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MLB Series Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions

by - 4/21/2015

Yasiel Puig Los Angeles Dodgers

There are a number of new MLB series starting up this Tuesday night, and along with betting the individual games there is often time some solid value in betting on the odds that Bovada releases for the series price as well.

After digging deep into all the matchups that get underway with Game 1 on Tuesday's slate, I have narrowed things down to my three "best bets" for these series price moneyline odds.

Boston Red Sox (-120) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (-110)

The Red Sox are coming off a successful Patriots Day in which they hammered Baltimore 7-1 as -128 home favorites to salvage a 2-2 split against their division foes. They now go on the road to face another AL East opponent for the first time this season. Tampa Bay dropped three straight games to the New York Yankees at home this past weekend to fall to 6-7 on the year. Boston will send left-hander Wade Miley to the mound for Tuesday's Game 1 to face right-hander Chris Archer for Tampa Bay. I have to give the edge to Archer in this matchup with a 1.37 ERA in his first starts. Miley has gotten banged around pretty good with nine earned runs on nine hits in just 7.2 innings of work.

The big matchup in this week's series is in Game 3 on Thursday with Clay Buchholz taking the mound for Boston to face the Rays' Jake Ordorizzi. Tampa Bay has the edge in this matchup as well based on the early form of both these starters, and overall the Red Sox are just 3-7 in their last 10 road games against their division rivals. This series presents a golden opportunity to take the better moneyline odds on Tampa Bay as a slight home underdog.

Miami Marlins (-130) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (+100)

Miami had high expectations coming into this season to possibly contend with Washington for the NL East title, so it has to be disappointed with a 3-10 start. This series should present a great chance to pick up a few much-needed wins against a Phillies team that is playing to their expectations with just one win in their last eight games after posting a surprising 3-2 start.

The pitching matchups in this series tend to favor the Marlins as well with the trio of Dan Haren, Jarred Cosart and David Phelps getting the call against Jerome Williams, Cole Hamels and Sean O'Sullivan, respectively, for Philadelphia. Hamels gives the Phillies a chance to avoid the sweep, but the bigger issue for this team is an offense that has scored 32 runs in their first 13 games. Miami has the clear edge in that department with 50 runs in the same number of games. Take the Marlins to add to Philadelphia's current slide with at least two wins in the next three days to win this series.

Los Angeles Dodgers (-130) vs. San Francisco Giants (+100)

The Dodgers come into this NL West clash with a 9-3 record in their first 12 games. They rank first in the National League in slugging percentage (.517) and second in runs (63). From a pitching standpoint they have had some issues with a team ERA of 3.24 that is 10th in the NL. but they will also have Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke on the mound in the last two games of this series. San Francisco, on the other hand, has just four victories in its first 10 games behind an offense that is 13th in the NL in total runs (37) and 11th in pitching with a 3.94 team ERA.

Even with Tim Lincecum getting the start for the Giants in Tuesday's series opener, they are listed as +115 home underdogs on Bovada's MLB betting odds for the game. Looking back at some of the recent betting trends in this matchup, Los Angeles is 6-1 in its last seven road games against San Francisco and 4-1 in the last five meetings overall. Stick with hot over not in this series as current form prevails to give the Dodgers the series win.

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