Expert Baseball Picks and Previews

Kazuma Okamoto hopes to power Blue Jays past Padres It’s not been the season the Toronto Blue Jays envisioned. Even after a 5-3 win to start their weekend series Friday night at the San Diego Padres, they’re four games under .500 and 1 1/2 games out of the American League’s last wild-card spot. Imagine how much worse off they’d be

Rangers focused on rival Astros with All-Star break looming At the very least, the Texas Rangers ensured on Friday that the Houston Astros wouldn’t bypass them in the American League West standings prior to the All-Star Game break. The Rangers turned a four-run eighth inning into a 7-3 victory over the Astros in the opener of a three-game series between

Seeking home series win, Orioles ride momentum into rematch vs. Royals The last two times the Baltimore Orioles opened a home series with a victory, in June, they lost the next two games. They’ll try to reverse that trend when they have a rematch with the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night. Baltimore rode Samuel Basallo’s two-run homer in the

Cristopher Sanchez, Phillies bid for bounce-back effort vs. Tigers Cristopher Sanchez’s Cy Young Award candidacy took a hit in his last start. The left-hander will try to bounce back when the visiting Philadelphia Phillies face the red-hot Detroit Tigers on Saturday night. Sanchez was rocked for nine runs and 12 hits in 3 1/3 innings at Kansas City on Monday,

Otto Lopez, Marlins strive to topple Guardians Winners of 26 of their last 35 games, the Miami Marlins are one of the most surprising teams in baseball. But the real shock is how the Marlins are getting it done. Exhibit A is shortstop Otto Lopez, a first-time All-Star this season who was acquired in 2024 after he was designated for

Hot Red Sox put travel woes behind, seek to clinch series vs. Mets The Boston Red Sox left Citi Field on Friday night uncertain who their starting pitcher would be on Saturday. That may be just a small hurdle to overcome for a team that’s already figured out how to win a game immediately after a nightmarish travel experience. The

Rays, laden with All-Stars, hope to outshine struggling Mariners again The Tampa Bay Rays are riding a power surge and sporting a new All-Star, the team’s fifth, and will try to keep rolling Saturday afternoon when they face the Seattle Mariners in St. Petersburg, Fla. The American League East-leading Rays hit four home runs in Friday night’s 7-2 rout of

Yankees eye third straight win, face Nationals with Cam Schlittler on mound Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler looks for his 10th win of the season when New York visits the Washington Nationals in the middle game of their series on Saturday. The Yankees have won two straight for the first time since June 23-24 thanks to Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s heroics on

Pirates add infielder for flexibility ahead of Brewers doubleheader The Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t stand pat on Friday despite seeing their scheduled series opener against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers rained out. Pittsburgh sent the 34th overall pick in the upcoming MLB Draft and left-hander Jaden Woods to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for infielder Jacob Gonzalez and left-handed pitcher Brandon