Month: August 2016

Two of the best arms in the Majors will face off tonight at AT&T Park, when the New York Mets send deGrom to the mound to face the lefty Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants. Jacob deGrom is 7-5 on the season, with a 2.30 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and is 2-3 with an ERA of 2.38 in 9 road starts. New York has had trouble hitting lefties, going 1-6 in their last 7. On the flip side, Madison Bumgarner is 11-7, with a 2.11 ERA, a WHIP of 1.00 and in 5 career starts against the Mets, he is 4-0 with an ERA of just 1.03. Jay Bruce and James Loney have struggled against the Bum, with Bruce going 3 for 18 and Loney 2 for 13. I like the Giants in this one.

Tonight’s pick:

San Francisco Giants

The Los Angeles Dodgers racked up 15 runs last night against the Philadelphia Phillies and will try to keep that momentum going when they play game 2 of a 3-game set tonight at Citizens Bank Park. The Dodgers’ Chase Utley was on fire last night against his old club, belting a solo home run and topping that off with a grand slam. Los Angeles sends Scott Kazmir to the mound and he is 9-6, with an ERA of 4.44, and the Dodgers are 4-1 in his last 5 road starts. The rookie Jake Thompson will make his third Big League start and he is 1-1 on the season, with an ERA of 8.68, and has yielded 5 walks in 9-1/3 innings of work. The Dodgers are 5-1 in their last 6 meetings with the Phillies and 4-1 in their last 5 at Citizens Bank Park. The Dodgers’ bats stay hot.

Tonight’s pick:

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox will open a 3-game series at Progressive Field tonight. Two flame throwers will face off in game 1 with the lefty, José Quintana pitching for the Sox and Corey Kluber for the Indians. Quintana, over his last 3 outings is 1-0 with a 2.11 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Over Kluber’s last 3 outings, he is 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA and a WHIP of just 0.90. Quintana has trouble with the AL Central and the White Sox are just 2-8 in his last 10 starts. Chicago has struggled against Cleveland. They are 0-4 in their last 4 in Cleveland and 0-6 in their 6 meetings. Kluber has been lights out at home, winning his last 5 starts. Indians should get this one.

Today’s pick:

Cleveland Indians

The Texas Rangers were held scoreless over the weekend and will try to bounce back tonight when they open a 3-game home set against the Oakland Athletics. The A’s Ross Detwiler will face his old team tonight when he makes his second start of the season. Detwiler was sharp in his last outing and is 1-0, with an ERA of 2.13, and a WHIP of 1.03. Martin Perez gets the nod for the Rangers and has been tough at home, with a 6-1 record and an ERA of 2.47. Oakland has struggled away from the Coliseum, going 24-31 and they are 5-11 in their last 16 overall. The Rangers bats should get back on track tonight.

Tonight’s pick:

Texas Rangers

The Colorado Rockies will try to avoid a sweep when they send Tyler Chatwood to the hill to face Adam Morgan and the Philadelphia Phillies. Chatwood has been dominant on the road. The Rockies are 9-1 in his last 10 road starts and over his last 3 outings, he is 1-1 with an ERA of a 3.20 and a WHIP of 1.22. The Phillies’ Adam Morgan is 0-2 over his last 3 starts, with a bloated ERA of 8.79 and a WHIP of 2.16, and the Phillies are 0-5 in his last 5 home starts. Rockies avoid the sweep today.

Today’s pick:

Colorado Rockies