MLB Saturday Picks - August 31

The final weekend of August transitions directly into the first day of September, which means one thing - fall baseball is nearly here. In other words, when the games matter most and the Fall Classic is on the horizon. We still have some time for more Mr. October moments to be made, but to help break down this heated playoff push, we’ve shared our best MLB Saturday picks for 8/31.

MLB Saturday predictions

San Diego Padres ML over Tampa Bay Rays

Cleveland Guardians ML over Pittsburgh Pirates

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks Over 9 Runs

Best MLB Saturday picks: San Diego Padres ML over Tampa Bay Rays

One of the afternoon games for today is a coast-to-coast matchup, and we’re actually backing the team traveling with our best MLB Saturday picks. While the Padres are about as far from Southern California as possible, that’s about the only thing going against them. First and foremost, they have the second-best record since the All-Star Game, and they’ve already made a similar trek for an AL East series not long ago.

San Diego went cross country to Baltimore to face the Orioles, where they took two of three in convincing fashion. That’s a World Series-hopeful team, whereas the Rays are just trying to avoid finishing last in the division. Tampa will also be starting Shane Baz, who is already a rather young pitcher, and he didn’t take the mound until July this season. With the way the Padres have been cruising as of late, San Diego is how we’re getting our best MLB Saturday picks started.

Best MLB Saturday picks: Cleveland Guardians ML over Pittsburgh Pirates

Shifting to an interleague matchup is a game that takes place not long after the one in Tampa. It’s quite an interesting one as well. It wasn’t long ago that the Guardians had the best record in the entire league, but now, they’re just trying to fend off the Kansas City Royals in the AL Central. With the desperation having kicked up, we’re going to back them at home.

The Pirates have been exciting to follow for the first time in years, but that’s almost entirely due to rookie starter Paul Skenes. Well, he won’t be on the mound tonight, so the outlook seems great for Cleveland. Pittsburgh will be starting Luis Ortiz instead, and while he is far from terrible, Jose Ramirez and the Guardians lineup can still take advantage of him. This play is also in part thanks to Cleveland starting Matthew Boyd. He’s no ace either, but being a lefty is what we love - the Pirates are just barely outside the bottom 10 in terms of team OPS versus southpaws.

Best MLB Saturday picks: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks Over 9 Runs

We’ve also got an evening matchup as part of our best MLB Saturday picks, which is also a divisional matchup. The NL West currently has a fantastic three-team race at the top, and two of them are in this matchup. We mentioned that the Padres had the second-best record since the All-Star Game, and that is behind only the D-backs. Similarly, the Dodgers are only barely trailing San Diego.

So, rather than worrying about who wins this matchup, we’re just going to root for runs. Arizona’s Corbin Carroll has finally broken out of his sophomore slump, and the Diamondbacks are now the highest-scoring team in the MLB. To no one’s surprise, the Dodgers are in the top five in that regard given their star-studded lineup. So, it should also come as no shock that the last time these teams met, we saw final scores totaling 11, 16 and 12 runs. Therefore, we’re closing out our best MLB Saturday picks with another double-digit total on the menu.