MLB picks: Phillies vs. Mets, Braves vs. Giants

We crunched the numbers and came up with our two best bets in baseball for Friday night!

Leading off is our look at an NL East battle between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets. Then we’ll segue to a late-night showdown between two first-place squads as the Atlanta Braves take on the San Francisco Giants.

Philadelphia Phillies (74-72) at New York Mets (72-75), 7:10 p.m. ET

The Phillies should deal the flagging Mets another loss at Citi Field on Friday night.

Former Met Zack Wheeler starts for Philadelphia, and he has a 0.71 ERA through two outings in September. Wheeler has faced New York four times in 2021, going 2-1 with a 2.15 ERA. That includes his complete game shutout of the Mets on Aug. 8, in which he induced 11 strikeouts.

Responding for New York is Taijuan Walker, who’s 0-6 with a 7.38 ERA since the All-Star break. He’s a modest 0-1 with a 3.80 ERA in four starts against the Phillies this season. Unfortunately for Walker, the Phil’s offense is firing on all cylinders at the moment, as they’re fresh off a 17-8 shellacking of the Chicago Cubs. It was the fifth straight game in which they scored three or more runs.

Look for Bryce Harper – who’s batting .500 with three homers and eight RBI over the last seven days – to drive the Phillies' offense in this one.

MLB pick: Phillies -136

Atlanta Braves (76-68) at San Francisco Giants (95-52), 9:45 p.m. ET

A potential pitcher’s duel is set for Friday night at Oracle Park as the Braves’ Ian Anderson faces the Giants’ Logan Webb.

Anderson blanked San Francisco over 5 2/3 innings when these teams met in Atlanta on Aug. 29. His home/road splits are strong (3.58 ERA at home, 3.64 on the road), so a similar result should be expected in the rematch.

Webb silenced the Braves’ bats through seven frames on Aug. 28 at Truist Park. He’s a remarkable 5-0 with a 1.66 ERA at home this year, so it could be very difficult for Atlanta to find runs early on.

Both bullpens have also held up their end of the bargain of late. The Giants’ relief corps is third by ERA over the last two weeks (2.62), while the Braves rank eighth in the same span (3.59).

MLB pick: Under