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Cleveland Indians @ Pittsburgh Pirates – 7.05PM ET
The Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates will kick off our Friday night MLB schedule with the first match of their three game weekend series.
The Indians will enter this set full of confidence after recently sweeping the Baltimore Orioles in their four game series at home. As a result of their 10-3 victory on Thursday, Cleveland outscored Baltimore 29-15 in their four wins.
Contrastingly, the Pirates will be looking to return to form after being swept by the Nationals in their three game series in Washington. Pittsburgh were outscored 4-14 in their recent set in the nation’s capital, and they have now lost 10 consecutive games.
The Cheetah in his natural habitat. pic.twitter.com/R3kWqylxMe
— Pirates (@Pirates) June 17, 2021
Chad Kuhl will be given the responsibility of snapping the Pirates losing streak when he makes his eighth start of the season. Kuhl has an 0-4 record this year to go along with a 6.52 ERA, 1.62 WHIP and 23 strikeouts from 29 innings of work. The right hander has thrown 13.1 innings in his last three starts, allowing 10 earned runs on 14 hits in that time.
J.C Mejia will take the mound for Cleveland on Friday for what will be his fourth start (seventh appearance) of the season. Mejia is 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 13 strikeouts from 12.2 innings of work this year. The right hander has given up six earned runs in his last two starts, throwing just 4.2 innings in that time.
Although the Pirates are on a 10 game losing streak, we are going to pick Pittsburgh to return to the winners list at home on Friday. The Pirates have had a day to reset after a six game road trip and they have been much better performers at home this season. As well as that, the Indians have had to send the inexperienced Mejia to the mound and their bullpen has been overworked recently due to the injury situation to its rotation.
MLB Pick – Pittsburgh Pirates (+118)
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Minnesota Twins @ Texas Rangers – 8.05PM ET
The Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers will kick off their three game series at Globe Life Field on Friday night.
Although they lost the series 1-2, Minnesota will be looking to carry over the form from their most recent outing, having defeated the Mariners in Seattle 7-2 on Wednesday. Friday’s match will be the Twins fourth of a six game road trip.
As for the Rangers, they will be returning home having just finished a five game road trip which saw them win just one match in that time. Texas were recently swept in their short two game series in Houston, as they were outscored 7-14 across both matches.
Mike Foltynewicz will make his 14th start of the season for the Rangers on Friday. Foltynewicz is 1-7 this year to go along with a 5.48 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 47 strikeouts. The right hander has been costly in his past two outings, allowing 12 earned runs on 16 hits in just 6.1 innings.
Jose Berrios will also make his 14th start of the season on Friday. Berrios has led Minnesota to a 7-2 record this year, while he also owns a 3.49 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 81 strikeouts from 77.1 innings of work. The right hander has thrown 21 innings in his last three starts, allowing seven earned runs in that time.
Neither team will enter this series with much form behind them, as both the Twins and Rangers are at the bottom of their respective divisions. However, somebody has to win this contest and we are taking the Twins on the road. Minnesota’s lineup is vastly superior to Texas’ and when coming up against the out of form Mike Foltynewicz, we like the Twins to hit a winning score. As well as that, Jose Berrios has been rock solid on the mound this season and we can’t see him being tapped around by Texas’ lowly offense.
MLB Pick – Minnesota Twins (-162)
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Boston Red Sox @ Kansas City Royals – 8.10PM ET
The Kansas City Royals are set to host the Boston Red Sox on Friday night for what will be the first game of their weekend series.
Boston will enter Friday’s game full of confidence after recently kicking off their eight game road trip with a two game series sweep over the Braves in Atlanta. The Red Sox won both games 10-8.
Contrastingly, Kansas City will be looking to return to form after being swept in their three game series at home against Detroit. The Royals were outscored 11-20 in the three losses, which have extended their active losing streak to six consecutive games.
Yesterday’s grand slam has us thinking about this one… #TBT x @DrSheffieldsNat pic.twitter.com/otAYy3HnYp
— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 17, 2021
Kansas City are yet to announce their starting pitcher for Friday’s clash, however Jackson Kowar is expected to make his third start of the season. Kowar is 0-2 with a 36.00 ERA, 6.50 WHIP and one strikeout over two innings of work in the majors.
Boston will counter with the in-form Nick Pivetta on Friday. Pivetta has a 6-2 record from 12 starts this season, while also owning a 4.28 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 80 strikeouts from 69.1 innings of work. The right hander has allowed 10 earned runs in his last three starts, throwing 15.2 innings in that time.
Although they are on the road, we are going to take Boston to win and win comfortably on Friday night. Pivetta was costly in his last start, however his experience and skill vastly outweighs that of Jackson Kowar. As well as that, Kowar will be coming up against a Red Sox lineup that is averaging 5.05 runs per game and are fresh off back to back 10 run performances.
MLB Pick – Boston Red Sox (TBD)
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Los Angeles Dodgers @ Arizona Diamondbacks – 9.40PM ET
A pair of NL West rivals will face off in Arizona on Friday night when the last placed Diamondbacks host the second placed Dodgers.
Although they lost their most recent outing, Los Angeles concluded their six game stint at home with a second consecutive 2-1 series victory. The Dodgers defeated the Phillies 3-1 on Monday and 5-3 on Tuesday, however they then lost the series finale 0-2 on Wednesday.
As for the Diamondbacks, Thursday’s 3-10 loss to the Giants in San Francisco was their 14th consecutive loss and 23rd consecutive loss on the road.
Caleb Smith will look to bring an end to Arizona’s losing streak when he makes his fifth start (23rd appearance) of the season. Smith has a 2-2 record, 3.61 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 56 strikeouts from 47.1 innings of work in 2021. The southpaw has thrown 14.1 innings in his last three appearances, allowing seven earned runs on 11 hits in that time.
Los Angeles will give Trevor Bauer the ball for his 15th start of the season. Bauer has a 6-5 record this year to go along with a 2.64 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 111 strikeouts from 88.2 innings of work. The right hander has not been at his best recently, having allowed 10 earned runs on 20 hits in his last three starts, throwing 19 innings in that time.
Although the Diamondbacks have lost 23 consecutive games on the road, they will also enter Friday’s series opener on a 14 game losing streak, four of which were home games. We haven’t seen anything from Arizona recently to suggest that they are capable of snapping their losing streak against the reigning world series champions on Friday. Especially with Trevor Bauer at the mound for the Dodgers. As well as that, Los Angeles’ lineup is averaging 5.18 runs per game this season, and we like them to bounce back after being shutout in their last start against Philadelphia.
MLB Pick – Los Angeles Dodgers (-240)
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Philadelphia Phillies @ San Francisco Giants – 9.45PM ET
The Philadelphia Phillies are headed to San Francisco to kick off their three game set against the NL West leading Giants.
Philadelphia recently avoided a series sweep from their three game set against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, winning Wednesday’s series finale 2-0. Although the Dodgers had outscored the Phillies 8-4 in the first two games of the series, Zack Wheeler pitched six innings for just five hits in a shutout game three victory.
As for the Giants, they kicked off their seven game stint in San Francisco with a four game midweek sweep over their division rivals, the Arizona Diamondbacks. San Francisco outscored Arizona 37-20 in the four game series.
YAZ GRAND SLAM BLAST FOR THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/WVZe7m1mBE
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 16, 2021
Johnny Cueto will look to continue the Giants winning ways at home on Friday when he makes his 11th start of the year. Cueto is 4-3 this season to go along with a 4.00 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 42 strikeouts from 54 innings of work. The right hander has allowed eight earned runs in his last three starts, throwing 16.2 innings in that time.
Philadelphia will counter with Vince Velasquez on Friday night. Velasquez has a 2-1 record from nine starts (13 appearances) this year, and he also owns a 4.25 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 57 strikeouts from 48.2 innings of work. The right hander has thrown 12 innings in his last three starts, allowing 11 earned runs on 15 hits in that time.
Seeing as San Francisco will be supporting Cueto with the fifth ranked pitching staff in baseball (3.23 team ERA), we like the Giants to build on their four game winning streak at home on Friday. Especially when considering that the Giants lineup has averaged 9.25 runs per game in their most recent winning streak and they will be coming up against Vince Velasquez in the midst of a form slump.
MLB Pick – San Francisco Giants (-136)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel & Bet365
