Expert Baseball Picks and Previews

Angels’ Ryan Johnson aims to turn around fortunes vs. Twins Ryan Johnson will look for a rare positive result on Saturday afternoon when he takes the mound for the Los Angeles Angels in their game against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis. Johnson (1-4, 6.99 ERA) has allowed 14 earned runs and six homers in 23 1/3 innings over five starts

Giants, Rockies have little turnaround time for next contest Two teams with just 14 hours to digest a crazy finish the night before will take the field for an afternoon game Saturday when the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants continue their four-game series in California. In a marathon ninth inning that lasted almost an hour, began with the bases

After scoring outburst, White Sox want repeat against Athletics An overdue outburst propelled the Chicago White Sox to a lopsided victory against the visiting Athletics on Friday night. The White Sox will aim to keep slugging and earn a series victory on Saturday afternoon. Chicago rolled 14-1 in the series opener after managing two combined runs over three straight home

Despite setbacks, Cards remain positive ahead of opener vs. Braves After hosting the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers for five games this week, the Cardinals welcome the NL East-best Atlanta Braves to St. Louis on Friday for the opener of a three-game series. The Cardinals fell for the fourth time in five games with an 8-4 loss to the Brewers

Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani gets another shot at D-backs before All-Star break Shohei Ohtani makes his last pitching start prior to the All-Star break when the Los Angeles Dodgers host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. Ohtani has been battling right bicep, left knee and right hand blister issues recently but was cleared to make this start. Ohtani will see limited

Twins bid to move closer to .500 in matchup vs. lowly Angels The Minnesota Twins’ bid to reach the .500 mark went by the boards after their bats fell silent on Thursday afternoon. Fresh off seeing their four-game winning streak end, the Twins will look to get back on track Friday night when they open a three-game series against the

Mets slowly picking up steam ahead of opener vs. Red Sox Over their last two games, the New York Mets have displayed the formula necessary to begin the long climb back to respectability. The Boston Red Sox are two weeks into a similar climb. The Mets and Red Sox each will aim to remain hot Friday night in the opener

Giants’ Robbie Ray eager to extend hot streak vs. Rockies One of the hottest pitchers who won’t be appearing in the upcoming All-Star Game will take the mound when Robbie Ray and the San Francisco Giants host the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. Propelled by their first “Splash Hit” of the season, the Giants opened the four-game head-to-head with an

Munetaka Murakami, White Sox get fresh start vs. A’s Limited to two runs and 15 hits in a three-game sweep at the hands of the visiting Boston Red Sox this week, the Chicago White Sox are expecting a much-needed offensive reinforcement on Friday. Chicago anticipates activating slugging first baseman Munetaka Murakami from the injured list before hosting the Athletics in