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Top 3 MLB Betting Picks for Sunday, August 15 (2021)

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Welcome back for another Sunday. Someone named Tyler Gilbert threw a no-hitter in his first career MLB start on Saturday night for the Diamondbacks. Amazingly, that has now only happened four times in MLB history and hadn’t happened at all since 1953 when Bobo Holloman threw a no-hitter in his first start for the St. Louis Browns. How can you not be romantic about baseball? We’re officially in the dog days of August, but the playoff picture still isn’t very clear, at least in the two East divisions.

Here are my top betting plays for Sunday, August 15. Have questions or want to talk baseball or betting? Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher.

View the best player prop bets for today’s slate with our MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet >>

Atlanta Braves ML (-155)
-1.5
-105
o 10.0
-110
-155
JOIN NOW
+1.5
-115
o 10.0
-110
+135

The Nationals sold the farm at the MLB trade deadline, and Stephen Strasburg remains on the injured list. Their lineup is currently Juan Soto and a bunch of guys who are significantly worse at baseball than Juan Soto. And with a day game on Sunday and some potential light rain in the forecast, it’s possible the Nationals decide to give Soto the day off. If that happens, this line will move quickly, so grab this -155 moneyline at DraftKings while you can.

The Braves are in a dog fight in the NL East with the Phillies and Mets. They lost Ronald Acuna Jr. for the season but supplemented their lineup with reinforcements at the deadline. They are sending Drew Smyly to the bump on Sunday, fresh off a win over the Reds in his last start. The Nationals are countering with Paolo Espino, who has bounced between the bullpen and the starting rotation and doesn’t typically pitch deep into games.

Boston Red Sox -1.5 runs (-155)
+1.5
+135
o 10.0
-120
+235
JOIN NOW
-1.5
-155
o 10.0
-120
-300

A lot of sportsbooks have moved this run line to 2.5, but you can still get it at 1.5 at DraftKings. After hitting a rough patch right after the MLB trade deadline, the Boston offense has finally woken up in recent days. On Saturday against this same Orioles squad, they exploded for 16 runs. On Sunday, they’ll be facing Keegan Akin and his 8.23 ERA. In his last start, Akin allowed six earned runs over three innings. Baltimore would prefer not to start Akin, but they don’t really have a choice given their current roster. Their team ERA is 5.78 for the season, which is the worst mark in all of baseball (the Diamondbacks have the second-worst number, at 5.32).

Eduardo Rodriguez has pitched better for the Red Sox of late, but this bet is really about the Baltimore pitching and the Boston offense. Expect more fireworks on Sunday, with E-Rod doing enough to ensure this one stays lopsided. Don’t overthink this one. Give the 1.5 runs, and DraftKings has the best odds at -155.

Los Angeles Dodgers ML (-180)
-1.5
-105
o 7.5
-120
-180
JOIN NOW
+1.5
-115
o 7.5
-120
+155

This week, Sunday Night Baseball features Max Scherzer and the Los Angeles Dodgers against Carlos Carrasco and the New York Mets. The Mets had been cruising in the NL East but are now 4-6 in their last ten games, find themselves 1.5 games behind both the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves, and just found out that ace Jacob deGrom is being shut down for another couple of weeks. All is not well in Queens, and a primetime matchup against Max Scherzer is unlikely to make things any better.

Carlos Carrasco has a 6.75 ERA through 9 1/3 innings for the Mets this season, though that number is inflated by a rain-shortened outing against the Nationals in which he allowed four runs over just an inning of work. He is still working his way back after a lengthy layoff and is unlikely to pitch deep into this game even if he does pitch well. You know what that means: we’re probably going to see some middle relievers on Sunday night. If you have followed my bets this season, you know that I love to target games where we are likely to see the middle of a team’s bullpen. And on a night where we get to back an ace and see a handful of bullpen innings, I’m grabbing this one at -180 on DraftKings.

That’s it for today. Have questions or want to talk baseball or betting? Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher.

MLB Prop Bets

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Mike Maher is an editor and featured writer at FantasyPros and BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive, follow him on Twitter @MikeMaher, and visit his Philadelphia Eagles blog, The Birds Blitz.