Month: September 2016

The Texas Rangers play their final 3 games of the 2016 campaign at home against the Tampa Bay Rays and with a win tonight, they can wrap up home field advantage. Texas will call on Yu Darvish to get things done and he is 6-5, with an ERA of 3.53, and is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA in 4 career starts against Tampa. Matt Andriese takes the hill for the Rays. Andriese is 8-7 on the season, with an ERA of 4.34, and the Rays are 1-6 in their last 7 overall, and 1-4 in their last 5 road games. Rangers win.

Tonight’s pick:

Texas Rangers

As it stands now, the Baltimore Orioles hold the second spot in the American League wild card but the Detroit Tigers and the Seattle Mariners are sniffing at their heels. Detroit sits one game back of the Birds and will end the regular season against the red hot Braves down in Atlanta. Baltimore finishes up in the Bronx and believe me, the Bombers would love nothing more than to send the Orioles packing. Seattle has a great opportunity to enhance their post-season chances when they finish up at home in a 4-game set with the Oakland Athletics.

Tonight Seattle will send Ariel Miranda to the hill and he is 5-2, with an ERA of 4.10, and a 1.16 WHIP. The Mariners are 4-1 in Miranda’s last 5 starts and 4-0 in his last 4 against the American League West. Kendall Graveman gets the start for Oakland and he is 10-11 on the season, with an ERA of 4.19, and a 1.30 WHIP. Graveman is 0-3 on the season against the Mariners and was drilled in his last outing against Canó and company, giving up 8 runs on 12 hits in 5 innings of work. Oakland is 0-4 in Graveman’s last 4 starts against Seattle and they are 0-5 in the last 5 meetings overall.

Tonight’s pick:

Seattle Mariners

The Texas Rangers will try to stay one step ahead of Boston and Cleveland for the best record in the American League when they conclude a 3-game home set tonight with the Milwaukee Brewers. Cole Hamels gets the call for the Rangers and he is having another outstanding season with a record of 15-5, an ERA of 3.30, and a WHIP of 1.31. Texas is 4-0 in Hamel’s last 4 interleague starts and 17-4 in his last 21 home starts. Milwaukee will send Chase Anderson to the hill and he is 9-11 on the season, with an ERA of 4.36, and a 1.35 WHIP. The Brewers are just 1-4 in Anderson’s last 4 road starts and they have also struggled on the road in interleague play, winning just 4 out of their last 14 contests. Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun sat out last night’s game with a wrist injury and is questionable for tonight. Texas should get this one.

Tonight’s pick:

Texas Rangers

The Detroit Tigers sit 2 games back of the Baltimore Orioles for the second wild card spot and need to get on track quickly if they want to see the post season. The Cleveland Indians handed the Tigers their third straight loss last night and in doing so, clinched the American League Central. Detroit will turn to Justin Verlander tonight to right the ship. Verlander is 15-8, with an ERA of 3.21, and a WHIP of 1.01. Cleveland counters with Mike Clevinger, who is making just his tenth career start. Clevinger is 2-2, with an ERA of 4.65, and a 1.39 WHIP. Terry Francona will probably rest some starters tonight and the Indians could be nursing a celebration hangover. I like Detroit in this spot.

Tonight’s pick:

Detroit Tigers

The Houston Astros are dangling by a thread, trying to get a wild card spot and if they lose today to the LA Angels, you might as well put a dagger in their heart, however there is still life. The Astros will send the kid from El Cajon California to the hill today, Joe Musgrove. Musgrove is 3-4 on the season, with a 4.42 ERA, a WHIP of 1.24 and has been lights out at Minute Maid Park, going 2-1 with a stingy ERA of 1.86. Daniel Wright will take the hill for the Angels today and he has been struggling. Wright is 0-2 on the season, with a 7.36 ERA, a 1.57 WHIP and in his last outing he did not look good, surrendering 5 runs on 9 hits in just 4-2/3 innings of work. The Angels are 6-15 in their last 21 in Houston.

Today’s pick:

Houston Astros

It’s a sad day today. We lost José Fernández. RIP, José.

The San Francisco Giants cannot afford to keep losing to a team like the San Diego Padres, who have won 7 of the last 8 contests, if they want to keep playing in October. Fortunately for the Giants, one of their wild card foes, the St. Louis Cardinals are playing the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley and that helps. San Francisco will send their ace Madison Bumgarner to the hill tonight at Petco Park. Bumgarner lost his last 2 outings to the Padres but the All Star is still 14-9 on the season, with an ERA of 2.57, a WHIP of 1.02, and has a career best 241 strikeouts. Jarred Cosart gets the start for the Pads and he has been awful. Cosart is 0-4, with an ERA of 5.63, a WHIP of 1.70, and in the month of September he is 0-3, with a bloated ERA of 11.12, and that’s not a typo. To make matters worse, Cosart is 0-2 lifetime against the Giants, with an ERA of 10.80, and Buster Posey is 4-4 against him and Brandon Belt is 4-5. I see the Giants nailing Cosart and Bum pitching a gem.

Tonight’s pick:

San Francisco Giants