Believe it or not, June is about to wrap up and the heart of the summer months is almost here for Major League Baseball. With the All-Star break around the corner, teams will look to keep making a splash before the big game does arrive. With that said, we have MLB picks for the biggest games to start in July, as Friday is loaded with some incredible matchups.
Among the long list of games, the Cubs and Red Sox will be a fantastic showdown that countless MLB fans are going to enjoy. These are two of the most storied teams in the bigs, and they’ll look to make plenty of noise in this series. Boston has been playing fantastic as of late and they’ve got their fans dreaming of another deep postseason run. They might not catch the Yankees in the AL East, though.
The Red Sox are still quite a ways behind the Yankees in the standings, but that doesn’t mean they can’t grab a Wild Card spot and go on a nice run once the playoffs do arrive. Guys like Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers and others will keep playing well both on the field and at the plate. The starting pitching for Boston is also something that can’t be forgotten.
| MLB odds |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yankees to win | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Guardians to win | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Red Sox to win | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Cubs to win | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Meanwhile, for the Cubs, this team is no question in a rebuild, as the days of Kris Bryant, Javy Baez and Anthony Rizzo are long gone. With that said, there’s plenty of exciting young talent on this team and fans have enjoyed seeing them take strides this year. More of the same is going to go down the rest of the season, and we could see some strong play vs. the Red Sox.
While the MLB odds for this matchup haven’t been dropped just yet by the best-rated sportsbooks, Boston will enter this one as a slight favorite. However, remember that this game will be played at Wrigley Field, meaning the Cubs will look to bring the home fans plenty of joy. Will they? We think so, as we’re going with the Cubs as our pick to take down the Red Sox on Friday night.
Also on Friday night, the Yankees will look to put on a show against Cleveland when the two AL teams meet at Progressive Field. The morale for New York couldn’t be higher right now, as they’ve got the best record in the bigs and they’re looking like serious threats to win the World Series this year. That’d be quite the accomplishment for skipper Aaron Boone and the rest of his stars.
Speaking of stars, no one has looked better this year in the bigs than Aaron Judge. He’s ready to run away with the AL MVP award. This past weekend against the Houston Astros, with Houston up 2-1 in the series, Judge ended things with a bang to split things up. With Yankee Stadium on fire on Sunday, Judge stepped up to the plate and delivered with a walk-off three-run homer.
It was amazing to see. Now, Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and the rest of the NY standouts will look to keep things rocking going up against the Guardians. Cleveland also features plenty of talent, of course including the one and only Jose Ramirez. When Ramirez catches fire, he’s one of the best hitters in the game. No one can argue with that fact at all.
Whenever the Yankees and Guardians face-off, it sure makes for an interesting battle. Cleveland will hope to record some upsets this weekend, including on Friday night when these two teams meet. It should be a great game and the Guardians sure have what it takes to record a surprising result. However, we’re going with the hot team and picking the Yankees to win.
Lastly, the Athletics vs. Mariners will be a fun AL West contest for people in Seattle to enjoy. This one will take place at T-Mobile Park, meaning the M’s will be favored to come away with a win? Will they be able to get that job done? It’s hard to say, as it has been a rough year for Seattle. This was supposed to be the campaign where they’d get back to the postseason, but that feels like a long shot.
However, the Mariners have a ton of great talent on their team, including Julio Rodriguez, who is considered a top contender to win AL Rookie of the Year. Don’t forget about Jesse Winker, Ty France and others. In order for the Mariners to try and turn things around and sneak into the playoffs, they’ve got to take their game to the next level. Things will be crucial for them vs. the A’s.
Oakland isn’t a very good team and Seattle must take advantage of the weekend series these two teams are about to start. This obviously includes the game set for Friday night. With the weather beautiful in Seattle too, there will be no excuses for the Mariners going up against the visiting Oakland side. With all of that said, we’re going with Seattle to get the job done.
