Neither the NBA Finals nor the Stanley Cup Final are in action tonight, but we sports fans can breathe easy knowing that both sports avoided disappointing, non-competitive sweeps.
With those leagues not in the picture, we’re focusing on “Sunday Night Baseball,” the conclusion of the U.S. Open and the championship game of the UFL for today’s best bets.
New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox stopped Carlos Rodon’s seven-start winning streak Saturday night, jumping on him early en route to an 8-4 win. Can Boston produce a similar showing against Marcus Stroman in primetime?
The Yankees are 10-4 when Stroman starts this year, including nine of his past 11 starts. He’s had only one clunker since early May, and though his strikeouts are down pitching in the AL, he’s proven effective in his first year in pinstripes. Rafael Devers is only 1-for-10 lifetime against Stroman, for what it’s worth.
Boston will start righty Kutter Crawford, who does have good career numbers against the rival Yankees, but the Red Sox have lost seven straight Crawford starts. Consecutively. In a row. There’s a high likelihood the red-hot, lefty-swinging Juan Soto’s first at-bat of the night will be either a walk or a home run. I’m looking for New York to establish an early lead and beat the spread.
The pick: Yankees -1.5 run line (+114 at DraftKings).
U.S. Open Round 4
I didn’t steer you wrong on Thursday when I picked Rory McIlroy to shoot sub-70.5 in the first round of the U.S. Open. He shot a 5-under 65. What, like it’s hard?
The only player who hasn’t found Pinehurst No. 2 too hard for three straight days is Bryson DeChambeau, who enters Sunday with a three-shot lead over McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay and Matthieu Pavon. McIlroy is +330 at DraftKings to chase Bryson down and win this thing and Cantlay is available at +750. But you might have better luck picking a player to slide into the top five.
Tom Kim is even par through three rounds, tied for ninth and just two shots out of the top five to start the day. Yet he’s an irresistible +600 to finish top-five. Why? His busy front nine Saturday (five birdies, two bogeys, one double) might convince bettors that he’s inconsistent, but Kim leads the field this week in Strokes Gained: Approach while also gaining strokes both off the tee and putting. And while Kim may be young at 21, this is his fifth straight made cut at a major, including T8 at last year’s U.S. Open and T2 at the British.
The pick: Tom Kim to finish in the top five (+600 at DraftKings).
UFL Championship: Birmingham Stallions vs. San Antonio Brahams
Are you ready for some football — in the middle of June? Tonight is the championship game to cap the first year of the United Football League, the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson-backed cross between the USFL and XFL. The Birmingham Stallions had the best regular-season showing at 9-1, but the only game they lost happened to come against the San Antonio Brahmas, making tonight a juicy rematch.
If you don’t feel comfortable betting against the spread on a league you definitely didn’t watch much of before today, just know this: San Antonio has the best defense in the UFL. But when the Brahmas beat the Stallions in the regular season, they still gave up a whopping seven catches for 110 yards and a touchdown to Birmingham tight end Jace Sternberger. The former Green Bay Packer caught a TD in each of the final two regular-season games and I’d expect Birmingham to keep trying him tonight, especially in the red zone.
The pick: Jace Sternberger anytime touchdown (+185 at DraftKings).