Monday MLB Betting Picks and More - Ride the Line Ep. #40

A new episode of Ride the Line with Grant Mitchell and Tanner Kern is now live on all WSN platforms!

Monday MLB Betting Picks

As the United States Women’s soccer team bids goodbye to the World Cup after falling to Sweden in a penalty shootout, Tanner is forced to hold down the fort on his own Monday.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Tanner kicks the day off by taking the Boston Red Sox -1.5 against the Kansas City Royals. The Sox have been having a tough go of things as of late and have lost seven of their last eight but get to start Brayan Bello on the mound on Monday.

The Royals, despite being one of the worst teams in the league both from a record and betting perspective, have been performing decently lately. Tanner is counting on that being lightning in a bottle more than a trend and likes the consistency the Sox have put together at the plate and in the bullpen over the course of the season.

The second pick of the show is the Los Angeles Dodgers moneyline against the San Diego Padres. LA has been cooking lately, winning five of its last six including an 8-2 win over the Padres Sunday evening. They now also lead the season series 7-2 and are the second-highest-scoring team since the All-Star break.

Seth Lugo will go toe-to-toe with Tony Gonsolin in this one. Lugo is coming off of a month in which his 3.45 ERA just about matched his 3.54 for the season, whereas Gonsolin recently found his footing with a one-run, five-inning performance after putting together a rough couple of months. The Dodgers bullpen has also improved significantly recently, and Tanner thinks that will help power them to victory.

The final Monday MLB betting pick on the show is the Chicago Cubs moneyline against the New York Mets. The Cubs are the highest-scoring team since the All-Star break and are averaging a crazy 7.1 runs during that stretch. They have also won 15 of their last 19 games and are suddenly just a game and a half out of the lead in the National League Central division.

The Mets started the year as one of the most disappointing teams in the league and have somehow only gotten worse ever since. They now rank 28th in scoring and slugging percentage and 29th in batting average since the All-Star break, while their pitching staff has declined and gotten thinner following the trades of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and David Robertson. 

Kodai Senga has been excellent, and Drew Smyly has been anything but, but Tanner likes the Cubs’ offense too much to pass this up.

Check back later in the week for a new episode of Ride the Line with more MLB and NFL preseason betting picks!