MLB Week 4: Best Betting Picks & Odds for the Best Series Games

We have another big week of action coming in the MLB, but with so many games to choose from, picking out a few to wager on can be tough

MyBookie MLB Top Series to follow with great betting value on this Week 3 | MLB Daily Lines

You could go for series that look to be a slam dunk, but you are not really going to make a lot of money given that the odds won’t really be in your favor. It is, of course, entirely up to every individual bettor as to how they wish to spend their betting dollars, but we like looking for series that figure to be close, as that is where the real value lies. The good news is that there are plenty of those to choose from, which is what we are going to look at here. We have picked out 4 series, 2 of which come early in the week, while the other 2 come over the weekend, so let’s get right to it.

Texas Rangers at Detroit Tigers

Monday, April 15, 6:40 PM | Pitchers: Michael Lorenzen vs Reese Olson
Tuesday, April 16, 1:10 PM, ESPN+ | Pitchers: Jon Gray vs Casey Mize
Wednesday, April 17, 1:10 PM, ESPN+ | Pitchers: Dane Dunning vs Tarik Skubal
Thursday, April 18, 1:10 PM | Pitchers: Andrew Heaney vs Kenta Maeda

You have the current World Series champions going against a team that has struggled for as long as we can all remember. Things have changed, though, with these two teams now very much clinging to similar records this season. The Rangers are sitting atop the NL West, but the division as a whole is underperforming. The Rangers are 8-8 overall and 3-3 on the road. The Tigers are 9-6 in the early going, and while that has them down in 3rd in the division, albeit just 1 game out of the top spot. They have not been great at home, going 3-4 to this point, so this whole series looks like a toss-up.

Atlanta Braves at Houston Astros

Monday, April 15, 8:10 PM | Pitchers: Darius Vines vs Spencer Arrighetti
Tuesday, April 16, 8:10 PM, TBS | Pitchers: Reynaldo Lopez vs Hunter Brown
Wednesday, April 17, 2:10 PM, ESPN+ | Pitchers: Max Fried vs J.P. France

Coming into the new season, there were a few teams that were considered to be a playoff lock. The Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros were both in that group but is that feeling still the same. The Braves are holding up their end of the bargain, going 9-5 to start the season, which has them 2 games up at the top of the NL East. They are 5-3 on the road. There are some early issues for the Astros, who are 6-11 and at the bottom of the West. They have won 2 in a row, so maybe they are starting to get into a groove.

Boston Red Sox at Pittsburgh Pirates

Friday, April 19, 6:40 PM, NESN | Pitchers: Brayan Bello vs Mitch Keller
Saturday, April 20, 4:05 PM, NESN | Pitchers: Kutter Crawford vs Martin Perez
Sunday, April 21, 1:35 PM, NESN | Pitchers: Garrett Whitlock vs Jared Jones

The Red Sox were widely ripped to be the team that finished dead last in the AL East, but they are out to a very decent start, going 9-7 to start the season They ended last week with 2 straight wins and have been fantastic on the road, going 7-3 away from home. The Pirates are out to a hot start, much like what they did last season, and are now sitting at 11-5, which has them tied for the lead in the Central Division. The Pirates are 3-2 in their own building, so again, thus looks like a close one.

Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees

Friday, April 19, 7:05 PM | Pitchers: Tyler Alexander vs Clarke Schmidt
Saturday, April 20, 1:05 PM | Pitchers: Zach Eflin vs Nestor Cortes
Sunday, April 21, 1:35 PM | Pitchers: Aaron Civale vs Luis Gil

We have a big divisional series coming over the weekend, with the Tampa Bay Rays looking to close the gap in the AL East. The Yankees are out to a fast start, going 12-4 in the early going, with the majority of their games coming in the road. In home games, they have gone 4-2. The Rays are 9-7 to start the season, which has them 3 games back of their opponent this weekend, so they would love to win the series and close the gap. They are 4-2 in road games, so not out of the realm of possibility to pick up some wins.

The first full week of the 2024 MLB season is in the books, but there is no time to rest, as we have a full slate of games coming our way this week

MyBookie MLB Best Series Games This Week 2 | MLB Daily Lines

A few of the teams that are expected to be in the hunt for the World Series are already starting to flex their muscles, but there have also been a couple of surprises, with the Pittsburgh Pirates perhaps the most surprising of the bunch. It’s a very long season, though, and maintaining a fast start often proves to be impossible. This is especially true when you consider that some teams are just a little slower out of the gate, building momentum as the season progresses. We are going to simply focus on the week ahead and the series that we like. We have 2 in the early part of the week and 2 heading into the weekend, so let’s get to it.

Detroit Tigers at Pittsburgh Pirates

Monday, April 8, 6:40 PM | Pitchers: Reese Olson vs Mitch Keller
Tuesday, April 9, 12:35 PM | Pitchers: Casey Mize vs Martin Perez

This is not a series that many fans would have found to be particularly exciting over the past few years, but both teams are out to very solid starts this year. The Tigers were considered to be one of the sexy picks this season and are out to a strong start, going 6-3, which has them a game out of the lead in the AL Central. The Pirates are doing the same thing as they did last year, which is jumping out to a fast start. They are at 8-2 right now, but before we get too excited, we need to remember how they fell off last season.

LA Dodgers at Minnesota Twins

Monday, April 8, 7:40 PM | Pitchers: James Paxton vs Bailey Ober
Tuesday, April 9, 7:40 PM | Pitchers: Tyler Glasnow vs Louie Varland
Tuesday, April 10, 1:10 PM | Pitchers: Bobby Miller vs Chris Paddack

The Twins are one of those teams that I think we are going to see better things from this season, but for now, it has been something of a slow start. They hit the road for another tough series sitting at 3-4, and while they have yet to win at home, they have gone 3-2 on the road. The Dodgers are already opening up a gap at the top of the NL West, going 8-4 thus far top lead the division by 3 games. They are coming off a loss on Sunday, but LA is an impressive 6-2 at home.

Milwaukee Brewers at Baltimore Orioles

Friday, April 12, 7:05 PM at Apple TV+ | Pitchers: DL Hall vs Tyler Wells
Saturday, April 13, 4:05 PM | Pitchers: Colin Rea vs Dean Kremer
Saturday, April 14, 1:35 PM | Pitchers: Aaron Ashby vs Corbin Burnes

Moving to the latter part of the week, we have an interesting interleague series to look forward to. The Brewers are out to a very decent start, going 6-2 to start the year, which leaves them a game back of the surprising Pirates in the NL Central. They are a perfect 3-0 in road games thus far. I think it’s fair to say that we have yet to see the best from the Baltimore Orioles, but I do believe they will still be good this season. Baltimore is 5-4 right now and ended last week with back-to-back losses.

Texas Rangers at Houston Astros

Monday, April 8, 8:05 PM | Pitchers: Framber Valdez vs Andrew Heaney

The AL West rivals will meet 13 times this season, and with both considered to be in the hunt for the division, you cannot overstate how important those games might prove to be. Texas has the division lead right now with a 6-3 record, which includes a series win over the Astros last week. Houston is still waiting to get their season moving, as they are a disappointing 3-7 thus far. They will be hoping that home field advantage might give them the edge here.

Find all Rangers @ Astros betting odds to Win
MLB Odds and Lines | Week 2

The first official week of the new MLB season is in the books, but it would be a mistake to get too up or down about the start that your team has made to the season.

MyBookie MLB Best Games This Week 1 | MLB Daily Lines

The perfect example of this is the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are off to a perfect 4-0 start after being tipped to finish dead last in their division. If you remember last season, the Pirates got out to a fast start before slowly but surely sliding down the standings and finding their true level. We have said it before, but in a season as long as what the MLB delivers, the cream always seems to find a way to rise to the top. As we look ahead to this week’s action, all we can do is look at the series that catches our eye based on the starts that teams have made, so let’s dive right in.

Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays

Monday, April 1, 6:50 PM at FS1 | Pitchers: Dane Dunning vs Ryan Pepiot
Tuesday, April 2, 6:50 PM | Pitchers: Andrew Heaney vs Zach Eflin
Wednesday, April 3, 1:10 PM at ESPN+ | Pitchers: Nathan Eovaldi vs Aaron Civale

Opening day did not go as planned for the defending World Series champions, with the party spoiled by the Chicago Cubs. They were able to bounce back from that loss, though, to win the next 2 games and now have the early lead in the division. The AL East already looks like it is going to be fun this season, with the Rays and Blue Jays trading blows before splitting their 4-game series. That series was at home for the Rays, and they will continue their home stand with a visit from the Rangers to start the week in what should be another fun series to watch and wager on.

New York Yankees at Arizona Diamondbacks

Monday, April 1, 9:40 PM | Pitchers: Luis Gil vs Ryne Nelson
Tuesday, April 2, 9:40 PM | Pitchers: Nestor Cortes vs Zac Gallen
Wednesday, April 3, 3:40 PM | Pitchers: Carlos Rodon vs Merrill Kelly

Last year proved to be a rough one for the Yankees, with the injury bug delivering some fatal bites. If their first series of the season proved anything, it is that they might well be back after a 4-game sweep of the Houston Astros, where they drove home 21 runs. They have another tough series to start the new week, with a road trip to face a Diamondbacks team that went all the way to the World Series last season. The D-Backs hold the early lead in the NL West after going 3-1 in the opening week.

Baltimore Orioles at Pittsburgh Pirates

Monday, April 1, 6:35 PM | Pitchers: Michael Wacha vs Dean Kremer
Tuesday, April 2, 6:35 PM | Pitchers: Alec Marsh vs Cole Irvinn
Wednesday, April 3, 1:05 PM | Pitchers: Cole Ragans vs Corbin Burnes

We now move on to series that are coming later in the week, starting with the Orioles hitting the road to face the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates. The Orioles once again figure to be a major player in the AL East, but they will be disappointed at not picking up the sweep over the Angels in their opening series after winning the first 2 games. As mentioned earlier, the Pirates swept the Miami Marlins in a 4-game series, scoring 31 runs to get off to an amazing start. This, though, will be a much tougher test.

Seattle Mariners at Milwaukee Brewers

Friday, April 5, 8:10 PM | Pitchers: Logan Gilbert vs Freddy Peralta
Saturday, April 6, 7:10 PM | Pitchers: Bryce Miller vs DL Hall
Sunday, April 7, 2:10 PM | Pitchers: Emerson Hancock vs Colin Rea

The AL Central is one of the divisions that looks to be pretty wide open this season, with the Seattle Mariners very much in the position of being able to challenge for the top spot. They opened the season at home with a 4-game series against the Boston Red Sox, which ended in a split. The Brewers only managed 14 runs in their 3-game series against the NY Mets, but they still came away with a sweep after surrendering just 8 runs. This makes for an interesting interleague series later this week.

Previous Betting News

Most of the MLB division races have been long decided. While there aren’t too many playoff positions yet to be determined, there are still a few spots up for grabs. When it comes to the Cleveland Guardians, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and Milwaukee Brewers, there is a lot left to play for. Here is the complete preview for your MLB bets.

Milwaukee Brewers vs. New York Mets

The Brewers, who were favorites to win the NL Central, have faded in the second half of the season. That has left Milwaukee treading water a few games behind the third NL Wild Card spot. The Brewers will have a big three-game series with the New York Mets, who are playing good baseball and clinging to a one-game lead in the NL East.

Milwaukee has won seven of its past 10 games and hopes Philadelphia, which has now lost four straight, can continue to struggle. The Mets, who are coming off a three-game sweep of the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates, have now won four straight. This season will feature a dynamite pitching matchup in the first game of the series.Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes, who is 10-7 with a 2.97 ERA and 219 strikeouts, will take on Mets ace pitcher Max Scherzer, who is 9-4 with a 2.26 ERA and 153 strikeouts. New York leads the season series 2-1.

Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies

The Braves have won three straight and will take on the Phillies starting Thursday. Atlanta completed a three-game sweep of Philadelphia this week and will be looking to pile up more suffering. The Phillies are just hanging on in the NL playoff chase and can’t afford too many more dud series with the Brewers in hot pursuit.

While Atlanta has a deep pitching staff, which makes it difficult to pick out an ace pitcher, the highlight of this series may come Friday night. That game of the four-game series will feature a battle between Spencer Strider (11-5, 2.67 ERA) and Aaron Nola (9-12, 3.38) on the mound.

The sweep last week notwithstanding, Atlanta and Philadelphia have played a number of close games this season. The Braves lead the season series 9-6.

Cleveland Guardians vs. Chicago White Sox

The Guardians have successfully fought off adversity this season, persevering, losing a few starting pitchers to ascend to the top of the American League Central. Starting Tuesday night, Cleveland will start a series with the Chicago White Sox that can allow them to start putting to rest the idea any other team can win the division.The Guardians, who have won eight of their past 10 games, have a 3.5-game lead. Chicago’s had a bizarre season. The White Sox saw manager Tony La Russa leave the team following the All-Star break due to personal reasons. While Chicago has managed to climb into second place and get close to Cleveland a few times, the White Sox haven’t made the Guardians sweat too much. Should Chicago take two of three or sweep, things could get interesting down the stretch.

Previous Betting News

It’s the penultimate weekend of the 2022 MLB regular season, and most of the divisions aside from the NL East are all but clinched. Even the wild card teams are fairly clinched, but with positioning, seeding to be determined. Here are some of the best weekend series’ that still matter at least a little bit. Let’s get right to it so you can bet against their MLB Odds.

Must-Bet Major League Baseball Games for the Upcoming Weekend (Sep. 17th – 18th)

Red Sox at Yankees

Red Sox – Yankees is always a classic rivalry, even late in the season when one of the teams doesn’t have much to play for. Boston is the next team up in the A.L. to get mathematically eliminated in the postseason, and you have to think the Yankees would love to be the team to do just that.

An interesting thing to watch in this series is New York’s Aaron Judge’s quest for the A.L. home run record. Judge currently has 60 HRs, one away from tying former Yankee Roger Maris. Judge has five HRs vs. the Red Sox this season.

Braves at Phillies

This series got underway on Thursday night, with Atlanta losing 1-0. The Braves have clinched a playoff berth; now they’re just trying to find out whether they’re going in as the division winner or through the wild card. With Thursday’s loss, the Braves are 1.5 GB of the Mets in the NL East.

The Phillies would take a big weekend as they continue to try to stave off the Brewers, who are 2.5 GB in the quest for the third wild card spot. Milwaukee has a pretty easy matchup on paper this weekend with the 59-91 Reds, so we’ll see if they can pick up some ground.

Blue Jays at Rays

The American League wild card seedings will get a little clearer this weekend with Toronto and Tampa Bay squaring off at the Trop. The Blue Jays currently have a one-game lead over TB for the top wild card spot but did lose the opener 10-5 on Thursday. The Rays hold a slight 9-7 edge in the season series.

Mets at A’s

New York should be huge favorites in all three games in Oakland, and it’s looking like anything less than a sweep is going to be a disappointment. The Mets have a 1.5-game lead over the Braves in the NL East and this weekend have Chris Bassitt, Jacob deGrom, and Max Scherzer lined up to be their three starters.

Cardinals at Dodgers

While Aaron Judge goes for 61 HRs, Albert Pujols is on the quest for 700 as he currently sits at 698 long balls all time. Pujols is on a six-game homerless streak, and St. Louis as a team had been shut out for three straight games prior to Thursday’s 5-4 win in San Diego. The Cardinals have a 7.5 game lead over the Brewers in the NL Central with 11 games to play.

Other important series this weekend include the Brewers visiting the Reds, aiming for a sweep as they try to climb into the final wild-card spot. The Mariners also visit Kansas City with Seattle, Toronto, and Tampa Bay, all within 1.5 games of each other in the AL wild card seeding.

Previous Betting News

The MLB season is coming to an end, and there’s not much drama left in the standings. The race for the NL East is the only division still up in the air. There is also some uncertainty about which team will clinch the third NL Wild Card. Here’s a look at the series that will help determine which teams are headed to the postseason, for your MLB bets.

Top Series to bet during the week MLB 2022

Battle for NL East

The Braves and Mets will have one more series against each other. Atlanta trails the Mets by 1.5 games. New York holds a 9-7 edge in the series so far this season. The Mets and Braves will open their season Friday with a good pitching matchup.

New York will send Chris Bassitt (15-6, 3.27 ERA) to the mound to face off against Max Fried (13-7, 2.5). Fried pitched against the Braves twice in August, putting together a 1-1 record. He threw 13 innings between both starts and allowed four earned runs. Both teams don’t lack for starting pitching.

The matchup on Saturday should be strong. Jacob deGrom (5-3, 2.93) will lead the Mets against Braves right-hander Kyle Wright (20-5, 3-18).

Win and get help

The Milwaukee Brewers will end the season with a nine-game home stand. That’s convenient for the Brewers, who are 1.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the final NL Wild Card spot. However, it may be the first two games of that stretch that are the most important.

The Brewers will open with a pair of games against the rival Cardinals, who won the NL Central division crown. Milwaukee and St. Louis have had a number of intense battles against each other. The Cardinals lead the series 9-8.

Monday’s matchup will be especially important because the Brewers will be throwing Adrian Houser, who is 6-9 this season with a 4.62 ERA, and has been pitching better as of late. The Brewers have won the last five games Houser started. St. Louis will be throwing top pitcher Miles Mikolas.

Keeping cool

The Phillies have to feel good about their lead in the National League Wild Card. Philadelphia closes the series with 10 straight games on the road, but seven of the 10 games are against teams nowhere close to postseason contention. Especially important for the Phillies will be their series early in the week against the Cubs.

If Philadelphia can win at least two of three, it sets the Phillies up for a four-game set against the Nationals. What the Phillies will be desperate to avoid is the season coming down to a three-game set against Houston to end the season. While it is possible the Astros won’t be playing for anything, they could still be battling for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

Previous Betting News

There are less than 20 games left in the 2022 regular season for a lot of MLB teams, and this past week the Dodgers became the first team to clinch their division.

The Astros will be following suit soon, but it looks like the NL East and the AL Central are coming down to the wire. Here are some of the best series to bet on this weekend. Let’s get right to it so you don’t miss your chance to bet against the MLB Odds.

Must-Bet Major League Baseball Games for the Upcoming Weekend (Sep. 17th – 18th)

Colorado Rockies at Chicago Cubs

The Rockies are absolutely atrocious on the road once again at 22-47, but on the flip side, the Cubs are playing well despite being out of playoff consideration for some time now. Chicago just completed the sweep of the Mets at Citi Field, even though New York is in a dogfight for the NL East crown.

The Rockies are 18-46 in their last 64 road games, and they’ll be facing Marcus Stroman in the series opener. Saturday and Sunday’s games are toss-ups (Jose Urena vs. Wade Miley, Ryan Feltner vs. Javier Assad) which should provide some valuable odds for the home team.

Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Guardians

Cleveland can extinguish the flame of at least one of the teams following them in the AL Central, as the Twins are currently four games back in the division. The Guardians swept three games at Target Field last weekend, but Minnesota did have a nice bounce back, taking all three contests from the Royals this week.

The Twins are 5-9 vs. the Guardians this season but have dropped five straight. Both teams have TBD for Saturday and Sunday’s pitchers, so Bailey Ober vs. Triston McKenzie on Friday will set the tone for the weekend.

Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays

Baltimore’s playoff hopes may be on life support as they are 4.5 games back from the third spot in the AL. A good weekend in Toronto changes things, though, as the Orioles trail the Blue Jays by five games in the wild-card hunt.

The problem for the Orioles is that Toronto is red hot right now, going 11-4 so far in September. The Blue Jays haven’t named any of their pitchers for the weekend, so if Jordan Lyles can get Baltimore in the win column on Friday, the season series would be evened up 7-7.

Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers

The Twins and Guardians will be beating up on each other at Progressive Field this weekend, so it’s a great time for Chicago to make their move in the AL Central. The White Sox are three games back right now and have a three-game home set with the Guardians next week. With Lucas Giolito – Johnny Cueto – and Michael Kopech lined up to pitch this weekend for the South Siders, anything less than a sweep would be considered a disappointment.

Pittsburgh Pirates at New York Mets

The Mets were just swept by the Cubs, dropping them to 7-7 this month. They’ve still held on to a one-game lead over Atlanta in the East but need a sweep over the lowly Pirates this weekend as the Braves have a tough series with the Phillies. With Taijuan Walker, Chris Bassitt, and Jacob deGrom going for the Mets, they have the horses to take all three.

Previous Betting News

Some people still don’t like interleague play in Major League Baseball. And it is odd that now there is at least one interleague series always going on because there are 15 teams in each league. And it’s still rather stupid the American League has a designated hitter and the National League doesn’t meaning interleague game in an NL park don’t include the DH but those in AL parks do. But for all of interleague play’s faults, it also brings us fantastic matchups we might not otherwise see. And that’s the case in a quick two-game series in San Francisco starting on Tuesday night in a potential World Series preview with the Boston Red Sox in town. The Sox are +400 favorites on betting odds to win the AL pennant and the Giants are +535 to win the NL. Of course it’s an even-numbered year and San Francisco has won the pennant and World Series each even-numbered year this decade. Boston leads the AL East and the Giants are atop the NL West so we might see this again in October.

Top MLB Series of the Week

The teams last met in August 2013, and the Red Sox took the series, winning two out of three games with a high run margin. That was the last year the Red Sox won the World Series.

What will Boston do with designated hitter David Ortiz? The future Hall of Famer is 40 years old and will retire after this season yet amazingly is having perhaps the best year of his career. But Ortiz isn’t a very good defensive first baseman, which is the only other place he could play in order to keep his bat in the lineup. It’s expected that Ortiz will only start one of the two game and then be able to pinch-hit in the other. Ortiz is still recovering from some foot soreness and with no DH available in the series, the Red Sox will use it as an opportunity to give him one day of rest. He leads the American League in on-base percentage (.424), doubles (26, a record pace) and runs batted in (54).

Boston is a slight favorite on betting picks for Tuesday’s opener behind Rick Porcello. The sinkerballer has struggled of late, giving up four runs or more in three of his past four starts. In his last start against the Orioles, Porcello gave up three home runs and took a no-decision. He is opposed by Albert Suarez. The 26-year-old rookie right-hander had his moments in his first big-league start last Wednesday, retiring the first nine batters and demonstrating decent velocity with a fastball that reached 96 mph.

Wednesday’s matchup is the one to circle as it’s former Cy Young winner David Price against former World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner in a showdown of two of the best left-handed pitchers in baseball.

Price has gained some momentum, posting five consecutive quality starts in which he’s lowered his ERA from 6.75 to 4.88. This will be Price’s first career start at AT&T Park. In two starts against the Giants, he is 0-1 with a 3.06 ERA. Bumgarner has won six consecutive decisions over a span of eight starts. Overall, the Giants are 9-3 this season in his outings. Lifetime, Bumgarner is 7-7 with a 3.76 ERA in 17 Interleague starts. Don’t rule out Bumgarner going yard. He has two homers this season and his 13 career homers top all active pitchers. Bumgarner wants to be the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game, but the team isn’t about to let its ace do that and risk injury.