Gallery Sports’ Betting Picks for April 11, 2023

Dalton Brown looks to improve on his 22-13 record on the diamond this season with another three picks for Tuesday’s MLB slate – two of which are plus-money opportunities.

5:40 p.m. CT: Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays

The Pick: Rays First 5 Innings -0.5 (-120) at PointsBet, Rays full game -1.5 (+130) at DraftKings

The Tampa Bay Rays are 10-0, the best record for any MLB team to begin a season since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers. They picked up a win in the first game of the series with the Red Sox on Monday and should be bigger favorites with ace Shane McClanahan on the mound than they are. McClanahan has been dominant in his first two starts this season, allowing just two earned runs in 12 innings. He was also excellent in two starts against Boston last season, pitching 13.1 innings while allowing just three runs. Garrett Whitlock returns from injury to make his season debut for the Red Sox, but he’s headed for a hornet’s nest against these Rays. Tampa Bay has been absurd against right-handed pitching in 2023, posting a 185 wRC+ with a team-wide OPS of 1.012. Don’t be surprised if Boston is careful with Whitlock in his first start back despite a strong rehab outing with Pawtucket, meaning Tampa might also get an extended look at Boston’s bullpen. Let’s ride the hot hand of the Rays to an early lead and back Tampa Bay’s excellent bullpen (1.86 ERA, second-best in MLB) to hold it late.

8:45 p.m. CT: Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants

The Pick: Dodgers First 5 Innings -0.5 (+100) at FanDuel

The Dodgers and Giants will continue their three-game series in San Francisco on Tuesday night after Los Angeles dominated Monday night’s game, and I’m backing L.A. to jump out to a lead again behind another talented young starting pitcher. Dustin May takes the mound for the Dodgers, hoping to build on an electric start to his 2023 campaign. May has allowed just one run in 13 innings this season and just one run in 11.1 career innings against the Giants. The 25-year-old flamethrower has some of the best stuff in baseball, boasting a fastball pushing triple digits and otherworldly break on all of his pitches. Giants starter Alex Wood’s season is off to a strong start by more traditional measures, but his xERA is 5.74, and he’s allowing harder contact than 82% of big league starters after one start. His first start against the White Sox saw him allow just one run, but his eight baserunners allowed through three innings could have produced a much different outcome. The Dodgers are also producing a ridiculous wRC+ of 135 (35% better than MLB average) against lefties over the first two weeks of this season and have scored six or more runs in each of their last three games.