The MLB season continues with 13 games on the schedule for Thursday, so that’s where we’ll pick up our MLB betting picks.
Wednesday was another wild day of action – one that brought more bad news for the Toronto Blue Jays. Not only did they blow a 4-0 lead to the New York Yankees, they also lost starting pitcher Marcus Stroman. Stroman was knocked around for five earned runs in three innings before leaving.
The Houston Astros managed to get the win on Wednesday, which now makes it four in a row for them. They pounded the Texas Rangers 10-1. The Minnesota Twins also won their fourth in a row, beating the Oakland Athletics 7-4. The Astros’ and Twins’ four-game winning streaks are currently the longest going in all of baseball.
The majority of the games begin early in the afternoon but we decided to narrow our sports betting focus on three key evening games. Here is a look at the best bets for Thursday’s MLB slate.
Baltimore Orioles @ Boston Red Sox
Thursday, 7:10 PM ET
The Orioles and Red Sox wrap up their four-game set at Fenway Park on Thursday evening. After some intriguing pitching matchups throughout the series the finale doesn’t look all that promising on paper. Kyle Kendricks will make his season debut for Boston in his first major league outing since 2015. Kendricks hasn’t pitched since 2015 when he posted a 6.32 ERA in 27 starts for the Colorado Rockies. Meanwhile, Baltimore will counter with Ubaldo Jimenez, whose 7.43 ERA won’t inspire much confidence. Jimenez has allowed at least five earned runs in three of his five starts this season including a 12-5 loss to the Red Sox on April 12th. Jimenez will be in tough to keep a powerful Boston lineup in check. If Kendricks can find a way to just slow down the Orioles hitters then he could be in line for his first win since 2015 on Thursday night.
You don’t have to pay a huge price with the Red Sox in this spot. -120 seems reasonable and given the home-field advantage, we’ll make the investment.
MLB Betting Pick: Boston
Miami Marlins @ Tampa Bay Rays
Thursday, 7:10 PM ET
The Rays will look to finish off Miami following a strong start to their series. Matt Andriese hasn’t been outstanding so far this season but he has produced a quality 3.86 ERA. Tampa Bay has lost three of Andriese’s first five starts but if he can slow down the Miami offense he should have a good shot at picking up the win in this matchup. After all, the Marlins offense has struggled with consistency and Dan Straily has made it past 5.1 innings in just one of his five starts this season. The Rays need to find a way to get to Straily early. If the offense clicks and Andriese does his job then Tampa Bay should pick up the win on Thursday night.
The Rays aren’t costing us too much to back them in this spot. They opened up at -120 and that’s quite reasonable. We’re not going to get burned too badly by the juice if they fail to deliver for us.
MLB Betting Pick: Tampa Bay
Los Angeles Angels @ Seattle Mariners
Thursday, 10:10 PM ET
Seattle will hope that Ariel Miranda can help get them back on track in another early season divisional matchup with the Angels. The Mariners entered Wednesday night five games below .500 in the standings and it’s hard to predict what they will get out of their second-year pitcher. Miranda has given up four earned runs in two of his last four starts while giving up just a single run in the other two starts over that span. Meanwhile, the Angels are hoping that they can help Daniel Wright pick up his first win of the season. Wright held the Toronto Blue Jays to three hits over five shutout innings of work but it wasn’t enough to pick up the win in his last start. Wright’s first two starts have both come on the road so it won’t be easy trying to steal one away from Seattle. If Miranda performs at a high level, the Mariners should be able to get the job done at home on Thursday night.
MLB Betting Pick: Seattle
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