Ricky Dimon
The week in Major League Baseball continues with an 11-game slate on Thursday, including a doubleheader between the Mets and Orioles. It features Mariners vs Yankees, Rays vs Red Sox and Diamondbacks vs Padres. The Pickswise team has been in fine form so far this season. I’m 47-33-2 record so far in this best bets piece while going 4-for-9 on Same Game Parlays at +481, +632, +439 and +600 odds and 7-5 on YRFI/NRFI picks. Pickswise’s MLB handicapping team on the whole is 93-62-6 on their best bets and is currently on a 16-5 run! 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 EVERY GAME on Thursday, July 10.
MLB best bet: Cardinals ML over Nationals (-137)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.
St. Louis is very good at home (27-18), so it should be able to take care of an opponent that is mediocre at best on the road (20-26). That’s not what happened on Wednesday, but Mackenzie Gore was on the mound for Washington, so it wasn’t a big surprise. The Cardinals at least managed to win the series opener on Tuesday, so this is the rubber match.
The pitching matchup is an all-around bad one, but it’s less bad for the Cardinals. Although Miles Mikolas has been horrendous in 2025, he is better at home than he is on the road. Mikolas’ ERA at Busch Stadium is 4.82 (5.58 on the road) and opponents are batting .243 against him in front of his own fans (.301 on the road). The Nats are countering with Mike Soroka, whose career has pretty much been ruined by injuries after it got off to a promising start in Atlanta. Soroka is 3-6 with a 5.40 ERA. Mikolas may not be lights out on Thursday, but he should get enough run support for St. Louis to prevail.
MLB best bet: Rangers vs Angels F5 Over 5 (-120)
Odds available at bet365 at time of publishing.
Texas starter Patrick Corbin is always one of my favorite pitchers to fade. The left-hander has actually been serviceable this year, but he was among the worst players in all of baseball from 2021 through 2024. His sample size of success in 2025 will have to grow before anyone can be convinced that he is something close to a reliable performer. And it’s not like has been anything special this season; the 35-year-old is 5-7 with a 4.18 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and a 2.7-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
That being said, there is no way I’m backing Los Angeles with Jack Kochanowicz on the mound. The right-hander is 3-8 with a 5.42 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and a laughable 62-to-42 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 91.1 innings. This guy stinks. Given this pitching matchup, the Over in the first 5 innings looks like a fantastic play. I like the F5 value better than the full game because the Rangers’ bullpen ranks #4 league-wide in ERA (3.35) and LA’s relievers have actually been pretty good over the past week aside from a hiccup on Tuesday. Let’s roll with plenty of runs in the early going at Angel Stadium.
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