MLB Betting: Free Picks on Saturday, July 14

There were more than a few surprises in the National League throughout the first half of the season, including both team and individual performances. While the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, and San Francisco Giants have all managed to keep their postseason hopes alive, the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros will count down the rest of this marathon season before taking their seats to catch the postseason action. Here is a look at some unique storylines heading in to this online MLB betting weekend.

Arizona Diamondbacks @ Chicago Cubs
Saturday, 1:05 PM ET

Even with the addition of new general manager Theo Epstein fans in the Chicago area understood that it would take some time to build a legitimate pay head contender, but the Cubs are treading water and at risk of finishing at the bottom of the NL Central.

On top of ranking among the worst teams in the majors on the road, Chicago is also a game below .500 at home, and there is no obvious reason to expect a turnaround in the second half. The Diamondbacks meanwhile enter the game four games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers for top spot in the AL West, with Joe Saunders looking to improve his overall record of 4-5 in the second half. Saunders will have a tough task against Ryan Dempster and his 1.99 ERA this weekend, as the Canadian has now thrown 27-straight innings without allowing a run over four appearances.

MLB Betting Pick: Chicago Cubs

New York Mets @ Atlanta Braves
Saturday, 4:05 PM ET

RA Dickey has taken the majors by storm this year with his brilliant work, making the NL All-Star roster with a 12-1 record and 2.40 ERA. Fans love watching Dickey work his knuckleballer, and he is a big reason why the Mets are in contention for a playoff spot heading in to the second half of the MLB betting season. Dickey will make his first start coming out of the break opposite Tommy Hanson for the Braves, another pitcher who has enjoyed some solid success this season. Hanson has won five of his last six decisions, but he has given up at least three runs in each of his last four appearances.

MLB Betting Pick: New York Mets

Houston Astros @ San Francisco Giants
Saturday, 9:05 PM ET

The fact that the Giants have managed to stay in the NL West race despite ranking 24th in the majors in runs scored is impressive. The fact that San Francisco has done that despite ace and former two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum pitching a 6.42 ERA with a 3-10 record is outstanding. The Giants survived the first half of the season despite Lincecum’s awful work, which included 13 earned runs allowed over just 6.2 innings over his final two starts before the break, but they are going to need him to be much better in order to become legitimate Betonline contenders. Lincecum hasn’t shown anything to make baseball fans believe that will happen, but after a couple of shaky starts he could bounce back and get a win even with average play against the lowly Astros.

MLB Betting Pick: San Francisco Giants