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Jack Flaherty and the St. Louis Cardinals (2-4) will attempt to get on track Friday in a series opener against a sizzling Milwaukee Brewers (5-1) club that has won five straight. First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET from American Family Field in Milwaukee. The Brewers are coming off a three-game home sweep of the New York Mets by a combined score of 26-6, while the Cardinals look to recover from a three-game sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves in St. Louis. Flaherty threw five scoreless innings against Toronto in his first start to pick up a victory. He is opposed by Brandon Woodruff (0-0), who took a no-decision in his first outing despite limiting the Chicago Cubs to one run over six innings.

On Friday, the Brewers are -160 betting favorites (risk $160 to win $100), while the Cardinals fetch a price of +135 in the latest MLB odds from Caesars Sportsbook. The over/under for total runs scored is 8.5. That's one of 14 games on the Friday MLB schedule and one of five that begin at 6:40 p.m. ET or later. Before making any MLB picks or parlays, be sure to check out the MLB predictions and betting advice from SportsLine's proven simulation model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every MLB game 10,000 times. It went 331-285 on top-rated MLB money-line picks (+357) over the past two seasons, and it finished the 2022 MLB season on a 20-14 roll. Anybody who has followed it has seen profitable returns.

For Friday, the model has locked in three confident MLB best bets for games that begin after 8 p.m. ET. If you successfully parlay the picks, you'd be looking at a payout of well over 8-1. You can only see the model's MLB picks at SportsLine.

Top MLB picks for April 7

After simulating every game on Friday 10,000 times, the model likes the Colorado Rockies (-120) to topple the Washington Nationals (+100) in a matchup of clubs that are struggling out of the gate. The model sees Colorado winning this matchup in a whopping 64% of simulations.

The Rockies (3-4) won their home opener and the series opener 1-0 against Washington (1-6) on Thursday behind a strong outing from pitcher Kyle Freeland and an RBI single in the fifth inning from Kris Bryant. On Friday, Jose Urena (0-1) takes the mound for Colorado, opposed by Mackenzie Gore (0-1) of Washington.

Urena is 5-3 with a 3.66 ERA in 15 appearances and seven career starts against the Nationals. Meanwhile, Washington is 2-8 in its last 10 games against right-handed starters. The Nationals have scored two or fewer runs in six of their seven games this season. You can see who else to back here.

How to make MLB parlays for April 7

The model also locked in two other best bets for Friday, including plays on multiple underdogs. You can see all the model's plays by heading to SportsLine.

What MLB picks should you target for a payout of well over 8-1? And what underdogs does the model like on Friday? Visit SportsLine now to see the MLB best bets from an advanced model that is on a 20-14 run on top-rated money-line picks.