Ricky Dimon
The week in Major League Baseball continues with an extremely small 5-game slate on Thursday. Nonetheless, there are still more than enough betting opportunities with which to work. The lineup includes Orioles vs Guardians, Blue Jays vs Tigers and Padres vs Cardinals. The Pickswise team has been in fine form this season. I’m 51-39-2 record so far in this best bets piece while going 4-for-9 on Same Game Parlays at +481, +632, +439 and +600 odds. Pickswise’s MLB handicapping team on the whole is 105-69-7 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 Thursday’s slate.
MLB best bet: St. Louis Cardinals ML over San Diego Padres (-135)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Yu Darvish is making just his 4th appearance of the season after returning earlier this month from right-elbow inflammation. Early returns are not encouraging. The 38-year-old righty is 0-2 with 6.08 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and almost as many walks (7) as strikeouts (8). On the whole, San Diego did not play great in its series against Miami earlier this week – losing the last 2 contests.
The Padres’ brief losing streak could continue since Darvish certainly doesn’t have the upper hand on paper against Sonny Gray. St. Louis is 15-5 this season when Gray toes the rubber and he is sporting a 9-4 record with 123 strikeouts compared to only 19 walks in 111.1 innings. It is also worth noting that the Cardinals are 29-20 at home in 2025, while the Padres are 24-29 on the road. Let’s roll with the Cardinals to pick up another victory at Busch Stadium as our first MLB best bet today.
Read our full Padres vs Cardinals prediction for today
MLB best bet: Los Angeles Angels ML over Seattle Mariners (-120)
Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing.
No, the Angels are not going to win the World Series this year; they almost certainly won’t even make the playoffs. Alas, they are holding their own with a 49-53 record – including a winning record at home (24-23). Yusei Kikuchi is getting the ball on Thursday, which is good news when the Halos play at home. The left-hander boasts a 1.98 ERA in LA this year compared to a 4.27 mark on the road.
Home-field advantage could make the difference in this one, because the metrics are also extreme for Seattle’s Logan Evans. The right-hander boasts a 2.60 home ERA this year, but that balloons to 5.06 when he is on the visiting side. Opponents are batting a ridiculous .345 against him when he is on the road. Evans better watch out for Taylor Ward, who is batting .350 since the all-star break with 2 home runs and 11 RBIs. I’m rolling with the home side as today’s 2nd MLB best bet.
