MLB picks, predictions, best bets for Friday, June 20: Rays vs Tigers, Padres vs Royals, and more

Things are heating up in the MLB as teams gear up to take the final stretch towards the midseason mark. Thursday's fixtures saw a bench clearing incident between divisional rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. With a few more rivals set to clash on Friday, expect a lot of action.

Here's looking at the best picks and predictions from around the MLB for Friday, 20th of June.

MLB picks, predictions, best bets for Friday, June 20

Pirates vs Rangers

Prediction: Rangers 5, Pirates 4

Best Bet: Rangers ML (-188)

The Rangers come to the series having been swept by the Kansas City Royals. They are favoured to get the win over the Pirates, who themselves have just one win in their last five games.

Padres vs Royals

Prediction: Padres 4, Royals 3

Best Bet: Padres (-186)

San Diego managed a solitary win in the four-game series against the Dodgers. They have the better starting pitching matchup with Nick Pivetta (7-2, 3.40 ERA) facing Royals' Michael Lorenzen (4-7, 4.91 ERA) and are expected to get the win.

Cardinals vs Reds

Prediction: Cardinals 5, Reds 4

Best Bet: Cardinals ML (-136)

The Cincinnati Reds head into the game with a 7-3 record in their last 10, compared to St. Louis' 4-6. However, the Cardinals have a strong home record and have been the better pitching side during the same stretch of games.

Twins vs Brewers

Prediction: Twins 4, Brewers 3

Best Bet: Twins ML (-162)

The Twins, like the Cardinals, have a strong home record, winning 20 of their 37 games at Target Field. Joe Ryan (7-2, 2.93 ERA) starts on the mound for the Twins and is a reliable arm to get them off to a good start.

Rays vs Tigers

Prediction: Rays 5, Tigers 4

Best Bet: Rays ML (-112)

The Rays will have Shane Baz (6-3, 4.54 ERA) go up against Tigers' Jack Flaherty (5-7, 4.03 ERA) in a starting pitching matchup that could be crucial to determine of the close games for tonight.

Here are rest of the predictions for today's games:

Seattle @ Chicago (C): Cubs 5, Mariners 4

Baltimore @ New York (Y): Yankees 5, Orioles 3

Chicago (WS) @ Toronto: Blue Jays 5, White Sox 3

Atlanta @ Miami: Braves 5, Marlins 4

New York (M) @ Philadelphia: Phillies 5, Mets 4

Arizona @ Colorado: Diamondbacks 4, Rockies 3

Houston @ Los Angeles (A): Astros 6, Angels 5

Cleveland @ Athletics: Guardians 6, Athletics 5

Washington @ Los Angeles (D): Dodgers 6, Nationals 5

Boston @ San Francisco: Giants 5, Red Sox 4

About the author

Nikhil Parshy is a baseball and ice hockey journalist at Sportskeeda, and after starting out as a cricket reporter, he has been an analyst with SK since November 2022. His interest in the sports were piqued a few years back after watching highlights on YouTube and he has followed the game ever since.

The Chicago Cubs breaking the 108-year curse in 2016 to lift the World Series remains Nikhil's favorite baseball moment. Two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani has been his favorite player ever since he started following the game, while the LA Dodgers are his favorite team.

As a writer, Nikhil maintains a strong attention to detail and rigorously cross-checks information. He seeks to strike a balance in his writing such that the regular reader gains an insight into player profiles, while also keeping in mind that the non-regular reader is not put off by jargon and shallow analysis.

Nikhil is an avid public speaker, and when not writing about baseball, he regularly participates in debates and quizzes.

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Edited by Debasish