Will Rogers

The set-up: The Colorado Rockies used a 14-hit attack to crush St. Louis 10-0 on Friday, their fifth win in six games. It was a nice bounce-back for Colorado, which lost Thursday 2-1 at Philadelphia in 11 innings. The Rockies had scored six or more runs in six consecutive contests before being held to that one run on Thursday and had just two runs through seven innings last night, before exploding for eight runs in an eighth-inning rally. St. Louis has now gone 1-3 on its six-game road trip, scoring a total of four runs in the defeats. Colorado's 32-18 record leads the NL West while the Cards' 23-22 record has them close (one game back of the first-place Cubs) in the tightly-contested NL Central (top-four teams are within two games of each other).

The pitching matchup: Adam Wainwright (4-3 & 4.81 ERA) gets the start for St. Louis up against Colorado's Kyle Freeland (5-2 & 3.31 ERA). The veteran Wainwright started slowly in 2017 but takes the mound having won four consecutive decisions. The 35-year-old has been superb in his last two outings, winning both while allowing one run on nine hits over 13 1/3 innings. More to the point in this game, Wainwright has dominated the Rockies throughout his career, going 9-1 (3-0 at Coors Field) with one shutout and a 1.70 ERA in 10 starts and four relief appearances. Freeland's a rookie who has allowed three ERs or fewer in each of his last seven starts, posting a 4-1 record in that span (Rockies are 6-1). This marks his first career start against the Cards.

The pick: In somewhat of a surprise, Colorado has been better on the road (18-8) than here at Coors (14-10) in 2017. In fact, both of Freeland's losses this season have come at home, where the rookie has posted a 3.80 ERA as opposed to a 2.89 mark on the road. Getting back to Wainwright, he's 8-1 with a 1.81 ERA in his 10 career starts against the Rockies (Cards are 8-2) and comes in pitching very well. I'm backing the vet over the rookie in this one and will make the Cards a 10* play.

The set-up: The Arizona Diamondbacks lost 93 games in 2016 but enter this weekend as MLB's hottest team, as Friday night's 4-2 win in 10 innings at Milwaukee gives them 10 wins in their last 11 games. Arizona is now 31-19 overall, just one game back of first-place Colorado in the NL West after last night's dramatic win. The loss had to be particularly painful for the Brewers, who lost a 2-1 lead with two outs in the ninth inning on a HR by Arizona catcher Chris Iannetta, then lost in the 10th. Milwaukee was shut out 4-0 on Thursday by Arizona and has now managed just two runs on 11 hits in losing the first two games of this series. The Brewers, who placed Ryan Braun (calf) on the 10-day disabled list Friday, enter Saturday's contest on a season-high five-game slide, leaving them 25-23 but still just a half-game back of the first-place Cubs in the NL Central.

The pitching matchup: Zack Greinke (6-2 & 2.82 ERA) takes the mound for Arizona and will be opposed by Milwaukee's Chase Anderson (2-1 & 4.25 ERA). Greinke has won four straight starts (2.37 ERA) and Miller Park holds a special place in his heart. He's won 16 of 18 career decisions at Miller Park, including an 11-0 mark in 2011 while a member of the Brewers. However, while he has not allowed an earned run in his last 12 2/3 innings against Milwaukee, he's just 1-2 with a 3.57 ERA over four career starts against the Brewers (teams are 1-3). Anderson has completed as many as five innings just once in four May starts, giving up six runs in four innings last Sunday at Wrigley Field in Chicago, while serving up three HRs to the Cubs in a 13-6 loss. The one-time D'back is 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA in two starts against his former team (1-1).

The pick: Anderson posted a 1.12 ERA through his first four outings of 2017 but he's got a 7.30 mark in his last five starts, after allowing a season-high six ERs in his last outing Sunday against the Cubs. He faces an Arizona lineup that's averaging 5.73 RPG in winning 10 of 11, so it will be tough to turn around his woes in this one. But Greinke comes in red-hot plus he 'loves' Miller Park. Make the Under a 10* play.

The set-up:Josh Donaldson doubled in his first game back Friday since missing 39 contests with a calf injury and Troy Tulowitzki reached base three times following a 32-game absence, as the Jays welcomed back two key members of their team in Toronto's 7-6 home win over Texas. However, it was second baseman Devon Travis who stole the show. His second-inning gram slam was part of his 10th multi-hit game in May and helped propel Toronto to its fourth straight victory. The Blue Jays opened the season 2-11 but are now 16-9 since their dreadful 6-17 start to the 2017 season. The Rangers' Rougned Odor had a three-run HR  three-run in the ninth that make things interesting but it wasn't enough for Texas to avoid its 16th loss in its last 22 road games. The Rangers have lost all momentum form their 10-game winning streak from May 9-19, as they are 1-5 since, including four consecutive losses.

The pitching matchup:Yu Darvish (5-2 & 2.83 ERA) takes the mound for Texas and Marco Estrada (3-2 & 3.30 ERA) for Toronto in this early Saturday afternoon contest. Darvish worked around trouble for most of last Sunday at Detroit en route to collecting his fourth straight win, allowing just two runs on five hits and four walks in a season-low five innings Darvish is now 4-0 with a 2.53 ERA over his last six outings (Rangers are 6-0!). The Texas ace is 3-2 with a 2.45 ERA in seven regular-season starts against the Blue Jays (Rangers are 3-4). Estrada is off an excellent start, winning 3-1 victory at Baltimore last Sunday. He gave up just one run on five hits while matching a career high with 12 strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings. Estrada did not factor into the decision in either of his two starts against Texas last season, posting a 3.75 ERA despite limiting the Rangers to a .159 average. Overall, he's 3-1 (2.16 ERA) in six career starts against Texas (team is 4-2).

The pick: Darvish did take the loss to Toronto in Game 2 of the ALDS last year and the Rangers need a strong (long?) outing from him here, as the Rangers' bullpen has pitched 24 of the team's last 58 innings. However, with Texas' road woes, this may be a hill too high to climb. The Jays are getting healthy and Estrada comes in having pitched well at home in 2017 (2.52 ERA & 1.08 WHIP) and he faces a Texas team which is in a funk (1-5) and as noted above, has lost 16 of its last 22 away from home. Make Toronto an 8* Play.