Expert Baseball Picks and Previews

The Baltimore Orioles visit the Miami Marlins on Thursday night at loanDepot Park, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET. It is the finale of a three-game interleague set, and Baltimore has already taken the first two games after winning 9-7 on Tuesday and 7-4 on Wednesday. The Orioles come in at 17-20 and third in the AL East.

The Tampa Bay Rays visit the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night at Fenway Park, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET. It is an AL East matchup with a pretty clear market tension: Tampa Bay has been the better team all season, but Boston is at home with a young starter who has looked sharp in limited work.

The St. Louis Cardinals head to PETCO Park on Thursday night to open a four-game series against the San Diego Padres, with first pitch scheduled for 10:10 p.m. ET. It is a good late-window matchup on ESPN, mostly because both clubs are sitting second in their divisions and neither one feels like a finished product yet. St. Louis comes in

The New York Mets visit the Colorado Rockies on Thursday afternoon at Coors Field, with first pitch scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET. This was supposed to be an off day, but the series had to be rearranged after rain and snow pushed the schedule around in Denver. Now the Mets have a chance to finish off a sweep before moving

The Cincinnati Reds visit the Chicago Cubs on Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field, with first pitch scheduled for 2:20 p.m. ET. This is the finale of a four-game NL Central series, and it has been a brutal few days for Cincinnati. The Reds have dropped the first three games of the series, all in walk-off fashion, and now need to

The Pittsburgh Pirates visit the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon at Chase Field, with first pitch scheduled for 3:40 p.m. ET. This is the finale of a three-game series in Phoenix, and the first two games could not have been much different. Arizona won 9-0 on Tuesday, then Pittsburgh answered with a tight 1-0 win behind Paul Skenes on Wednesday.

The Cleveland Guardians visit the Kansas City Royals on Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET. It is the finale of a four-game AL Central series, and Cleveland is trying to salvage a split after winning 3-1 on Wednesday night. The Guardians come in at 19-19 and first in the AL Central, which says

The Minnesota Twins visit the Washington Nationals on Thursday afternoon at Nationals Park, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET. This is the rubber match of a three-game interleague series, and both teams are trying to find something more stable after uneven starts. Minnesota comes in at 16-21 and fifth in the AL Central. The Twins were hammered 15-2

The Texas Rangers visit the New York Yankees on Thursday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 12:35 p.m. ET. This is the rubber match of a three-game series after New York won the opener 7-4 and Texas answered with a 6-1 win on Wednesday. Texas enters at 17-19 and is still trying to get its offense to