Thursday’s eight-game MLB night slate caps off another great day of baseball, after we saw four games played in the afternoon. If you’re looking to catch some action on national TV, the only matchup you’ll find is the Boston Red Sox at Houston Astros on ESPN+ a 2:10 p.m. EST. MLB Network has a tripleheader of games throughout the day, featuring the Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves (12:20 p.m. EST), Texas Rangers at Colorado Rockies (3:10 p.m. EST) and Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals (8:15 p.m. EST).
Last night was another 1-1 split, keeping the season-long record at a similar 13-19 (-$625). I need a big night heading into the weekend, so here are two more free MLB picks to get back in a better position.
Table of contents
- Arizona Diamondbacks (+155) at Milwaukee Brewers (-170) – Total: 8.5
- Minnesota Twins (+115) at Kansas City Royals (-125) – Total: 9
Arizona Diamondbacks (+155) at Milwaukee Brewers (-170) – Total: 8.5
ARZ: Jon Duplantier – R (0-0, 7.71 ERA/1.93 WHIP | 4.2 IP: 5 Ks, 1 HR)
MIL: Brett Anderson – L (2-3, 4.18 ERA/1.45 WHIP | 32.1 IP: 20 Ks, 6 HR)
If you’re into offense, we’ve got just the matchup for you. However, in order to get a plus-money situation, I’ll take the Brewers on the run-line to win by more two or more runs.
Duplantier got roughed up in his last start, which was also his season debut. Over 4.2 innings, he allowed seven hits, two walks and four runs and the D-Backs wound up losing in extra innings. Duplantier did pitch in MLB back in 2019, and that didn’t go too well as he accumulated a 4.42 ERA/1.55 WHIP in 36.2 innings.
The Brewers may have had their six-game winning streak snapped last night, but the offense wasn’t to blame in the 10-7 loss. It’s also worth noting that the IRT for each team jumped quite a bit (MIL: +0.6, ARZ: +0.4), and I’ve got reason to believe that’s more about the home team. Arizona has been struggling quite a bit, despite winning last night, so I believe it’ll revert to those ways.
Betting Pick: Brewers -1.5 (+112)
Minnesota Twins (+115) at Kansas City Royals (-125) – Total: 9
MIN: JA Happ – L (3-2, 5.24 ERA/1.27 WHIP | 46.1 IP: 35Ks, 5 HR)
KC: Kris Bubic – L (1-0, 1.52 ERA/1.11 WHIP | 29.2 IP: 22 Ks, 1 HR)
The Twins have certainly performed well under expectations this season, but it’s about time they start making their way towards .500 again. Happ is on the mound, and the Royals own the league’s fifth-worst wOBA (.291) against lefties. On the flip side, the Twins have the fifth-best ISO (.189) – an analytical metric to quantify power hitting.
As a side note, we haven’t seen the total go under in any of the six Royals-Twins matchups this season. I believe Minnesota will put up enough runs to make it worth our while as the underdog.
Betting Pick: Twins ML (+115)
