Marlins, Diamondbacks National League Best Bets for August 16

There are multiple games today beginning this evening on the National League schedule, and there’s value to target in these spots. Below, you can find both games from the National League and some of our best bets on the FanDuel Sportsbook.

San Diego Padres (-152) vs. Miami Marlins (+128) Total: 7.5 (O -104, U -118)

The San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins are set to face off for Game 2 of a three-game series tonight from LoanDepot Park. The Marlins opened up the series with a 3-0 victory last night and will look to build off that against a Padres squad that hasn’t played consistently well since they went all in at the trade deadline. The visitors hold a 4-6 record over their past ten games and have fallen to the third Wild Card position in the National League, while the Marlins are 3-7 over that same stretch. There hasn’t been much to like about the Marlins’ offense, but there have been plenty of bright spots in their rotation that should again be highlighted in this matchup.

The Marlins opened this series with a shutout, and they’ll look to add more agony to the lives of the Padres with another high-quality starter. A noteworthy about the Marlins is how young their rotation is, which has the potential to develop into one of the more feared units in MLB. Game 2 of this series is expected to feature Sean Manaea of the Padres taking on Edward Cabrera of the Marlins. The Padres lefthander has posted a 6-6 record with a 4.76 ERA and 122 strikeouts on the campaign, while the Marlins youngster is 3-1 with a 2.05 ERA and 29 punchouts. It’s been impressive to watch Cabrera pitch more as he gets accustomed to the big leagues, and there’s plenty to like about his prospects moving forward.

San Diego has the potential to make bettors look foolish on any given slate with the amount of talent they have on their roster. Still, the Marlins have pitching that should provide San Diego’s lineup trouble, so side with the Marlins’ moneyline at +128.

Best Bet: Marlins moneyline (+128) 

The Arizona Diamondbacks will visit the San Francisco Giants for Game 2 of a four-game series tonight from Oracle Park. The home side opened the series last night with a 6-1 victory and have now posted a 7-3 record over their past ten games after compiling four straight wins. Looking at the D-Backs, they still hold a 6-4 record over that same sample size and have continued to try and play spoiler in the National League playoff race. The Giants are trying to climb back into the NL Wild Card race and currently sit 5.5 games back, so they’ll need to continue having stretches like this one to close the gap. However, the D-Backs aren’t pushovers and present a difficult matchup for the Giants. 

Pitching has been the calling card for both teams, but the visiting Diamondbacks should hold the edge. The D-Backs are expected to send righthander Merrill Kelly to the bump, while the Giants will counter with Jakob Junis. Kelly owns a 10-5 record, with a 2.95 ERA and 115 strikeouts, while Junis is 4-3 with a 3.78 ERA and 56 punchouts. Kelly has undoubtedly been one of the brighter spots for the Diamondbacks, giving the team a chance to win every time he takes the hill. 

With Kelly on the bump, the Diamondbacks provide some value tonight. The line has the Giants as slight favorites on the moneyline, so the D-Backs at +108 makes sense to consider. Even with the Giants’ good stretch of play, Arizona is a great value team to target on tonight’s board. 

Best Bet: D-Backs moneyline (+108)