We focus on the National League East as we look for the top betting picks for Wednesday’s MLB action.
Picks Summary
- • Phillies ML (+100)
- • Mets -1.5 (+104)
- • Marlins ML (+140)
Seattle Mariners vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 – 06:40 PM EDT at Citizens Bank Park
Phillies and Mariners Look to Turn Things Around
The Phillies and Mariners were the darlings of last postseason. Both teams were among the last wild cards in the field and had memorable moments.
Seattle broke baseball’s longest postseason drought and then upset Toronto in the Wild Card series, while Philadelphia made it to the World Series. Both have struggled to repeat their 2022 heroics in the early going of this season, however.
Philadelphia entered its home series against the Mariners on a three-game winning streak and the team is looking to get back to .500 for the first time since Game Four of the World Series. They lost the series opener, however, and now Seattle has a chance to get to .500.
Philly starts Taijuan Walker, 2-1, 3.80, against Seattle’s Logan Gilbert, 1-1, 3.57. Gilbert was supposed to start Tuesday but got bumped back an extra day due to muscle spasms in his pitching shoulder.
Philly’s Brandon Marsh, who leads MLB in OPS, reached base for the 20th straight game, while the M’s Eugenio Suarez matched him with his 20th straight game on base. On the flip side, Philadelphia’s Trea Turner is now 1 for his last 14 and 3 for 22 with 10 strikeouts and has seen his average drop 40 points.
The Pick
Aside from Tuesday, Philadelphia has been playing better lately, and Gilbert’s shoulder trouble evens up the pitching matchup. Look for the Phils to get the win as a home dog.
MLB Pick: Phillies ML (+100) at Bet365
Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 – 07:10 PM EDT at Citi Field
Not the Way They Drew It Up
The Mets finished their longest road trip of the season by going 7-3 on the West Coast and returned home to face the last-place Nationals to kick off a seven-game homestand. The Nats didn’t follow the script, however, shutting out New York, 5-0 in Tuesday’s opening game to send the Mets to their third straight loss.
The Mets went 14-5 against Washington last season, so they’ll be looking to sweep the last two games of this series before the Atlanta Braves come to town.
New York starts Kodai Senga on Wednesday. He’s 3-0, 4.29 in his first four MLB starts, but he had a couple rough outings on the road trip, giving up eight runs and four homers to see his ERA go up by 2.7 runs over two starts. Washington will start MacKenzie Gore, who is 2-1, 3.43.
The Nationals got a home run from catcher Keibert Ruiz, just the 11th home run of the year for the Nats. That’s the fewest in MLB and one more than Mets slugger Pete Alonso. Joey Meneses has also been hot for Washington, going 7-for-15 with four RBIs over the last three games. Brandon Nimmo has been hot for the Mets, with 23 hits in the last 12 games.
The Pick
We like the Mets to bounce back and will go with the run line to get a better payout.
MLB Pick: Mets -1.5 (+104) at BetRivers
Miami Marlins vs. Atlanta Braves
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 – 07:20 PM EDT at Truist Park
Braves and Marlins Serve up Main Event
The final two teams in the East face off as the first-place Braves host the third-place Marlins. Atlanta has won the first two games of the four-game series, behind a Monday shutout, where Spencer Strider took a no-hitter into the eighth, and another strong starting pitching outing from Charlie Morton on Tuesday.
Starting pitching will likely be the story again on Wednesday as the Marlins look to keep alive the chances of splitting the series. Miami will start reigning Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara, who is 1-2, 5.47 on the year. Atlanta counters with unbeaten Bryce Elder, who is 2-0, 1.14.
In his second year in the bigs, Elder is showing maturity, getting ground balls with his sinker and keeping opponents off the scoreboard. He’s given up a total of three earned runs in four starts and, dating back to last season, has just nine in his last 56.1 innings.
Alcantara was scratched from his last start, on Saturday, with biceps tendinitis. He’s been cleared to start on Wednesday, however. He’s been up and down this year, pitching a three-hit shutout and giving up nine earned runs in back-to-back starts. He’s also been pitching under hard luck. The Marlins have scored just four runs for him in three April starts.
The Pick
We’ll take our chances with Alcantara finding his groove after the extra rest.
MLB Pick: Marlins ML (+140) at Bet365
