Free MLB Picks Today for Thursday, August 11th, 2022

Our free MLB picks are out for Thursday, August 11th, 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!

Cleveland Guardians @ Detroit Tigers – 1:10PM ET

The Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers will be playing the third and final game of their three game series in this one. The Guardians got the win in game one. In game two it was the Guardians who picked up the victory to clinch the series heading into the finale.

Tony Battalio

The Cleveland Guardians picked up another huge win in game two of their three game series against the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday evening. Now they will be looking to complete the sweep on Thursday afternoon. The win moved their record to 58-52 through their first 110 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They have won seven out of their last ten games on the season and are currently on a four game winning streak as well. As they now sit in first place in the American League Central division. 

The Detroit Tigers’ rough stretch just seems to continue as they come into this game after another loss on Wednesday. They have now lost their last three games in a row and eight out of their last ten on the season as well. Detroit comes into the finale of this series looking to avoid a second straight sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Guardians. Their record currently sits at 43-69 through their first 112 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. 

Jeffery Thomas

On the day that the Detroit Tigers fired their manager Al Avila, they also went out and lost a heartbreaker to the Cleveland Guardians by a score of 3-2. Avila went seven years without a postseason appearance so his time to go was here as they strive to soon be in the position where the Guardians are. 

That position was tied for the division lead coming into the day and now a full game up on the Minnesota Twins who lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Thursday provides a great chance for them to build the lead even more despite the fact they will be pitching Zach Plesac who is 2-10 on the year with a 4.49 ERA. This Tigers offense doesn’t have what it takes to exploit his struggles and I see another win in the cards for the Guardians.

Marko Nadin

The Detroit Tigers are at the bottom of the AL Central with a 43-69 record. They have lost 6 of the last 7 games including the last two against the Guardians. The Tigers are at the bottom of the league scoring 3.30 runs per game and are ranked 21th in the league allowing 4.53 runs per game. Garrett Hill will start tonight for the Tigers who is 2-3 for the season with a 5.12 ERA. Detroit has lost 37 of the last 55 games against teams with a winning record and 4 of the last 5 home games.

The Cleveland Guardians are on top of the AL Central with a 58-52 record. They have won 5 of the last 7 games and are currently on a four-game winning streak. Cleveland is 16th in the league scoring 4.40 runs per game and is ranked 14th in the league allowing 4.29 runs per game. The Guardians will start Zach Plesac tonight who is 2-10 for the season with a 4.49 ERA. Cleveland has won the last 4 third games of a series and 5 of the last 7 road games.

Texas Rangers @ Houston Astros – 2:10PM ET

The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros will be playing the third and final game of their three game series in this one. The Astros got the win in game one. In game two it was the Rangers who picked up the victory to even up the series heading into the finale.

Tony Battalio

The Texas Rangers used a big tenth inning to catapult themselves to a huge win over their American League West division rivals on Wednesday. They scored five runs in the top of the tenth to grab the win, now they will be looking to clinch the series victory with another win on Thursday afternoon. The win brought the Ranger’s record to 49-61 through their first 110 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. The win on Wednesday broke a two-game losing streak for the Rangers as well. 

The Houston Astros will be looking to bounce back after their loss to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday evening. Despite the loss, they are still in a great position to win this series as they will only need to win the finale on Thursday afternoon. They come into this game with a record of 71-41 through their first 112 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They have won five out of their last ten games on the season. 

Jeffery Thomas

The Texas Rangers scored a big upset win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday thanks to a career day for Leody Taveras. He drove in a career-high five runs including three in the top of the 10th as they got the victory 8-4. Justin Verlander was given a no-decision for this outing as he yielded three runs on five hits but still leads the majors in wins and ERA.

Framber Valdez (10-4 2.87 ERA) will be tasked with righting the ship for Houston but it could be another tricky game. Cole Ragans is making just his second career start and will be very unfamiliar to the Astro hitters but I think they will find enough success to be in an excellent position to win. Valdez is 4-0 with a 1.60 ERA in six career starts against Texas and I see him building on those numbers in this series finale at home.

Marko Nadin

The Houston Astros are on top of the AL West with a 71-41 record. The Astros have lost 3 of the last 5 games and are currently tied at 1-1 in the series against the Rangers. The Astros are 14th scoring 4.51 runs per game and are ranked second in the league allowing 3.38 runs per game. Houston will start Framber Valdez tonight who is 10-4 for the season with a 2.87 ERA. The Astros have won 4 of the last 5 games against AL West teams and 63 of the last 90 home games against a left-handed starter.

The Texas Rangers are third in the AL West with a 49-61 record. They have lost 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off an 8-4 win over the Astros last night. The Rangers are 12th in the league scoring 4.54 runs per game and are ranked 20th in the league allowing 4.53 runs per game. The Rangers will start Cole Ragans who will make his season debut tonight. Texas has lost 13 of the last 16 games against teams with a winning record and 11 of the last 15 games against AL West teams.

Chicago White Sox @ Kansas City Royals – 2:10PM ET

The Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals will be playing the fourth and final game of their four-game series in this one. The Royals got the win in game one. In game two it was the White Sox who picked up the victory to even the series heading into the third game. In game three Kansas City clinched at least a share of the series with a win. 

Tony Battalio

The Chicago White Sox are coming into this game looking to bounce back after their loss in game three to the Kansas City Royals. They come into this game with a record of 56-55 through their first 111 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They have been very underwhelming this season as they were expected to be the clear favorites in the American League Central division. They have lost five out of their last ten games on the season. 

The Kansas City Royals are coming into this game with a record of 46-66 through their first 112 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They are having a terrible season as they are stuck in the middle of a rebuild. They are currently thirteen games out of first place in the American League Central division. They have won six out of their last ten games of the year. 

Jeffery Thomas

The Chicago White Sox needed a great start to August with a couple of bad opponents on the schedule in the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals but things are just not working out at the moment. They squeaked by their first series with the Royals winning two of three but then split with the Rangers and now trail this next series with the Royals two games to one following the 8-3 loss on Wednesday. 

It’s been a really big missed opportunity for the Sox who still sit just 2.5 games back in the division but could be in a much better spot if they took care of business. The good news is they are turning to their ace Dylan Cease in the series finale as he looks to add to his 12-4 record against the Royals’ Zack Greinke (3-7 4.58 ERA). Cease is 1-0 against the Royals in two starts and only has allowed a combined two runs so he knows this lineup well and will help his guys salvage a split in this series.

Marko Nadin

The Kansas City Royals are fourth in the AL Central with a 46-66 record. They have won 4 of the last 5 games and are currently 2-1 up against the Chicago White Sox. Kansas City is ranked 24th in the league scoring only 4.05 runs per game and 18th allowing 4.46 runs per game. The Royals will start Zack Greinke tonight who is 3-7 for the season with a 5.48 ERA. Kansas City has lost 17 of the last 25 home games against teams with a winning record and 13 of the last 19 fourth games of a series.

The Chicago White Sox are third in the AL Central with a 56-55 record. They have lost 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off an 8-3 loss to the Royals last night. The White Sox are 20th in the league scoring 4.30 runs per game and 18th in the league allowing 4.46 runs per game. Dylan Cease will be the White Sox’s starting pitcher tonight he is 12-4 for the season with a 1.98 ERA. The White Sox have won the last 6 fourth games of a series and 7 of the last 9 against a right-handed starter.

St.Louis Cardinals @ Colorado Rockies – 3:10PM ET

The St.Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies will be playing the third and final game of their three game series in this one. The Rockies got the win in game one. In game two it was the Cardinals who picked up the victory to even up the series heading into the finale.

Tony Battalio

The St.Louis Cardinals are coming into this game with a record of 61-49 through their first 110 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They are currently in first place in the National League Central division as they hold a slim one-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers. They have won eight out of their last ten games on the season and come into this game on a one-game winning streak. 

The Colorado Rockies come into this game in the middle of a terrible season. However, they have a huge opportunity to pick up the win in this three game series as well. Colorado is currently sitting at 49-64 through their first 113 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. They are currently in last place of the National League Central division as they sit 29 games out of first place. They have lost seven out of their last ten games on the season and come into this game on a one-game losing streak. 

Jeffery Thomas

Jose Quintana made his second start for the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday and only gave up two runs in six innings to get the win. He got a lot of run support from his guys, mainly thanks to Albert Pujols and Nolan Arenado who both homered and combined for seven hits altogether. It was a nice rebound win after a 16-5 loss on Tuesday snapped the Cardinals’ even game-winning streak. Their lead in the division still sits at just one game because of the Brewers’ win on Wednesday so the pressure to continue winning is still there as Dakota Hudson is set to face off against German Marquez of the Rockies. 

Hudson has not won in his five starts since June 28 while Marquez is 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA in his six career starts against the Cards.  I’m ignoring those trends though and focusing more on this season, where Marquez is just 2-5 at home and struggles to keep the other team off the scoreboard with a 6.11 home ERA. I think St. Louis’ lineup, led by MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt, gets to him early and rides that lead out to a nice victory at Coors Field.

Marko Nadin

The Colorado Rockies are in fourth of the NL West with a 49-64 record. They have lost 3 of the last 5 games and are currently 1-1 in the series against the Cardinals. Colorado is 9th in the league scoring 4.65 runs per game and is ranked 29th in the league allowing 5.47 runs per game. The Rockies will start German Marquez tonight who is 6-9 for the season with a 5.18 ERA. Colorado has won 11 of the last 16 home games against teams with a winning record and has lost 4 of the last 5 third games of a series.

The St. Louis Cardinals are on top of the NL Central with a 61-49 record. They have won 8 of the last 9 games and are coming off an 8-5 win over the Rockies last night. The Cardinals are 7th in the league scoring 4.77 runs per game and are ranked 8th in the league allowing 4.09 runs per game. They will start Dakota Hudson tonight who is 6-6 for the season with a 4.20 ERA this season. The Cardinals have won 4 of the last 5 games against teams with a losing record and 7 of the last 10 games played on Thursday.

Chicago Cubs @ Cincinnati Reds – 7:15PM ET

The Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds will be playing the first game of their three game series in this one. These two National League Central division teams have met twice this season. The Cubs currently lead the season series four games to two. 

Tony Battalio

The Chicago Cubs aren’t having the best year at the moment, as they come into this game with a record of 45-65 through their first 110 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. Chicago currently sits in third place of the National League Central even though they are 20 games below the .500 mark, which just shows how weak that division has been this season. 

The Cincinnati Reds is another team who has had a terrible season. They come into this Field Of Dreams game with a record of 44-66 through their first 110 games of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. The Reds are currently in last place of the National League Central division as they come into this game on a three-game losing streak. 

Jeffery Thomas

This year’s Field of Dreams game will feature a couple of NL Central teams as the Chicago Cubs face the Cincinnati Reds. The Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees played the inaugural game last year in an epic 9-8 victory for the White Sox so this year’s game will have a lot to live up to. I’m not sure how much interest will be on the actual teams in this one however, as neither club will be in the postseason and have spent the entirety of 2022 at the bottom of their division. 

Drew Smyly (4-6 3.97 ERA) will hope to continue his career dominance over the Reds as he is 4-0 against them in six appearances. Reds rookie Nick Lodolo will be making his first of many career starts against the Cubs. This field is smaller than the normal parks and that’s why we got a lot of home runs and offense in last years game (17 runs) and we could see more of the same this year. The total being set at just 9 jumped out to me as pretty good value and with neither of these pitchers being anything special I think we can see plenty of offense so give me the over.

Marko Nadin

The Cincinnati Reds are fourth in the NL Central with a 44-66 record. They have lost 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 0-3 series loss to the New York Mets. Cincinnati is 17th in the league scoring 4.35 runs per game and is ranked 28th in the league allowing 5.34 runs per game. The Reds will start Nick Lodolo tonight who is 3-3 for the season with a 4.40 ERA. Cincinnati has won 5 of the last 7 games against left-handed starters and has lost 4 of the last 5 games when their opponent allowed 2 runs or less in their previous game.

The Chicago Cubs are third in the NL Central with a 45-65 record. The Cubs have won 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 2-1 series win over the Washington Nationals. The Cubs are 21th in the league scoring 4.16 runs per game and are ranked 24th allowing 4.86 runs per game. The Cubs will start Drew Smyly tonight who is 4-6 for the season with a 3.97 ERA. The Cubs have won 10 of the last 13 games when their opponent allows 5 runs or more in their previous game and have lost 4 of the last 5 games following a win.

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