More fireworks in The Bronx? Yankees-Blue Jays total tops Best Bets for August 18

Bears-Seahawks NFL preseason game also has interesting over/under

Chicago Bears running back Darrynton Evans warms up before the Bears take on the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Aug. 13, 2022, at Soldier Field in Chicago. The Bears beat the Kansas City Chiefs 19-14.

Each day, one of our experts will offer up a best bet (or two or three) that mobile sportsbooks are offering. It might be a traditional spread bet, a player prop or one of the various odds boosts that books offer.

Here are our best bets for Thursday, Aug. 18:

TOP PLAY

The play: MLB, over 8.5 runs scored in Blue Jays at Yankees

The odds/bet: -110 ($33 to win $30)

The book: Caesars Sportsbook

Time/TV: 6:05 p.m. (MLB TV)

Our take: Neither the Yankees’ Frankie Montas nor Toronto’s Jose Berrios has been very good in recent starts with the duo combining to allow 21 runs over their past two starts in just 15.2 innings.

That, and while the Bronx Bombers have struggled to score runs before last night, they broke out of their slump in a big way thanks to a Josh Donaldson grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning to turn a three-run deficit to the Tampa Bay Rays (who had defeated them Monday and Tuesday) into a one-run victor.

That could be the catalyst for a big-time offensive output, and for the Blue Jays, they rarely have trouble scoring runs, especially on the road, where they average just shy of five runs per game.

NFL PRESEASON TOTAL

The play: NFL preseason, Bears at Seahawks under 39.5 points scored

The odds/bet: -110 ($10.50 to win $10)

The book: Caesars Sportsbook

Time/TV: 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Our take: As we talked about on Bayou Bets on Monday, the books obviously set totals too low for the first week of preseason. As a result, there were a ton of overs.

Did they overcompensate? Had this game been played last week, the total likely would have been more in line of 33 or 34. And while the starters may play a bit more in Week 2, neither of these offenses have much to write home about. Seattle will be without quarterback Drew Lock, and one can bet they will be super vanilla.

This screams “defense first” kind of game, and should be great value for an exhibition.

HOW WE’VE FARED

PGA BMW Championship: Jon Rahm to finish in top 10 (PENDING)

MLB parlay: Red Sox-Pirates over 8 runs and Mets over Braves (WON $21)

Wednesday’s profit/loss: +$21 (1-0, 1 pending)

Total for the week: +$20.40 (3-2, 1 pending)

Total for August: -$111.60 (14-20, 1 pending)

Total for 2022: -$251.70 (205-235, 1 pending)

NOTE: If a line or odds are minus, it considers the juice one must lay to place the bet. Ex: Team A is -160 on the money line, one would have to bet $160 to win $100 (or $16 to win $10). OR Team B is a 5-point favorite at -110, one would have to bet $110 to win $100 (or $11 to win $10.)

Conversely, on positive lines, if Team C is +140 on the money line, a $100 would bring in $140 (or $10 to win $14).

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Jim Derry

Jim Derry is a sports betting writer for The Advocate