It’s another getaway day in the MLB, which means one thing, baseball prop bets all day long for hungry bettors. There are four matinee matchups on the board as an appetizer before an eight-game main course tonight.
We open by highlighting one of baseball's best starters as Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees go for the series win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Then the red-hot Chicago Cubs will look to take down another National League West foe after sweeping the San Diego Padres.
We break down and pick those games and more with our best free MLB prop bets and predictions for Thursday, June 3.
Today’s MLB props and picks
Rays-Yankees Under 4 Five-Inning Total (-120)
The New York Yankees have finally broken out of their scoring funk (at least for the moment), taking the last two games from the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 and 4-3. That’s a big deal for a team that had scored two runs or fewer in six of their previous seven games. But all three games of this series have been tight, and the finale is shaping up to be more of the same.
The Yankees hand the ball to ace Gerrit Cole, who has been close to unhittable this season. The right-hander leads the American League among qualified starters with a 1.78 ERA and leads the majors with a 1.73 FIP. He also limiting opponents to a .195 batting average and is striking out 12.4 batters per nine innings. That ain’t bad.
Cole faces a Rays team that comes up with clutch hits but does not hit for average and strikes out more than anyone in the Big Leagues.
The Rays counter Cole with Ryan Yarbrough. The lefty is an effective pitcher for the Rays, who is sometimes used behind an opener. He creates a ton of soft contact with his cutter and changeup. That should play well against a Yankees team that ranks 29th in scoring and 25th in batting average.
On top of that, Yarbrough has allowed just one run on four hits in 8 1-3 innings over two appearances against the Yankees this season. Yeah, we like this one to be low-scoring early.
White Sox -0.5 Five-Inning Runline (-120)
Yesterday’s rainout did Lance Lynn and the Chicago White Sox a big favor by getting the right-hander back on normal rest as they open a weekend set against the Detroit Tigers.
Lynn has been outstanding in his first season with the South Siders. The right-hander lowered his ERA to 1.37 and his WHIP to 0.93 his last time out by shutting out the Orioles on three hits over five innings. It was the fifth time this season Lynn didn’t allow a run in a start.
Now, he gets to go up against a Tigers lineup that is one of the worst in the Big Leagues. Detroit ranks 27th in scoring, plating just 3.86 runs per game, and 27th in batting average and OPS. On top of that, they strike out 10.18 times per game. Only the Rays get punched out more.
While the Tigers have won four of their last five and hand the ball to a hot Casey Mize, they’ll get a dose of reality going against a White Sox offense that ranks fourth in scoring and batting average and sixth in OPS. The Pale Hose are a good bet to have the lead through five innings.
Cubs Five-Inning Moneyline (+115)
The Chicago Cubs are coming off a sweep of the San Diego Padres and now the San Francisco Giants are next on their National League West hit list, as the respective division leaders open a three-game set at Oracle Stadium Friday night.
The Cubbies surprised everyone with an outstanding May, going 19-7 – the best record in the MLB – and they have carried that over to their first few games of June. They hand the ball to Zach Davies for Game 1 and his May turnaround has been a big part of the Cubs' hot streak.
The big reason for Davies’ success has been that he has found his changeup. After opponents hit .191 off it the last two seasons, teams were teeing off on it for a .343 average in April. That number dropped to .222 in May. As a result, Davies went 5-1 in the month, pitching to a 1.72 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP over six starts.
He faces a Giants lineup that hits just .221 against right-handers this season and will be missing Evan Longoria who was red-hot before going down with an injury.
The Giants counter Davies with Anthony DeSclafani who has come down to Earth a bit after a hot start. The right-hander has allowed 12 earned runs on 14 hits over his last 7 1-3 innings. The Cubs are also familiar with DeSclafani from his time in Cincy and got to him for a 4.32 ERA in six starts since 2016.
The Cubbies are giving us value on the five-inning moneyline as they roll on into June.
MLB betting card for June 3
- TB-NYY Under 4 Five-Inning Total (-120)
- White Sox -0.5 Five-Inning Runline (-120)
- Cubs Five-Inning Moneyline (+115)
Picks made on 6/3/2021 at 10:00 a.m. ET
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