MLB Thursday best bets: Giants to take opener in Arizona

We have a very light baseball card ahead of us Thursday. Six games are scheduled league-wide, only three of which are on the night slate.

Luckily, a couple of plays really stand out. Let's dive into why.

Giants (-145) @ Diamondbacks (+125)

The Diamondbacks have quietly played solid baseball of late - at least offensively. They own a 7-5 record over the past two weeks and are teeing off at the dish.

They performed remarkably well against righties in that span, recording a .404 wOBA (first in MLB) and .225 ISO (second).

A soft schedule has helped - the Diamondbacks had series against the Marlins and Nationals, as well as games at Coors Field in that span - but they still deserve credit for taking advantage of the opportunities at hand.

Against Alex Cobb and the Giants, I expect Arizona to come back down to earth.

The Diamondbacks have been hitting with extreme power of late, ranking near the top of the league in ISO and hard-hit rate. The best way to suck the life out of that power is by keeping the ball on the ground. That's Cobb's bread and butter.

Cobb has induced grounders at a whopping 63% clip this season, the best rate among all of the day's projected starters.

He's striking out nearly 23% of the batters faced - solid but unspectacular - and generating just under three grounders for every fly ball allowed.

Several of the D-Backs' best hitters - including Christian Walker and Ketel Marte - have struggled mightily with the sinker, which is Cobb's most prominent pitch. They've also seen little of Cobb's second-most-utilized pitch: the splitter.

If Cobb can keep the Diamondbacks in check, the Giants' bats should be able to take care of the rest.

Tommy Henry owns a putrid strikeout rate and allows a lot of fly balls, which plays into the hands of a San Francisco offense built on chasing power.

Look for the Giants to get back in the win column Thursday night.

Bet: Giants (-145)

Yandy Diaz over 1.5 total bases (+110)

Diaz checks every box imaginable in tonight's game against the Yankees. He's absolutely teed off on right-handed pitching all season, even more so away from home. He's facing a righty in Domingo German.

Diaz owns a .492 wOBA and .324 ISO against righties away from the Trop. Now he finds himself in one of the more hitter-friendly locations: Yankee Stadium.

German is predominantly a curveball pitcher. As you'd expect, Diaz absolutely feasts against the pitch.

Last season, Diaz posted a .397 wOBA against the curveball, generating hard contact 60% of the time. He's picked up where he left off last year, owning a .575 wOBA and 57% hard-hit rate.

In a premium hitting park against a pitcher who throws a ton of a pitch he excels against, expect Diaz to make real noise at the dish.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.