Sunday July 7 Best Sports Betting Picks & Predictions For MLB, WNBA, PGA John Deere Classic

A rookie ballplayer, ninth-year WNBA veteran and second-year PGA pro figure prominently into today’s best bets.

You can probably guess which athlete can best attest to “Been there, done that,” but the two young guns around her appear to be on their way.

Here’s more as the holiday weekend draws to a close:

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees, 7 p.m. ET

Yankees rookie first baseman Ben Rice is the kind of newbie who wears No. 93 on his jersey. 

He’s also the type who can crack three home runs in one game, a feat he accomplished Saturday to make him the first Yankees rookie ever to do so.

Rice ripped his first career home run Thursday, and on Sunday he will have a favorable matchup to keep slugging. Red Sox righty Kutter Crawford has surrendered at least one long ball in eight consecutive starts, including allowing homers to New York’s Aaron Judge and Jose Trevino in a June 16 win at Fenway Park.

Anthony Rizzo’s right forearm injury prompted Rice’s call-up a few days later. Rice has batted .294 in 51 at-bats since, translating his potential as a prospect into major league success in short order.

Things are adding up to more of the same on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. We see Rice’s breakout as a catalyst for the struggling Bombers.

Yankees -1.5, Ben Rice over 0.5 hits as two-leg parlay (+210, BetMGM)

Phoenix Mercury at Los Angeles Sparks, 7 p.m. ET

Kahleah Copper sports No. 2 for the Mercury but has taken the reins as the team’s top scorer in her first season since joining the organization from Chicago.

She enters Sunday’s visit to LA averaging 22.4 points and helped the Mercury start a busy road stretch in style on Wednesday, scoring 34 points in a victory at Dallas.

Phoenix will play eight of its next 10 away from Footprint Center, a stretch that spans the Olympic break and could go a long way to determining the team’s playoff positioning. 

Look for Copper to keep things moving against the Sparks, who stopped an eight-game slide Friday by edging Las Vegas in overtime but are otherwise generous. LA is allowing opponents to shoot 45.8 percent from the floor, which ranks 11th in the 12-team league by a mere 0.4 percent.

Mercury -3.5, Kahleah Copper 18+ points as two-leg parlay (+120, BetMGM)

PGA Tour John Deere Classic

A sparkling scorecard showed Davis Thompson was in command during Saturday’s third round of the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run. He looked especially sharp on the par-5 17th, escaping respective trouble from the trees and rough to make one of his nine birdies.

That gave Thompson a round of 62, a score he’s shot once before in his second year on tour. Thompson hasn’t held a 54-hole lead, though, and only won on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2022.

“I know it’s going to be tough to finish off a golf tournament, but I’ve done it before,” Thompson told reporters. “I just have to stay present-minded.”

That task goes double on a soft course that has seen plenty of low scores this week. Seven players come into the day within five shots of the lead, but Thompson’s demeanor and resilience keep him on top.

Davis Thompson to win (+100, BetMGM)