Free MLB Picks Today for Friday, August 5th, 2022

Our free MLB picks are out for Friday, August 5th, 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!

Miami Marlins @ Chicago Cubs – 2:20PM ET

The Miami Marlins and Chicago Cubs will be playing the first game of their three game weekend series in this one. These two National League teams will be meeting for the first time this season. They will meet again in another three game series in the middle of September. 

Tony Battalio

The Miami Marlins are coming into game one of this series with a record of 48-57 through their first 105 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They have lost seven out of their last ten games on the season and come into this game one of this series on a one game winning streak. They are currently 19 games back of first place in the National League East division. This will be the first game of what will end up as a six game road trip that includes a stop in Philadelphia. 

The Chicago Cubs are in the middle of a terrible season as well, as they come into this game with a record of 41-63 through their first 104 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They are fifteen and a half games back of the lead in the National League Central as they currently sit in last place of the division. They have lost six out of their last ten games on the season and are currently on a five game losing streak. 

Jeffery Thomas

The Miami Marlins got Thursday off to travel to Chicago to prepare for their weekend series against the Cubs. This will be their second consecutive series against a NL Central opponent after taking on the Cincinnati Reds, a series that they dropped two games to one. The offense for both teams was nonexistent throughout as only a total of 10 runs were scored that entire three game set. 

While the Marlins got a much needed day off, the Cubs were having a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals and they will also have to travel after that long day of two games. That gives an extreme advantage to Miami on top of the game being an early start so it only makes sense to take the rest advantage against a bad Cubs team. 

Marko Nadin

The Chicago Cubs are third in the NL Central with a 41-63 record. The Cubs have lost the last 5 games and are coming off a 0-4 series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cubs are 21th in the league scoring 4.20 runs per game and are ranked 25th allowing 5.00 runs per game. The Cubs will start Justin Steele tonight who is 4-7 for the season with a 3.86 ERA. The Cubs have won 4 of the last 5 games against teams with a losing record and have lost 7 of the last 10 games played on Friday.

The Miami Marlins are fourth in the NL East with a 48-57 record. The 3-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds in their last game put an end to their five-game losing streak. Miami is ranked 25th in the league scoring 3.97 runs per game and 13th in the league allowing 4.30 runs per game. Jesus Luzardo will start for the Marlins tonight who is 2-4 for the season with a 3.97 ERA. Miami has lost 43 of the last 61 opening games of a series and 3 of the last 5 road games.

Pittsburgh Pirates @ Baltimore Orioles – 7:05PM ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles will be playing the first game of their three game series in this one. The Pirates are coming off of a three game sweep of the Brewers. While the Orioles just swept the Texas Rangers this week. 

Tony Battalio

The Pittsburgh Pirates come into this game with a record of 43-62 through their first 105 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. While they are already likely all but officially eliminated from playoff contention they are still trying to win ballgames and they are playing solid baseball at the moment. They have lost seven out of their last ten games on the season but come into this game on a three game winning streak. They are 14 games out of first place in the National League Central as they are in third place. 

The Baltimore Orioles are coming into this game with a record of 54-51 through their first 105 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They are currently fifteen and a half games out of first place in the American League East but have made some major strides in the American League Wild Card race as they are two and a half games out of the third wild card spot. They have won seven out of their last ten games on the year and are currently on a three game winning streak. 

Jeffery Thomas

The Pittsburgh Pirates wrapped up a shocking three-game sweep of the first place Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday and now travel down to Maryland for a weekend battle with the Baltimore Orioles. It was a 5-4 victory in the finale that went 10 innings and ended when Bryan Reynolds scored on a wild pitch. Despite the huge gap in records between those two teams, the Pirates have enjoyed that matchup and have now won the last two series against the Brewers. 

The Orioles are another potential playoff team that Pittsburgh will be looking to take down but I’m not sure how successful they will be. The Orioles are also riding high on confidence after sweeping out the Texas Rangers on the road and now are just 1.5 games back of that final wild card spot in the American League. They will see this as a great opportunity to close in on that spot against a Pirates team that is 20 games under .500. I don’t expect them to lose focus here and the series opener will go to them on Friday.

Marko Nadin

The Baltimore Orioles are fourth in the AL East with a 54-51 record. They have lost 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 3-0 series win over the Texas Rangers. The Orioles are 20th in the league scoring 4.32 runs per game and are ranked 11th in the league allowing 4.25 runs per game. Baltimore will start Dean Kremer tonight who is 3-3 for the season with a 3.86 ERA. The Orioles have won the last 8 games against teams with a losing record and 4 of the last 5 games when their opponent scores 5 runs or more in their previous game.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are at the bottom of the NL Central with a 43-62 record. They have won 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 3-0 series win over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Pirates are 28th in the league scoring 3.70 runs per game and 26th allowing 5.16 runs per game. They will start Mitch Keller tonight who is 3-7 for the season with a 4.37 ERA. The Pirates have lost 110 of the last 164 games when their opponent scores 5 runs or more in their previous game and 119 of the last 169 road games.

Washington Nationals @ Philadelphia Phillies – 7:05PM ET

The Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies will be playing the second game of their four game weekend series in this one. This is the third time these two National League East teams have met. The Phillies currently lead the series six games to two. 

Tony Battalio

The Philadelphia Phillies will be looking to pick up a victory in game two of the series against the Washington Nationals. These two teams have played nine previous times this season. It has been the Phillies that have dominated the series, as they have won seven of those nine games. Philadelphia comes into this game nine games above the .500 mark with a record of 57-48 through their first 105 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. The Phillies are currently in third place of the National League East division as they are 10 games out of first. They have been hot as of late as they have won eight out of their last 10 games on the year and come into this game on a two game winning streak.

It’s been a season to forget for the Washington Nationals, as they are already virtually eliminated from playoff contention heading into the month of August. They are currently 25 games below the .500 mark As they’ve only managed to win 36 out of the 107 games they have played this season. They are currently 35 games out of first place in the National League East division as they will likely be officially eliminated from playoff contention by the time September rolls around.

Jeffery Thomas

Thursday’s Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies game was shortened due to rain and since Philly was up 5-4 they were given the win. Alec Bohm had a three-run homerun in the game and helped Noah Syndergaard get the victory in his first game with his new squad. It’s been a one-sided head to head between these two teams as the Phillies have taken 7 of 9 against the Nats this season, helping them in their race for a playoff spot. Washington currently sits with the league’s worst record at 36-71 and have lost six of the last eight games. 

Josiah Gray takes the bump for the Nats against Philly’s Kyle Gibson in game two of this four-game series and I think the domination continues for the home team. Washington does not have anything dangerous left in their lineup after trading away their stars at the deadline and face-off against a motivated team in the middle of a playoff push. Give me Philadelphia in a comfortable win.

Marko Nadin

The Philadelphia Phillies are third in the NL East with a 57-48 record. They have won 7 of the last 8 games and have opened the series against the Nationals with a 5-4 win. The Phillies are 8th in the league scoring 4.69 runs per game and 10th in the league allowing 4.21 runs per game. Kyle Gibson will be the Phillies’ starter tonight who is 6-4 for the season with a 4.60 ERA. Philadelphia has won 8 of the last 10 games played on Friday and 5 of the last 6 games against right-handed starters.

The Washington Nationals are at the bottom of the NL East with a 36-71 record. They have lost 4 of the last 5 games including the series opener against the Phillies. The Nationals are 26th in the league scoring 3.94 runs per game and are 30th in the league allowing 5.61 runs per game. Washington will start Josiah Gray tonight who is 7-7 for the season with a 4.59 ERA. The Nationals have lost 7 of the last 10 road games and 15 of the last 20 road games against teams with a winning record.

Houston Astros @ Cleveland Guardians – 7:10PM ET

The Houston Astros and Cleveland Guardians will be playing the second game of their four game weekend series in this one. In game number one the Houston Astros got victory. Now they will be looking to clinch a share of the series win in game two. 

Tony Battalio

The Houston Astros had no problem dealing with the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday night as they shut them out and scored six runs of their own on the way to a victory. With the victory the Astros got their 69th victory of the season and now look to become the third team to reach the 70 plateau and all of Major League Baseball with another win on Friday. They have now picked up five victories in their last 10 games and will come into game two of the series on a two game winning streak that they will look to extend.

Just when it looks like the Cleveland Guardians have everything figured out they make everyone wonder once again. They will be looking to bounce back and game two of the series after they took an absolute beating from the Houston Astros on Thursday. Cleveland comes into the game with a record of 54-51 through their first 105 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. The silver lining for them is that the division leading Minnesota Twins also lost which means the Guardians are still only a single game out of first place. I also have them bouncing back to win here in game two.

Jeffery Thomas

The Houston Astros quickly erased the bad taste out of their mouth from their bad series against the Boston Red Sox by blowing out the Guardians 6-0 in game 1. Justin Verlander pitched six scoreless innings en route to getting his league leading 15th win and now has a personal seven game winning streak going. He also leads the league in ERA at 1.73 and is looking like a prime candidate for the Cy Young award, which would be his third. 

The Guardians didn’t lose any ground in the AL Central race by losing fortunately because the first place Twins were also in action on Thursday and lost. I don’t think things will get easier for Cleveland on Friday after not registering a single run in the opening game of this series. Houston’s pitching staff sports the second-best ERA in the league and will get another gem on Friday to coast to another win in this series.

Marko Nadin

The Cleveland Guardians are second in the AL Central with a 54-51 record. They have lost 3 of the last 5 games and failed to score in the series opener against the Astros. Cleveland is 16th in the league scoring 4.45 runs per game and is ranked 15th in the league allowing 4.36 runs per game. The Guardians will start Hunter Gaddis who will make his season debut. Cleveland has won the last four games against left-handed starters and 5 of the last 7 home games.

The Houston Astros are on top of the AL West with a 69-38 record. The Astros have won 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 6-0 win in the series opener against the Guardians. The Astros are 13th scoring 4.52 runs per game and are ranked second in the league allowing 3.34 runs per game. Houston will start Framber Valdez tonight who is 9-4 for the season with a 2.80 ERA. The Astros have won the last 6 road games against teams with a winning record and 9 of the last 13 second games of a series.

Toronto Blue Jays @ Minnesota Twins – 8:10PM ET

The Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins will be playing the second game of their four game weekend series in this one. In game number one the Toronto Blue Jays got the win. Now they will be looking to secure a sweep of the series in game number two. 

Tony Battalio

The Toronto Blue Jays got a huge victory over the Minnesota Twins in game one of their series and now they will be looking to do the same here in game two on Friday night. With a win here on Friday and game two the Blue Jays could clinch at least a share of this four game series and potentially climb their way back towards the top of the American League East division standings as they are still way behind the New York Yankees. They come into this game with a record of 59-46 through their first 105 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. 

The Minnesota Twins will be looking to bounce back after their loss in game one of the series. Much like the Toronto Blue Jays the Minnesota Twins don’t have much room for error either as they hold only a slim one game lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central. Minnesota comes into this game with a record of 55-50 through their first 105 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. I have them taking the loss in game two of the series as well.

Jeffery Thomas

The Toronto Blue Jays cruised to a 9-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the opener of this four-game weekend series thanks in part to a three-run bomb by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 8th inning. It was the 12th win for them in the last 15 games as Alek Manoah pitched a quality six innings in the teams 59th win of the year. 

Former Twin Jose Berrios will take the mound and try to get his Jays win #60 and be opposed by Tyler Mahle who will be making his Minnesota debut. Mahle was traded from the Reds at the deadline and holds a 5-7 record on the year with a 4.40 ERA. Toronto is the much better team of the two and is red hot at the moment so it would be hard to bet against them at the moment.

Marko Nadin

The Minnesota Twins are on top of the AL Central with a 55-50 record. They have lost 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 9-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Twins are 10th in the league scoring 4.58 runs per game and are ranked 14th allowing 4.35 runs per game. Minnesota will start Tyler Mahle tonight who is 5-7 for the season with a 4.40 ERA. The Twins have lost 4 of the last 5 games against teams with a winning record and 5 of the last 6 games played on Friday.

The Toronto Blue Jays are second in the AL East with a 59-46 record. They have won 4 of the last 5 games and are 9 of the last 12 games since the All-Star break. The Blue Jays are 3rd in the league scoring 4.91 runs per game and are ranked 12th with 4.25 allowed runs per game. Toronto will start Jose Berrios tonight who is 8-4 for the season with a 4.96 ERA. The Blue Jays have won 5 of the last 6 road games against teams with a winning record and 6 of the last 7 games against teams from the AL Central.

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