Free MLB Baseball Picks

This is a free play on Pittsburgh +1.5.

The Pirates will host the Cubs in Game 2 of a series in Pittsburgh, and these teams have already played four times so far this season.

Mitch Keller will toe the slab for the Pirates, and he will hope to bounce back from a loss at Wrigley. The Cubs have hit a combined .199 against Keller.

The Cubs hand the ball to Zack Davies, who was pretty sharp in his season debut. He allowed a pair of runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings in a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh.

The under is 24-8-1 in Cubs last 33 overall, and the Cubs have lost four of their last five at Pittsburgh.

GL,

Jesse Schule

My free play is on the LA Angels at 7:07 ET.

Shohei Ohtani had a three-run double and a solo HE Friday as the Angels defeated the Blue Jays 7-1 (Angels have won 12 of their past 15 games against the Blue Jays).The Angels have won the first two games of this four-game series and have matched a franchise best with their 6-2 start, having won six of their first eight games just TWICE before. It should be pointed out that the Angels entered the 2021 season HOPING to end a streak of FIVE straight losing seasons (the franchise's longest skid since the 1970s) and SIX consecutive non-playoff campaigns. Toronto made back-to-back appearances in the ALCS in 2015 and 2016 but three losing seasons followed, before the Blue Jays surprised all going 32-28 in 2020. However, Toronto was eliminated by Tampa Bay 2-0 in a best-of-three series. The Blue Jays are 3-5 to open the 2021 season.

The Angels will start left-hander Jose Quintana (0-0, 10.80 ERA) on Saturday and he'll square off against Toronto left-hander Steven Matz (1-0, 1.42 ERA).Quintana was AWFUL in his Angels debut (3.1 IP / 4 ERs), after signing as a free agent after nine years in Chicago, 5 1/2 with the White Sox and 3 1/2 with the Cubs. Quintana was limited to just four games (one start) and 10 innings last season because of a freak injury when he cut his thumb while washing dishes. He ultimately had surgery on the thumb and missed two months. Quintana pitched for Joe Maddon in 2017-19 with the Cubs. "He's a guy who normally eats up innings," Maddon said. "He has a repeatable, compact delivery and a nice arm stroke. His success, to me, relies on good game planning. He just needs a little direction on how to attack people ... how to use the really good stuff he already has."

In contrast, Matz was impressive in his Blue Jays debut April 5 at Arlington, Texas, when he struck out nine (just one walk) and allowed one ER in 6.1 innings. The Mets expected "big things" from Matz but he never delivered. He was 0-5 with a 9.68 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP in 2020 (nine appearances / six starts). The Mets had seen enough and traded Matz to Toronto Blue on January 27, 2021. Quintana has been an effective starter for parts of his MLB career and it sure doesn't hurt that Quintana is 7-2 with a 1.88 ERA and 61 strikeouts. He ranks second all-time in ERA among pitchers to make at least 10 career starts against Toronto. The Toronto team that Quintana faces on Saturday, has averaged just 3.3 PG through eight starts. LA wins again.

Good luck...Larry