MLB Best Bets Today: 3 Picks for Thursday September 24 Slate

Shohei Ohtani has been activated from the 15-day injury list and is looking to rediscover his form before the start of the National League playoffs. He’ll look to get another four or five at-bats Thursday night when the Los Angeles Dodgers host the San Diego Padres.

Ohtani singled in his first at-bat Wednesday and ended up 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts in his return from knee and biceps injuries. He was just 6-for-49 (.122) with no homers, no RBIs and 21 strikeouts during his last 13 appearances before going on the IL.

There remains a lot of uncertainty in the playoff picture and that includes the American League West, where the Houston Astros missed a chance to take the lead on Wednesday. The Cleveland Guardians are battling on two fronts – leading the AL Central and possibly landing the third wild-card spot if they are overtaken by the Chicago White Sox.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS AT SAN DIEGO PADRES

The Dodgers had won five straight games before losing 5-1 to the Padres and are now two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL’s best record. All-Star outfielder Andy Pages went 3-for-4 on Wednesday in his second game since missing a month with a broken left hand.

The victory was huge for San Diego, which has a magic number of one to clinch a playoff spot and remained four games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks – the final team still in contention – while inching ahead of the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. Keeping that No. 4 spot would give the red-hot Padres home-field advantage for the first round, a good sign for a team that is 20 games above .500 at home.

Manny Machado hit his 29th homer in Wednesday’s win to close in on his eighth 30-homer campaign. Right-hander Nick Pivetta has pitched well since missing nearly five months with an elbow injury – giving up three runs in 14 innings — and he takes the mound in the series finale.

Padres to win moneyline, +142 (DraftKings)

HOUSTON ASTROS AT ATHLETICS

The Astros missed a big opportunity Wednesday when Josh Hader allowed two runs in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Seattle Mariners registered a 6-5 victory. That leaves Houston and the Texas Rangers tied atop the AL West with meager 78-80 record. The Astros hold the tiebreaker edge, which would have placed them in a stellar position if they hadn’t blown a game that kept the Mariners (74-84) alive.

Whatever team wins the division can do no better than 82-80, and falling short of that would mean replacing the 2005 Padres (82-80) as the division winner with the worst record since the Division Era began in 1969. Houston is just 4-5 against the Athletics this season and will hope slugger Yordan Alvarez gets some pitches to hit – the A’s have walked him 13 times while Alvarez is batting .348 (8-for-23) with two homers and 10 RBIs against them.

The Athletics assured they won’t lose 100 games by sweeping a two-game set from the Los Angeles Angels and promising rookie Henry Bolte posted his first career four-hit outing to go with his 10 three-hit efforts on the season. On the other end, All-Star Shea Langeliers is batting just .154 (4-for-26) against Houston this season.

Teams to score over 11 runs, -115 (DraftKings)

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS AT BOSTON RED SOX

The Guardians are one game ahead of the Chicago White Sox and can clinch at least a wild-card spot by winning Thursday. Cleveland had won six straight games until the Red Sox blanked them 1-0 on Wednesday with Boston’s lone run coming on Andruw Monasterio’s sixth-inning RBI single.

The Guardians had just five singles while being blanked by right-hander Sonny Gray and three relievers. The White Sox also lost Wednesday night, falling to the Kansas City Royals, to allow Cleveland to keep the division lead. The White Sox hold the tiebreaker edge.

Boston has clinched a wild-card spot but is limping to the finish with just five wins in its past 13 games. Left-hander Ranger Suarez starts and he struck out 10 in five innings against Cleveland on May 31 but gave up four runs and eight hits over five innings.

Guardians to win money line, +119 (DraftKings)