Saturday’s MLB American League betting picks – July 2, 2022

The Major League Baseball (MLB) schedule is packed with 16 games on Saturday, starring Rays’ Shane McClanahan and Blue Jays’ Kevin Gausman in the first game of a doubleheader, Sonny Gray starts for Minnesota against Baltimore, and George Kirby goes for Seattle against Oakland. Here are the best bets on games featuring American League teams scheduled for Saturday, July 2 starting at 12:07 p.m. Eastern. All lines provided by Bovada.

Baltimore Orioles @ Minnesota Twins

The Twins would be thrilled to be anywhere but Cleveland after blowing two late leads and losing on walkoff homers on consecutive nights in “Believeland.” Not only do the Twins get to go home, but they get to host the hapless Orioles, who have the seventh-worst team OPS and tenth-worst team WHIP.

Sonny Gray is expected to start for Minnesota, and he’s been as good as he’s ever been. Actually, he’s been better than he ever was. After spending a few stints on the injured list, Gray is 4-1 with a 2.17 ERA and miniscule 0.97 WHIP. Gray has only struggled with one Oriole batter: Trey Mancini. He’s six-for-13 with two doubles and a dinger against Gray. The rest of the Orioles are 12-for-66 with five extra-base hits.

Jordan Lyles is expected to start for Baltimore, and he’s 4-7 with a 4.94 ERA and 1.46 WHIP. Needless to say, the Twins will enjoy their plate appearances against Lyles. Many already have. Minnesota batters are nine-for-28 against Lyles, with a 1.053 OPS. Carlos Correa has done the bulk of the damage, with four hits in 13 at-bats. Five other Twins have a hit off Lyles in what looks to be one game’s worth of plate appearances.

Bet on Minnesota to rebound from its abysmal Cleveland trip. Take the Twins in the first five innings and on the moneyline.

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Oakland Athletics @ Seattle Mariners

George Kirby isn’t going to dominate anyone, but he’s been effective for Seattle, with a 4.08 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. The Athletics have plenty of hits off him, but he’s limited the damage by not allowing extra-base hits. In 30 at-bats, the A’s have just two doubles and 11 total hits off Kirby.

Paul Blackburn has been great for Oakland, going 6-3 with a 3.12 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. How long he’ll be in Oakland is yet to be determined, but he’s expected to take the mound for the A’s in Seattle on Saturday. Problem is, he hasn’t been particularly good against the Mariners.

In roughly the same sample size as Kirby (32 at-bats), Blackburn has allowed the same number of hits (11), but five extra-base hits – a double, two triples, and two homers. This is why Seattle is and should be favored. Also, Oakland’s relievers have the third-worst WHIP in MLB.

Take the Mariners in the first five innings and on the moneyline. Parlaying Seattle and Minnesota on the moneyline pays +130.

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Tampa Bay Rays @ Toronto Blue Jays

Shane McClanahan is great. He has the best ERA (1.77), best WHIP (0.83), and the most strikeouts (123) in all of baseball. He’ll likely start the All-Star Game for the American League. But the Blue Jays have had a lot of success against McClanahan. In 37 at-bats, Toronto has 11 hits, including three doubles and two dingers. George Springer is two-for-three with a homer, Matt Chapman is two-for-four with a homer, Teoscar Hernandez is two-for-five with a double, and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. is two-for-six with a double.

Of the eight Toronto batters with at-bats against McClanahan, only Cavan Biggio is hitless. McClanahan has even walked Blue Jays batters six times.

Kevin Gausman is no slouch. His 2.93 ERA is ranked 17th in MLB, and his 97 strikeouts places him 10th overall. And he’s absolutely dominated the Rays. In 42 plate appearances, the Rays have managed just seven hits, with two going for homers. That’s a .198 OPS and .082 batting average against.

The Rays are not good offensively. Their team OPS is fifth-worst in baseball, while the Blue Jays have the top team OPS in all of baseball. Take Toronto in the first five innings and on the moneyline.

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There are your best bets for the games featuring American League teams scheduled for Saturday, July 2 starting at 12:07 p.m. Eastern. Get your bets in before first pitch and please gamble responsibly.

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