MLB Baseball Predictions Picks and Odds

Colorado's Jorge De La Rosa returns to a major league mound for the first time in nearly 16 months against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. De La Rosa just recovered from elbow surgery and hasnt pitched in over a year. He was 7-2 lifetime versus San Francisco. Giants' lefty Barry Zito is 4-0 over his last eight starts. The Giants have won Zito last eight starts.

Tigers' Justin Verlander goes after his 15th win of the season tonight against the Oakland Athletics at Comerica Park. A's Brian Anderson is 2-1 in three starts against the Tigers and has surrendered one run or less in his first four assignments.

There will be no shortage of firepower on display when the Texas Rangers play host to the Detroit Tigers in a three-game set this weekend, but more than a simple clash of American League stars, the series marks an opportunity for the division leaders to stake out supremacy on the MLB odds.

Were touching mid-August and the Pittsburgh Pirates are as close to a playoff berth as theyve been since prior to the Players Strike of 1993. This Monday theyll get a chance to creep ever closer to the postseason they seek, bucking the MLB odds that have all but guaranteed otherwise since Day 1.

If only the Atlanta Braves could play the Philadelphia Phillies all the time. The Braves target their eighth straight win over the Phillies when the two NL East inhabitants resume a three-game series tonight at Citizens Bank Park.