The first full week of the 2026 Major League Baseball season wraps up with a full 15-game slate on Sunday. It is headlined by the nightcap on Peacock between the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers.
Here are my best bets, and also make sure to check out our MLB picks for predictions throughout the 2026 campaign!
Seattle Mariners -1.5 over Los Angeles Angels (-104)
Seattle won on Friday and then lost 1-0 yesterday — but it surely would have prevailed if not for 3 — yes, 3 — robbed home runs by Los Angeles right fielder Jo Adell. Expect a higher-scoring affair on Sunday, likely with the M’s doing the majority of the heavy lifting against Ryan Johnson and a shaky L.A. bullpen. Johnson is a highly regarded prospect within the Angels organization, but the 23-year-old did not fare well in his season debut. With 4 walks allowed and only 2 strikeouts recorded in 3.1 innings, Johnson yielded 6 earned runs to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He made 14 relief appearances with the Angels in 2025, totaling 14.2 innings with 29 baserunners and 12 earned runs allowed. Seattle’s Luis Castillo was far sharper in his first 2026 start, recording 6.0 scoreless frames with 7 strikeouts to only 5 baserunners against a dangerous Yankees lineup. Give me Seattle to take care of business by multiple runs.
Atlanta Braves vs Arizona Diamondbacks Under 9.5 (-112)
The Diamondbacks prevailed 2-1 on Saturday after the Braves got the job done 2-0 on Friday. Aside from its Friday outburst in a 17-2 win over Arizona, Atlanta’s offense has struggled in 2026 — particularly Ronald Acuna Jr. The visitors now face Brandon Pfaadt, who lost his season debut for the Snakes but really should have fared a lot better. He generated a ton of weak contact and deserved a better result. For the Braves, Martin Perez is set to make his second appearance and first start of the season. The 35-year-old Venezuelan was effective on Tuesday. Across 4.1 innings of work Perez, was able to hold a potent Athletics lineup scoreless with 3 strikeouts and just 2 batters reaching base across 47 efficient pitches. All things considered, 9.5 is too big of a number — possibly even way too big.
Detroit Tigers ML over St. Louis Cardinals (-136)
The Tigers have won the first 2 games in the series by a combined 9 runs and their dominance should continue on Sunday night. The pitching matchup is Kyle Leahy of St. Louis vs Keider Montero of Detroit. The Tigers recalled Montero to take the place of the recently injured Justin Verlander. Leahy will be making just his third career start after sliding into the Cards’ rotation following a few years in the bullpen. His first turn did not go well, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits with just 1 strikeout through 5.0 innings of work. The right-hander is probably in for another difficult start with all of the lefty hitters that Detroit has in its lineup.
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