MLB Picks and Predictions for Saturday
Our team of writers and handicappers hand out their MLB picks and predictions for Saturday, May 30.
Atlanta Braves at Arizona Diamondbacks, 4:10PM ET
The Atlanta Braves haven't been good at building on their biggest offensive games this season. They'll get another chance Saturday night.
After snapping a four-game skid, the Braves look to win their second straight from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the continuation of their four-game set.
The Braves (24-24), who scored seven runs and hit .177 during their losing streak, broke out with 13 hits in a 10-6 win Friday.
Yunel Escobar hit a three-run homer and Jair Jurrjens doubled home two runs to help Atlanta jump out to a 9-1 lead in the third inning. Jurrjens, however, left after giving up five runs over five innings as the Diamondbacks attempted a comeback.
MLB Free Pick: Atlanta | Best Line: -120 SPORTSBETTING
St. Louis Cardinals at San Francisco Giants, 9:05PM ET
After missing most of the past two seasons, Chris Carpenter is quickly making up for lost time.
The former NL Cy Young winner whose career has been derailed by elbow and shoulder injuries looks to continue his dominant return Saturday night when the St. Louis Cardinals play the middle game of a three-games series against the San Francisco Giants.
Carpenter (2-0, 0.00 ERA) won a Cy Young Award in 2005 and won 15 games in 2006, but made just four starts and one relief appearance over the next two seasons for the Cardinals (28-20) because of injuries. The right-hander's extensive history of arm trouble came up again in the offseason, when he had surgery to transpose a nerve on his pitching elbow.
Carpenter started the year in St. Louis' rotation and didn't allow an earned run in his first two starts, but he strained a left ribcage muscle against Arizona on April 14 and spent the next five weeks on the disabled list.
MLB Free Pick: St. Louis | Best Line: -150 SPORTSBETTING
New York Yankees at Cleveland Indians, 7:05PM ET
CC Sabathia spent seven-plus seasons at the front of the Cleveland Indians' rotation, compiling more than 100 wins and winning the franchise's first Cy Young Award in 35 years.
Playing in Cleveland, however, probably won't feel quite the same Saturday night when Sabathia takes the mound as a visitor for the first time.
Sabathia, in the first season of a seven-year, $161 million dollar contract with the New York Yankees, returns to Progressive Field to face his former team as the first-place Yankees and last-place Indians continue a four-game series.
Sabathia (4-3, 3.42 ERA) went 106-71 with a 3.83 ERA with Cleveland from 2001-08, including 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA during his Cy Young campaign in 2007.
MLB Free Pick: New York | Best Line: -160 SPORTSBETTING