Best MLB Bets Today: Big Bets on Division Battles Thursday

We have a pair of bets from divisional rivalries for you today. The first comes from a battle between two teams at the top of the AL Central standings as the Guardians host the Royals. The second involves an AL West matchup between the sinking A’s and streaking Mariners.

Below, we will share our favorite bet for each division matchup. We will use odds taken from FanDuel Sportsbook, which offers new players a welcome promo Bet $5 Get $200 in Bonus Bets if your bet wins.

Best MLB Bets Today: Royals vs. Guardians (1:10 PM EST)

Guardians ML (-156) at FanDuel Sportsbook

The Royals got off to an incredible start to the 2024 season but have cooled off significantly over the last two weeks. Their impressive eight-game win streak was snapped on May 26, and they lost seven of their next nine games. The team is better than it has been playing, but we see a massive gap between them and the Guardians, which is why we are taking Cleveland to get a win tonight.

The Royals will have Daniel Lynch IV (0-0, 1.50 ERA) starting against the Guardians this afternoon. The 27-year-old is off to a strong start to 2024 but has only thrown 12 innings across three games. He was fantastic through the first seven but showed some cracks against the Twins in his last start. Lynch has not had a promising career up to this point, which is why we are betting that his last start is just the beginning of a significant regression.

The Guardians will have Tanner Bibee (4-1, 3.74 ERA) on the mound today. The 25-year-old was incredible in his rookie campaign last season but hasn’t been as sharp in 2024. While he struggled in his first two May starts, he was incredible over his previous four. Bibee has allowed just four runs on 16 hits and five walks over 24.2 innings pitched. While the Royals have been hitting the ball well, they will fall victim to a hot Cleveland starter today.

Bet on Guardians ML (-156) at Fanduel 

Best MLB Bets Today: Mariners vs. Athletics (3:37 PM EST)

Mariners -1.5 (-142) at FanDuel Sportsbook

The Mariners have been playing as well as anyone in the league of late, opening up an even more significant division lead over the Texas Rangers. One big reason for their success in 2024 will be on the mound tonight in Bryan Woo (2-0, 1.30 ERA, 0.58 WHIP).

The 24-year-old has been fantastic in his second season, allowing just four earned runs over five starts. That includes a six-inning road shutout of a great Yankees team where he allowed just two hits without walking a batter. Woo’s last start was almost as good as he also threw six scoreless innings with three hits and no walks. The righty’s ability to limit walks makes him hard to score on, which is why his WHIP is so incredibly low.

Woo will face an east test against the A’s today. While they are a bit better than their disastrous 2023 campaign, this is still a bad baseball team. After a hot start, their lineup now ranks twenty-eighth in batting average (.224) and twenty-sixth in runs scored (234). Woo threw 4 ⅓ score linings against the A’s in his first start of the season, and we think he is even better this time around.

The A’s will have JP Sears (4-4, 4.01 ERA, 1,11 EHIP) starting opposite Woo tonight. The lefty is actually having the best season of his career, but he will be facing a red-hot Mariners lineup.  Sears may not get hammered, but he won’t be able to outduel Woo and a Seattle team that has been seeing the ball well.

Bet on Padres -1.5 (+115) at FanDuel 

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