Top MLB Betting Odds & Picks for Wednesday, June 1st (2022)
Major League Baseball has an exciting slate of games on tap for the first day of June. All 30 teams are in action, and with Wednesday being a popular getaway day, there are six games with first pitch before 4:00 p.m. ET. Do any early games on the slate make our cut for our best wagers?
Here are our best bets for Wednesday’s MLB action. (Odds courtesy of DraftKings)
View the best player prop bets for tonight’s slate with our MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet >>
Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics Team Total O/U
Per Bets Stats on Twitter, if one bet $100 on the under in every Houston Astros game heading into last night, they would have profited $2,149, with the Astros being the most profitable team to the under in the league. A big reason for that is a Houston offense that has underperformed relative to preseason expectations, and the other is a rock-solid rotation led by ace Justin Verlander.
Verlander (6-2, 2.03) ranks ninth in ERA, second in WHIP (0.83), fifth in OBA (.188), 11th in K/BB rate (5.50), and second in BABIP (.214). He is coming off by far his worst start of the season when he allowed six earned runs on ten hits over six innings against the Mariners. Verlander had allowed two earned runs in his first 33 road innings before that start. We chalk his poor start to being the third time in a month that he faced Seattle, but Oakland’s hitters will not have that familiarity with Verlander as they are facing him for the first time this season.
The under is 4-0 in Verlander’s last four starts as a favorite and is 4-0 in his last four road starts against teams with a losing record. We like for both of those trends to continue and for that to mean the A’s push very few runs across the plate this afternoon.
Bet: Oakland Athletics Team Total UNDER 2.5 (-125 at DraftKings)
Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers ML
The Twins are 6-3 against the Tigers this year. One of those wins was a dominating 7-1 home victory on April 28th in a game that today’s starting pitcher for Detroit, Tarik Skubal, was on the mound. However, Skubal (3-2, 2.44) has been a much different pitcher since that poor start, almost out of necessity, as many of Detroit’s regular starting pitchers are injured.
Skubal allowed three earned runs in his last start against Cleveland, but those are the only three earned runs he has allowed over the previous 25 innings. He went 2-0 with a 1.45 ERA in five May starts and allowed a minuscule .193 OBA and 0.87 WHIP. That ERA ranked second, and the WHIP ranked sixth of any starting pitcher in May.
Detroit has won just 11 games since May 10th, but three of those are in Skubal’s starts, where the team is 3-1 the last four times he has toed the rubber. Minnesota has the best road record (13-10) of any team in the division, but if any pitcher can cool them off, it is Skubal. We expect him to lead the Tigers to their seventh win in the last nine home meetings against Minnesota.
Bet: Detroit Tigers ML (+105 at DraftKings)
Chicago White Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays First Five Innings ML
The White Sox are still the favorites (-105) at FanDuel to win the AL Central, despite trailing Minnesota by five games entering tonight’s contest. If only Chicago could face left-handed pitching more regularly. Chicago is 17-20 when a right-handed starting pitcher starts a game but is 6-4 against lefties. In addition, Chicago’s lineup has been inconsistent all season, ranking 25th in wRC+ and wOBA, 25th in BB/K rate, and 30th of 30 teams in hard-hit rate. However, against just left-handed pitching, the White Sox rank third in wRC+, sixth in wOBA, 17th in BB/K rate, and 16th in hard-hit rate.
Chicago faces Toronto lefty Hyun Jin Ryu (2-0, 5.48), who has been lit up for 11 earned runs in 13.1 home innings (7.43 ERA). Ryu is also 0-2 with a 9.32 ERA in two career starts against the White Sox, so we look for Jose Abreu and company to pounce on the southpaw early. Chicago counters with Michael Kopech (1-1, 1.29), who has allowed just three earned runs in his last 23 innings.
The Blue Jays have had a flair for the dramatic in late innings recently, which is why we are keeping this wager to the first five innings instead of backing Chicago’s moneyline odds for the whole game.
Bet: Chicago White Sox F5 ML (+100 at DraftKings)
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Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.