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The Atlanta Braves go for another series win to start the season when they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.

Atlanta’s 17-run outburst Thursday was followed by a late 2-0 victory on Friday night.

My Braves vs. Diamondbacks predictions and MLB picks for Saturday, April 4, explain why we’ll see another win for the visitors. 

Who will win Braves vs Diamondbacks today: Braves (+104)

Mike Soroka’s opening start looks great at face value: 5 IP, 10 Ks, and only four hits and a walk surrendered without allowing a run.

Look deeper, and you see a lot of red flags. The Tigers had a 33% barrel rate with an xwOBA of .354 and an xSLG of .534 in those five innings.

The Atlanta Braves have the second-best barrel rate in MLB at 11.6%, and their .x357 xwOBA sits only behind the Dodgers this season.

The Arizona Diamondbacks xwOBAcon is the third-lowest in the majors, and Bryce Elder’s sinker/slider combo should induce plenty of ground-ball outs.

COVERS INTEL:The Diamondbacks rank sixth in balls put into play this season, but their .235 BABIP is the worst in baseball.

Braves vs Diamondbacks Over/Under pick: Under 9.5 (-104)

Jordan Lawler’s broken wrist robs Arizona of one of the few hitters actually producing in 2026. The Diamondbacks failed to score Friday night, managing only two hits and leaving them with three runs in three games.

The Braves have scored 43 runs, but 17 of those came on Thursday night. They rank in the bottom half so far in exit velo and hard-hit rate.

Ronald Acuna Jr’s .223 wOBAcon and .216 xBA are limiting Atlanta’s opportunities to score runs, and the Braves needed a pair of ninth-inning solo blasts to win last night.

This total feels just a bit too high.

Braves vs Diamondbacks odds

• Moneyline: Atlanta +104 | Arizona -108
• Run line: Atlanta -1.5 (+163) | Arizona +1.5 (-170)
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 (-100) | Under 9.5 (-104)

Braves vs Diamondbacks trend

The Atlanta Braves have hit the Moneyline in 18 of their last 26 away games (+12.90 Units / 44% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Braves vs. Diamondbacks.

How to watch Braves vs Diamondbacks and game info

Braves vs Diamondbacks latest injuries

Braves vs Diamondbacks weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

The 2019 Yankees were a very odd team. They had a number of players come somewhat out of nowhere to put up solid seasons, and often in response to another member of the team going down with an injury. Cameron Maybin was one of those who stepped up.

Having been a cash considerations pickup early in the season, Maybin was mainly only acquired to fill in for injuries. However, he started playing well enough that the Yankees felt the need to keep him around. Other than a small sample size run early in his career, the 127 OPS+ he put up in 2019 was by far the best of his career.

Even if it was just one season, he was a lot of fun to watch.

Cameron Keith Maybin
Born: April 4, 1987 (Asheville, NC)
Yankees Tenure: 2019

Born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, Maybin starred at the city’s T.C. Roberson High School. Legend had it that during his high school career, he hit a 490-foot home run. In his senior year of high school in 2005, he was considered one of the top prospects available in that year’s MLB Draft, as he was viewed as a genuine five tool talent. Despite being even higher ranked by several draftniks, he fell to the Detroit Tigers at the 10th overall pick, as there were some concerns about his signability. Maybin was committed to play at Southern University, but he still ended up agreeing to terms with the Tigers.

After signing with Detroit, Maybin shot up the various prospect rankings and also shot right through the minor leagues. He debuted in pro ball in 2006, and by the next August he was already getting called up to Detroit at just 20-years-old. In his second career game, he homered off Roger Clemens and the Yankees. Clemens then hit him with a pitch next time up, because Roger Clemens.

However, Maybin wasn’t destined to stick around Detroit for long. The following offseason, he was one of the centerpieces of one of the biggest trades of the era. He, fellow future Yankee Andrew Miller, and others were sent to the Florida Marlins in exchange for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis.

Despite his talent and prospect reputation, Maybin never quite made it in Florida, especially considering what Cabrera went on to do in Detroit. Over three seasons there, he posted an 88 OPS+, and was eventually traded to the Padres.

Over the next several years, Maybin became a perfectly fine MLB player, especially on defense, just never a truly spectacular player who could stick around somewhere for long. He became a bit of a journeyman, having stints in San Diego, Atlanta, back in Detroit, Anaheim, Houston, back in Miami, and Seattle.

To start 2019, Maybin signed a minor league deal with the Giants as a non-roster invite for spring training. He didn’t end up sticking there and was eventually released, before signing a minor league deal with Cleveland. They assigned him to Triple-A, and he was OPS’ing just .663 when the Yankees came calling.

In early April 2019, Clint Frazier went down with an injury. At that point, all of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, and, yes, Jacoby Ellsbury were on the IL as well, and the depth was running thin. That led to the Yankees acquiring Maybin from Cleveland for cash considerations.

Maybin’s first game as a Yankee came on April 26th, where he recorded a hit, which he proceeded to do in all of his first seven games with the team. While his acquisition may have initially just been a short-term play for depth, eventually Maybin just kept hitting to the point where the Yankees had to keep him around. From June 15-18, he homered in four consecutive games and had an OPS of .892 in over 100 plate appearances. Beyond him playing well, Maybin’s affable personality also endeared himself to fans and teammates.

Shortly after that, Maybin himself was forced to the IL with a calf strain, which kept him out a little over a month. Even as he and other Yankees’ outfielders started to recover and return, the team simply had to keep Maybin around, as he was playing too well. He just kept on hitting right through the end of the season, posting a .858 OPS.

Maybin didn’t get a ton of playing time in the postseason, but he hit decently there too, going 2-for-6 with a home run and two stolen bases.

Following that season, Maybin returned to Detroit for a third stint in 2020. He was traded part way through the COVID-shortened season to the Cubs. He then played a handful of games for the Mets in 2021 before retiring from playing. After playing, he’s spent some time in various broadcast booths as an analyst, including a year with the YES Network.

In total, Maybin’s tenure with the Yankees totals just 82 games. However, his tenure was way more fun than you might expect from that short a stint.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series he

Hey hey, its our first day of having four Texas Rangers minor league games!

Hickory starter Jesus Lafalaise went four shutout innings, striking out two. Aneudis Mejia allowed four runs, including two home runs, while returning just one batter.

Deward Tovar had a hit.

Hickory box score

Dalton Pence started for Hub City, allowing two runs in 4.2 IP, walking one and striking out seven. J’Briell Easley allowed two runs in an inning walking one and striking out one.

Maxton Martin had the lone hit for Hub City, and also stole a base.

Hub City box score

Frisco starter Dylan MacLean struck out six and walked two in five innings, allowing one run. Bryan Magdaleno and Josh Trentadue each struck out a hitter apiece in their respective scoreless innings of work.

Dylan Dreiling was 2 for 4 with a homer. Ian Moller had a hit. Keith Jones II had a hit.

Frisco box score

For Round Rock, Josh Stephan started, allowing a pair of homers, including one to Rowdy Tellez (who had two bombs in the game), and four runs in four innings, striking out three and walking one. Patrick Murphy allowed a solo homer and struck out one in 1.1 IP. Gavin Collyer struck out two in 1.1 innings. Alex Diaz struck out two and walked one in a scoreless inning, throwing 10 strikes and 9 balls.

Cam Cauley doubled. Justin Foscue and Aaron Zavala each had a hit.

Round Rock box score

The unit of the universe is the atom. The unit of a baseball game, however, is the moment. A season is comprised of series, which are comprised of games, which are comprised of innings, which are comprised of plate appearances, which are comprised of pitches and the subsequent swing decisions, and all that results. You’ve heard the relevant sayings about forests and trees. Nearly every moment of a season will be subsumed by the greater sweeps of a full campaign; even the most meaningful moments, upon which entire narratives may swing, only exist because of the gradual piling-up of moments prior. Still, by looking at particular moments in a season, we can find some interesting stories.

By Win Probability Added, the most significant moment of the series against the Nationals was Edmundo Sosa’s ninth inning, 2-RBI, game-tying single. Just after the previous at-bat (Alec Bohm working a free pass to put runners on second and third with two away), the Philadelphia win probability was 18%. After Sosa’s scoring slash, it was 63.4%, a difference of 45.4%.

Any starting point for this story would be somewhat arbitrary (unless we start with the first inning, but that’s a bit of a broader scope than we need). For our purposes, though, we’ll start with the bottom of the seventh, before Sosa was a factor at all. With two away, and a lead that had shrunk to three thanks to a J.T. Realmuto solo shot, the Nationals had Kyle Schwarber to deal with. He represented neither the winning nor the tying run, and the visitors were only one out away from ending the inning. Still, the Washingtons were not keen on surrendering more of their momentum to another homer. Andre Granillo, a righty, was on the mound. Cionel Pérez, a lefty, was called in to provide the platoon advantage against Schwarber. He kept the ball low in the zone against Schwarber, and induced a flyout on a curveball to end the inning.

With two of the three batters due up next for the home team being of the left-handed sort, the Nationals kept Pérez in. But the platoon advantage didn’t stop Bryce Harper from homering to narrow the lead to two. The Nationals kept Pérez in, and he quickly accrued a baserunner, in the form of Alec Bohm, through his shortstop’s fielding error. That would bring Bryson Stott to the plate. The move for Rob Thomson was obvious: get the platoon advantage by subbing in Sosa for Stott.

It didn’t pay off, at the time. Sosa grounded out.

But in the next inning, Sosa came to the plate again. The Nationals had LHP PJ Poulin on the mound, and so they made an obvious choice of their own in bringing in righty Cole Henry to thwart the very platoon advantage that had put Sosa in the game in the first place.

Henry has a four seamer, a sweeper, a sinker, a cutter, and a changeup. The changeup was always a sparingly seen offering from him, and he seems to be making the cutter sparse as well, given that it hasn’t shown up at all through 44 pitches this season. That left him with a trio of offerings with which to attack Sosa.

He started with a pair of fastballs high, getting strikes on both (via foul and whiff, in that order). In full command of the situation with an 0-2 count, Henry moved to finish off Sosa with a same-handed sweeper. Textbook stuff, but there’s a reason why it’s textbook.

The problem was that he left it too high, and put it squarely where Sosa could do damage. You know the rest.

It was all as simple as a badly placed pitch. But that badly placed pitch was built on a series of other decisions, some good, some bad, some neither until Sosa’s swing issued the final verdict.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Orioles fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Seven games into the 2026 season, the Orioles sit below .500 at 3-4. It is not what anyone in Birdland was hoping to see. The O’s needed to blast out of the gate to chase away any lingering worries about the things that plagued the team last year, and instead they’ve managed to start up the season feeling like they’ve picked up a lot of last year’s baggage and carried it into this year with them.

In our survey this week, I polled Orioles fans asking what is the biggest concern area with the team right now out of the following areas: Starting pitching, relief pitching, bullpen, and defense. Here’s how the results came back:

I have to say that I’m surprised that defense is down at the bottom, tied for last with starting pitching at 13%. I’m as confident as I can be about anything with the Orioles that the group of hitters who are here are going to be able to figure it out and at least be decent. The defense, on the other hand, is already trending in a bad direction and there’s no sign of improvement on the horizon as long as the personnel remain largely the same.

Those worried about the offense certainly got some validation with Friday’s loss to the Pirates, what with the Orioles going 1-9 with runners in scoring position. That’s one that feels like it’s carrying over from last year. If I started the survey now, maybe more people would be worried about the starting pitching. This survey was posted before Zach Eflin’s injury and before Kyle Bradish turned in a clunker. There’s a lot more chaos potential for the pitching with Eflin’s likely season-ending injury and with Bradish’s performance more of a question.

If you’re feeling like the actual answer is, “Everything,” I get it. The only reason I didn’t list that as an answer is that I knew it would be a runaway winner.

This week’s survey is sponsored by FanDuel.

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The New York Mets face the San Francisco Giants in Oracle Park tonight at 9:05 p.m. ET for the third of a four-game series. 

New York broke out of a three-game losing skid with a resounding 10-3 victory yesterday, and my Mets vs. Giants predictions and MLB picks for Saturday, April 4, see the visitor as the victor once again.

Who will win Mets vs Giants today: Mets (-118)

This line is giving the benefit of the doubt to the San Francisco Giants because Landen Roupp had a phenomenal season debut, and they’re playing at home. 

The New York Mets are simply the better team — sitting Top 15 in both runs scored and allowed — while San Francisco is 1-4 at home. I’m buying the reduced price on the visitor. 

Roupp struggles with command, walking 4.03 batters per nine innings. Mets starter Clay Holmes has his flaws, but the Giants' league-worst wOBA (.241) against RHP leaves them ill-poised to capitalize. 

COVERS INTEL: Holmes altered his pitch mix in his first start, ditching his poor slider (.374 xwOBA) and adding a curveball. All of his offerings, other than his sinker, graded out at 100 or above in Stuff+ in his debut.

Mets vs Giants Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-106)

San Francisco has been the worst team in the league against RHP (55 wRC+). Holmes transitioned to the rotation in 2025 and made 31 starts, posting a solid 3.53 ERA thanks to a 75th-percentile barrel rate and 94th percentile ground-ball rate. 

As for the Mets, star slugger Juan Soto departed Friday’s contest in the first inning with a right calf injury. It’d be surprising if he suits up Saturday, likely leaving them without their best hitter in pitcher-friendly Oracle Park.

New York has cashed the Under in five of its last seven games; here’s predicting another.

Mets vs Giants odds

• Moneyline: New York -106 | San Francisco -114
• Run line: New York -1.5 (+155) | San Francisco +1.5 (-180)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-114) | Under 7.5 (-106)

Mets vs Giants trend

San Francisco is 1-4 with a -14 run differential at home. Find more MLB betting trends for Mets vs. Giants.

How to watch Mets vs Giants and game info

Mets vs Giants latest injuries

Mets vs Giants weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.