MLB · 8 hours ago

MLB Best Bets Today: Tuesday’s Top 2 Betting Picks (September 2)

Gabriel Santiago

Host · Writer

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There is no stopping us now. The MLB season and summer are fully underway, meaning there are betting opportunities every day between now and October. We’ve got you covered for Tuesday’s baseball schedule!

Where to Watch Athletics vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Ballpark: Busch Stadium
Location: St. Louis, MO
Where to Watch: FDSNMW, NBCSCA
Time: 4:45 p.m. ET
Spread: ATH -1.5 (+152) | Total: 8.5 (-105/-114) + Add New Regions
Moneyline: ATH -104 | STL -112

The Athletics have made their way to Busch Stadium for an interleague series with the St. Louis Cardinals. Toeing the rubber in Game 2, look out for Luis Severino and Miles Mikolas.

Mikolas (4.84 xFIP) has not been incredibly strong in 2025, but his ground-ball rate of 40% is efficient. Oddly, Severino (4.62 xFIP) has similar numbers this season, showing a 40.9% ground-ball clip.

Transparently, the A’s got the better of St. Louis on Labor Day, winning 11-3. Be that as it may, I think the Red Birds are in line to get a bit of revenge tonight. The Athletics have been a bit worse on offense when traveling this season (.764 OPS in Sacramento versus .742 OPS in road games).

Mikolas vs. Severino from The Lou is a toss-up in my eyes, but the Cardinals boast a much superior bullpen compared to the A’s (3.62 ERA against 4.79 ERA). With the lines as they are, I like St. Louis on the moneyline.

Best Bet: Cardinals ML (-112)

Where to Watch Texas Rangers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

Ballpark: Chase Field
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Where to Watch: RSN, ARID
Time: 9:40 p.m. ET
Spread: TEX -1.5 (+155) | Total: 9 (-118/-104))
Moneyline: TEX +100 | ARI -118

Tuesday brings Game 2 between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers from the desert. Nabil Crismatt is the probable pitcher for Arizona, while Texas has yet to name a starter at the time of authorship.

Notably, the Rangers are currently riding a MLB-best six-game winning streak. It took a dramatic comeback effort on Monday to keep their heater alive, and one thing is for sure: Texas is still playing with spirit despite injuries to its core players.

Crismatt has bounced around the NL West the past few years, but in 2025, he’s registered just 14.2 innings for the D-backs. He is presently tagged with a 4.52 skill-interactive ERA throughout a small sample size this season.

Without a starting arm being named for Texas, the wisest angle here feels like a play on the total. Nine runs does not feel like an insurmountable number for these two lineups, especially with Arizona’s bullpen displaying a 4.68 ERA right now. Additionally, Chase Field in Phoenix — which carries a 103 Park Factor score at Baseball Savant — is known to be quite friendly to hitters.

It is a little bit personal between these two sides (see 2023 World Series), which should drive the on-field competition. With that, I think the Rangers and Diamondbacks scrap out a double-digit run total on Tuesday.