Wednesday's baseball slate features games going on all day as we look at top MLB betting picks. As you enjoy some of the afternoon action, let's take a look at MLB bets and baseball picks for tonight's games. The Toronto Blue Jays take on the Baltimore Orioles with the AL Wild Card standings in flux. Plus, the Washington Nationals vs New York Yankees matchup should include plenty of scoring. Be sure to tune into the Bettor Sports Betting show at 4 pm ET today as Howard Bender and I give out more MLB betting picks. Let's now get into the MLB best bets for Wednesday, August 23rd. 

 

MLB Best Bets for August 23

Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles – 7:05 pm ET

After winning in 10 innings last night against the Baltimore Orioles, the Toronto Blue Jays are still one game back of the Mariners in the AL Wild Card standings. They’ll look to gain more ground tonight and continue their current three-game win streak. Kevin Gausman gives Toronto the starting pitching advantage here with his strong 3.24 ERA and 2.84 FIP on the season. Gausman is coming off a rough outing in his last start vs the Phillies, but he can bounce back in a better matchup tonight. The Orioles are a bottom-tier offense against right-handed pitching over the past two weeks (.285 wOBA, 79 wRC+) and are better vs lefties overall this year. Gausman can limit the damage and brings in plenty of experience pitching at Camden Yards from his days with the O’s. Meanwhile, Dean Kremer will start for Baltimore after Jack Flaherty was scratched earlier. Kremer’s 5.33 xERA, 4.87 FIP, and 4.50 ERA are all tough to trust. Though the Blue Jays haven’t been great against right-handed pitching themselves, they do have better numbers in the split than the Orioles lately. The Toronto offense also just welcomed back Bo Bichette, who’s already making an impact. Grab the Jays at the best ML you can find as the odds are moving with the news of Kremer starting instead of Flaherty.

Pick: Toronto Blue Jays Moneyline (-135 on DraftKings)

Washington Nationals at New York Yankees – 7:05 pm ET

The New York Yankees are going through a major rough patch again with a current nine-game losing streak. It likely won’t get much better tonight with Luis Severino and his 7.98 ERA on the mound. Severino has given up 14 runs over his last three starts alone and now has an 11.08 ERA since the start of July. It’s hard to envision him flipping the script tonight. The Washington Nationals are always a sneaky-tough matchup and they have a .326 wOBA, .275 BA, and low 19.5% walk rate vs right-handed pitching over the past week. The Nats also come in averaging 5.6 runs per game over their past 10 contests. Meanwhile, Washington starter Mackenzie Gore could also run into trouble tonight. In the month of August, the Yankees actually have the best offense against left-handed pitching in multiple categories (.438 wOBA, .381 BA, 187 wRC+, 1.030 OPS). It’s a completely different story vs righties, by the way, as the Yanks rank among the bottom-5 lineups in that split. Against southpaws, though? Watch out! As for Gore, he has a 5.50 ERA since the start of July with a few blowup outings in there. The lefty also has a 5.11 ERA on the road this season and he’s given up 5+ runs in three of his past four road outings. Take the over here instead of worrying about the Yankees or Nats to win the game.

Pick: Nationals/Yankees Over 8.5 (-110 on BetMGM)