillies’ offense. Despite the first two outcomes of the series, the Braves are again the road underdog on Thursday night. The Phillies are -155 favorites at BetMGM with the Braves listed at +125.
The Braves are 20-15 straight-up as a road team this year and even better, 23-12, vs. the run line. You can get the Braves at +1.5 (-155) for Thursday’s game. The Braves have Ian Anderson on the mound. Anderson has allowed at least four earned runs in five of his last seven starts, but he had a 3.07 earned-run average in five starts vs. the Phillies in 2021. More impressively, he allowed just one run in 12 innings pitched at Citizens Bank Park last season. The Phillies will counter with Aaron Nola, who has allowed only four runs in his last 30 innings.
What about the rest of the MLB schedule?
Elsewhere in MLB action, the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians are set to close out a five-game series in the day’s lone afternoon game. The Guardians walked off the Twins in dramatic fashion with four runs in the 10th inning on Wednesday night.
On Thursday, Cleveland is a -160 favorite. The Twins, who have a two-game lead over the Guardians in the AL Central, are +135.
There’s also a showdown between the American League’s two best teams: the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. The teams just split a four-game series at Yankee Stadium last week, but this is a standalone game in Houston put on the schedule because of the games postponed by the lockout.
The Yankees, with the best record in baseball, are -125 road favorites. Houston, which just swept a quick two-game set with the New York Mets in Queens, is listed at +105.
What else is there to bet on?
On the PGA Tour, the John Deere Classic began on Thursday. Webb Simpson (+1400) and Adam Hadwin (+1800) opened as the betting favorites to win the tournament. Yahoo Sportsbook’s Pamela Maldonado has a breakdown of her picks here.
There’s also plenty of Wimbledon action throughout the day on Thursday and through the weekend.
Speaking of the weekend, UFC 276 is on tap in Las Vegas on Saturday. Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole offered his picks here.
Something to keep an eye on: NBA free agency
We’ve seen some significant odds movement in the NBA with the free agency period about to kick off. For example, the Los Angeles Clippers’ NBA title odds have gone from +750 to +600 with the news that they are expected to add five-time All-Star John Wall.
There was also the trade of Dejounte Murray from the San Antonio Spurs to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. The Hawks moved from +6600 to +4000 to win the title at BetMGM following the acquisition of Murray, who will pair in the backcourt with Trae Young.
There will be plenty more player and odds movement in the days to come.
