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MLB Same Game Parlay Odds & Picks: Friday (9/20)

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The penultimate Friday of the 2024 Major League Baseball regular season provides us with a full slate. However, both the Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Dodgers clinched playoff berths on Thursday. That could lead to one or both resting a few of their regulars on Friday. I am taking those games off the table for Same Game Parlay (SGP) purposes.

Luckily, there are enough matchups out there for us to cook up a few SGPs to get the weekend started on the right foot. Here are three of my favorites. 

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Friday’s Best MLB Same Game Parlays

(Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook)

Washington Nationals @ Chicago Cubs

Friday's MLB slate begins with a matinee at Wrigley Field. Early reports suggest that the wind (albeit a slight wind) will be blowing out on Friday afternoon. Offense could be the order of the day when the Cubs host the Washington Nationals. I am taking the over on 9.0 total runs in this game.  

Though I do expect some offensive fireworks, Cubs starter Jameson Taillon is not the type of pitcher to beat himself with walks. Taillon has only walked 29 hitters in 26 starts this season. I think he will maintain his approach of attacking the strike zone. Therefore, I am taking the under on his walks allowed prop.

My final two legs are bets on each team's respective projected leadoff hitters. CJ Abrams has had a rough second half but has begun to heat up again of late. He had four hits on Thursday and now has 10 hits over his last five contests. Taillon is always around the zone and he pitches to contact. This leads to a lot of base hits against him. Abrams should be able to register at least one hit in this game.

On the other side, I am picking Ian Happ to record at least two total bases. Happ leads Chicago with a .506 slugging percentage at home this season. Nationals starter Trevor Williams is making his first start in nearly four months. He was pitching well before the injury, but he may not be sharp coming off such a long layoff.

Happ will likely face Williams twice on Friday. If he cannot get the job done against Williams, we always have the Washington bullpen to fall back on. Thus far in September, Nationals relievers have pitched to a 6.00 ERA while allowing an MLB-high .309 opponents' batting average.

Parlay Odds: +420

Seattle Mariners @ Texas Rangers

I expect the game between the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers to develop into a pitching duel. George Kirby and Jacob deGrom square off in a matchup of two of the top pitchers in the game. Both pitchers held their respective opponents scoreless within the last week. Kirby pitched seven scoreless innings on Sunday, while deGrom shut out Seattle over 3.2 innings on Saturday.

Kirby has made eight starts against Texas in his career. He has allowed a total of five earned runs in those eight starts. Since the beginning of last season, he has not allowed a single earned run in four starts versus the Rangers. I expect Kirby to continue his dominance of the Rangers on Friday. 

Jacob deGrom is making his second start of the season for Texas. As dominant as deGrom can be, this just feels like too high of a strikeout number. He only threw 61 pitches in his first start, registering four strikeouts. Even if he gets up to 75 or 80 pitches on Friday, he would have to be extremely efficient to register more than six strikeouts.

The Rangers pitcher also has very modest strikeout numbers versus Seattle in comparison to the rest of the league. In 86 career plate appearances, deGrom has only struck out 18 Mariners batters (20.9%). I am taking the under on his strikeout prop.

Having said that, I do expect deGrom to deal on Friday night. I am betting on both he and Kirby to toss up plenty of zeroes while on the mound. This is an extremely low F5 total, but I am going under 2.5 F5 as the final leg of this SGP.

 Parlay Odds: +440 

Los Angeles Angels @ Houston Astros

My final SGP for Friday is another American League West matchup. This is a rematch of Saturday's 5-3 Astros victory. All of these legs hit with room to spare in that game, so let's see if we can recreate some of that mojo.

Tyler Anderson allowed four runs in five innings on Saturday. The big blow was a Yordan Alvarez two-run home run. Neither of those occurrences is an anomaly when looking at the history between Anderson and the Astros.

In over 150 plate appearances, Houston hitters have a combined .960 OPS versus the veteran left-hander. Alvarez in particular has done plenty of damage. He is 7-for-17 with two doubles and three homers against Anderson. I like Houston to score at least three runs in the first five innings on Friday, and Alvarez to record at least two total bases.

Anderson has walked at least one hitter in 27 of his 29 starts this season. He has walked multiple batters in six straight. Given his recent form as well as his struggles when facing Houston, I expect him to walk at least one hitter in this game.

Finally, I am betting against Astros starter Justin Verlander to rack up more than 5.5 strikeouts. The 41-year-old struck out only two Angel hitters on Saturday and has had trouble putting hitters away via the strikeout since returning from the injured list (IL) last month.

In five starts since his return, Verlander has struck out just 14 out of 108 hitters. That is a 13% strikeout rate, which equals the season-long strikeout rate of the immortal Ross Stripling. Verlander's reputation over the years has caused an inflated strikeout line. I am playing the under based on his recent results.  

Parlay Odds: +400 

Make sure to check out our other best bets for Friday:

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