Ricky Dimon
The week in Major League Baseball continues with a full 15-game schedule on Saturday. I’m on an absolute heater to start the season, with a 22-10-1 record so far in this best bets piece while going 3-for-5 on Same Game Parlays at +481, +632 and +439 odds. Pickswise’s MLB handicapping team on the whole is 33-14-2 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: New York Mets ML over St. Louis Cardinals (-146)
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing
There’s no need to overthink this one. The Mets are 22-11 and looking like the best team in baseball, at least for the time being; the Cardinals are 14-19 and have lost 2 games in a row by a combined 18-4 margin following Friday’s 9-3 setback against New York. Now the home team is dealing with a pitching matchup that is very much not in its favor. The visitors are going with Tylor Megill (3-2, 1.74 ERA), while St. Louis is starting Erick Fedde (1-3, 4.68 ERA).
The Mets’ lineup will be especially eager to see Fedde on the mound. Francisco Lindor is 6-for-19 lifetime in the head-to-head matchup with a homer and a double; Pete Alonso is 6-for-16; Jeff McNeil is 7-for-16; Jesse Winker is 4-for-12 with 2 HRs; Starling Marte is 3-for-11 with a dinger; Juan Soto is 2-for-3 with a double. New York figures to seize a quick lead, and in the back end of the game it features a 3.18 bullpen ERA (eighth best in MLB) while St. Louis sits at 4.73 (fifth worst). The Mets have every advantage in this one.
MLB best bet: Detroit Tigers -1.5 over Los Angeles Angels (-110)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing
Detroit -1.5 was a winner for me on Friday night and I’m going right back to the well today. It’s hard to see the Angels recovering from yesterday’s ninth-inning disaster in which they allowed 8 runs – including 2 homers to Riley Greene – en route to a 9-1 loss. The ninth at-bat certainly came in handy in that game, and being guaranteed all 9 innings at the plate as the visiting team makes more inclined to give the 1.5 runs.
The pitching matchup certainly doesn’t inspire any confidence in the home team, either. Through 5 starts with his new club, Kyle Hendricks is 0-3 with a 6.35 ERA and a horrendous 13-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 23.0 innings. Los Angeles has lost his last 3 starts by a combined 12 runs. Detroit is countering with Jack Flaherty, who is sporting a 3.34 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. Flaherty is backed by a Detroit bullpen that ranks third in all of Major League Baseball in ERA (2.62). In other words, the Angels’ lineup may not even produce more than the 1 run it managed on Friday. Count on the visitors once again prevailing by multiple runs.
Read our full Tigers vs Angels prediction
