Our free MLB Picks are out for Thursday, September 2nd, 2021! 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!
Philadelphia Phillies @ Washington Nationals – 1.05PM ET
The Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals will face off in what is a make up game for yesterday, with the series finale delayed due to weather. Philadelphia have claimed the first two games of the series and will be desperate for the win, given Atlanta is slipping at the moment.
Tim Newton
It is hard to see how the Nationals can win this one. While neither team has named their starting pitcher at the time of writing, it shouldn’t make too much of a difference. Over the last 30 days the Phillies have scored more runs and allowed fewer runs than their NL East rivals and have a lot more to play for in this. Philadelphia are closing in on Atlanta at the top of the division and given they have the Marlins coming up next, they will want to get a good string of wins together. The 19-10 total runs through the first two games are an indication of the different level of ability and focus between the two teams right now and I assume it will continue that way in this one.
Tim’s MLB Pick: Philadelphia Phillies (-170)
Bryce sure did have himself an August. pic.twitter.com/RBi9EXA93Y
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 1, 2021
Katherine Mouradian
The Phillies will be looking to wrap up this series 3-0 this afternoon, and considering they are just two games behind the NL East leading Braves, there is a lot to play for. The Nationals are 14.5 games behind the Braves and have only won two of their previous 10 games. The Phillies have won all nine of their previous encounters with another team in the NL East and they have won all four of their previous games in Washington. On the flip side, the Nationals haven’t won any of their previous seven when it comes to the third game of a series and they have only won two of their previous 10 games at home. I think the Phillies have got this one in the bag.
Katherine’s MLB Pick: Philadelphia Phillies (-170)
Mike Su
The Phillies are red-hot after winning their fifth game in a row and are now just two games behind Atlanta for first in the NL East. The Phillies take on the Nationals in an NL East matchup which should go the Phillies way. Philadelphia have won seven in a row against the Nationals, so I expect much of the same moving forward. Both teams are starting statistically similar pitchers, with the Phillies leaning on Aaron Nola who has a 4.30 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, while Nationals are starting Paolo Espino whose numbers are 4.13 and 1.17 respectively. Although on paper the Nationals have an edge with pitching, the Phillies and Nola present an interesting wildcard. Nola, despite having a below average ERA, is 9th in the league in strikeouts. This could present problems for the Nationals’ 18th ranked batting unit. Thus, due to past performances and Nola, I’m going to the Phillies.
Mike’s MLB Pick: Philadelphia Phillies -1.5 (+100)
Oakland Athletics @ Detroit Tigers – 1.10PM ET
The Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics have split the first two games of this series, with the rubber set for this afternoon. Can the Tigers continue to impress against stronger opposition or will the A’s secure the win and keep their postseason hopes alive?
Tim Newton
I’m taking the A’s to pick up the win in the rubber this afternoon. While yesterday’s 6-8 loss wasn’t ideal, I think they will bounce back from that behind Frankie Montas. Through 26 games this year, Montas has a 10-9 record along with a 3.66 ERA and gave up just eight runs across 31 innings in August. He also finished with two seven innings, no run games, meaning he is in form and should be good enough to keep the Tigers quiet. Meanwhile, Detroit is starting Matt Manning, who is 3-5 from 12 starts with a 5.46 ERA. While he allowed just one run in his last game pitched, he allowed six hits in that game and gave up 12 runs across just 20.2 innings in August. That is a big disparity in defensive ability and should be the difference between the two sides in this.
Tim’s MLB Pick: Oakland Athletics (-210)
Katherine Mouradian
The Athletics sit in second position in the AL West, five games behind the leaders, the Astros, and they will be looking to win this series 2-1 to continue their charge towards top position. The Tigers are in third position in the AL Central, and they are 15 games behind the White Sox. Looking at some key stats for this clash now, the Athletics have won five out of their previous six games on a Thursday and have won 11 in their previous 16 when it comes to the third game of a series. On to the Tigers now, they have won 17 of their previous 37 when playing a game on a Thursday and they have won just 64 of their previous 212 when it comes to playing a team with a winning record. The Athletics have more to play for in this game, and I think they will step up and get an important win.
Katherine’s MLB Pick: Oakland Athletics (-210)
Mike Su
The Oakland Athletics fight for their playoff chances in a matchup against the Detroit Tigers. Oakland has had a tough run playing the Yankees, Mariners and Giants within their last 10 games. This has caused some trouble for them as they have only won 3 of those. In spite of this, the A’s have split the series with the Tigers so far, with both teams winning one game. Both have been high scoring affairs with a combined 26 runs so far! Although I want to lean towards the A’s winning this game, that is crucial to their playoff chances, it doesn’t seem like value. Instead I’m liking the overs again which have been hit in both of the past 2 games. Although both teams are in the bottom half of the MLB for runs per game, three of their six matchups have gone for 12 or more runs. Furthermore, due to the poor pitching on the Tigers’ side, I’m going with the over.
Mike’s MLB Pick: Over 8.5 (-115)
Milwaukee Brewers @ San Francisco Giants – 3.45PM ET
The Milwaukee Brewers have done it again, beating the San Francisco Giants to take a 3-0 series lead. The Giants have now lost their fourth straight game, fifth from their last six games and they are now trailing the Dodgers for top of the NL West.
Tim Newton
The Brewers stacked on two runs early and then added another two in the ninth, ensuring the left with the victory, winning 5-2. They have shown to be the superior team through the first three games of this series but I am going to go against them for the second straight night. I thought last night with Kevin Gausman starting on the mound would be their opportunity to get on the board in the series but it will have to be tonight with Logan Webb. With an 8-3 record and a 2.65 ERA, Webb has been one of the best pitchers all season. He has allowed just three runs across his last four games, which included 26.1 innings pitched, and he should be able to get close to seven innings of work in without letting many runs out. That should give the Giants a good opportunity to play from the front and turn things around.
Tim’s MLB Pick: San Francisco Giants (-184)
Took the series ✔️
Clinched a winning record ✔️
Extended division lead✔️#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/quqxQphls5— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 2, 2021
Katherine Mouradian
The Brewers are another team that is sitting pretty at the top of their respective ladder, they are 10.5 games ahead of their next opponent, the Reds, in the NL Central. Whereas, the Giants are in a very interesting and tight tussle with the Dodgers in the NL West, and now the Dodgers are leading, by just half a game! The Brewers have won nine of their previous 11 games when they are playing on the road and come into the clash as the underdogs, and they have won 36 of their previous 51 games on the road overall. Looking at the Giants now, they have won nine of their previous 13 games playing at home, and they have won all five of their previous games played on a Thursday. Webb has just been a rock for the Giants as of late, and I like the Giants to score a win here, and put the pressure on the Dodgers to perform well if they want to keep the top spot in the NL West.
Katherine’s MLB Pick: San Francisco Giants (-184)
Mike Su
The Giants have dropped three in a row in this series, four in a row overall and have been shocked by the Brewers. This has led to the Giants losing their lead in the NL West, as they now sit half a game behind the Dodgers. The Brewers, on the other hand, have won four in a row, including these three against the Giants, and look great. Despite this, the teams’ season averages and the pitching situation tells me that the Giants should win, but the team stats have said that in the past three matchups and San Francisco lost last night despite the better starting pitcher. The question is, do the Brewers continue their form? I don’t think that they do. The Giants have 84 wins for a reason and are ranked top 10 in every team statistic. Both teams are top three in opponent runs allowed, but they are both top 10 in runs per game as well. The Giants are also starting Logan Webb who has been great this season with a 2.65 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. However, nothing in this series has gone to plan so I’m actually going with the overs. In five games between the two teams this season, they have seen eight runs or more in three of those games. Thus, I think there is good value in the overs.
Mike’s MLB Pick: Over 8 (-112)
Boston Red Sox @ Tampa Bay Rays – 7.10PM ET
The Boston Red Sox managed to claw one back last night and have an opportunity to split their four game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. While Tampa is sitting comfortably on top of the AL East, seven games clear of the Yankees and eight games clear of the Red Sox, it isn’t all smooth sailing for Boston. They currently hold the last Wild Card slot in the American League but have three teams within five games of them.
Tim Newton
After being down for the better part of four innings, the Red Sox tied the game up in the seventh and then stole the lead, and the win, in the ninth last night, beating Tampa 3-2. I was convinced that the Rays would keep beating the Red Sox and am even more surprised that Boston did it with defense rather than offense. Given that is the case, I’m backing Tampa Bay to bounce back tonight. Boston is starting Eduardo Rodriguez and while he has a 10-7 record from his 25 starts, his ERA is just 5.12, meaning his record is buoyed by explosive hitting. Given Boston has scored just nine runs through the first three games, he won’t have that luxury in this. Shane McClanahan is starting for Tampa and has modest numbers of 9-4 with a 3.59 ERA but when pitching at home, he is 6-1 with a 3.47 ERA from just 10 games. I am happy to back one of the best teams in baseball to bounce back at home in this one.
Tim’s MLB Pick: Tampa Bay Rays (-172)
Katherine Mouradian
The Red Sox finally gave their fans something to cheer about yesterday, getting a narrow 3-2 win over the Rays. The Rays are sitting pretty at the top of the AL East, seven games clear of the Yankees. The Rays have won 10 of their previous 11 games on a Thursday, and they have won 42 of their previous 56 when playing a team in the AL East. Looking at the Red Sox now, they have won just four of their previous 14 when playing a left handed starter and have won only three of their previous 17 when playing a team that has a winning record. Despite the great work put in by the Red Sox last time out, I just don’t think they can do it two times in a row, but I do think this one could be close!
Katherine’s MLB Pick: Tampa Bay Rays (-172)
Mike Su
The two AL East juggernauts face each other in another interesting matchup. This series has been flipping like crazy with the Red Sox winning in a low scoring affair last game, and the Rays winning in a high scoring affair in the game before. Tonight, the Red Sox are starting Eduardo Rodriguez who has a bad 5.12 ERA while the Rays are starting Shane McClanahan who has a below average 3.59 ERA. This tells me the Red Sox fifth best batting unit and the Rays league best batting unit should have a field day against the poor pitching. 11 of the 15 games between the Rays and Red Sox have gone over and I think this is going to happen again. I believe the last game between the two teams, which was low scoring, was just a once off and this game should be easily overs.
Mike’s MLB Pick: Over 8 (-102)
Atlanta Braves @ Colorado Rockies – 8.40PM ET
The Colorado Rockis managed to salvage some dignity last night, winning the final game of their series against the Rangers after losing the first two. They now turn their attention to hosting the Atlanta Braves, who are coming off a 0-3 series loss in LA, against the Dodgers. Will the Rockies be able to recapture their form that saw them knock off the Dodgers over the weekend or can Atlanta bounce back and hold on to their narrow lead in the NL East?
Tim Newton
The Braves should take this one comfortably. While they got swept by the Dodgers to start the week, they only lost all three games by a combined five runs and had their chances to take last night’s clash. That sort of effort should be more than good enough against a Colorado team that is lucky not to have lost all three to the Rangers. After going down 3-4 in both of the first two games, Colorado faced a 4-5 hole heading into the last innings but scored five runs to ice the game. While that explosive hitting power could be good enough to beat anyone, the first 26 innings of the series had the Rangers on top comfortably. The Braves have the better lineup, better starting pitcher and have more to play for, so they should get the job done here tonight.
Tim’s MLB Pick: Atlanta Braves (-155)
🎶 Everybody let me hear you say, ‘Oh yea-yer’ 🎶#ATLiens | #ForTheA pic.twitter.com/oQCqc4Hoxy
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 28, 2021
Katherine Mouradian
The Braves really need to get a win on the board, after going down 0-3 in the series against the Dodgers, especially considering the Phillies are hot on their heels in the NL East, now only two games behind. The Rockies on the other hand, are 23.5 games behind the Dodgers, who are now leading the NL West. The Rockies have won 39 of their previous 55 games at home and have won four of their previous five when playing a team in the NL East. The Braves have won seven of their previous nine when it comes to the first game of a series, and have won four of their previous five games on a Thursday. Also, the Braves have won five of their previous seven clashes with the Rockies in Colorado. Top that off with Toussaint who has been performing great as of late, I think this will be a Braves win tonight.
Katherine’s MLB Pick: Atlanta Braves (-155)
Mike Su
The Braves have just a two game lead in the NL East and have the red-hot Phillies on their tail. Despite losing their last three games, the Braves don’t look too bad. They lost all of those to the best team in the MLB, the LA Dodgers. All three of these losses were by two runs or less, meaning they actually played well against very tough competition. Atlanta now plays the Rockies, who are not very good. Colorado have the 21st ranked run defense and they are facing the Braves’ 8th ranked batting unit. This will not be fun for the Rockies if the Braves’ defense can continue the phenomenal play they had against the league best Dodgers. The Rockies are starting Chi Chi Gonzales at pitcher, and he has been garbage this season with a 6.02 ERA and just 54 strikeouts in 94 innings. The Braves strong batting unit should do well against the Rockies. Although I quite like the overs for this matchup, I will instead take the line as I think the Braves obliterate Colorado.
Mike’s MLB Pick: Atlanta Braves -1.5 (-105)
If you need more news, information and predictions, head over to our MLB hub page for all your baseball needs!
*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
