Sports Betting Weekend: Belmont and B-Ball
The final leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown goes Saturday with the 148th running of the Belmont Stakes. With Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist sidelined the favorite is Preakness Stakes winner Exaggerator. He’s a +125 favorite at online sportsbook Bovada, followed by Suddenbreakingnews and Stradivari at +700.
In the NBA Finals the Cleveland Cavaliers struck back in a huge way in Game 3 and they’ll look to tie the series in Game 4 on Friday night. Down 2-0 in the series the Cavaliers erupted in a 120-90 win over the Golden State Warriors as a closing 1.5-point home favorite in Game 3.
The Stanley Cup Final could conclude on Thursday night, if the Pittsburgh Penguins can finish off the San Jose Sharks. If the Sharks can prevail to keep the series going they’ll return to San Jose for Game 6 on Sunday. The latest odds at Bovada have the Penguins as a -1200 favorite to win the series.
On the MLB weekend schedule division rivals collide in a number of matchups including the St. Louis Cardinals at the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Texas Rangers at the Seattle Mariners and the Los Angeles Dodgers at the San Francisco Giants.
The Pirates are 5-1 against the Cardinals so far this season continuing some recent strong results against their NL Central rivals. The Pirates also boast a three-game home winning streak against St. Louis and a 7-2 mark in their last nine.
Texas faces Seattle for the second weekend in a row after sweeping a three-game series last week. With those wins the Rangers improved to 5-1 in their last six against Seattle.
The Dodgers and Giants have already clashed seven times this season with San Francisco holding a 4-3 series lead. At home the Giants have owned the Dodgers in recent years with a 3-1 record this season and an 11-3 mark in their last 14.
On the track this weekend NASCAR and Formula 1 both drive in North America.
The weekend NASCAR stop is the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Kurt Busch won this race last year but he’s a +900 underdog to repeat at Bovada. The favorite is Kevin Harvick at +550 followed by Joey Logano at +650.
Formula 1 is in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton, a four-time winner in Canada, is the favorite at +110, while points leader Nico Rosberg is listed at +190.