Month: June 2022

The San Diego Padres have pounded the lowly Chicago Cubs, outscoring them 35-11 over the first 3 games of their 4-game set on the north side. Today I expect more of the same and a Padres sweep. Matt Swarmer (1-1, 4.24 ERA,1.00 WHIP) is expected on the hill for the Cubs. He was lit up in his last turn against the Yankees, yielding 6 homers over 5 innings of work and the way Voit and company are smacking the ball, that is not good. Arguably the best pitcher in the majors, Joe Musgrove will be toeing the rubber for the Friars. Musgrove remains a perfect 7-0 with a 1.50 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP, and the Friars are 8-0 in his last 8 road starts. If the wind is blowing out at Wrigley today, this could be a long day for the Cubs. Enough said. Consider the Pads.
TODAY’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES

Sonny Gray is expected to take the hill for the Minnesota Twins today when they wrap up their 3-game set with the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Gray has been dealing. He is 3-1 with a 2.41 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP, and it gets better. Over his last 3 starts, he is 3-0 with an ERA of only 1.42 and a WHIP that is barely visible at 0.68. The Mariners are expected to counter with southpaw Marco Gonzales. Gonzales is 3-6 with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP, which isn’t bad, but he is a dismal 0-3 in his career against the Twins with an 9.37 ERA. Minnesota lost yesterday’s matchup but they are 5-0 in their last 5 following a loss, 10-4 in their last 14 against a left-handed starter, and 5-0 in Gray’s last 5 starts.
TODAY’S PICK: MINNESOTA TWINS

The San Francisco Giants are on a roll. With yesterday’s win over the Kansas City Royals at Oracle Park, they have now won 4-straight and sit just 3 games back of the LA Dodgers and the San Diego Padres for the top spot in the NL West. Tonight they will continue their 3-game series with KC and will have their young gun, Logan Webb, toeing the rubber. Webb is 5-2 with a 3.77 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. The Royals have the worst record in baseball, at 20-40, and are just 8-19 on the road. Tonight could be a long night for KC. Southpaw Kris Bubic is expected to get the nod for the Royals and he is winless, at 0-3, with a bloated ERA of 9.13 and a 2.03 WHIP. The Giants just swept the Los Angeles Dodgers, are 6-1 in their last 7 against a left-handed starter, and are not going to get pushed around at home by the bottom-feeding Royals.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

The 25-35 Baltimore Orioles will head north of the border tonight to open a 4-game set with the surging Toronto Blue Jays. The 35-24 Jays have won 13 of their last 17 games and will have their ace on the hill, Alek Manoah. He just keeps on mowing them down. Manoah comes in at 7-1 with a 1.81 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP, and Toronto is 5-0 in his last 5 home starts against a team with a losing record. The Orioles will counter with Kyle Bradish, who is 1-3 with a 6.45 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP – not the kind of numbers you want against a Jays team that can light it up. Baltimore will have some guys on the shelf due to Canada’s Covid-19 restrictions and are 0-6 in their last 6 against Toronto. The Jays won’t come cheap, but with Manoah on the hill and with the way the Jays are playing, take Toronto.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TORONTO BLUE JAYS

It was a wild one in Chicago yesterday between the Chicago White Sox and the Texas Rangers, with the Rangers winning it in 10, 11-9. Today they will play the rubber game of their 3-game set, with Jon Gray getting the nod for Texas and Michael Kopech for Chicago. Even with yesterday’s win, the Rangers are just 1-5 in their last 6 on the south side and 2-7 in the last 9 overall against Chicago, so Gray had better be in the zone. Gray has not pitched well, at 1-3, with an elevated ERA of 5.28 and a 1.30 WHIP. On the flip side, Kopech has been sharp. He is 2-2 with a 1.94 ERA, ,a 0.94 WHIP, and is 1-0 in his career against the Rangers with an ERA of 1.29. Chicago’s bullpen is taxed so they will need Kopech to go deep into the game and if he does that, the White Sox comes out on top.
TODAY’S PICK: CHICAGO WHITE SOX

The NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals snapped their 3-game skid last night with a 2-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium. The Reds, who reside in last place in the NL Central have now lost 3 straight and are a dismal 8-21 on the road. The Cards and the Reds will meet again today in a matinee at Busch and the expected starters are Adam Wainwright for the Cardinals and Hunter Greene for the Reds The veteran Wainwright is still getting it done at 5-4 with an ERA of 2.73 and a WHIP of 1.23.The young flamethrower Greene has unlimited potential but is still finding his way in the Bigs. He is 3-7 with an ERA of 5.40 and a WHIP of 1.35.The Reds have lost 3 of 4 to the Cards this year, are 0-6 in Greene’s last 6 road starts and 0-6 in his last 6 starts against a team with a winning record.
TODAY’S PICK: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

The San Diego Padres will open a 4-game set tonight with the bottom-feeding Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. The Padres are coming off series wins over two of the NL’s best, the New York Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers. San Diego sits just two games back of the LA Dodgers for the top spot in the NL West and will have their ace on the bump tonight, Joe Musgrove. He has been stellar. Musgrove is a perfect 6-0 with an ERA of only 1.64 and a 0.92 WHIP. The Rockies are dead last in the NL West and have struggled on the road with a record of 9-16. The Rocks did get a road win yesterday over the San Francisco Giants but rarely put back-to-back wins together, going 1-11 in that situation. Tonight they will send Chad Kuhl to the rubber and he has decent numbers. Kuhl is 4-2 with a 3.17 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP, but Colorado is 1-5 in his last 6 starts. The Friars are better, 1 through 9, and even with the heavy juice are worth considering.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES