Caleb Wilfinger
The 2nd half of the 2025 MLB season continues rolling along, and Friday features a solid 10-game slate of action for us to enjoy. I’m 89-61-1 on my MLB best bets this year and the Pickswise MLB handicapping team as a whole is currently on a HUGE 38-18 run! Let’s keep it going as we get into today’s top MLB predictions on Friday, September 19. You can also find out our MLB picks for every game today.
MLB best bet: San Francisco Giants vs LA Dodgers F5 Under 4.5 (-110)
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to -120.
For my first MLB best bet today, we’ll go back to the well with this NL West matchup between the Dodgers and Giants. This has long been one of the best rivalries in the sport and there’s plenty on the line for both teams in Friday’s contest. The main storyline in this game centers around Clayton Kershaw, who is making his final start at Dodger Stadium as part of the last season of his Hall of Fame career. Kershaw is in the midst of an excellent farewell tour season, despite struggling a bit in a few recent outings. However, none of those starts came on the road, and the veteran left-hander has surrendered just 4 runs over his last 4 outings at home. We can expect that trend to continue against a very familiar foe, at least in the first couple of innings.
As for the visitors, San Francisco is countering with Robbie Ray, who has been up and down this season, but has still been successful more often than not. Ray has actually been a much better starter on the road than at Oracle Park this season, as he’s allowed 10 earned runs over the last 5 outings away from home. Lastly, neither of these bullpens inspire all that much confidence, particularly the leaker Dodgers bullpen that has struggled mightily all season long. Ultimately, I’ll put my faith in one of the best pitchers in the history of the sport to start strong at home while both offenses start slow in this divisional matchup.
MLB best bet: Texas Rangers -1.5 over Miami Marlins (+132)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to +125.
For my 2nd MLB best bet on Friday, I’ll be targeting the Rangers on the run line. Texas has fallen out of favor in the American League Wild Card picture, but the Rangers are heading back home, where they have been one of the best teams in baseball this season. In fact, Texas’ home record is a whopping 47-28, and the Rangers should be in good position to pick up a victory with Tyler Mahle on the mound, who holds a 0.82 ERA and .169 batting average against in 8 starts at Globe Life Field this season. As for the Marlins, Janson Junk will get the ball for the visitors, and it certainly doesn’t help matters that he enters this matchup with a 4.48 ERA on the season, to go along with bottom 10% marks in hard-hit rate and expected batting average. Texas should roll in this series opener.
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