Top 3 MLB Betting Picks for Sunday, August 8 (2021)

Aug 8, 2021 - 1:15 PM

Welcome back for another Sunday. Since we last spoke, the two East divisions have changed somewhat dramatically. The Phillies, Rays, and Yankees are all surging, while the Mets and Red Sox are both in a freefall. The Braves are still lurking at just two games back in the NL East, too. These two East divisions will be the races to watch over the next several weeks, and we’re going to take a look at a couple of those games today.

Here are my top betting plays for Sunday, August 1. Have questions or want to talk baseball or betting? Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher.

View the best player prop bets for today’s slate with our MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet >>

Philadelphia Phillies ML (-160)
+1.5
-140
o 8.0
-110
+150
JOIN NOW
-1.5
+120
o 8.0
-110
-160

The Phillies are surging, and the Mets are fading. Perhaps more importantly, for this Sunday matchup, Mets starter Taijuan Walker seems like he has hit a wall after a strong start to the season. Walker has allowed at least four earned runs in four straight starts and hasn’t been able to complete six innings since June 20. This isn’t exactly surprising, either, since Walker is up to 105 innings on the season after throwing just 67 1/3 innings over the last three seasons combined. If this trend continues, the Mets may need to consider a short IL stint or an adjustment to his role. However, the Mets are desperate for pitching and can’t really afford to make such a move right now.

Philadelphia is countering with former Mets starter Zack Wheeler on Sunday. While he hasn’t been as sharp of late as he was earlier in the season, Wheeler is a legitimate Cy Young award contender in the National League. With the Mets struggling and the Phillies looking to build on their lead in the NL East, I’m expecting Wheeler to take the ball and shove against his former team. As of right now, William Hill Sportsbook has the best odds for the Philadelphia moneyline, at -160.

Seattle Mariners ML (+120) and Mariners-Yankees OVER 9.0 Runs (-115)
+1.5
-150
o 9.0
-115
+120
VIEW PICKS
-1.5
+125
o 9.0
-115
-136

We’re double-dipping in this Mariners-Yankees matchup. The Mariners are starting Yusei Kikuchi, who has quietly been very solid for them this season. Through 20 starts, Kikuchi has a 3.89 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 129 strikeouts over 120 1/3 innings. In his last start, he allowed just one earned run over six innings in a win over the Rays. If the Mariners are going to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, they’ll need the veteran lefty to continue to pitch well down the stretch. On Sunday, Seattle asks Kikuchi to keep this new-look Yankees lineup in check in one of the smallest ballparks in baseball.

The Yankees acquired Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo at the MLB trade deadline to dramatically improve their struggling (and mostly right-handed) lineup. Those moves make a ton of sense. But they also really needed pitching, and the only starter they acquired was Andrew Heaney. Perhaps they are just banking on Luis Severino coming back strong in a couple of weeks, but the Yankees really could have used another arm.

That’s an argument for another day, though. We only care about today for this bet, and the Yankees are sending Luis Gil to the bump. Gil was excellent in his debut, tossing six scoreless innings while allowing just four hits and one walk and striking out six. That was against the Orioles, though, and it’s unlikely we see a repeat performance on Sunday. Gil got off to a strong start in Double-A this season and earned a promotion. His numbers in Triple-A weren’t as impressive: 30 1/3 innings, 5.64 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 38 strikeouts, and 23 walks.

We’re going to see some runs on Sunday, but I’m expecting Kikuchi to pitch well enough to give the Mariners a chance to win and Gil to force the Yankees to call to their bullpen earlier than they would like. I’m taking the Mariners moneyline and the over in this one. I included the BettingPros Consensus odds for this matchup above, but you may be able to find slightly better numbers if you scroll through this Mariners-Yankees Game Odds page. William Hill Sportsbook looks like they have the Mariners moneyline at +125 right now, for example.

That’s it for today. Have questions or want to talk baseball or betting? Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher.

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Mike Maher is an editor and featured writer at FantasyPros and BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive, follow him on Twitter @MikeMaher, and visit his Philadelphia Eagles blog, The Birds Blitz.

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