MLB parlay of favorites, and a Louisiana baseball special: Best Picks for May 26

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

Here are our best picks for Friday, May 26:

TOP PLAY

The play: MLB money-line parlay, Mets over Rockies and Astros over Athletics

The odds/wager: +100 ($30 to win $30)

The book: Caesars Sportsbook

Time/TV: Mets-Rockies at 8:40 p.m. and Astros-Athletics at 9:40 p.m. (MLB TV)

Our take: Max Scherzer hasn’t had his best year, but he has been fantastic as of late, as New York tries to continue its momentum off the series-ending win at Wrigley Field on Thursday. And don’t think the Mets have forgotten about dropping two of three to this team at CitiField just a couple of weeks ago.

And although the Mets have been anything but a friend to bettors throughout the season, they are 5-2 when Scherzer, who has allowed just two home runs throughout his last four starts, pitches on the money line.  

Meanwhile, Houston had a rough time in Milwaukee but looked like the old Astros in the two weeks prior to that, including an eight-game winning streak. What better place in baseball to shake off a bad series than Oakland?

The Stros are 6-3 this season when Hunter Brown starts, while the Athletics are 0-5 when James Kaprielian takes the bump. Seems like an easy back half.

SUN BELT BASEBALL

The play: Sun Belt baseball tournament money line, UL over Texas State

The odds/wager: -135 ($13.50 to win $10)

The book: DraftKings

Time/TV: 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Our take: The Cajuns swept Texas State in a three-game series just two weeks ago and defeated them in the opening round earlier this week, and are facing them in an elimination game. Looks like a nice value play at just -135 for them to move forward into Saturday.

HOW WE’VE FARED

NBA playoffs: Heat +8.5 over Celtics (LOSE $33)

NBA playoffs money line: Heat over Celtics (LOSE $10)

Thursday’s profit/loss: -$43 (0-2)

Total for the week: +$14.70 (3-3, 1 pending)

Total for May: +$153.60 (27-21, 1 pending)

Total for 2023: -$305.60 (115-126, 1 pending)

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

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