Andrew Wilsher

The Toronto Blue Jays grabbed Game 1 of their series with the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night, and I look for them to snag another win Wednesday evening. Toronto holds a major starting pitching edge in Game 2 with Dylan Cease taking on Chad Patrick. Cease has been outstanding so far in a Blue Jay uniform, striking out 26 batters in just 14.2 innings of work. His 9 walks issued have prevented him from working overly deep into games so far, but he has still been more than impressive. Milwaukee presents a tough matchup given their patient nature and their ability to pounce on mistake pitches, but Cease does have very solid head-to-head numbers against this Brewers lineup.

Chad Patrick tossed 9.1 innings of 1-run ball against the White Sox and Royals in his first 2 appearances of the season. His 3rd outing was a relief appearance after Aaron Ashby opened the game against Washington. While Patrick did toss 3 scoreless frames in that start, and his current ERA sits at 0.73, there are concerning signs of regression in his game. Patrick ranks just 10th percentile with his 13.7% strikeout rate, and he has been fortunate to strand every single base runner so far. His 4.30 FIP is far higher than Cease and his 1.66 mark, and I side with Toronto in this game at current pricing.

Brewers vs Blue Jays prediction: Blue Jays ML (-120) available at time of publishing. Playable to -130 odds.

The Padres took Game 1 against the Mariners by a score of 4-1 on Tuesday, snapping Seattle’s 4-game win streak while pushing San Diego’s win streak to 6. In fact, the Padres have won 10 of their last 12 after a 1-4 start to the year. 

Taking the mound for Seattle is Emerson Hancock, who has been very good this year. His first start of the season was his best, holding the Guardians to 6 hitless innings with 9 strikeouts and just 1 walk. His second start was almost as good, as he held the Angels to 1 run on 6 hits in 6.2 innings with 5 strikeouts, but he showed some mortality in this third start, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits with 2 walks in 5 innings against the Astros last Friday. The right-hander has a 2.04 ERA and a 0.74 WHIP, and the advanced metrics suggest those numbers are no fluke (2.40 xERA, 2.86 xFIP, 2.64 SIERA.

For the Padres, Randy Vasquez will toe the rubber for the fourth time this year. San Diego is 3-0 in his starts, but Vasquez earned the win in only 1 of those. Still, he had allowed just 2 earned runs this year in 17.2 innings, all while surrendering 15 hits and just 4 walks while accumulating 19 strikeouts. Furthermore, his ERA is a sparkling 1.02, but will that hold? His 4.23 xERA, 3.11 xFIP and 3.01 SIERA suggest there is regression looming.

Vasquez has always been better against right-handed batters than left, and Seattle has a ton of left-handed bats. That alone has me interested in the Mariners, as well as the fact that they have the best bullpen ERA in the league thus far. Give me Seattle in this one.

Mariners vs Padres prediction: Seattle Mariners ML (-104) available at time of publishing. Playable to -110. 

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The Texas Rangers will take on the Athletics for the third game in the series. So far, both teams have come away with a win though the Rangers are outscoring the Athletics 9-3. On the season, both teams sit at 9-8. On the mound, we will see Kumar Rocker of the Rangers and JT Ginn of the Athletics. Rocker currently has a 4.50 ERA and a 0-1 record. He has pitched 10 innings giving up 11 hits and 5 earned runs. He has gone 5 innings in both games, so I suspect we see that again today. Rocker should have a good day against an Athletics team that is batting .231 on the year and have just 9 hits over the last 2 nights.

For the Athletics, Ginn will get the start even though he is listed and has played as a relief pitcher this season. Through his appearances, he has pitched 11 innings giving up 7 hits and 4 earned runs. The issue with the Athletics starting a relief pitcher is that their bullpen has already given up 66 hits, 33 walks, and 31 runs this season. On the opposing side, the Rangers bullpen has only given up 16 runs this season. Overall, I believe Rocker has a good start and the Rangers bullpen will clean up the game. I am taking the Rangers on the money line.

Rangers vs. Athletics prediction: Rangers ML (+100) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers meet in a high stakes Eastern Conference play-in matchup, with the winner securing the No. 7 seed and the loser forced into a win or go home scenario. Both teams finished the regular season at 45–37, but momentum is trending in opposite directions. Orlando entered the final day in position to avoid this spot but suffered a stunning loss to Boston’s reserves as double-digit favorites—a result that may have lingering psychological effects. That defeat not only cost them seeding but raises questions about their ability to handle pressure in high leverage situations. Philadelphia, meanwhile, has been steadier down the stretch and benefits from home court, where they posted a strong record this season and have historically performed well in must-win environments.

The biggest variable in this matchup is the absence of Joel Embiid, leaving the Sixers without their primary interior presence. That shifts the offensive burden to Tyrese Maxey, who averaged over 28 points per game and has proven capable of carrying the offense with his speed and shot creation. Philadelphia will likely lean into a faster, guard oriented approach, while Orlando—led by Paolo Banchero—will try to capitalize on its size and physicality advantage. On paper, the Magic may appear more complete, but their inconsistency and recent collapse introduce real concerns about their mental state entering this game. If Orlando struggles early, it could snowball quickly given the pressure of the moment. With Philadelphia’s backcourt edge, home environment, and Orlando potentially reeling from a demoralizing loss, this sets up as a tight but favorable spot for the Sixers to advance.

Magic vs 76ers prediction: 76ers -1.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -3.

Just 3 days after they met on the final day of the regular season, the Golden State Warriors and LA Clippers lock horns once again, with the stakes being a lot higher this time around. Although both teams rested key players, the meeting on Sunday somewhat gives us a rough idea what to expect in Wednesday’s rematch. Despite getting a productive game from Stephen Curry who had 24 points in 29 mins of play, the Warriors were down for most of that game and were held to just 28% shooting from three-point land. And that’s pretty much the Achilles heel of this team. Ever since Jimmy Butler went down with his injury back in January, they are pretty much a one man show on offense and teams know what to expect from them on a nightly basis.

Meanwhile, the Clippers have had one of the best turnarounds in a season ever, after opening the year 6-21 they now find themselves in the play-in tournament. Kawhi sat the final game on Sunday, which means he gets 5 days in between games to rest and heal up for this encounter. Although the Clippers capped off the year 8-7 SU over their last 15 games, the chemistry developed between Kawhi and Darius Garland was on a high level during that time. LA finally has a proper point guard who is no longer bothered by his big toe injury, I cannot wait to see how Garland does against Stephen Curry on both ends in Wednesday’s game.

There’s a reason why these Warriors finished the year 37-45. Injuries have decimated them for the most part, I just don’t think Steph had enough time to get back into rhythm following his return from injury towards the end of the regular season. Kawhi and co. are 31-19 SU in this calendar year, while the Warriors are 19-29 SU during this stretch. In head-to-head meetings LA is 9-1 SU/ATS in the last 10 games, plus they’ve covered in 5 straight at the Intuit Dome against this opponent. I’ll take LA here.

Warriors vs Clippers prediction: Clippers -4.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.