The Rundown

Detroit Tigers @ Minnesota Twins – 7:40 p.m. ET From a game with big implications to one with basically none. The Tigers were ATS darlings this season, covering 58% of the time overall (second-best in MLB) and notching a league-best 79 covers as an underdog. Tonight, they’re catching the run-and-a-half once again against a Twins team with nothing to play for.

Leicester City @ Legia Warsaw – Thursday, 12:45 p.m. ET This is a borderline must-win for Leicester City — lest they risk falling too far behind in this Europa League group — after they drew Napoli in Matchday 1, and Legia Warsaw notched a win. Manager Brendan Rodgers knows this, so while some of his tactics have been more conservative of late, we believe he and his team let loose here against an inferior side.

Philadelphia Phillies @ Atlanta Braves – 7:20 p.m. ET Perhaps the highest-stakes game on the board, the Phillies need to get a win against the Braves tonight in order to have any chance of snagging the NL East crown and its subsequent playoff spot. Maybe Philly gets it done in the later innings, but the early part of the game doesn’t profile well for them.

Villarreal @ Manchester United – Wednesday, 3:00 p.m. ET The scoring reputation for Manchester United — and Villarreal, to some extent — has kept the total for this contest relatively high. However, a quick history lesson concerning these two sides tells us we may be in for a more low-scoring affair. These two clubs have played each other five times… and every match resulted in a regulation-time draw: Four were 0-0 and one, the 2021 Europa League Final, ended 1-1.

Phoenix Mercury @ Las Vegas Aces – 10:00 p.m. ET After a dramatic overtime victory over powerhouse Seattle, Phoenix finds itself in the semifinals against Las Vegas, the WNBA playoffs’ No. 2 seed. Besides the obvious momentum, the Mercury have another big edge headed into Game 1. It’s Diana Taurasi.

Boston Red Sox @ Baltimore Orioles – 7:05 p.m ET The Red Sox are playing the putrid Orioles, have Chris Sale on the mound, are in must-win mode after being swept by the Yankees, and are the favorite team of this writer. You already know which way we’re looking here, but maybe not how. At -160*, there’s absolutely no value in the full-game run line; but when you reduce the run line down to -1 for the first five innings, the juice starts to look a lot more reasonable.

Parlay Both Legs – 12:45 p.m. ET We’ll keep it in Europa League Group C for the parlay, and start by doubling down on Leicester. It’s one of those matches that a team absolutely should win and we believe the Foxes are up to the task. For the second leg, we’ll back the team that drew Leicester in the first match. Napoli — the Serie A leaders in excellent form — should have no issue with a seriously overmatched Spartak Moscow side.

Manchester City @ Paris Saint-Germain – Tuesday, 3:00 p.m. ET It’s the Messi Bowl — both Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain bidded for his services before his Barcelona exit, and the French giants ultimately won out. You have to think that will be at the forefront of Pep Guardiola’s mind, and he’ll have his men ready to snatch a road win.

Oakland Athletics @ Seattle Mariners – 10:10 p.m. ET Perhaps no team was more to blame for the Athletics’ second-half collapse than the Mariners, who have won nine straight against Oakland since July 23. Now, these division rivals face off again — and the series loser is likely eliminated from playoff contention. We’re going to back the streak continuing tonight.

Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys – 8:15 p.m. ET In divisional games like this one, where there’s no clear separation between the teams and many potential outcomes — it’s the NFC East, after all — it’s often better to not overthink it and just grab the points.