Month: October 2021

The Atlanta Braves fell to the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday, 2-1, in Game 1 of the NLDS. The Braves cannot afford being down 0-2 before heading home to Atlanta for Game 3 and will turn to their ace, southpaw Max Fried, to right the ship. Fried has been dealing. Over his last 3 turns, he is a perfect 3-0 with a nasty ERA of 0.39 and an equally nasty 0.48 WHIP. If that’s not domination, what is? The Brewers will counter with Brandon Woodruff. Over his last 3 turns, Woodruff is 0-2 and was on the losing end of an 8-1 loss to Atlanta the last time he faced them on July 31st. The Brewers are 1-4 in their last 5 against a left-handed starter, which is not good the way Fried is throwing flames.
TODAY’S PICK: ATLANTA BRAVES

As it has been all year, the San Francisco Giants are getting no respect and will be a home dog tonight when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS. The so-called experts were all waiting and predicting the Giants would come back down to earth but they didn’t. Instead, they went on to win more games than any other team in the Majors, 107, and the NL West. Tonight Logan Webb will be on the hill for the home team. This guy has not lost a game since May 5th and has faced the Dodgers three times this year and the Giants went on to win all three. Walker Buehler will toe the rubber for LA and he has delivered all year, however in his last turn against the Giants at Oracle Park on September 5th, he was lit up for 6 runs on 7 hits in 3 innings of work, and San Francisco went on to win, 6-4. The Giants won the season series this year (10-9) against their hated rivals and are 3-1 in their last 4 at home against the Dodgers.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

The ALDS gets underway today with the Houston Astros hosting the Chicago White Sox in a matinée at Minute Maid Park. The scheduled pitchers are Lance Lynn for the White Sox and Lance McCullers Jr. for the Astros. The last time Lynn faced the Astros it did not go very well. He was lit up for 6 runs on 8 hits in 4 innings of work, resulting in a 7-3 Astros win. On the flip side, McCullers Jr. has faced the White Sox twice this year with very different outcomes. Houston won both games and McCullers Jr. allowed a total of only 3 runs on 4 hits in 13 innings of work. The White Sox and Astros met at Minute Maid back in June and the Stros swept the Sox in a 4-game set, outscoring them 27-8. Consider the Astros.
TODAY’S PICK: HOUSTON ASTROS

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers meet tonight at Chavez Ravine in the NL Wild Card game. Year in and year out, the St. Louis Cardinals put a quality product on the field and this year is no different. St. Louis got hot down the stretch to earn their right to face the Dodgers in tonight’s matchup. The Cardinals will turn to the 40-year old veteran, Adam Wainwright, tonight to throw strikes and he has been as sharp as ever. Wainwright is 17-7 with a 3.05 ERA and over his last 8 starts, he is 6-0 with a 2.44 ERA. The obvious choice for the Dodgers to oppose Wainwright is Max Scherzer. Scherzer has been lethal. He is 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA and it gets better. Since joining the Dodgers at the trade deadline from Washington, he is a perfect 7-0 with a nasty ERA of just 1.98. Will the Cardinals make it a game? You better believe it, but with all the Dodgers weapons and Scherzer on the hill, they had better be clicking on every cylinder. Moreover, St. Louis is just 3-7 in the last 10 meetings with LA and 1-5 in their last 6 trips to Dodger Stadium.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS

It’s a one and done tonight at Fenway Park when the Boston Red Sox host the New York Yankees. One team will be hitting the links tomorrow and the other heading south to St. Pete. New York will send Gerrit Cole to the hill with Boston giving the nod to Nathan Eovaldi. Numbers are similar on both sides. Cole comes in at 16-8 with a 3.23 ERA and Eovaldi at 11-9 with a 3.75 ERA. These two flamethrowers last faced each other on Sept 24th and it was not a good day for Eovaldi. The Yankees lit him up for 7 runs on 7 hits in just 2-2/3 innings of work and went on to win 8-3. New York has won 6 straight against Boston, which includes a 3-game sweep of the Red Sox just over a week ago in this very stadium. The Yankees have been clicking. They are 9-3 in their last 12, 5-1 in their last 6 road games, 8-0 in their last 8 following a day off, and Cole will not have to face slugger J.D. Martinez who is sidelined with a sprained ankle.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES