MLB Picks and Predictions For Saturday
Our team of writers and handicappers hand out their MLB picks and predictions for Saturday, May 16.
Baltimore Orioles at Kansas City Royals, 7:10PM ET
The Kansas City Royals snapped their longest losing streak of the season behind another dominant outing from their ace and a big night at the plate.
Without Zack Greinke on the mound, the pressure now will be more squarely on the offense.
The Royals look to build on their first win in eight days as they continue a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night.
Greinke was excellent again in an 8-1 victory Friday, holding Baltimore to one run and six hits in seven innings and improving to 7-1 with a major league-best 0.60 ERA. This time, though, the right-hander got plenty of help from his offense, which delivered 13 hits after recording five in Greinke's last start - a 1-0 road loss to the Los Angeles Angels last Saturday.
The Royals (19-17) got home runs from Mike Jacobs and Miguel Olivo and went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position to snap a six-game losing streak. They averaged 2.3 runs and batted .221 overall - and .200 with runners in scoring position - during the skid.
MLB Free Pick: Baltimore | Best Line: +110 SPORTSBETTING
New York Mets at San Francisco Giants, 4:10PM ET
Randy Johnson hopes to move a step closer to a milestone that may not be seen again for a very long time. To get there, however, he'll have to beat one of the best pitchers in the game.
Johnson seeks his 299th victory Saturday as the San Francisco Giants try to cool of the surging New York Mets and red-hot Johan Santana.
Johnson (3-3, 5.89 ERA) figures to become the 24th member of the 300-win club at some point this season, and with the winningest active pitcher behind him only at 249 wins (Jamie Moyer), he could be the last 300-game winner for quite a while.
The left-hander earned his 298th win on Monday despite giving up four runs and eight hits, including three homers, with nine strikeouts over five innings of an 11-7 victory over Washington.
MLB Free Pick: New York | Best Line: -160 SPORTSBETTING
Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals, 4:10PM ET
The Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals entered their first meeting of the season tied for the NL Central lead. They ended it the same way.
After the opener of their three-game series was postponed because of storms, the Cardinals and Brewers will again try to break the deadlock Saturday.
Friday night's opener was stopped in the bottom of the second inning because of persistent rain at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals led 2-0, but the clubs will start over when they make up the game Monday night, which had been an off day for both teams.
The rainout, only the fifth at 4-year-old Busch Stadium and first since March 31, 2008, forced the teams to wait one more day to battle for the top spot in the division. The Cardinals and Brewers, both 21-14, are a half-game up on the Chicago Cubs, while Cincinnati is one game back.
MLB Free Pick: St. Louis | Best Line: -145 SPORTSBETTING
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