The 2026 Major League Baseball (MLB) schedule has five total evening games, including four first pitches at 7:10 p.m. ET or later. That includes the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals in a nationally-televised ESPN game at 7:30 p.m. ET. We’ll highlight the two latest games to give you time to get your bets in.
Let’s build our bankroll with our best MLB picks & predictions for Thursday, August 6th.
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Thursday’s Best MLB Picks & Predictions
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All bets are for 1 unit
Minnesota Twins (+110) at Kansas City Royals (-120) | O/U 9 (-104/-118)
The Twins (56-59) and Royals (48-67) meet at Kauffman Stadium at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN as the teams wrap up a 3-game series.
Kansas City has won eight of the first 12 meetings in this series, collecting 16.7% of its season victories against Minnesota. On the flip side, the Twins enter the day just one game out of the final Wild-Card spot in the American League. If they’re unable to make the postseason, costly losses against the last-place Royals will certainly be to blame.
On Thursday, the Twins send RHP Bailey Ober (7-3, 4.45 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) to the bump, and on the surface that doesn’t look bad. However, in his past seven outings, he has a 5.91 ERA and 1.54 WHIP, and he has been horrible on the road. Ober is 2-3 with a dismal 7.15 ERA across seven road starts over 34 IP, serving up eight homers. Teams are hitting .317 against him on the road, too, as opposed to 5-0 with a 2.72 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and .194 opponent batting average across 53 IP in nine home starts at Target Field. He has some of the most stark splits in the majors.
For the Royals, RHP Michael Wacha (5-8, 3.51 ERA, 1.16 WHIP) just hasn’t received very good offensive support. Overall, his ERA is decent, and his past seven starts are a microcosm of his season. He is 1-3 with a 3.25 ERA and 1.13 WHIP across 44.1 IP, but he has just one win to show for his efforts. At home, Wacha is 3-3 with a 3.03 ERA and 1.04 WHIP, as teams are hitting just .217 against him at Kauffman Stadium.
Let’s definitely roll with the Royals at home, as they look to deal the Twins another costly blow in their postseason pursuit. And, while Ober has been hemorrhaging runs on the road, we’ll lean low based on Wacha’s solid ERA and WHIP at home, coupled with the fact that Kansas City provides him with very little offensive support.
Picks: Royals Moneyline (-120) & Under 9 Runs (-118)
San Diego Padres (-104) at Arizona Diamondbacks (-104) | O/U 9 (-106/-114)
The Padres (59-56) and Diamondbacks (61-54) wrap up a 4-game series at Chase Field in Phoenix at 9:40 p.m. ET.
Arizona has a 5-4 edge in the first nine meetings this season, including a 10-4 victory on Wednesday night as slight home underdogs (+122) while the Over (8.5) cashed. San Diego had high hopes in Wednesday’s game, as RHP Casey Mize made his team debut after being acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline. However, he was slapped around badly by the Snakes. Expect that to happen again.
The Padres roll out RHP Walker Buehler (6-5, 5.18 ERA, 1.45 WHIP), as he looks to try and get back on track. However, he has a terrible 7.96 ERA across the past seven starts over 31.1 IP, and walks have been a major reason for his struggles. “Buetane” has allowed 21 walks in the seven-start span, posting a 1.74 WHIP. On the road, Buehler has a 5.74 ERA and 1.55 WHIP, while serving up seven home runs across 47 IP in 10 starts, too.
For the home team, LHP Kohl Drake (0-0, 4.85 ERA, 1.46 WHIP) makes just his fourth career start, and the rookie makes his second-ever home start. He hasn’t lasted longer than five innings in any of his first three outings, so it will likely come down to the bullpen. The Padres are just 15-15 vs. LHP this season, so the Diamondbacks are worth playing lightly in this series finale. And, based on Drake’s inability to go deep into games, as well as his experience, and the fact Buehler has just been getting hammered lately, let’s go high on the total and don’t look back.
Picks: Diamondbacks Moneyline (-104) & Over 9 Runs (-106)
Joe Williams is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Joe, check out his archive and follow him @winwithjoe