Buyers and Sellers

Today’s matchups showcase four teams that are all at or above .500, but not all are heading in the same direction. With three buyers and one seller squaring off, the playoff implications are already starting to show.

📺 Today's TV Games

  • ⚾  St. Louis Cardinals @ Los Angeles Dodgers – MLB Network

🎯 Pick'em 10 (7:10pm ET/4:10pm PT)

⚾ Kansas City @ Boston

The Red Sox should feel confident every time Garrett Crochet takes the mound. He leads the league in both innings pitched and wins, anchoring Boston’s rotation as their ace. Only Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez have had any real success against him—Witt is 2-for-6 with a double.  Remember that right-handed hitters love Fenway’s Green Monster, turning would-be singles elsewhere into extra-base hits in Boston (Witt Jr. bats right).

Kansas City is excited to debut Ryan Bergert, a rookie arm they acquired from San Diego. He’s posted a strong 2.78 ERA across 7 starts but struggles with control—averaging 4.5 walks per 9 innings, with only one outing under 2 walks in his last 7. This will be Boston’s first look at him.

  1. Ryan Bergert – Over/Under 1.5 walks allowed
  2. Bobby Witt Jr. – Over/Under 1.5 hits+runs+RBIs
  3. Kyle Isbel – Over/Under 0.5 hits
  4. Garrett Crochet – Over/Under 1.5 earned runs allowed
  5. Carlos Narváez – Over/Under 1.5 hits+runs+RBIs
  6. Alex Bregman – Over/Under 0.5 strikeouts

⚾ St. Louis @ LA Dodgers

The Cardinals were the lone seller in today’s featured games, despite hovering near .500 and sitting just 5.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. They edged the Dodgers 3–2 last night by silencing LA’s lineup—but tonight will be a tougher task.

The Dodgers‘ top trio—Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman—enter tonight with absurd OPS numbers:

  • Ohtani: 1.181 OPS
  • Betts: 1.500 OPS
  • Freeman: 1.474 OPS

If Miles Mikolas hopes to survive, he’ll need LA to keep slumping—they’ve batted just .231 since the All-Star break.

Meanwhile, Emmet Sheehan gets the nod for LA. He’s facing the Cardinals for the first time and has split time between starting and long relief this season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
At home, he’s struggled: 5.25 ERA and a .319 opponent batting average at Dodger Stadium. Like Mikolas, he’ll hope his opponent stays cold—St. Louis is hitting just .230 in the second half.

  1. Miles Mikolas – Over/Under 5.5 hits allowed
  2. Nolan Gorman – Over/Under 0.5 hits
  3. Emmet Sheehan – Over/Under 4.5 strikeouts
  4. Shohei Ohtani – Over/Under 0.5 RBIs

🏆 Pick 5 Margin (10:10pm ET/7:10pm PT)

⚾ St. Louis @ LA Dodgers

(See full game breakdown above)

  1. Brendan Donovan – Hits+Runs+RBIs
  2. Iván Herrera – Hits+Runs+RBIs
  3. Shohei Ohtani – Hits+Runs+RBIs
  4. Will Smith – Hits+Runs+RBIs
  5. Freddie Freeman – Hits+Runs+RBIs