At the risk of making "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," how is it October already? Welcome to the best and busiest month for sports. October obviously features the NFL and college football, but did you know that there's at least one football game on the schedule every day this month?
Also, the NBA season tips off on Oct. 20, and the NHL just dropped the puck on its season. And October has treats for WNBA (playoffs), Formula 1 (United States Grand Prix) and horse racing (Breeders' Cup) fans as well. But very little surpasses October baseball, especially in a winner-take-all matchup.
And that's exactly what's teed up on Thursday when the Atlanta Braves host the rival Philadelphia Phillies in a win-or-go-home Game 3 of their National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park. Bet on Thursday's NFL action with the FanDuel promo code and get up to $250 in bonus bets: The series so far has been a thriller, with the Braves coming back to win Game 1 on Austin Riley's late three-run homer, and the Phillies rallying to take a wild Game 2 in 10 innings. For Game 3, Aaron Nola (7-12, 4.67 ERA) will get the ball for Philadelphia, while Grant Holmes (10-6, 3.44) is likely to serve as the bulk pitcher for Atlanta.
The Braves are ever-so-slight -110 money line favorites over the Phillies (-102) in MLB betting odds. Philadelphia Game 3 is the marquee attraction on Thursday, there are other sports betting options across a sporting landscape that includes Steelers at Browns in the NFL Thursday Night Football game, a partial college football schedule and a full NHL slate. Below is a snapshot of what to watch and bet at the best sports betting apps, for Thursday, Oct. 1.
Claim the Caesars Sportsbook promo code CBSSPORTSBR250 here to bet on Thursday and get up to $250 in bet resets: Time: 8 p.m. | Location: Atlanta | TV: NBC | Stream: Fubo (Try for free) SportsLine pick -- Model: Braves +1.5 -190 | Expert: Braves +1.5 -166 (Matt Severance) Atlanta's recent history in elimination games is brutal. The Braves have lost their last six games when facing elimination, a streak that dates to the 2018 NL Division Series. Two of those losses came to Philadelphia (in the '22 and '23 Division Series).
Still, SportsLine's Matt Severance notes that Atlanta mostly dominated the regular season series against the Phillies and has the better lineup. "This utterly screams another one-run, lower-scoring game with all arms on deck for the most part," he told SportsLine. The SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every MLB game 10,000 times, agrees.
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