Major League Baseball Monday Recap: Cleveland Standing Guard

Money Line Scoop Last Night

April 4, 2023 104 3 minutes readMLB Picks & Parlays

Guardians Take Over Top Spot After 4-1 Start
Rays Start Season 4-0, 1.00 ERA
Twins Match Rays With 4-0 Start

Our Major League Baseball Monday recap has to start with the public taking a massive decision over the books when the Tampa Bay Rays flexed their starting pitching muscles once again with a 6-2 win over the Washington Nationals. The betting public did some major damage with the Rays’ win, we’ll tell you how much coming up. Also, in addition to the Rays’ 4-0 start, there is one other team matching that MLB records with their dynamic rotation. To close it out, we’ll take a peek at today’s MLB schedule and betting patterns as the 2023 Major League Baseball season rolls on.

Guardians Take Over Top Spot After 4-1 Start

The Cleveland Guardians outlasted the Oakland Athletics, 12-11, to run their record to 4-1. Cleveland has won $322 for $100 bettors to lead all of Major League Baseball in total money won. The Guardians closed as a -150 favorite after a send-out number of -195 was adjusted down to -175 at most shops. There was a belief that Athletics was the right side from behind the counter even though the public money showed 86% of the tickets in Cleveland. It seemed as if the books were baiting the public with a -150 before the first pitch.

Guardians’ Jose Ramirez smacked a single to right to score one run in the 10th and Athletics reliever Brandon May threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded to give Cleveland a 12-10 lead in the top of the 10th. Oakland scratched across one run in the bottom of the 10th, but it wasn’t enough for bookmakers to cash in on their gamble. Let’s continue our MLB Monday recap with a look at two teams who have dominated with pitching.

Rays Start Season 4-0, 1.00 ERA

We hear about how great the Tampa Bay starting pitching still is without Tyler Glasnow. The fact is that Glasnow may be the weak link in a rotation that may be the very best in baseball at the end of the year. Last night, Drew Rasmussen threw six shutout innings to lead Tampa to a 6-2 win over the Washington nationals.

Granted, Tampa has had the luxury of starting the season off against the Oakland Athletics and Washington Nationals, but as a “small” -185 favorite, bettors didn’t much care who it was against as 89% of the money and 92% of the tickets were on the Rays. We use the word small because this number seemed to be too good when it opened at -180. We don’t recommend playing numbers over -150 on most nights, but once again, the books wanted that favorite money.

A few books in the desert moved the number down to -175 despite the majority of their action coming in on Tampa. In 36 innings this season, Tampa pitching has given up just 18 hits and four earned runs. Every starter has a quality start and their newest acquisition Zach Eflin went five innings allowing one earned run. Not good enough to get a quality start but it was good enough in our book. Look Tampa opened -185 today at Washington with 91% of the early cash coming in on Tampa. Let’s see if the bookmakers take another stand today.

Twins Match Rays With 4-0 Start

Much has been made about the Tampa Bay Rays’ pitching, but the Minnesota Twins have been just as impressive against slightly better competition. The Twins are second in the majors with a +$271 won after an 11-1 victory over the Miami Marlins, Monday. Tyler Mahle threw 5 innings of a five-hit ball, allowing one earned run.

The Twins are second to the Rays with a 1.25-team era to start the year. Minnesota will have its hands full with Sandy Alcantara and the Marlins today. Miami has opened as a -145 home favorite. That does it for Monday’s MLB recap let’s conclude with the teams you should look for on Tuesday’s betting card.

**Here are the early betting winners and losers from 2023:**
Teams	Moneyline
Cleveland Guardians (4-1)	.800 +322 (Based on a $100 Wager)
Minnesota Twins (4-0)	1.000 +271
Tampa Bay Rays (4-0)	1.000 +183
Milwaukee Brewers (3-1)	.750 +183
Texas Rangers (3-1)	.750 +156
Philadelphia Phillies (0-4)	.000 -400
Seattle Mariners (1-4)	.200 -318
Miami Marlins (1-4)	.200 -306
Toronto Blue Jays (1-3)	.250 -209
Kansas City Royals (1-3)	.250 -185