A full 15-game MLB schedule is on tap for baseball fans on Friday, June 26, headlined by matchups like Yankees vs. Red Sox, Cubs vs. Brewers and Dodgers vs. Padres. SportsLine expert Adam Thompson has taken a look at all 15 contests and highlighted his best bets for Friday's games.
An analytics-driven exploiter of matchups, Thompson specializes in the NFL, the NBA and MLB. He also has delivered consistent winners in college basketball, horse racing and golf. Over the past two seasons, Thompson is up over 70 units in MLB and over 60 units in the NBA. You can find more of his picks at SportsLine, and in the member-exclusive SportsLine Discord server, a community of sports betting enthusiasts and SportsLine experts.
Here are Thompson's best bets and analysis for Friday's MLB games.
Best MLB picks for Friday, June 26
- Paul Skenes to record a win vs. Reds (-115, DraftKings)
- Orioles money line vs. Nationals (-136, DraftKings)
- Guardians money line vs. Mariners (-110, BetMGM)
Paul Skenes to record a win vs. Reds (-115)
The Pirates phenom has hit his first wall. Over his last seven starts, he's 0-5 with a 4.03 ERA. That said, he's tossed three straight games of six innings, allowing two runs in each. Friday's matchup with the Reds presents a solid opportunity to get back in the win column.
Skenes has one start against Cincy this season, allowing one run over five innings in a 77-pitch effort – and a win. The Reds have been limited to zero or one run in four of their last seven games and they're striking out in 27.3% of at-bats the last two weeks. Pittsburgh's offense, meanwhile, is scoring. Andrew Abbott has a 3.27 ERA in four June starts, but was hit by the Pirates for four runs in 5 2/3 innings earlier.
Orioles money line vs. Nationals (-136)
After going 0-3 with a 10.31 ERA in May, Orioles left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers is 2-1 with a 2.22 ERA on June. That includes a seven-inning blanking of the Dodgers in his last start.
Nationals lefty Andrew Alvarez has been as good as hoped, but he's only going four innings per outing and the bullpen behind him has a 6.14 ERA since June 12. The Nats' pen gave up game-leading home runs to the Phillies in the ninth inning of all three games of their last series. Baltimore is hitting at an .840 OPS clip at Camden Yards over the last two weeks and scored six-plus runs in three of its last four games overall. Momentum lies with the O's.
Guardians money line vs. Mariners (-110)
Cleveland (42-39) and Seattle (41-41) are close to each other in the AL standings but in how the teams are playing yesterday, it's not as even. Seattle's offense has fizzled, scoring three runs or less in 11 straight games.
Guardians left-handed pitcher Joey Cantillo has had his ups and downs but he's coming off an eight-inning, one-run gem against the Astros, and a five-inning, one-run shutdown of the Tigers. Seattle ranks 29th in OPS against left-handers the last two weeks. Mariners righty Luis Castillo has allowed 10 runs over 9 2/3 innings his last two starts, and the bullpen behind him has a 5.52 ERA since mid-June.
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