Ricky Dimon
The weekend in Major League Baseball continues with a full 15-game schedule on Saturday, plus the continuation of Friday’s suspended contest between Arizona and Cincinnati. It’s an intriguing slate that includes Cubs vs Tigers, Dodgers vs Cardinals and Red Sox vs Yankees. The Pickswise team has been in fine form through 2 months of the season. I’m 32-23-1 record so far in this best bets piece while going 4-for-8 on Same Game Parlays at +481, +632, +439 and +600 odds and 5-1 on YRFI/NRFI picks. Pickswise’s MLB handicapping team on the whole is 55-38-4 on their best bets. Let’s keep it going as we get into my MLB best bets of the day!
Also don’t forget to check out our MLB picks for Saturday’s slate.
MLB best bet: San Francisco Giants F5 -0.5 over Atlanta Braves (-115)
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing
The Braves are in absolute shambles right now and there is no reason to think that anything will improve on Saturday. After all, they are on the road – where they are 10-21 this season. The Giants, meanwhile, are 20-11 at home. Today’s pitching matchup also favors San Francisco. It is sending Logan Webb to the mound, and he is sporting a 2.55 ERA and 1.17 WHIP to go along with a 91-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 81.1 innings. Atlanta is countering with Bryce Elder (2-3, 4.56 ERA), who is a minor-league talent but has been forced back into the rotation because of injuries to other arms.
A 5-4 loss in 10 innings on Friday was the Braves’ fifth in a row and 12th in their last 15 contests. In the last 2 days they have lost by giving up 7 runs in the ninth inning to blow a 10-4 lead (Thursday vs Arizona) and on a walk-off wild pitch (Friday vs San Francisco). To say that it’s tough to recover from those disasters would be a gross understatement. The Giants have good value on the -150 money line, but I like this F5 play even more. Plus it eliminates San Fran’s bullpen, which temporarily squandered last night’s 4-2 advantage.
Read our full Braves vs Giants prediction
MLB best bet: Seattle Mariners vs Los Angeles Angels Over 8.5 (-125)
Odds available at Bet365 Sportsbook at time of publishing
Jack Kochanowicz is taking the mound for L.A. on Saturday and he has been absolutely atrocious in 2025. The right-hander is 3-7 with a 5.34 ERA and 1.56 ERA while striking out only 44 batters and walking a ridiculous 32 in 64.0 innings of work. Kochanowicz has given up 4 earned runs in each of his last 3 starts, logging a total of just 14.1 innings during this stretch. This guy stinks.
Seattle is going with Luis Castillo, who is obviously a solid veteran but does not match up particularly well with the Angels. Luis Rengifo has homered 3 times off him in 20 at-bats; Taylor Ward is 4-for-13 with 3 doubles and 4 walks; Jorge Soler is 2-for-5 with a homer, a double and 3 walks; Kevin Newman is 5-for-17. The Halos have scored 7, 4, 9 and 5 runs in their last 4 outings. Friday’s series opener between these 2 AL West rivals produced 9 runs; Saturday’s contest will likely see even more runners cross the plate.
Read our full Mariners vs Angels prediction
