MLB Picks Today: Expert Predictions & Best Bets for Monday, September 7, including Cardinals vs Giants & Blue Jays vs Athletics
A new week in Major League Baseball begins with an 11-game slate on Monday, September 7. It’s Labor Day, so a holiday lineup is littered with afternoon specials – eight to be exact, before three assume a more normal nighttime spot on the schedule. Among the matchups are Braves vs Phillies, Guardians vs Orioles, Cubs vs Brewers, Diamondbacks vs Royals and Reds vs Dodgers, while Cardinals vs Giants airs live on NBC tonight at 8:10 pm ET. Let's get into my MLB best bets today, while you can also get our expert MLB picks for all 11 matchups on Labor Day.
MLB Best Bet: Miami Marlins ML over New York Mets (-112)
The Marlins are close to out of it...but they aren’t done yet. They are 4.5 games out of the third and final wild-card spot in the National League, with two teams to pass. The Mets, on the other hand, have long since been eliminated from realistic contention. They are third-to-last in the NL standings and 10.5 games off playoff-position pace. Additional bad news for New York is that it is on the road for this series. The Mets are 31-38 as visitors in 2026. Meanwhile, the Marlins are a whopping 14 games over .500 at home this season compared to 14 games under .500 on the road. Miami also has the benefit of sending Eury Perez to the mound on Monday afternoon. Perez comes in with a respectable 3.72 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP and 145 strikeouts in 135.1 innings of work. The right-hander is 5-4 with a 2.81 ERA at home compared to 2-6 with a 4.54 ERA on the road. Perez and company simply have value at Marlins Park that should not be passed up.
Read our full Mets vs Marlins prediction for this afternoon's MLB matchup
MLB Best Bet: San Francisco Giants ML over St. Louis Cardinals (-131)
There is no denying that San Francisco is one of the worst teams in the league. However, St. Louis is also nothing special. In fact, the Cardinals are close to falling out of wild-card contention in the NL with a 6-9 record in their last 15 games. Moreover, they are in the thick of a nine-game road trip with no days off, set to follow up visits to the Dodgers and Rockies with this series against the Giants. This is a busy stretch, and that has been especially for the case for the bullpen following a pair of one-run games and also pair of two-run games so far on this trip. St. Louis’ bullpen isn’t even good to begin with, sporting a 4.56 ERA for the year (seventh-worst in Major League Baseball). The pitching matchup is Michael McGreevy of the Cards vs Logan Webb of the Giants. McGreevy has allowed 14 earned runs in his last three starts across 15.1 total innings. Webb has given up only six earned runs in his last four home outings across 26.0 innings.
See our expert's Cardinals vs Giants best bet for tonight's game on NBC
MLB Best Bet: Toronto Blue Jays -1.5 over The Athletics (-111)
Dylan Cease is toeing the rubber for the Blue Jays on Monday night. To say that is good news for them would be a gross understatement. Cease is 10-5 with 2.25 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and a 221-to-65 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 156.1 innings. As if he wasn’t already good enough, the righty has been even more dominant of late. Over his past four starts, Cease has surrendered a mere four runs in 25.0 innings. Even though the Jays are a modest 72-72 for the year, they are only one game out of wild-card position in the American League. They are still playing motivated baseball, whereas the A’s obviously aren’t. As the road team, Toronto is guaranteed a full nine innings’ worth of at-bats. That could help the visitors produce enough runs to win by the necessary margin.
Lock in our Blue Jays vs Athletics prediction for today
