MLB Betting Recap: Favorites Carry the Day

MLB betting favorites enjoyed a strong weekend, going 11-4 straight up on both Saturday and Sunday. That includes the New York Mets‘ (-125) 8-2 Mother’s Day victory over the Washington Nationals, in which three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer returned from injury to pitch five strong innings.

Read on for more results in our MLB betting recap.

Favorites Rule the Action

Betting favorites had a decided edge Sunday, as only four underdogs cashed in our MLB betting recap. The Detroit Tigers overcame the longest odds at +170, beating the Seattle Mariners 5-3 to avoid a series sweep. The Colorado Rockies also surprised at +149, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 behind six shutout innings from Kyle Freeland.

Elsewhere, the Pittsburgh Pirates (+139) shut out the Baltimore Orioles 4-0, and the Arizona Diamondbacks (+113) edged the San Francisco Giants 2-1.

Favorites also enjoyed an 11-4 mark on Saturday. That includes the Nationals’ (+130) 3-2 win over the Mets, which had been suspended until the next day due to rain.

Texas Builds on Run Line Record

The Texas Rangers hammered the last-place Oakland Athletics 11-3 on Sunday to improve to 25-15, 4.0 games ahead of Houston in the American League West. The Rangers also moved to an MLB-best 25-15 against the run line (62.5%), matching Baltimore and Washington.

Outfielder Adolis Garcia, the MLB leader with 42 RBI, hit an eighth-inning grand slam off reliever Zach Neal. Robbie Grossman also homered.

Scherzer Bounces Back

After having his start pushed back because of neck spasms, Scherzer held Washington to two hits and one run — a second-inning double by shortstop CJ Abrams — while walking two and striking out six.

The 38-year-old Scherzer — who was priced at +800 to win the Cy Young — has had a disjointed start to the season. A 10-game sticky substance suspension, coupled with a string of rainouts and neck/scapula issues, kept him off the mound for nearly two weeks. As a result, he’s struggled to get into a rhythm, registering a 4.88 ERA over 27.2 innings while dealing with diminished velocity.

Other NL Cy Young contenders have similarly struggled. Sandy Alcantara, a +450 favorite to repeat, is 1-4 with a 4.91 ERA. Justin Verlander (+600), Scherzer’s new teammate, missed five weeks with a shoulder scare. Max Fried (+1000) is expected to be sidelined at least two months with a left forearm strain.

Unders Slightly Outperform

MLB teams combined to average 8.4 runs on Sunday, as eight of the 15 games finished under the projected run total. Three teams were shut out, including two favorites (Baltimore, Philadelphia), and three others managed just one run.

The Minnesota Twins crushed the Chicago Cubs 16-3 in the highest scoring game of the day. Minnesota scored seven times in the third inning to clear the projected total of 7.5 runs. The teams combined to hit five home runs.

Two other games in our MLB betting recap featured 15 total runs.

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