Free MLB Picks Today for Friday, August 12th, 2022

Our free MLB picks are out for Friday, August 12th, 2022! Make sure you check our MLB picks before the action kicks off.

Look below to find our free MLB picks for the five best games on today’s schedule!

Atlanta Braves @ Miami Marlins – 6:40PM ET

The Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins will be playing the first game of their four-game series in this one. These two National League East teams have met three times already this year. The Atlanta Braves currently lead the season series five games to four. 

Tony Battalio

The Atlanta Braves are coming into this weekend series with the Miami Marlins with a record of 66-44 through their first 110 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They are currently in second place in the National League East division as they sit seven games back of the New York Mets for first. The Braves have picked up five victories in their last 10 games and come into the series on a two-game one win streak as they look to chip away at the Mets lead in the division. 

It has been a below-average year for the Miami Marlins as they have been hovering around or below the .500 mark for the majority of the season. They come into this series with a record of 50-61 through their first 111 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They’ve lost seven out of their last 10 games of the year but will come into game one of this series on a one-game winning streak. They currently sit in fourth place in the National League East division. As they are 22 1/2 games out of first place and will likely have to settle for a wildcard spot if they want to make the playoffs this year but even that is very unlikely at this point. 

Jeffery Thomas

The defending champion Atlanta Braves will be back in action on Friday on the road starting up their weekend series with the Miami Marlins. The Braves got Thursday off after getting a two-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday and Wednesday. They are holding down the top wild-card spot in the National League, a spot the Marlins wish they were in contention for. Instead, Miami is 11 games under .500 at 50-61 and are coming in losers of their last four series dating back to last month. 

Jake Odorizzi will get the start for Atlanta and try to avenge his debut with the Braves last week where he was tagged with the loss against the New York Mets. This is a much more favorable matchup for him against a Marlins team that has not been very competitive lately and I see the Braves winning comfortably.

Marko Nadin

The Miami Marlins are fourth in the NL East with a 50-61 record. They have lost 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 1-2 series loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Miami is ranked 27th in the league scoring 3.87 runs per game and 11th in the league allowing 4.21 runs per game. Pablo Lopez will start for the Marlins tonight who is 7-7 for the season with a 3.57 ERA. Miami has lost 9 of the last 10 home games and 35 of the last 52 games after allowing 2 runs or less in their previous game.

The Atlanta Braves are second in the NL East with a 66-46 record. They have lost 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 2-0 series win over the Boston Red Sox. The Braves are 5th in the league scoring 4.84 runs per game and are ranked 7th in the league allowing 4.06 runs per game. The Braves will start Jake Odorizzi tonight who is 4-4 for the season with a 3.76 ERA. Atlanta has won the last 5 games following a day off and 23 of the last 32 games after scoring 5 runs or more in their previous game.

San Diego Padres @ Washington Nationals – 7:05PM ET

The San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals will be playing the first game of their three-game series in this one. These two National League teams will be meeting for the first of two times this year. They will play a four-game series next weekend in San Diego as well. 

Tony Battalio

This one is a tale of two different seasons, as the San Diego Padres are headed for a playoff berth while the Washington Nationals I’ve been out of the postseason race since the opening day it feels like. The Nationals are one of the worst teams in major league baseball as they’ve only managed to win 37 out of the 110 games they have played so far this season. They are in last place in their division and are a whopping 36 1/2 games out of first place in all but officially eliminated from the playoffs. 

As for the San Diego Padres, they come into this game with a record of 63-51 through their first 114 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They currently sit in second place of the National League West division as they trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by 16 games and likely will qualify for one of the wild card spots instead. They come into this game having picked up five victories and their last 10 games on the year and are currently on a two-game winning streak as well.

Jeffery Thomas

The Washington Nationals have the worst record in all of baseball but they may draw some fans over the weekend as some familiar faces return to the nation’s capital. Juan Soto and Josh Bell were the two main stars on the Nats and were traded at the deadline to the San Diego Padres who are going to be in town for the next three games. Soto only has one home run on the new team and Bell doesn’t have any but I have a feeling that will change over the weekend. 

Washington has gone 1-7 since making the trades but it has more so been the pitching that has let them down, allowing 6 or more runs in six of the last eight defeats. That doesn’t bode well against this potent Padres lineup and I only see this game ending one way and that is in blowout fashion in favor of the road team.

Marko Nadin

The Washington Nationals are at the bottom of the NL East with a 37-76 record. They have lost 7 of the last 8 games and are coming off a 1-2 series loss to the Chicago Cubs. The Nationals are 26th in the league scoring 3.92 runs per game and are 30th in the league allowing 5.75 runs per game. Washington will start Cory Abbot tonight who is 0-1 for the season with a 5.68 ERA. The Nationals have lost 37 of the last 54 games when their opponent allowed 5 runs or more in their previous game and 25 of the last 33 games played on Friday.

The San Diego Padres are second in the NL West with a 63-51 record. They have lost 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 2-1 series win over the San Francisco Giants. The Padres are 15th in the league scoring 4.47 runs per game and are 8th in the league allowing 4.12 runs per game. San Diego will start Mike Clevinger tonight who is 3-4 for the season with a 3.60 ERA. The Padres have won 9 of the last 10 games following a day off and 11 of the last 15 against teams with a losing record under 40%.

Cleveland Guardians @ Toronto Blue Jays – 7:07PM ET

The Cleveland Guardians and Toronto Blue Jays will be playing the first game of their three-game series in this one. These two American League teams will be meeting for the second of two times this year. The Guardians currently lead the season series three games to one.  

Tony Battalio

The Cleveland Guardians have been the youngest and one of the hottest teams in all of Major League Baseball as of late. As their lengthy winning streak has propelled them into the first place in the American League Central division. The Guardians have won their last five games in a row and seven out of their last 10 on the season and now hold a one-and-a-half-game lead over the Minnesota Twins. Cleveland comes into this game with a record of 59-52 through their first 111 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. 

The Toronto Blue Jays come into this game with a record of 60-50 through their first 110 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. However, they have lost five out of their last 10 games on the season and come into game one of the three-game weekend series on a two-game losing streak. They currently sit in second place in the American League East division as they are 10 games behind the New York Yankees for first. However, they do currently hold onto the top wild-card spot in the American League.

Jeffery Thomas

The Cleveland Guardians needed some extra baseball to secure their fifth win in a row on Thursday, beating the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in ten innings. It’s the second time in two months that the Guardians got a sweep of their division rival Tigers and with the Minnesota Twins out of action on the day they took their AL Central to lead up to 1.5 games. 

The Toronto Blue Jays are second in their division and will have to ultimately settle for a wild card spot despite having a better record than Cleveland but that’s just how things are set up in the MLB. It has not been too smooth for the Jays lately though, as they’ve lost four of their last five including dropping both games in their last series against the surging Baltimore Orioles. Jose Berrios will get the start for Toronto and try to do better this time around against an AL Central opponent as last time it was only a 3.2-inning outing where he gave up 5 runs against the Twins before being pulled. The Guardians will counter with Cal Quantrill on the mound who is 4-0 in his last six starts. That is a little deceiving though, as he’s given up 4 or more runs in three of those starts. The Blue Jays will have the rest and home advantage on their side and should be able to plate their fair share of runs and get this victory in front of their home fans.

Marko Nadin

The Toronto Blue Jays are second in the AL East with a 60-50 record. They have lost 4 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 2-0 series win against the Baltimore Orioles. The Blue Jays are 4th in the league scoring 4.88 runs per game and are ranked 15th with 4.32 allowed runs per game. Toronto will start Jose Berrios tonight who is 8-4 for the season with a 5.19 ERA. The Blue Jays have won the last 9 games following a day off and the last 5 home games following a road trip of 7 or more days.

The Cleveland Guardians are on top of the AL Central with a 59-52 record. They have won the last 5 games and are coming off a 3-0 series win over the Detroit Tigers. Cleveland is 16th in the league scoring 4.39 runs per game and is ranked 14th in the league allowing 4.27 runs per game. The Guardians will start Cal Quantrill tonight who is 8-5 for the season with a 3.88 ERA. Cleveland has won 6 of the last 8 road games against teams with a winning record and 7 of the last 10 games played on Friday.

Baltimore Orioles @ Tampa Bay Rays – 7:10PM ET

The Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays will be playing the first game of their three-game series in this one. These two American League East teams have met five times already this year. They currently sit at eight wins each in the season series as this is the last time they will meet this year.

Tony Battalio

The Baltimore Orioles have opened a lot of eyes this year as most people expect them to be in what would likely be the final year of their rebuild. However, they are making a late-season push for an American League playoff spot as they have been hovering around the top of the wildcard standings for some time now. They come into this huge weekend series against their division rivals five games above the .500 mark with a record of 58-53 through their first 111 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They have Picked up seven victories in their last 10 games on the year and sit half a game out of the third wildcard spot coming into this one.

The Tampa Bay Rays come into this game with a record of 58-52 through their first 110 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. As they currently hold onto the third wildcard spot in the American League but they will need to win this series as they have Baltimore hot on their trail. The Rays have picked up five victories in their last 10 games of the year but coming to this game on a two-game losing streak and they will certainly need to get it turned around quickly.

Jeffery Thomas

The Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays are about to square off in a huge series that can shake up things big time in the American League playoff picture. The Rays are currently holding the final wild-card spot and with the loss by Baltimore on Thursday that leads is now at half a game. Tampa Bay has to be feeling lucky that they are even still holding on to that lead even though they have lost three of their last four games. The Os lost a 4-3 result to the Red Sox on Thursday but have all the momentum on their side, with a 37-23 record since the start of June. 

This series opener though could be the turning of the tide as I think the matchup favors Tampa. The Orioles are just 1-5 in Tampa this season and Rays pitcher Corey Kluber has been lights out at home, posting a 5-1 record and 3.70 ERA. Given these facts and the rest advantage, I have to side with the home team in this one.

Marko Nadin

The Tampa Bay Rays are third in the AL East with a 58-52 record. Tampa Bay has lost 3 of the last 5 games and is coming off a 0-2 series loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Rays are 22nd in the league scoring 4.13 runs per game and are ranked 6th in the league allowing 3.96 runs per game. Tampa Bay will start Corey Kluber tonight who is 7-6 for the season with a 4.05 ERA. The Rays have won 8 of the last 11 home games against a team with a winning record and 13 of the last 19 games against AL East opponents.

The Baltimore Orioles are fourth in the AL East with a 58-53 record. They have won 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 3-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox. The Orioles are 19th in the league scoring 4.30 runs per game and are ranked 13th in the league allowing 4.24 runs per game. Baltimore will start Austin Voth tonight who is 2-1 for the season with a 5.53 ERA. The Orioles have lost 55 of the last 75 road games against teams with a winning record and have won 23 of the last 31 games overall.

Seattle Mariners @ Texas Rangers – 8:05PM ET

The Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers will be playing the first game of their three-game series in this one. These two American League West teams have met four times already this year. The Seattle Mariners currently lead the season series eleven games to two. 

Tony Battalio

The Texas Rangers have been severely underwhelming this season as they currently sit in the middle of the pack in the American League West division. There are 13 games below the .500 mark as they come into this game with a record of 49-62 through their first 111 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They have lost seven out of their last 10 on the year and are currently 22 games out of first place in the division in what feels like a lost season. 

The Seattle Mariners have been on fire as of late as they’ve been a streaky team all season long for the most part. They come into this series 9 games above the .500 mark with a record of 61-52 through their first 113 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They currently sit in second place of the American League West division as they are eleven games back of the first place. However, they currently hold onto the middle wildcard spot in the American League.

Jeffery Thomas

The Seattle Mariners are riding high on confidence following a nice series win over the New York Yankees and now get another winnable series against the Texas Rangers. These two teams met seven times last month and it was a clean sweep for the Mariners who love this matchup. The Texas Rangers are making the trip back home after a 7-3 loss on the road to the Astros on Thursday to finish out that series where they lost two of three. It’s been a rough season as expected for the Rangers and things won’t be getting any easier down the stretch. 

This is another series where they are overmatched and with Seattle having so much to play for, I think another sweep could be in the world. I like the Mariners to start things off in the win column with a nice comfortable victory on the road as the much better team.

Marko Nadin

The Texas Rangers are third in the AL West with a 49-62 record. They have lost 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 1-2 series loss to the Houston Astros. The Rangers are 13th in the league scoring 4.53 runs per game and are ranked 21st in the league allowing 4.56 runs per game. The Rangers will start Josh Sborz who is 0-0 for the season with a 5.87 ERA. Texas has lost 5 of the last 7 opening games of a series and 23 of the last 33 games against teams with a winning record.

The Seattle Mariners are second in the AL West with a 61-52 record. They have won 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 2-1 series win over the New York Yankees. The Mariners are 24th in the league scoring 4.05 runs per game and 5th in the league allowing 3.92 runs per game. Seattle will start George Kirby tonight who is 3-3 for the season with a 3.40 ERA. Seattle has won 22 of the last 29 games following a win and has lost the last 4 opening games of a series.

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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.