Sports Betting This Weekend: Cubs/Cardinals, Travelers Championship, Cinch Championship

Summer is officially here, which means a fresh football season is on the horizon.

In the meantime, the June calendar of online sports betting will keep you entertained. There are some unique opportunities this weekend, as Major League Baseball takes a quick international holiday. 

Here are some notable events to consider:

Major League Baseball

Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June June 25  |  FOX (1:10 p.m. Saturday); ESPN (10 a.m. Sunday)

Major League Baseball is putting on a very special show in London this week, as NL Central rivals clash in a two-game series at London Stadium.

The Cardinals won the NL Central in 2022 but have not had a good start to this year’s campaign. At 31-44, they’re last in the division and have the third-worst record in the National League.

Curiously, though, their -10 run differential is the second-best mark in the NL Central, which suggests the poor record could be aberrational or unlucky. 

St. Louis will need a bit of luck against the Cubs, who are playing like one of the hottest teams in all of baseball right now. Chicago is 8-2 across its last 10 games. It’s also won four straight series, including two key sweeps of the Pirates, who have dropped from first to fourth in a week’s time. 

When the baseball odds drop on Saturday morning, expect the hot Cubbies to be priced as a clear favorite, regardless of who is pitching. 

Golf 

Travelers Championship

Thursday, June 22 through Sunday, June 25   |  ESPN+

Don’t expect a lull in exciting golf just because the U.S. Open is now over. The Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands began on Thursday, and it looks to be one of the most competitive events of the entire PGA season.

For one thing, the field includes Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, and Xander Schauffele – all six of the top-ranked players in the PGA tour right now.

Schauffele won the event last year, but he was just 20-to-1 to repeat as champion on Thursday morning.

Red-hot Scheffler has been favored to win most tournaments this spring, including last week’s U.S. Open. But it’s actually McIlroy (+750) who was the golf betting favorite on Thursday morning.

Scheffler was 9-to-1, alongside Rahm. Brooks Koepka was fourth in the table at +1400.

Tennis 

Cinch Championship at Queen’s Court

Championship Match on Sunday, June 25

It’s not just baseball that’s happening in London this weekend. After the clay finale at Roland Garros comes the grass season. Professional tennis players are warming up for Wimbledon by volleying through a few weeks of minor tennis tournaments in Germany and the U.K.

On the men’s side, one of those tournaments is the draw at Queen’s Court, known this year as the Cinch Championship. Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, and hometown favorite Cameron Norrie are the biggest names in this West Kensington warmup. 

Taylor Fritz, the top-ranked American, is the No. 3 seed in the draw. The tennis odds market priced him as a -350 favorite to beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino on Thursday and advance to the quarterfinals.