Best MLB Bets Today: Big Action From the AL East

We have a pair of great bets involving AL East teams tonight. The first comes from a battle in the Big Apple as the New York Mets take on the New York Yankees. The other comes from a matchup between division rivals as the Tampa Bay Rays head across the border to face the Toronto Blue Jays. 

Below, we will share our favorite bet for both of these games. We’ll use odds from FanDuel Sportsbook, which offers new players a welcome bonus of $200 in Bonus Bets when they sign up and make an initial winning wager of $5+.

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Best MLB Bets Today: Mets vs. Yankees (7:00 PM EST)

Yankees -1.5 (+126) at FanDuel Sportsbook

While the Mets have been the hotter team, we love the Yankees to get a lopsided win tonight. One big reason is Gerrit Cole (3-1, 4.602 ERA), who will be starting on the mound tonight. The former Cy Young winner missed most of the season with an injury but is beginning to settle in after allowing two runs across his last two starts (12 innings).

The Mets hit Cole hard in his second start of the season last month, but that was a very different version of the Yankees’ ace. His previous two starts have shown the 33-year-old is finally back into form, which is bad news for a Mets team that owns a .201 batting average against him. The Mets have been held to two or fewer runs in two of their four games since returning from the All-Star break, and we expect them to do so again tonight.

Sean Manaea (6-4, 3.73 ERA) will take the mound opposite Cole tonight. The veteran has had a bounce-back season for the Mets but is coming off one of his worst starts. The lefty allowed five runs on eight hits and one walk over five innings against the lowly Marlins, leading to a 6-4 loss for New York.

We haven’t been trusting of Manaea this season due to his struggles against good offenses. He did manage to shut out the Yankees over five innings last month, but he allowed five walks. Manaea caught the Yankees lineup on an off day and was able to get away with his control issues, but we don’t see him being that lucky again.

The Yankees lead all of baseball in runs scored, and they will hang another crooked number up tonight against Manaea and the Mets.

Bet on Yankees -1.5 (+126) at FanDuel

Best MLB Bets Today: Rays vs. Blue Jays (7:07 PM EST)

Blue Jays ML (+100) at FanDuel Sportsbooks

If you don’t know the name of Yariel Rodriguez (1-3, 3.78 ERA), you should learn it. The Blue Jays signed the Cuban star out of the Nippon League last spring, and he made his MLB debut this season. The results were mixed through his first five starts, but the 27-year-old has been locked in during July. 

Rodriguez has made three starts this month, posting a 1.62 ERA and 0.86 WHIP. That run includes an incredible start against the Astros, in which the righty allowed just one run on two hits and two walks over 6 ⅔ innings. He wasn’t nearly as sharp in his last start against the D-Backs, but he limited them to just two runs over four innings, putting the Blue Jays in a position to win.

We like Rodriguez to find success tonight for a couple of reasons. First is that he has been lights out at home this season, posting a 2.57 ERA. The other is that the Rays will be seeing him for the first time, and opponents are batting just .190 the first time they face the Jays’ starter. Considering that the Rays rank twenty-seventh in runs scored and twenty-second in batting average, we expect them to struggle in their first outing against the rising star.

The Rays will have Zach Eflin (5-7, 4.14 ERA) on the mound tonight. The veteran has regressed in his second season with Tampa and has been especially bad in July. He owns a 5.29 ERA across three starts this month, allowing four or more runs twice. 

The Rays have lost Eflin’s last two starts, and we see that streak continuing against the Jays’ tonight.

Bet on Blue Jays ML (+100) at FanDuel

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