Top MLB Betting Picks for Monday, September 13th (2021)

After an action-packed weekend of football (both college and NFL), many bettors shift their focus back to baseball tonight. We start the week with our largest bankroll of the season, as our +13.90 units is a season-high. For perspective, that means bettors who wagered $100 on all these picks for the season would be up $1390 in profit!

With just eight games on the MLB slate tonight, we limit our picks to a moneyline bet with a pitcher having a tremendous year and an over between two division rivals.

Here are my MLB top betting plays for Monday. (Odds courtesy DraftKings Sportsbook)

View the best player prop bets for today’s slate with our MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet >>

YTD: 164-134-7 (+13.90 units) 

St. Louis Cardinals ML (-115)

Though the St. Louis Cardinals had to travel to Citi Field for this series opener against the New York Mets, they benefit from the fact that the Mets are coming off a late Sunday Night baseball game that capped an emotional and grueling series against their crosstown rivals. This game has enormous wild card implications, with both teams within 3.5 of the second National League wild card spot. We trust veteran Adam Wainwright to deliver St. Louis a win on this big stage.

Wainwright (15-7, 2.98) has saved his best baseball for the postseason run, as he is 8-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his last nine starts. He has allowed one earned run in his previous 21.1 innings on the road and has a better winning percentage on the road than at home this season. The 40-year old has proven he can still throw an effective fastball, as opposing hitters are batting just .196 against it, which ranks third among all pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched. Wainwright has held current Mets hitters to a .171 OBA and .267 slugging percentage in 116 combined plate appearances in his career.

Wainwright is opposed by one of the only pitchers in the league older than him, Rich Hill. Since coming over to New York from Tampa Bay, Hill (6-6, 3.82) has not won any of his eight starts (nine appearances).

The Cardinals are 5-0 in Wainwright’s last five road starts and have won their last six road games against left-handed starting pitchers. In addition, the Cardinals are 4-1 in their previous five meetings against the Mets are 7-3 in their last ten. Considering all these trends, it is a shock that St. Louis is not a bigger favorite in this game.

Padres-Giants OVER 8 runs (-110)

The San Francisco Giants have won seven straight games and nine of their last ten entering tonight’s series opener against the San Diego Padres. Their offense is mainly responsible for their winning streak, as they have scored at least six runs in each of the seven wins. In addition, they rank second in the majors with a 1.013 team OPS in the last seven days and lead the league with a .338 team batting average. Their potent offense is a big reason why the over should hit with ease tonight.

San Diego’s Yu Darvish (8-9, 3.95) has pitched to a 6.62 ERA in his last seven starts. His previous outing against the Dodgers was his first in the last four starts where he did not allow at least four runs. Darvish has allowed just one earned run in 12.1 combined innings against the Giants this year, but both of those starts were back in April, and Darvish’s ERA since the beginning of July is a 7.04.

The over is 5-0 in the last five meetings between these teams and is 3-0-1 over the previous four games in San Francisco. Thus, these trends support another high-scoring game tonight.

MLB Prop Bets

• Clayton Kershaw Prop Bet Odds
• Yu Darvish Prop Bet Odds
• Kyle Seager Prop Bet Odds
• Austin Meadows Prop Bet Odds
• Mitch Haniger Prop Bet Odds

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Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.