Editor's note: only the marquee game carries a Vegas line right now. The rest of the slate runs without picks until our model ships. Full slate and live scores at watch.uristocrat.com.
Labor Day means baseball all day and nothing else. Eleven games, first pitch at 1:05 p.m. ET, last one starting at 10:05 p.m. ET on the West Coast. No NFL yet, no WNBA today. The one that matters most is in Milwaukee, where the Cubs need to start closing a gap that has been widening all month.
Marquee: Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers, NL Central (2:10 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Milwaukee is 88-56, the best record in baseball. Chicago is 81-63 and seven games back with three weeks left. The Cubs already split a four-game set at Wrigley last week, which was fine for them and better for the Brewers, since a split does nothing to a seven-game lead. Now they get the rematch in Milwaukee. Matthew Boyd (8-3, 4.05) goes for the Cubs against Robert Gasser (4-5, 4.57), and Boyd is the better arm on paper, which is most of why Chicago is close to a pick despite the record gap. The division is probably gone. The Cubs are playing for a wild card seed and for the small chance that Milwaukee stumbles, and holiday afternoon games on national TV are where that kind of pressure shows up first. MLB.com framed the last series the same way.
Vegas line: Brewers -126, Cubs +105, total 8.5 (over -106 / under -114), run line MIL -1.5 (+163). Odds via ESPN.
Also today
- Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies (1:05 p.m. ET, NBC 10). The best game on the early card. Atlanta is 85-58, Philadelphia is 80-63, and this is the NL East decided in real time. Both teams are going to October. The question is who gets home field and who has to open on the road.
- Cleveland Guardians at Baltimore Orioles (1:35 p.m. ET, MASN). Cleveland is 73-71 and still alive in the AL wild card chase. Baltimore is 69-75 and playing out the string. Joey Cantillo (9-8, 3.81) against Trevor Rogers (9-9, 4.30). The Guardians cannot afford to drop games like this one.
- Washington Nationals at San Diego Padres (5:10 p.m. ET). San Diego is 75-68 and needs every win it can get. Nick Pivetta starts against Jake Irvin (2-8, 5.57), and the Padres are heavy favorites at home. That is exactly the kind of game a wild card team has to convert.
- Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles Dodgers (9:10 p.m. ET). The Dodgers are 86-57. The Reds are 69-74 and functionally done, but they are the kind of team that has already spoiled a few nights this season. Late window, best team in the National League, worth leaving on.
- Toronto Blue Jays at Athletics (10:05 p.m. ET). Last game of the day and the one nobody on the East Coast will finish. Toronto is chasing in the AL East and the Athletics are not, but the 10:05 start makes this the only baseball on when everything else is over.
The rest of the card fills in around them: Mets at Marlins (1:10 p.m. ET), Angels at Red Sox (1:35 p.m. ET), Diamondbacks at Royals (2:10 p.m. ET), Twins at Tigers (3:10 p.m. ET), and Cardinals at Giants (8:10 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock).
Three weeks left. Almost every game today involves at least one team that still has something to play for, which is the thing about early September that late September never gives you back. Start with Cubs and Brewers at 2:10 and let the rest run.
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