Month: July 2023

The 53-42 Miami Marlins will look to snap their 3-game skid when they open a 3-game set with the 40-53 St. Louis Cardinals tonight at Busch Stadium. Tonight’s expected starters are lefty Jesús Luzardo for the Marlins and Miles Mikolas for the Cardinals. Mikolas is 5-5 with a 4.12 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Luzardo is 8-5 with a 3.29 ERA, a 1.13 WHIP, and over his last 3 turns he has been locked in, going 2-0 with an ERA of only 0.96 and a 0.86 WHIP. Luzardo last faced St. Louis on July 4th, when he pitched 6 scoreless innings resulting in a 15-2 Marlins romp. Miami has won 3 of the 4 meetings with St. Louis this year and will notch another tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: MIAMI MARLINS

The 50-43 New York Yankees have been overpriced for the way they have been playing of late and have been worthy of a fade, except for one exception when their ace, Gerrit Cole, takes the hill. Cole will be tapping the rubber today when the Bombers conclude their 3-game set with the 35-58 Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The future Hall of Famer has been throwing flames as usual. Cole is 9-2 with a 2.85 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP, and is 5-1 in his career against Colorado with a 2.47 ERA. The Rockies are expected to send Chase Anderson to the hill. How he is still in The Bigs is beyond me. Anderson is 0-4 with a 6.89 ERA, a 1.55 WHIP, and it gets worse. Over his last 3 turns, Anderson is 0-3 with a 11.74 ERA, a 2.02 WHIP, and is 0-1 in his career against the Yankees with a 16.88 ERA, which is not a typo. The Bombers’ bats finally came alive yesterday, hitting can become contagious, and they should have no problem putting the screws to the Rockies.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

With last night’s 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Reds are now tied for the top spot in the NL Central. Corbin Burnes pitched a gem last night for Milwaukee and Cincinnati was only able to muster two hits, but tonight’s outcome should be different. The Reds are expected to give the nod to lefty Andrew Abbott and he has been dealing. Abbott is 4-1 with a 2.38 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP, and Cincinnati is 6-1 in his last 7 starts. The Brewers are expected to counter with Freddy Peralta. He comes in at 5-7 with a 4.70 ERA, a 1.30 WHIP, and Milwaukee is just 1-9 in his last 10 road starts. Cincinnati has the edge in runs per game, run differential, batting average, hits, and homers. Consider the Reds.
TONIGHT’S PICK: CINCINNATI REDS

The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Toronto Blue Jays will open a 3-game set tonight at Rogers Centre to kick off the second half of the season. Arizona has been a surprise to everyone, with a record of 52-39, but hit a bump in the road going into the break and maybe showed their true colors, losing 5 of their last 7. The Snakes are expected to send Ryne Nelson to the hill. Nelson is 5-5 with an elevated ERA of 5.19 and was lit up in his last turn against the Mets, allowing 7 runs on 9 hits over just 3 innings of work resulting in a 9-0 D-backs loss. Toronto is 50-41 and was hot going into the break, winning 5 of their last 6. They have yet to announce a starter but chances are it will be José Berríos. He is 8-6 with a 3.50 ERA and was lights out in his last turn against the White Sox, allowing just 1 hit and no runs over 7 innings of work resulting is a 6-2 Jays win. Toronto’s young guns should get to Nelson and have lost their last 3 at home so they are due.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TORONTO BLUE JAYS

The Texas Rangers and the Washington Nationals will play the rubber game of their 3-game set today in DC. The Rangers lost yesterday’s matchup, 8-3, but will bounce back today when they send their ace and one of the best in the business, Dane Dunning, to the hill. Dunning has been delivering all year. He is 8-1 with a 2.61 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. The Nats are expected to counter with lefty Patrick Corbin and he has been just the opposite. Corbin is 5-10 with a 5.13 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. In his last turn against the Reds, Corbin was scorched for 6 runs on 10 hits resulting in an 8-4 loss and that doesn’t bode well against a Rangers team that scores more runs than any other club in the Majors.
TODAY’S PICK: TEXAS RANGERS

The Houston Astros have lost the first two games of their 4-game set with the Seattle Mariners but should get back on track tonight at Minute Maid Park. The ‘Stros rarely lose three in a row and will have their ace, All-Star Framber Valdez, on the hill. Valdez is 7-6 with a 2.49 ERA and a WHIP of 1.05 over 105 innings of work. The Mariners are expected to send Bryan Woo to the hill. He is 1-1 with a 4.08 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP over 28.2 innings of work. Houston is 5-0 in Valdez’s last 5 home starts and despite being without José Altuve and Yordan Álvarez, they still have the edge in runs per game, run differential, batting average, hits per game, and homers.
TONIGHT’S PICK: HOUSTON ASTROS