While the MLB world gushed about the Tampa Bay Rays during their ridiculous start to the season, a pretty cool story was happening elsewhere in the AL East.
The Baltimore Orioles weren’t 29-7 like the Rays were in early May, but a young team was playing really well to start the season. The Orioles were 10 games over .500 by the end of April. And the team that kept those good vibes going through July wasn’t the Rays.
The Orioles are on top of the AL East after taking three of four from the Rays over the weekend. That series was in Tampa, and the Orioles passed a huge test.
Baltimore tries to keep the good vibes going as a series starts at the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday. The Phillies are a -120 favorite at BetMGM.
Perhaps more interesting on Monday is the AL East odds. The Rays are the -125 favorites, despite being two games back. The Orioles are +135. Baltimore to win the division was at +900 about a month ago. BetMGM is rooting for the Rays; a week ago 38.5% of all tickets for the AL East champion were on the Orioles. There are some big tickets out there too. Baltimore opened at 25-to-1 to win the division.
It’s not such a long shot anymore. The Orioles are rolling. Gunnar Henderson has zoomed to the top of the AL Rookie of the Year odds (he’s +180). Their lineup is deep and the pitching seems to be improving. They’re a team to watch at the deadline.
A young team will have tests the rest of the season, and another comes this week. They don’t want to lose focus after a good weekend in Tampa and drop games to the Phillies. But the Orioles have been proving themselves all season. They even have the Rays looking up at them in the standings now.
Here’s the first look at the sports betting slate for Monday:
The rest of MLB
There are 10 games in MLB on Monday. That includes the start of a big series in the NL Central. The Milwaukee Brewers are a half-game up on the Cincinnati Reds, who travel to Milwaukee for a three-game set starting Monday. The Brewers are a slight -115 favorite in the series opener. Milwaukee has taken five of six from the Reds this month, including a sweep in Cincinnati right after the all-star break.
In the AL West there’s a big series as well. The Texas Rangers travel to the Houston Astros for a three-game series. The Astros are three games back in the division and don’t want to lose any more ground, especially with this series at home. The Rangers are -115 in the series opener though.
Women’s World Cup continues
There are two late night/early morning matches from the group stage of the Women’s World Cup. At 10 pm Eastern time, Columbia faces Republic of Korea, which is +145 odds to win on the three-way line (which includes draws). Then New Zealand is a -300 favorite over the Philippines and Norway is +110 against Switzerland.
What’s the best bet?
I’ll go with the Brewers as a small home underdog. They’ve been playing pretty well since the break and have played the Reds very well since Cincinnati crept up the NL Central standings. Let’s take Milwaukee to start the week.