Major League Baseball World Tour: London Town it Is!

MLB Back to United Kingdom for First Time Since 2019

June 20, 2023 132 2 minutes readMLB Picks & Parlays

Major League Baseball World Tour: London — Justin Setterfield/Getty Images/AFP

This Could Be The Perfect Spot For The Cardinals
The Cubs 8-2 Run Has The Southsiders Inching Closer to .500

The last time Major League Baseball was played in the United Kingdom, there was plenty of scoring between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. A look back at the MLB stats from the two-game series shows that 50 total runs were scored in just two games.

New York won game one, 17-13, despite a six-run seventh from the Red Sox that made Yankees bettors sweat. In game two, the Yankees returned the favor with nine runs in the seventh to take game two 12-8 to sweep the series.

Game one will be Saturday starting at 1:10 pm ET, and game two starts at 10:10 am ET, Sunday. We continue our preview of this weekend’s MLB World Tour in London, with a look at both participating teams from a betting perspective.

Could be Perfect Spot for Cardinals

At the beginning of the season, the St. Louis Cardinals (30-43) looked at the MLB schedule and were likely not too happy about giving up two home games to make a trip to London to play a division rival, but with the Cards in last place (8 GB Cincinnati) in a weak NL Central, a trip out of the country couldn’t have come at a better time.

Adam Wainwright (3-1, 5.56 era) gets the ball in game one. The future Hall of Famer is two wins shy of 200 in his career but with St. Louis just 4-4 when the 3-time all-star gets the start, bettors are left confused as to how reliable Wainwright is at this point in his career.

Since 2005, no team in baseball has been more profitable (+1699 units) than the Cardinals, but in 2023 the Cardinals would have to be labeled as the league’s biggest disappointment with 1717 units lost overall. On the road, St. Louis is 17-22 (-645 units), the sixth worst mark. We continue our MLB World Tour: London preview with a snapshot of the Cubs.

The Cubs 8-2 Run Has The Southsiders Inching Closer to .500

Chicago’s preseason win total was set at 77.5, a number that looked too great until the Cubs went on a recent run that has given over bettors a reason to be optimistic that their ticket will be cashed. The Cubs will send Justin Steele (7-2, 2.71 era) to the mound in game one.

The lefty will be making his second start after coming off the 15-day IL. In his first game back, Steele threw five innings against the Baltimore Orioles, allowing two earned runs on 74 pitches. We expect this to be Steele’s strangest outing and should be able to get through six innings in this one. In his last five starts, the Mississippi native has allowed five earned runs twice, but the Cubs are still 7-6 when Steele gets the start behind 5.14 runs of support.

We end our MLB World Tour: London preview with our official election of Chicago in game one. There is one significant note for bettors who are looking to jump on the total. The fences at London Stadium have been pushed out 7 feet, but that still leaves straight away center at just 392 feet. We wish you the best with your wagers this weekend.