MLB Best Bets: Thursday, July 7

Which teams have the longest current winning streaks in Major League Baseball?

It’s not the Yankees, Dodgers, Astros, or Mets. The Braves are close with three-straight wins.

But the answer–at four wins in a row apiece–is Detroit, Baltimore, and Seattle.

The Tigers are coming off a four-game sweep at home of the Guardians, sending Cleveland to a .500 record and erasing much of their progress in June. The Mariners have won four in a row and can get to .500 with a win over Toronto tonight, and Baltimore, while playing in baseball’s deepest division, is a respectable 39-44 and actually has a winning record at home.

Two of those three teams are featured in our MLB best bets for today, and there’s plenty to pick from on an unusually busy Thursday where 26 of the 30 teams are in action.

Los Angeles Angels vs. Baltimore Orioles

The Bet: Baltimore -110 (DraftKings Sportsbook)

The Orioles are coming off a three-game sweep at home of Texas, where the O’s won each game by one run (and two of the three came in extra innings). Tonight, the Birds open a four-game series with the slumping Angels, who lost the first four games of their three-city road trip before picking up a 5-2 win in Miami last night with Shohei Ohtani getting the W.

Jordan Lyles (4-7, 4.70 ERA) pitches for Baltimore tonight. He had a no-decision in his last outing, a strong 6.1-inning effort where he allowed just one run on four hits, seven strikeouts, and one walk to a heavy-hitting Twins team at Target Field. It also stopped a streak where he allowed four runs in four of his previous five turns in the rotation. The good start in that streak was at home to Washington on June 21, where he gave up two runs in 6.1 innings pitched. Prior to yesterday’s five-run breakthrough against the Marlins, the Angels were held to a total of five runs in their four losses, so the offense is in a bit of a slump, which should help Lyles.

Rookie Chase Silseth (1-2, 5.23 ERA in five starts) will pitch for the Halos. After starting his career by shutting out Oakland over six innings, he has been shaky since, allowing 12 runs in 14.1 innings of work over his next four starts. He lasted just 4.1 innings to Chicago last Tuesday, where he allowed three runs to the White Sox but did strike out six and walked none.

Baltimore is 21-17 at Camden Yards this year, whereas the Angels are five games under .500 on the road. After LA’s hot start, the Orioles actually have a better record than the Halos this year, and Baltimore took two of three when the teams met in Anaheim back in April. We like the Birds to keep their winning ways going tonight.

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Seattle Mariners

The Bet: Seattle

As of this writing, this game is not on the board because Toronto has not named its starting pitcher, but we have enough information here to feel confident in backing the Mariners once the game is available to bet at the various sportsbooks.

Toronto edged Oakland 2-1 yesterday to salvage the final game of a three-game series, which ended up being the A’s first series win at home since April. The Blue Jays also snapped a five-game losing streak with the win, but their offense is in a bit of a slump, scoring just nine runs over its last four games.

Seattle has won four-straight games and seven of its last 10 to creep back to the .500 mark after a disappointing start to their season. Remember, the Mariners won over 90 games last year and just missed the playoffs.

Marco Gonzales has pitched very well for the M’s as of late but doesn’t have the win-loss record to show for it. He’s 4-9 despite a 3.29 ERA on the season. As of late, Gonzales has allowed two or fewer runs in his last five starts but is just 1-3 in that span. He also had a great outing against the Jays at Rogers Centre in May, allowing just one run in six innings of work in a 5-1 Mariners win.

For an East Coast team, it’s tough to bust out of a slump out west, and Toronto is facing a hot group that’s coming off a sweep of a good San Diego team. With one of the Mariners’ most consistent pitchers going tonight, we are banking on a Seattle win once it’s on the board.

San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres

The Bet: San Diego -135 (Bet MGM)

Two slumping NL West rivals meet tonight in the first of a four-game set in San Diego. A week ago, the Padres were on the heels of the Dodgers, but after losing three of four in Chaves Ravine and then being swept by the Mariners, the deficit is now six games in the NL West. The San Francisco Giants took the final game of a series in Arizona but are just two games above .500 and now fifth in the wild card race after dropping seven of their last 10.

Joe Musgrove (8-2, 2.25 ERA) has lost two games in a row but pitched well last week in LA aside from having to contend with Justin Turner, as the third baseman slugged two home runs and accounted for all three runs that Musgrove allowed in seven innings of work. On the bright side for Musgrove, he struck out 10 and walked just one, which was a nice bounce-back from giving up six runs to the Phillies in his previous outing.

Logan Webb (7-3, 3.13 ERA) throws for the Giants. He’s coming off a six-inning outing where he allowed three runs in a 5-3 loss to the White Sox last Saturday. He had been even better in his previous four outings, giving up a total of three runs in 25.2 innings. In his one start against San Diego this year, Webb got the win on April 13 by giving up just one run in eight innings of work.

San Diego has scored two or fewer runs in five of their last six games, so if you wanted to take the under here, we wouldn’t blame you–perhaps even encourage it (extra best bet!). But with both teams in need of a win, we like San Diego with their ace on the mound at home.