Good morning, Pickswise Nation. The week in Major League Baseball continues with a 9-game schedule. Additionally the FedEx Cup Playoffs are coming to a close with the Tour Championship, which begins today at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. It’s another big day in the world of sports, so let’s get right to it and make your next bet better with Wise n’ Shine! 

About Last Night

A whole bunch of free baseball!
Five games on Wednesday required extra innings – but none more than 10. Tampa Bay edged Colorado, San Francisco outlasted Philadelphia, the White Sox walked it off against Seattle, Milwaukee beat Minnesota and Boston prevailed at Houston. Meanwhile, the Braves, Orioles, Padres and Royals all pitched shutouts. They earned respective wins over the Mets, Blue Jays, Marlins and Athletics.

Today’s Slate

A typically small Thursday schedule in Major League Baseball
With plenty of teams in between series, a modest 9-game schedule was on the docket for Thursday, although we have a little bonus action as the Dodgers-Guardians game was suspended in the 3rd inning and resumes at 12:10 pm ET with the Dodgers leading 3-1. There are 3 other afternoon games before the action wraps up with Arizona hosting Cincinnati at 9:40 pm ET on FS1. 

Final week of NFL preseason kicks off
Week 3 of the NFL preseason gets started tonight. By the end of the weekend, we can start thinking about the regular season (as if we aren’t already!). For now, Thursday’s slate sends Pittsburgh to Atlanta and Indianapolis to Philadelphia. 

Best Bet of the Day

MLB: Over 9 runs in Toronto Blue Jays vs Baltimore Orioles
7:05 pm ET, MLB Network

The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles close out a 3-game series this afternoon with Jose Berrios and Kyle Gibson getting the starting nods on the mound. Berrios had success against Baltimore last time around, but it’s always a different beast the second time around now that the lineup is experienced against him. Baltimore’s Gibson faces the same problem as this will be his third start against Toronto since May. Gibson posts a 4.97 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. Gibson holds an 8.31 ERA featuring 25 hits allowed in his last 3 starts (17.1 innings). His bad form could continue against a Blue Jays lineup that’s already seen his stuff for 13 innings this season.

Must-read

Our 2023 NFL futures coverage is just about complete, as the regular season is exactly 2 weeks away. You can find all of our articles in Pickswise’s NFL Betting Guide. Some of the recent ones include best bets for the AFC West, NFC South and NFC West.

Meanwhile, the final tournament on the 2023 PGA Tour calendar tees off today as the battle for the FedEx Cup comes to a close. Be sure to take note of our Tour Championship predictions. 

Read all of our sports betting articles as they arrive throughout the morning and afternoon on the Analysis tab. 

Stat of the Day

Xander Schauffele’s recent results at East Lake: Won in 2017, 2nd in 2019, T2 in 2020, 5th in 2021 and 4th in 2022.

Quote of the Day

“That happens way more often than you guys may hear. Spectators are very close, and even if they’re not directly talking to you, they’re close enough that if they say to their buddy: ‘I bet you 10 bucks he’s going to miss it,’ you hear it.”

Jon Rahm on the issues golfers face today. Rahm is #1 in the FedEx Cup standings and begins the Tour Championship with a 2-stroke lead.