MLB Picks Today: Expert Predictions & Best Bets for Saturday, June 20, including Dodgers vs Orioles
The week in Major League Baseball continues with a 14-game slate on Saturday. It is headlined by Blue Jays vs Cubs, Brewers vs Braves, Nationals vs Rays and Phillies vs Mets.
Here are my best bets, and also make sure to check out our MLB picks for predictions throughout the 2026 season.
Philadelphia Phillies ML over New York Mets (-180)
Even though the price is somewhat steep, the Phillies have good value to beat the Mets on Saturday. Christopher Sanchez is taking the mound for Philadelphia, and he is a legitimate Cy Young Award candidate in the National League. Sanchez is 8-3 with a 1.82 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP and a ridiculous 116-to-19 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 99.0 innings of work. The Phillies are 7-2 in his last 9 starts. Although Mets starter Freddy Peralta has fared well against his NL East rivals in the past, Bryce Harper has homered twice in 14 at-bats against Peralta and Kyle Schwarber has gone deep twice in 15 at-bats. Count on Sanchez getting enough run support in this contest – and he probably won’t need much.
Pittsburgh Pirates -1.5 over Colorado Rockies (-131)
Regardless of where Paul Skenes is pitching, just a little bit of run support is usually enough. And when the Pirates are playing in Colorado, they should be able to provide him with more than a little bit. Pittsburgh scored only 3 runs on Friday, but that is hardly a concern. The Rockies have still given up at least 5 runs in 6 of their last 8 outings. Tomoyuki Sugano (4.54 ERA, 1.34 WHIP) will likely continue the home team’s trend of generosity. Sugano is coming off a disastrous start against the Athletics, surrendering 8 runs (6 earned) on 8 hits and 2 walks in 5.0 innings. Don’t be fooled by Skenes’ relatively pedestrian numbers (by his lofty standards). The right-hander has allowed 2 earned runs or fewer in 4 straight starts. With the visitors guaranteed a full 9 innings’ worth of at-bats, I feel good about them winning by the necessary margin.
Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5 over Baltimore Orioles (-108)
The Dodgers have been playing excellent baseball over the past 6 weeks or so. Once a modest 24-18, they are 24-9 in their last 33 games. Although 1-run victories have been a bit too prevalent for run-line backers’ liking, things should be different with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. Los Angeles has won Yamamoto’s last 4 starts all by multiple runs. In fact, the defending World Series champions have won those games by a combined 30-5 scoreline. In those 4 appearances, the right-hander gave up just 3 runs in 28.2 innings. Going back even farther to a 1-0 loss to San Diego last month, Yamamoto has allowed 4 runs in his last 35.2 innings of work. There is no reason to think that anything will change against a Baltimore outfit that is a dreadful 13-22 on the road this season.
