MLB Betting Previews- Thursday, June 14 Parlay
The second-round of MLB Interleague Play heads into its second weekend of action this Friday, but 11 three-game series from this week still have to wrap things up on Thursday.
While the unpredictability of handicapping Interleague games is always a challenge, we have thoroughly delved into all pertinent stats and betting trends available for the pitching matchups in Thursday’s slate of games to uncover a two-team parlay that promises to get this weekend off to a great start.
Game 1- New York Mets vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Money Line: New York +115 Tampa Bay -130
Total Line: 7.5
The Mets’ Johan Santana followed-up his historic no-hitter against St. Louis by giving-up six earned runs on seven hits in a loss to the Yankees last Friday. The left-hander is now 3-3 on the year with a 2.96 ERA in 12 previous starts. He is 3-3 lifetime against the Rays with an ERA of 2.75.
Tampa Bay will go with Jeremy Hellickson as its starter in the series finale. He held Miami to just one earned run on five hits but issued seven walks in just 4 1/3 innings of work his last time out. Overall, the right-hander is 4-2 with a 2.65 ERA in 12 starts.
New York is 2-6 in their last eight Interleague games on the road heading into Wednesday’s Game 2 of this series while the Rays are now 8-3 in their last 11 games against the NL East. Tampa Bay is also an impressive 9-1 in Hellickson’s last 10 starts in Game 3 of a series. Stick with this trend to continue as the Rays win to lock-up the front-end of this parlay. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Game 2- Philadelphia Phillies vs. Minnesota Twins
Money Line: Philadelphia +105 Minnesota -115
Total Line: 8
Joe Blanton will be on the mound for Philadelphia to try and stop a slide that has produced just one win in its last 10 games. Blanton’s recent form has been nothing to write home about with 29 earned runs in his five starts after giving-up just 10 in his previous five outings, but the right-hander appears to be slowly pitching his way out of this funk. He is 4-4 against the Twins with a 4.45 ERA.
Minnesota will go with Scott Diamond as its starter for Thursday. The left-hander held the Cubs scoreless over six innings this past Saturday after blanking Cleveland for seven innings in his previous start. He is 5-1 in seven outings this season with a rock-solid ERA of just 1.61 and a 1.19 WHIP.
The matchup on the mound weighs heavily towards the Twins, but the Phillies are 8-1 in Blanton’s last nine starts in the third game of a series while Minnesota is 3-10 in Game 3 of its last 13 series. Stick with Philadelphia to come through with a much needed victory to round-out the back-end of this parlay.
