The 2026 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season continues on Wednesday with a split slate - six matinee games and nine games with a first pitch of 6:40 p.m. ET or later. The Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees battle at 7:05 p.m. ET on MLB Network and Prime Video. We went 4-2 last week. Let’s keep it going in a positive direction and build our bankroll with our best MLB picks & predictions for Wednesday, May 20th.
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Wednesday’s Best MLB Picks & Predictions
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All bets are for 1 unit
Toronto Blue Jays (+144) at New York Yankees (-172) | O/U 8.0 (-110/-110)
The Blue Jays (21-27) and Yankees (30-19) meet at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx at 7:05 p.m. ET on MLB Network and Prime Video.
New York has won the first two meetings in this four-game set, winning 7-6 as a heavy favorite (-178) on Monday as the over (9.0) cashed. They posted a 5-4 victory Tuesday as moderate favorites (-136), with the over (8.5) hitting again.
Righty Trey Yesavage (1-1, 1.40 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) takes the ball for the Blue Jays. He has been a little bit more mortal on the road, going 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in 10 innings across two starts on the road, while going 1-0 in 9.1 scoreless innings in two starts at home.
For the Yankees, righty Cam Schlittler (6-1, 1.35 ERA, 0.78 WHIP) makes the start in this potential pitching duel. He is 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA in 16.2 innings across three home outings, and he hasn’t surrendered a home run at home.
Across the past month, Schlittler has been particularly tough, going 4-0 with a 0.84 ERA and 32 strikeouts across 32.1 innings, with teams hitting just .159 against him in five starts.
The best play in this marquee matchup is to go low on the total. Since it’s pretty expensive to back the Yankees, let’s take the Blue Jays catching a run and a half. The Yankees have won the first two games, but both were one-run games.
Picks: Blue Jays +1.5 (-142) & Under 8.0 Runs (-110)
Pittsburgh Pirates (-102) at St. Louis Cardinals (-116) | O/U 8.0 (-105/-115)
The Pirates (24-24) and Cardinals (28-19) meet in the middle contest of a three-game series at Busch Stadium at 7:45 p.m. ET. St. Louis picked up a 9-6 victory as a mild favorite (-112), as the over (8.0) cashed.
St. Louis has won four of the past five games and is 6-3 in the past nine at home. The Cardinals are a perfect 5-0 in five meetings with the Pirates this season. The under cashed on April 27th, but the over hit in each of the previous four meetings in the series.
Righty Carmen Mlodzinski (3-3, 4.40 ERA, 1.44 WHIP) gets the start for the Pirates today. He is a dismal 0-3 with a 4.94 ERA and 1.52 WHIP across 23.2 innings in five road outings.
The good news for Mlodzinski is that he has managed to keep the ball in the yard, allowing just two homers across 45 innings, and he has a high strikeout rate, whiffing 43 batters.
St. Louis turns to righty Michael McGreevy (3-2, 2.10 ERA, 0.88 WHIP). He has impressive numbers overall, but is even better at home, posting a 1-0 record, 1.17 ERA and .156 opponents’ batting average in 23 innings across four starts.
We’ll side with McGreevy and the Cardinals to get the job done based on the splits, especially since Mlodzinski has had such a tough time on the road. The under has cashed in each of McGreevy’s past five starts, so let’s go low on the total.
Picks: Cardinals Moneyline (-116) & Under 8.0 Runs (-115)
Athletics (-130) at Los Angeles Angels (+110) | O/U 9.5 (-110/-110)
The Athletics (24-24) and Angels (17-32) meet at 9:38 p.m. ET in the final game of the evening.
A’s righty Aaron Civale (5-1, 2.70 ERA, 1.39 WHIP) has been impressive this season, especially on the road. He is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 23 strikeouts across 26 innings in five away games.
The Angels counter with righty Jack Kochanowicz (2-3, 4.56 ERA, 1.36 WHIP). He has been slightly better at home with a 1-2 mark and 3.42 ERA, although he has served up four homers in four outings.
These teams have split the first two games of this series, with the A’s pounding out a 14-6 victory on Tuesday night. The A’s halted a three-game losing streak, while the over is 3-1 in the past four outings.
The Angels dropped seven of their past eight games, while scoring two or fewer runs in seven of those games. The under has a 4-3 edge in the past seven games.
Let’s back the A’s with Civale, as he has had an All-Star caliber season. While the A’s should be able to get to Kochanowicz, we’ll go low on the total based on Civale’s splits.
Picks: Athletics Moneyline (-130) & Under 9.5 Runs (-110)
Joe Williams is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Joe, check out his archive and follow him @winwithjoe