The MLB usually has a light schedule on Thursdays, as teams usually travel to their respective weekend series. Due to Wednesday’s matchup between the Detroit Tigers and the New York Mets getting postponed and rescheduled due to rain, Thursday’s MLB slate now consists of six games.
This still presents plenty of betting opportunities with some intriguing lines. Here are our best MLB bets for Thursday, April 4, with odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Teddy Ricketson’s 2024 MLB Best Bets record: 12-3
MLB bets: Thursday, April 4
Minnesota Twins Moneyline (-155)
The Twins will start Pablo Lopez against the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday. Lopez dominated the Kansas City Royals, allowing just one earned run on four hits in seven innings. He gave up a leadoff home run to Maikel Garcia in the first inning and then settled down, punching out seven batters along the way. The Twins should win the divisional series opener if Lopez can get some run support.
Cardinals -1.5 (+130)
The St. Louis Cardinals had a tough start to their season, having to face the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. Each of these matchups could easily happen again in the playoffs, and St. Louis came out of the seven-game stretch with a 3-4 record. The Cardinals now face the winless Miami Marlins in a much better matchup and should be able to win by at least two runs.
If you want a more conservative option for this bet, the alt line can be pushed to Cardinals -1. You get worse odds (-112), but win the bet with the same outcome of St. Louis winning by two. You sacrifice better odds to have push protection if the Cardinals were to win by only one run. In the bet I am taking, I would lose if they won by only one run, but if you take the conservative bet with worse odds, it would be a push so you would get your original bet money returned.
NRFI Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Washington Nationals (-110)
The Pirates and Nationals will wrap up their three-game series on Thursday. They have split the games so far, with Pittsburgh winning 8-4 in the first game and Washington winning game two 5-3. Notably, neither team has scored in the first inning so far in the series. in fact, neither Pittsburgh nor Washington has scored a first-inning run in any of their games this season.