The weekend is almost here and the majority of teams across Major League Baseball are getting their weekend series underway today!
Look below to find our free MLB Picks for the five best games on today’s schedule!
Pittsburgh Pirates @ Chicago Cubs – 2.20PM ET
The Pirates and Cubs will kick off our Friday MLB schedule in Chicago this afternoon, in what will be the first match of their three game series.
The Cubs will continue their stint of games at Wrigley Field on Friday, looking to build on their best three game stretch of the season. Chicago are coming off a series sweep against the Dodgers having defeated the reigning champions 7-1 on Tuesday, 4-3 on Wednesday and 6-5 on Thursday.
After recording wins against Clayton Kershaw (game one) and Trevor Bauer (game two), Anthony Rizzo was the hero of Chicago’s offense in game three, hitting a walk-off single in the 11th inning to seal the victory.
Anthony Rizzo hits a walk-off single and escapes to the clubhouse before his teammates can mob him 🤣 pic.twitter.com/Qajf0ygnzX
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 6, 2021
As for the Pirates, they are coming off a series loss to the Padres in San Diego. With their three game set tied at 1-1, Pittsburgh couldn’t get over the San Diego during Wednesday’s decider, going down 2-4.
J.T Brubaker was once again solid at the mound for the Pirates, allowing just two earned runs in five innings with the ball. However Duane Underwood couldn’t contain San Diego in the sixth inning, giving up the game winning two runs.
Trevor Cahill (7.40 ERA) will take the ball for Pittsburgh on Friday, having recently allowed five runs in his last start, four of which came in the first inning. Zach Davies (8.22 ERA) is expected to make the start for Chicago, having not gone more than four innings in each of his last five starts.
With neither bullpen sending a dominant pitcher to the mound for this matchup, the team with the superior lineup will win this game.
Seeing as the Cubs recently outscored the reigning champions 17-9 in a three game series, we like Chicago to defeat Pittsburgh on Friday. The Cubs lineup recently scored 11 runs in two games against Clayton Kershaw and Trevor Bauer, while the Pirates lineup has only scored four runs combined in their past two outings.
MLB Pick – Chicago Cubs (-148)
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Cincinnati Reds @ Cleveland Indians – 7.10PM ET
The Cincinnati Reds are headed to Cleveland to kick off their weekend set of games against the Indians.
Cleveland will be flushed with confidence coming into Friday’s game, having recently completed a four game road series sweep over their AL Central rivals, the Kansas City Royals.
As a result of their most recent 4-0 shutout win on Thursday, the Indians outscored the Royals 24-13 in their series sweep, which has extended their active winning streak to five consecutive games.
Triston McKenzie took the win with the ball on Thursday, allowing just two hits in his five scoreless innings at the mound.
Similarly, the Reds pitched a shutout in their most recent game, defeating the White Sox 1-0 on Thursday. The victory tied Cincinnati’s two game series with Chicago, after the White Sox shutout the Reds 9-0 on Tuesday.
Sonny Gray took the win for Cincinnati with the ball, allowing just two hits and striking out eight White Sox batters in seven scoreless innings at the mound.
Having held opponents to two runs or fewer in four of his five starts this season, left-hander Wade Miley will take the ball for the Reds on Friday, currently boasting a 3-2 record and 2.67 ERA.
Zach Plesac (4.78 ERA) pitched well in his last start for Cleveland, allowing three runs on five hits in 7.2 winnings against the Twins. However, the right hander was clubbed for six runs in each of his previous two starts.
As Pelsac’s form has been inconsistent lately and Miley will give the Reds an advantage at the mound, we like Cincinnati’s potent offense to get the better of Cleveland’s pitching staff on Friday.
The Reds are a top five batting team in the league when looking at runs scored (153) and a top 10 team when looking at collective batting average, while the Indians are a bottom 10 team in the same metrics.
MLB Pick – Cincinnati Reds (+130)
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Minnesota Twins @ Detroit Tigers – 7.10PM ET
The Twins and Tigers will face off in Detroit on Friday night, kicking off the series between these two AL Central rivals.
After tying their three game series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Wednesday night, Detroit failed to upset Boston for a second consecutive game, going down 9-12 on Thursday, resulting in a 1-2 series loss.
The Tigers lineup was firing in Thursday’s loss, scoring nine runs for the first time this year, as Robbie Grossman, Jonathan Schoop and Jeimer Candelario all crossed home plate twice.
Time to head home. #DetroitRoots pic.twitter.com/C634z38l6b
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) May 6, 2021
However, Detroit’s pitching staff gave up a double digit score for the sixth time this season.
As for the Twins, they recently dropped the final three games of their four match series against the Rangers in Minnesota. After winning Monday’s game 6-5, the Twins were outscored 13-7 in games two to four, most recently going down 3-4 on Thursday.
Michael Pineda was solid with the ball on Thursday, allowing just two earned runs in six innings at the mound. However for the third consecutive game, Minnesota’s lineup failed to pass the three run mark.
Matt Shoemaker (7.83) will be making his sixth start with the Twins this year, having allowed nine runs (eight earned) on eight hits with no strikeouts in just 3.1 innings with the ball in his last start.
Tarik Skubal (6.14 ERA) will take the ball for the Tigers on Friday, for what will be his seventh start of the season. In his last outing, Skubal allowed four runs on five hits with one strikeout through three innings in a 10-0 Tigers loss.
Both starting pitchers have leaked runs through the first month of the season, giving Minnesota’s (potentially) damaging lineup the advantage in this encounter.
Even through their COVID-19 struggles, the Twins still have one of the most damaging offenses in the league, ranking inside the top 10 MLB teams when looking at collective batting average and runs scored. Detroit however are a bottom three team in the majors when looking at the same batting categories.
MLB Pick – Minnesota Twins (-144)
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Chicago White Sox @ Kansas City Royals – 8.10PM ET
Second place in the AL Central division is on the line when the 16-14 Royals host the 16-13 Chicago White Sox in Kansas City on Friday.
Currently in second place in their division, the Chicago White Sox split their recent two game series against the Reds in Cincinnati, winning Tuesday’s opener 9-0 and losing Wednesday’s finale 0-1.
Jose Abreu (one run, two hits, three RBIs) found some form with the bat in the Tuesday’s win, while Dylan Cease struck-out 11 Reds batters and allowed just one hit in six scoreless innings at the mound.
Dallas Keuchel threw seven scoreless innings in game two on Wednesday, however Liam Hendriks conceded the game winning run in the 10th inning.
As for the Royals, they are coming into this game having been swept by the Indians in their recent four game series in Kansas City.
As a result of their 0-4 shutout loss to the Indians on Thursday, the Royals were outscored 13-24 against Cleveland this week, which extended their active losing streak to five consecutive games.
Chicago’s Carlos Rodon faces off against the Royals’ Brad Keller in the pitching matchup on Friday. Rodon is having a Cy Young caliber season, currently boasting a 0.72 ERA and 4-0 record this year. Brad Keller is 2-3 with a 8.06 ERA.
As the Royals have failed to score more than four runs in six of their past seven matchup, we can’t see their offense finding form against the White Sox on Friday when coming up against the in-form Carlos Rodon. We like the White Sox to win on the road and Rodon to continue his awesome start to the season.
MLB Pick – Chicago White Sox (-154)
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San Diego Padres @ San Francisco Giants – 9.45PM ET
A pair of divisional rivals will round out our Friday night MLB schedule, as the No. 1 spot in the NL West is up for grabs for the winner of tonight’s Giants vs Padres matchup.
As a result of Wednesday’s 4-2 victory over Pittsburgh, San Diego not only wrapped up a second consecutive series victory, but also moved to just half a game behind San Francisco for the No. 1 spot in the NL West.
With the game tied 2-2 at the bottom of the sixth, Jake Cronenworth hit a double to give the Padres a two run lead. Yu Darvish took the win for San Diego with the ball, collecting eight strikeouts and allowing just two earned runs in 5.2 innings at the mound.
Count on Crone. #PadresWin #HungryForMore pic.twitter.com/HToStiAwPe
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 6, 2021
Contrastingly, with just two wins from their past six games the Giants are returning home having lost back to back series against the Padres in San Diego and the Rockies in Colorado.
With the Colorado series tied at 1-1 heading into Wednesday’s decider, the Giants coughed up six runs against the Rockies. Logan Webb took the loss with the ball, allowing six earned runs on three hits in just 3.2 innings with the ball.
With a 1-0 record and a 3.51 ERA, Blake Snell will be taking the ball for San Diego on Friday night. It is fair to say that he has not quite been up to his Cy Young caliber form in 2021, however Snell allowed just one earned run on five hits and three walks across five innings against the Giants in his last start.
In what has the potential to be an heated pitching matchup, Anthony DeSclafani will start for the Giants on Friday. DeSclafani (2.00 ERA) did not allow a hit over his final four innings against the Padres last Saturday.
We like the Padres to get the W in this game and in doing so claim top spot in the NL West. With Buster Posey, Donovan Solano and Mike Yastrzemski all on the IL, the Giants are dealing with several key injuries while also not being in the best form of late. Contrastingly, San Diego have been in solid form recently and we like Blake Snell to steer them to a win in this matchup on the road.
MLB Pick – San Diego Padres (-146)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
