MLB Same Game Parlays & Picks: Monday (5/18)
We have plenty of data to sift through regarding our MLB same-game parlays (SGPs), as Monday’s slate is more loaded than usual with 14 games, nine of which are division rivals. I focus on two of those divisional rivalries in this column, one from each league.
Let’s dive into the two best MLB SGPs for Monday, May 18th.
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Monday’s Best MLB Same Game Parlays
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
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Toronto Blue Jays vs. New York Yankees
- Leg 1: Yankees Moneyline (-205)
- Leg 2: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Over 1.5 Total Bases (+116)
- Leg 3: Paul Goldschmidt 1+ Runs (-140)
The Yankees are scuffling, having lost eight out of 11 games since opening May with a five-game winning streak. But a return home to Yankee Stadium, even if facing a 94-win team a year ago that won the American League East, should be New York’s perfect medicine to get right.
The Yankees use the friendly confines in the Bronx to their advantage, where they have a 14-6 home record. I’m also willing to lay the steep Moneyline odds as the first leg of this parlay, since New York is 10-5 against left-handed starting pitchers.
Three Yankees starters (Paul Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger) have a career .940 OPS or better against Patrick Corbin. Goldschmidt has also made great use of his playing time, even if he really only platoons against lefties at this point.
Goldschmidt had a .289/.360/.578 slash line with two doubles, a triple and three home runs in his last 50 plate appearances before this weekend’s Subway Series.
Meanwhile, Blue Jays manager John Schneider may have pushed the right button to get Vladimir Guerrero Jr. out of a slump, as he responded to his move to the No. 2 spot by promptly hitting a home run in his first at-bat yesterday.
Guerrero loves hitting at Yankee Stadium, as he has a career 1.002 OPS in 48 games there, after slashing a ridiculous .455/.500/.818 in the Bronx last season.
Parlay Odds: +451
San Francisco Giants vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
- Leg 1: Diamondbacks Moneyline (-143)
- Leg 2: Robbie Ray Under 4.5 Strikeouts (-145)
- Leg 3: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 1+ RBI (+173)
The Giants have played much better baseball of late, going 2-0-1 in three series against teams that were either over .500 (Pirates and Dodgers) or in first place in their division (Athletics).
They still were averaging a league-low 3.4 runs per game before busting out for 10 runs yesterday, and the starting pitching edge the Diamondbacks own in this series opener is too great to ignore.
Robbie Ray has allowed a .287/.371/.594 slash line in 94 combined at-bats to current Diamondbacks hitters, while Zac Gallen has limited current Giants hitters to a .196/.236/.342 slash line in 102 at-bats.
Ray has also allowed extra-base hits on a whopping 16 of the 27 overall hits allowed to the Diamondbacks. Their ability to put up crooked numbers should offset Ray’s 28.7% strikeout rate in their head-to-head encounters.
Of all the players to face Ray, few have done more damage consistently than Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who has a 1.144 OPS and a home run in 14 at-bats against the lefty. Gurriel got a late start to the season, but he is already in mid-season form, having driven in at least one run in four of the last five games.
Parlay Odds: +684
Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.