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2020 MLB Wild Card picks: Cardinals vs. Padres, Yankees vs. Indians
San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. at bat during a MLB game between the Padres and the Dodgers. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)
September 30th, 2020
An unprecedented eight MLB playoff games will take place on Wednesday. We break down two of them in full and give our picks for the remainder below.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres, 5:00 p.m., ESPN2
Wed, September 30 2020, 9:08 PM
SD Padres[C. Paddack]
Run Line
-1.5
Moneyline
-170
Total
O 8.5
STL Cardinals[K. Kim]
Run Line
+1.5
Moneyline
+140
Total
U 8.5
At about this time last year, Jack Flaherty was single-handedly carrying the Cardinals through the postseason. Kwang-Hyun Kim will attempt to fill his shoes as St. Louis starts a best-of-three with the Padres at Petco Park.
Kim (3-0, 1.62 ERA), a 32-year-old southpaw from South Korea, has thrown his hat into the ring for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Of the seven earned runs he’s surrendered in 39 innings of work this year, four occurred in one start. Factoring out that appearance, his ERA dips to 0.80. Kim is backed by a Redbirds bullpen that was third in the NL in ERA this season (4.00) behind only the Dodgers and Braves.
Chris Paddack, countering for San Diego in this spot, was a shaky 4-5 with a 4.73 ERA this year. The Cardinals’ offense is weak (24th by runs per game), but they should be able to scratch out some early runs and make them stand up.
MLB Wild Card pick: Cardinals moneyline
New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Indians, 7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
Wed, September 30 2020, 11:08 PM
CLE Indians[C. Carrasco]
Run Line
+1.5
Moneyline
+110
Total
O 8
NY Yankees[M. Tanaka]
Run Line
-1.5
Moneyline
-130
Total
U 8
The Indians have their backs to the wall in this best-of-three series with the Yankees following their stunning defeat in Game 1 after a poor effort from Shane Bieber. But there’s reason to believe they’ll even things up on Wednesday night.
Carlos Carrasco (3-4, 2.91 ERA) starts for Cleveland, and New York’s bats have very limited experience against him. Only outfielders Brett Gardner (6-for-22 with only one extra-base hit) and Aaron Hicks (0-for-10) have seen Carrasco more than four times, giving the pitcher the edge here. He’s backed by a Tribe bullpen that was fifth in ERA (3.53) during the regular season.
Masahiro Tanaka counters for the Bombers. His splits against some of Cleveland’s key hitters are nothing spectacular for either side – shortstop Francisco Lindor is 4-for-15 (.267) and first baseman Carlos Santana is 4-for-16 (.250) with a homer – until you get to third baseman Jose Ramirez. He’s 9-for-14 (.643) all-time against Tanaka and has been red-hot over the season’s final stretch. In his club’s last 12 overall games, Ramirez has six homers and 19 RBI. His potential heroics could force a Game 3.
MLB Wild Card pick: Indians moneyline
Remaining MLB Wild Card picks
Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves, Noon, ESPN
Wed, September 30 2020, 4:00 PM
ATL Braves[M. Fried]
Run Line
-1.5
Moneyline
-130
Total
O 7.5
CIN Reds[T. Bauer]
Run Line
+1.5
Moneyline
+105
Total
U 7.5
MLB pick: Reds moneyline
Houston Astros at Minnesota Twins, 1:00 p.m., ESPN2
Wed, September 30 2020, 5:08 PM
MIN Twins[J. Berrios]
Run Line
-1.5
Moneyline
-160
Total
O 8
HOU Astros[J. Urquidy]
Run Line
+1.5
Moneyline
+130
Total
U 8
MLB pick: Astros moneyline
Miami Marlins at Chicago Cubs, 2:00 p.m., ABC
Wed, September 30 2020, 6:08 PM
CHI Cubs[K. Hendricks]
Run Line
-1.5
Moneyline
-175
Total
O 8.5
MIA Marlins[S. Alcantara]
Run Line
+1.5
Moneyline
+145
Total
U 8.5
MLB pick: Marlins moneyline
Chicago White Sox at Oakland Athletics, 3:00 p.m., ESPN
Wed, September 30 2020, 7:10 PM
OAK Athletics[C. Bassitt]
Run Line
-1.5
Moneyline
-130
Total
O 7.5
CHI White Sox[D. Keuchel]
Run Line
+1.5
Moneyline
+110
Total
U 7.5
MLB pick: White Sox moneyline
Toronto Blue Jays at Tampa Bay Rays, 4:00 p.m., TBS
Wed, September 30 2020, 8:07 PM
TB Rays[T. Glasnow]
Run Line
-1.5
Moneyline
-145
Total
O 7
TOR Blue Jays[H. Ryu]
Run Line
+1.5
Moneyline
+120
Total
U 7
MLB pick: Under seven runs
Milwaukee Brewers at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
Thu, October 1 2020, 2:08 AM
LA Dodgers[W. Buehler]
Run Line
-1.5
Moneyline
-235
Total
O 7.5
MIL Brewers[B. Suter]
Run Line
+1.5
Moneyline
+190
Total
U 7.5
MLB pick: Dodgers run line
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