Top MLB Picks and Predictions Today (Orioles Cover, Dodgers-Cardinals Pick and Yankees-Red Sox Total)
The Major League Baseball season is quickly coming to a close, which means there are only a few more days to get your bets in for this season.
With Sunday giving sports fans plenty of betting opportunities in the NFL, why don't we dive into some MLB picks you can place as well?
Here are a few of the top ones from BetSided's team:
Houston Astros vs. Baltimore Orioles Odds, Prediction and Pick
I don’t want to blindly back a trend, but this Orioles team is insane at home on the run line, going 48-28 this season. Baltimore is even better as a home underdog, going 38-13 on the run line in those 51 games.
Baltimore has covered in all three of the games in this series, winning two straight up in the process.
Austin Voth’s season-long numbers don’t look as good as he actually has been for Baltimore, posting a 2.84 ERA across 20 games (15 starts). He’s allowed two or fewer earned runs in seven straight starts heading into this matchup.
Cristian Javier has been great this season as well, posting 12 straight outings with three or fewer runs allowed. There could be a reason to play an UNDER in this game, but after yesterday’s 21-run explosion, I’m going to stay away.
Instead, I like the O’s to do what they do best and keep this one close.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Odds, Prediction and Pick
Adam Wainwright (3.38 ERA) and Michael Grove (4.66 ERA) will face-off today in a battle of righties. Despite the Cardinals seemingly holding the advantage is starting pitching, I'm going to back the Dodgers today to get the job done.
The Cardinals offense has been slumping this month, despite Friday's 11-0 rout. They rank 18th in the Majors in OPS since Sept. 1. They also fall off against right-handed pitchers, compared to left-handed pitchers.
Their OPS drops from .808 against lefties, to .731 against righties.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers rank first in OPS against right-handed pitchers this season at .789.
Let's also remember that the Cardinals rank outside the top 10 in bullpen ERA, so even if Adam Wainwright survives his start, the Dodgers should be able to score late in the game.
Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees Odds, Prediction and Pick
The Red Sox simply aren’t a good baseball team right now, but I am intrigued by starter Brayan Bello, who has a 2.61 ERA since the start of August and has struck out 34 batters in 31.0 innings of work.
He has the stuff to deal with some of the Yankees’ bats, and on the other side Nestor Cortes has been New York’s best starter this season. The crafty lefty has 10 straight starts with three or fewer earned runs allowed, and he has a 2.57 ERA and 2.11 FIP since coming off the injured list earlier this month.
Yankees-Red Sox games have a tendency to get crazy, and I don’t trust the awful Boston bullpen, but I think we could see a slow start on Sunday night.
The total in the first five innings is set at 4.5, but with the way Bello and Cortes have been pitching, the UNDER seems like the way to go.