2 MLB Best Bets for Friday, August 4

The Cubbies cashed our only baseball bet on Thursday night! That Chicago offense is firing on all cylinders right now and poised to make a playoff push. Cody Bellinger has been a beast and I'm betting that the front office is glad they didn't trade him at the deadline.

The Friday slate showed a lot of value, but several teams were crossed off the final card for a variety of reasons. Let's get the weekend started off right with 2 MLB Best Bets for Friday, August 4. Good luck!

Best Bet: Reds (-166)

I'm breaking my juice rules on this one, but have to trust my numbers, which have Cincy winning this game by a score of 7-3. The run line isn't a bad play at plus money, but I hate laying -1.5 with the home team. Let's get into why I'm backing the Reds.

Graham Ashcraft has very quietly become one of the hottest pitchers in the National League. The big right-hander from Huntsville, Alabama is 3-2 over his last 5 starts with a miniscule ERA of just 1.20. He's 2-0 against the Nats this season and shouldn't have any trouble with them at home tonight.

Patrick Corbin has been terrible this season and the Reds have knocked him around pretty good. Cincinnati's lineup has an expecting batting average of .372 against Corbin. Look for Elly De La Cruz, Joey Votto, and Spencer Steer to have big nights offensively and for the Reds to get an easy win!

Best Bet: Mariners (-110)

That had to be a gut-wrenching loss for the Angels last night! Mariners rookie Cade Marlowe hit a grand salami in the 9th inning to shock the Halos. That's the kind of loss that can linger for an extra day or two.

Even though Seattle dealt away their closer at the deadline, they've been playing some good baseball by winning 7 of their last 10. The Angels, meanwhile, have dropped 5 of 7 and are officially in desperation mode. Things won't get easier for LAA tonight against Luis Castillo.

It's pretty impressive how dominant Castillo has been for the last several years. The 30-year-old still averages 96 mph with his fastball and his slider is just as filthy as ever. Castillo has struck out 149 hitters in 131.1 innings of work this season.

Reid Detmers has been pretty steady for the Angels, as the lefty has a pretty decent ERA of just 3.40 over his last 5 starts. That being said, this Mariners lineup has been destroying lefties lately. Seattle is averaging 9 runs per 9 innings against southpaws over their last 10 games. Let's back Castillo and the M's at this low price!