Tuley: Saturday Best Bets in NHL, MLB and XFL Championship Game 5/13

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Friday Best Bet Results

Friday was a great start to the weekend as we went 2-0 with our Best Bets after trading money most of the week.
We felt good about hitting our secondary play on the Nationals First 5 +105 vs. the Mets as they led 2-0 through the first 5 innings, especially as we weren’t sure about backing the Nats, but MacKenzie Gore threw 4 scoreless frames before giving way to the bullpen (note: the Nationals ended up losing 3-2, so we’re back to feeling like we’re doing the right thing with these F5 plays).

 

And then we felt even better as we won our Best Bet on the Golden Knights +115 as they beat the Oilers 4-3. It didn’t start so well as the Oilers took a 1-0 lead on a Connor McDavid goal on a power play (the one thing I said the Golden Knights had to avoid) just 3:02 into the game, but the Knights responded just 50 seconds later to tie the game. After the Oilers took a 2-1 lead (again on a power play), VGK scored 3 unanswered goals in the second period to take a 4-2 lead. A double-major led to the Oilers’ third power-play goal early in the third period, but the Golden Knights held on for the 4-3 victory and capped our successful day.
We also improved to 17-10-5 (63%) so far in May for a net profit of $866.21 based on $100 flat bets, according to the VSiN PRO Picks page. As I wrote earlier in the week, we’re especially proud of that winning percentage considering several of those wins were on dogs at plus-money.
Let’s look for more Best Bets on Saturday’s schedule. There’s no NBA playoff game on Saturday, but we have a play in the NHL playoff game, plus the XFL Championship Game and our MLB First 5 play of the day.

NHL Saturday Best Bet

Kraken +140 vs. Stars: Just like the Golden Knights last night, this is another “zig-zag” (aka “loser of the last”) play. While the Eastern Conference finale has been set with the Hurricanes vs. Panthers, the Western Conference series continue to zig-zag back and forth. The Stars lead 3-2, but we’re counting on the Kraken to even the series at home tonight (7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT) and force a decisive Game 7. Even though it’s associated with the NBA playoffs (since that sport has the benefit of dogs in the role being able to cover the spread in a loss), zig-zag teams are 11-5 in this round and 35-23 overall, according to my ATS Report at VSiN.com.

XFL Saturday Best Bet

Arlington Renegades +6.5 vs. DC Defenders: I had my struggles in the XFL during the 10-week regular season and playoffs, but we’re taking one last underdog in Saturday’s title game. DC (10-1 SU and 8-3 ATS) was the best team all season long while Arlington (5-6 SU and 4-7 ATS) was below .500, but the fact remains that the Renegades have been playing much better of late (since acquiring QB Luis Perez from Vegas), including shocking the Houston Roughnecks 26-11 in the South Division Championship two weeks ago as 7-point underdogs. In addition, in the only meeting between these two teams in Week 9, the Renegades took the Defenders to overtime before falling 28-26, but covered as 10-point dogs. The line is shorter here at the neutral site in San Antonio, but we still believe it’s set too high as the Renegades can certainly stay within one score again.

MLB Saturday Best Bet

Braves First 5 Innings -105 at Blue Jays: Toronto is tough to fade at 22-16, but the Braves are just as strong at 25-13 and we get Bryce Elder (3-0, 1.74 ERA) vs. Jose Berrios (3-3, 4.91 ERA). The Braves have several players who have had success vs. Berrios while none of the Blue Jays have faced Elder, so hopefully it takes a couple of plate appearances before they figure him out.