Sport DFW's Best Dallas Betting Picks for 7/20 (Stars' Future, AL Central Action)

The Texas Rangers are off on Thursday, and the days are pretty quiet when your MLB team is off in July. That doesn't mean there's not still plenty going on in the sports world today, especially if you get some money down to make the action that much more exciting.

Here are our editors' top betting picks for July 20.

Dallas Best Bets: July 20, 2023

Jason Schandl: Stars to Win the Central Division

With the Rangers off today, how about we turn our view away from baseball for a bit? Today I’m really keyed in on the Dallas Stars.

Looking at what the Stars managed last season, finishing just 1 point back of the Colorado Avalanche, it really looks like the Central is anyone’s to win in 2023. And it could even be argued that the Stars were already the best team in the division last season, finishing with a +67 goal differential, compared to +54 from the Avs.

Dallas hasn’t had a splashy offseason (though the addition of Matt Duchene looks like a solid one), but they also haven’t sustained any big losses. That means we’re largely looking at the same squad that was not only nipping at the Avs’ heels in the standings, but that also outperformed them in some advanced metrics. The Stars ranked eighth in the NHL last season in high-danger scoring chances offensively while only allowing the second fewest defensively. For comparison, the Avs ranked 24th on offense and 27th on defense.

With neither team looking massively different than last year’s iterations, getting 3-to-1 odds make the Stars a no-brainer.

Tyler Maher: Astros Runline @ Athletics

Even on the Rangers’ day off, Texas fans will want to keep an eye on the second-place Astros, who remain 4.5 games behind the Rangers in the standings after both teams won yesterday.

Houston heads to Oakland for the start of a four-game series on Thursday after splitting a pair of games against the Rockies. This series will be a prime opportunity for the reigning World Series champs to make up some ground in the AL West, as the A’s have been the worst team in baseball this year at 27-71.

Oakland did just take two out of three from the red-hot Red Sox, but don’t expect them to win again on Thursday. The A’s have only had one winning streak longer than two games all season, as they tend to fall back into their losing ways. 

The Astros also have a major advantage in today’s pitching matchup. Rookie starter J.P. France has been rock-solid for Houston, going 4-3 with a 3.31 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP in 12 starts this year. The same cannot be said for Oakland rookie Hogan Harris, who’s been lit up for a 6.51 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP in 47 innings this year.

It’s no secret that the Astros are the much better team, especially on offense. Houston is averaging 4.71 runs per game (12th in MLB), while the A’s are last in scoring at 3.60 runs per game. The Astros should win this one fairly easily, so back them to cover the runline.

Isaiah De Los Santos: Aces Spread @ Storm

Though the Wings are off on Thursday, there’s still plenty of Western Conference WNBA action to cash in on. Tonight’s matchups bring us what should be an incredibly lopsided affair between the Aces and Storm.

Las Vegas is running the entire league at the moment, going an astounding 19-2 during the first half of the season. They boast one the deadliest offenses in the league (WNBA-high 94.0 points per game) and tout three 19 PPG scorers in A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum. What makes this team even scarier, however, is its staunch defense. They also lead the league in opponent PPG (78.6) while ranking top three or better in steals and blocks per contest.

The Storm were once a formidable threat to the Aces, but times have changed. The losses of Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart – the latter of whom is favored to win MVP right now – have been predictably devastating. Seattle owns the league’s worst record at 4-16 and has just two players averaging double digits in scoring. The defense is even more abysmal, allowing the most opponent PPG (86.4) in the league.

We’ve seen how unevenly matched these squads are after their two previous meetings in 2023. Las Vegas has already blown out Seattle by 41 and 33 points this year, so I’d hammer the Aces to cover any spread below 20 points.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.