Monday’s Best MLB, FIBA World Cup & WNBA Bets (8/28)

by Kelly Kirby |
Aug 28, 2023

No matter your sport of choice, there's always sports betting action to be had. We'll have you covered each and every day with our daily best bets. Here are all of our best bets across each major sport in action today.

Today's Best Bets

Here are today's best bets.

MLB Best Bets

Cleveland Guardians (+138) vs. Minnesota Twins (-164) | O/U 8.5 (-108/-112)

Minnesota Twins righty Kenta Maeda was a vast unknown entering this season, coming off Tommy John surgery. With how his 2023 campaign began, it was uncertain whether or not he was in the team's future plans. Maeda is an entirely different pitcher from the one that went 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA in four starts in April. He was given a chance to hit the reset button with a nearly two-month IL stint and returned with a vengeance, allowing eight or fewer earned runs in eight of his next nine starts.

Maeda has pitched to a 2.68 ERA overall since his late-June IL stint, but the most surprising number is his 32.2% strikeout rate. The increased punchouts are a big product of an increase in fastball velocity, averaging 89.5 mph in April and peaking at 91.4 mph in August. By comparison, his fastball averaged 91.8 mph when he finished second in the Cy Young voting and led the league in WHIP (0.750) in 2020.

Cleveland will offer stiff competition from a strikeout perspective, as it whiffs at the lowest rate in the majors. However, not striking out is one of the only things the Guardians do at an elite rate, as they are MLB's fifth-worst scoring offense and second-worst in slugging percentage. Cleveland's team total Under is 8-4 in its previous 12 games (+3.55 units, 27% ROI), and we expect it to cash again.

Pick: Guardians team total Under 3.5 (-106)

Check out our other MLB Odds, Picks & Predictions:

WNBA Best Bet

Las Vegas Aces vs. New York Liberty

The Las Vegas Aces proved that they're human. They've lost two of their last five games, including a 78-62 loss to the Washington Mystics on the road in their last outing.

Las Vegas is still 30-5 on the season. However, they've played three straight games on the road and have another against a Liberty team with a 27-7 record.

This will be the fifth and final regular season matchup between the Liberty and Aces. Las Vegas defeated the Liberty at home, 85-75, on August 17. However, the Liberty won the previous two games against the Aces, with one of those games on the road.

Tonight's game will be the rubber match of a five-game series. New York is coming off a 111-76 win over Minnesota. They've looked incredible. But just like the Aces, the Liberty have been on the road for about two weeks. They'll be happy to be home, where they're 12-4 this season.

Meanwhile, the Aces are 16-1 at home but 14-4 on the road. One team has added at least 82 points in each game between these two opponents. However, when that happens, the other team forgets how to score.

While this is a growing rivalry, no game has been close. You'd expect closer matchups between these two teams. Even oddsmakers have predicted close games. But one team always falls flat on their face.

For example, the Liberty shot under 40% from the field against the Aces in the most recent game against Las Vegas. At home, the Aces shot only 33.3% against the Liberty in another game. They also hit just 32.9% in a road game against the Liberty.

It takes two to tango. No team has been consistent in this series. I'll back the Under.

Bet: Under 173 (-110)

FIBA World Cup Best Bets

Germany vs. Finland

The Germans outlasted Australia in their second matchup of the FIBA World Cup. Germany put together a solid fourth-quarter push to win the game, 85-82, despite Australia shooting 54.2% from the field. Dennis Schroder added 30 points and eight assists. Meanwhile, Franz Wagner didn't play due to an ankle injury. The offense didn't get much support from anyone other than Maodo Lo, who added 20 points off the bench on 8-for-12 from the field. At 2-0, they'll face Finland, who just lost to Japan, 98-88. Finland is 0-2 in the FIBA World Cup. The team has little depth, and only Lauri Markkanen has done most of the scoring. They let Japan shoot 51.7% from the field and over 39% from downtown. Back Germany in this one.

Pick: Germany -9 (-112)

2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Odds & Picks

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