Best World Series bets: 4 Game 2 prop bet picks and predictions
The Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers meet in Game 2 of the 2023 World Series Saturday in Arlington. First pitch at Globe Life Field is at 8:03 p.m. ET (FOX). After taking a look at BetMGM Sportsbook'sMLBodds, here are the 4 best World Series Game 2 prop bets to cash in on among SportsbookWire's MLB picks and predictions.
Best-of-7 series: Rangers lead 1-0
In Friday's lid-lifter, Texas battled back from a 5-3 deficit in 9th to eventually win 6-5 in 11 innings. RF Adolis Garcia went 3-for-4, and it was his walk-off home run that ended the Game 1 thriller.
Game 2 always feels like a have-to-have-it contest for the losing club in an opener. And the 2nd game of this Fall Classic is a pitching matchup that looks very even on paper. RHP Merrill Kelly will twirl it for Arizona; Texas counters with LHP Jordan Montgomery.
The plusses and minuses those 2 hurlers bring to the table will be joined by how the bullpens were used in Game 1. And that will be the core of how we target certain prop bets for Saturday's game.
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World Series Game 2 prop bet predictions
BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:20 a.m. ET.
2B Ketel Marte OVER 0.5 RBIs (+175)
As a team, Arizona does not hit southpaws particularly well. Its regular-season OPS of .710 against lefties ranked 21st in the league. But the Diamondbacks have upped that mark a bit -- to .724 -- in the postseason.
One of the Diamondbacks' best bats against left-handed pitching is the switch-hitting Marte, who batted .313 with an .879 OPS against port-siders in the regular season. He only has 6 lifetime at-bats against Montgomery, but in those 6 at-bats, he's made contact 5 times and has gathered 3 hits, including a triple.
On Friday, Marte went 1-for-5 with a double and 2 runs batted in. He has extra-base hits in 3 straight games and has hit safely in every game of the postseason. On a night when Montgomery can be faded, and batting in the meat of the Arizona order, Marte is a solid pick to garner an RBI or 2.
C Gabriel Moreno OVER 0.5 RBIs (+195)
Mining the same vein as above. Moreno clocked a regular-season .899 OPS against left-handers. He went 0-for-5 Friday, but he had garnered a hit in each of the last 6 games of the NLCS and is another every-day producer (can catch or be slotted as a DH after Friday's marathon) in the heart of the Arizona batting order.
Moreno has made contact in each of 7 career at-bats against Montgomery. He has hit him hard with 2 singles, a double, and a home run.
Both teams to score 4+ runs: YES (+180)
Figure Game 1 as being a taste. The surface lines for the Game 2 starters have most bettors figuring on a lower total in this one. But both have indicators, especially over their postseason efforts, that say this one could play out with some home runs and crooked numbers.
Merrill Kelly has allowed rocket contact while managing a post a 2.65 ERA across 3 playoff starts. He has benefited from a .162 batting average on balls in play and a 93.8% left-on-base rate. Montgomery has gotten by with a low rate of fly balls leaving yards as home runs. Those numbers figure to regress.
The bats are loose, limber, and 1 day into a hitting background that bothered no one Friday. And they are 1 significant chunk into the bullpens of both sides, particularly the back end for the Arizona relief corps.
Jordan Montgomery OVER 16.5 outs (-105)
This is at once a hedge against some of the offensive surge ahead and respect for a workhorse pitcher who has given the Rangers over 5 innings of work in 8 of his last 9 starts (regular and postseason). Montgomery is an unflappable sort, and in this game pitches with the luxury of a series lead and a general wish of Texas manager Bruce Bochy to back off the bullpen a bit after 5 relievers were used Friday.
Montgomery makes this start on 7 days' rest, but he has a solid history of turning in good work after longer rest intervals.
