Somebody must have called FanDuel and told them that Bark Bets has hit two of three homer props for the past two Tuesdays, because the Dinger Tuesday promotion has seemingly ended on the sportsbook. Without the safety net of free bets coming back our way, honing in on multiple home run picks doesn’t feel like the best use of our bankroll. Let’s look elsewhere for today.
Cedric Mullins & Bryce Harper 1+ hit each (+104 FD)
Cedric Mullins comes into this one riding an 11-game hit streak, and has a hit in 22 of his past 30 games. It’s Cal Quantrill on the mound for Cleveland against Baltimore, an ideal option for Mullins to build on his hitting streak. In four plate appearances against the righty, Mullins has a single and a homer. Mullins is hitting .298 against RHP this season, compared to .203 off lefties, so we’re feeling good about the Orioles lead-off hitter logging another hit tonight.
Harper has been rolling along since he returned to the lineup, knocking a hit in each game and totaling five in the four games he’s played. In his last 30 games, Harper has a hit in 24 of them (80%), and he’ll see Zac Gallen tonight who he’s 3-6 against. Considering Harper’s .328 average off RHP, this is looking like a terrific parlay partner for Mullins.
Eloy Jimenez & Yordan Alvarez 1+ hit each (-103 FD)
Eloy Jimenez has himself a hit in 24 of his past 30 games. His placement on today’s targets for a hit is his history against Brady Singer. In 14 plate appearances against the Royals hurler, Jimenez is hitting .538. He’s also had quite the success against Kansas City in general this year, averaging 1.9 hits per game in eight contests this season. Jimenez is hitting better against RHP as well, which helps explain why he’s had Singer’s number.
Yordan Alvarez has a hit in 12 of his last 15 games. The Rangers are trotting out Dane Dunning tonight, and Alvarez is hitting .500 off him in nine plate appearances. It’s been a common theme with all of our names today, but Alvarez too has a better average against the handedness of the day’s starter, hitting .302 against RHP this season. Alvarez has a hit in 9 of 12 games against Texas this season.
In the news…
Jimmy G sticking around in San Fran — So much for Jimmy Garoppolo finding himself a new team. The veteran quarterback has agreed to a contract restructuring with the 49ers which makes him the highest-paid backup QB in the league. Some are viewing this negatively towards Trey Lance, but we aren’t in that camp, it feels like nothing more than an insurance policy. We still love Lance’s value to win MVP in his first season as a starter.
US Open action continues on all week — The second round matchups are beginning to take shape, and there’s plenty of tennis today and throughout the week in the US Open. Serena Williams won her first-round matchup yesterday in what she announced will be her final tennis matches of her career. Those that like to follow the narrative can bet on Serena to win at +2200. On the men’s side, we had a pair of top-10 players drop their first-round matches in No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 10 Taylor Fritz. Colombian Daniel Galan took down Tsitsipas and has an intriguing path to make it a few more rounds. Galan is +4000 to win his quarter of the bracket.
Donovan Mitchell may not be New York-bound, RJ Barrett agrees to $120 million extension with the Knicks — The Knicks finally have themselves a first-round pick to feel good about, as RJ Barrett became the first first-rounder selected by the franchise to gain an extension since Charlie Ward back in 1999. The four-year, $120 million contract will keep Barrett in New York, and could potentially complicate any trade for Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell. The Jazz wanted Mitchell traded by training campso it remains to be seen where that domino will fall in the NBA.
Today’s Bark Bets is written by Griffin Carroll