MLB Best Bets & Props: Expert picks for Saturday, September 2nd

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Best Bets on Today’s 15-Game MLB Schedule

We’re entering the final stretch of the 2023 MLB season and VSiN continues to have you covered with every way you can possibly bet on a baseball game. Normally, Adam Burke will have daily best bets to give you some ideas of what to back when it comes to moneylines, run lines and totals, while I focus on feeding you all player props. However, Adam is dealing with something today, so I’m tackling everything before we get back to our regularly scheduled programming on Monday. Keep reading to find out how I’m betting three of the games on the MLB schedule for Saturday, September 2nd. 

 

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MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have on September 2

Here are our favorite MLB best bets and prop bets for Saturday, September 2nd: 

Tampa Bay Rays (-120, 8.5) at Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians are playing some good baseball right now, as they have won three straight and five of their last seven. Cleveland now faces a Tampa Bay team that is throwing a very beatable starter out there. Zack Littell has mostly been good for the Rays this year, but he has looked shaky recently. The righty allowed four earned runs in each of his last two starts, and that type of performance won’t cut it against Cleveland. The Guardians are throwing Logan Allen out there, and the lefty has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last three home starts. Tampa Bay has also really cooled down against left-handed pitching as the year has gone on. Despite being eighth in wRC+ against lefties on the year, the Rays are just 22nd in that category since the start of July. So, I expect Allen to win the battle on the hill in this game. From there, I trust Cleveland’s bullpen to finish the job. The Guardians have the third-best bullpen ERA in baseball.

Bet: Guardians ML (+100)  

Philadelphia Phillies (-142, 9) at Milwaukee Brewers

Aaron Nola is on the mound for the Phillies tonight, and the righty is coming off a start in which he gave up no earned runs over 7.0 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. But over the last three seasons, the Over is 21-9 when Nola is coming off a start in which he gave up one or fewer earned runs. And the average total runs scored in those games was 10.4 runs per game. Meanwhile, the Over is also 87-69 when the total is between 8.5 and 10 in Phillies games since the start of last year, so they do tend to go Over in games that are expected to be somewhat higher in scoring. On top of that, the Phillies have scored at least five runs in seven of their last eight games, and the Brewers have done so in 10 of their last 12. So, both of these offenses are running hot right now. And I don’t really expect that to change in this starting pitching matchup. Nola has a 4.30 ERA this season and Colin Rea’s is even higher at 5.11. Both pitchers are beatable and both offenses are dangerous.   

Bet: Over 9 (-112) 

San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres (-185, 8)

Blake Snell is out in front of both Spencer Strider and Justin Steele in the NL Cy Young race, but this is one that will be a battle until the final day of the regular season. All three of these pitchers will be locked in moving forward, and I like Snell to turn in a dominant performance against the Giants tonight. Earlier this season, Snell threw 6.0 shutout innings against San Francisco. The lefty also had 11 strikeouts in that game. I’m not sure Snell will cruise the way he did in that one, as that was a nearly flawless outing. But I’d be surprised if he doesn’t rack up strikeouts, at the very least. His total is down at 7.5 tonight, so all he’ll need is eight strikeouts to cash this. And San Francisco has the third-highest strikeout rate in the league against southpaws this year.

Bet: Snell Over 7.5 Strikeouts (-140) 

Did you know that you can parlay these three picks together at +548 odds? Try out our VSiN Parlay Calculator HERE!

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