Check out our MLB Best Bets and picks for Sunday, September 13, courtesy of our betting expert, Juan Pablo Aravena.
Sunday’s MLB slate offers an interesting combination of pitching and totals markets, with three wagers standing out as particularly appealing. We’re backing one of the American League’s premier strikeout arms in the Subway Series, targeting a low-scoring matchup in Detroit and expecting two struggling pitching staffs to produce plenty of offense in Washington.
New York Mets 
vs. New York Yankees 
Cam Schlittler over 6.5 strikeouts, -148 @ FanDuel
Schlittler continues to establish himself as one of baseball’s most dominant young starters, and asking him to record seven strikeouts is reasonable given the swing-and-miss ability he has displayed throughout his sophomore campaign. The Yankees right-hander enters Sunday with 220 strikeouts across 178.2 innings, an impressive 11.1 K/9 rate, while also carrying a 2.01 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. Christian Scott gives the Mets a quality arm on the other side, increasing the chances this remains competitive enough for Schlittler to receive a normal workload. Seven punchouts is certainly not a low threshold, but Schlittler’s season-long production makes it one he’s capable of clearing without requiring an outlier performance. He’s cleared that mark in five of his last six starts.
Colorado Rockies 
vs. Detroit Tigers 
Under 8.5 runs, -102 @ BetMGM
Colorado’s pitching staff makes any under uncomfortable, but Comerica Park provides a much different environment than Coors Field, and Detroit hasn’t exactly been an offensive juggernaut. The Tigers enter Sunday averaging 4.44 runs per game, while Jackson Jobe gets the start after posting a 4.45 ERA through his first five appearances of the season. Colorado counters with Gabriel Hughes, who owns an ugly 5.81 ERA, but the Rockies’ offense has also struggled badly enough to reduce the amount of support Detroit needs from its pitching staff despite averaging 4.69 runs per contest. If Jobe can keep Colorado quiet through the middle innings, this game has a realistic path toward finishing below nine runs despite the obvious volatility attached to Hughes.
Los Angeles Angels 
vs. Washington Nationals 
Over 9 runs, -118 @ BetMGM
This is the matchup where we’re willing to embrace that pitching volatility. Grayson Rodriguez enters Sunday’s start with a 6.28 ERA and 1.57 WHIP across 81.2 innings, while Washington’s Jake Irvin hasn’t been substantially better, carrying a 5.52 ERA and 1.42 WHIP through 91.1 frames. That gives both offenses an immediate opportunity to contribute rather than requiring one lineup to carry the heavy lifting on offense. Washington has also averaged 5.1 runs per game this season, providing some legitimate offensive upside against Rodriguez. With two vulnerable starters and bullpens eventually entering the equation, getting to 10 combined runs is a realistic target even with the push protection available exactly at nine.