Month: August 2023

Despite last night’s 6-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park, the 60-55 Minnesota Twins are still 5-1 in their last 6 games overall and are 4½ games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians for the lead in the AL Central. Tonight, in the third game of their 4-game set with Detroit, Minnesota will send Bailey Ober to the hill. Ober is 6-5 with a very respectable ERA of 3.21 and a 1.05 WHIP. The 50-63 Tigers are expected to counter with Alex Faedo. The Twins should be able to get to this guy. Faedo is 2-4 with a 5.80 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. The Tigers’ bats came alive last night but they are still averaging under 4 runs per game with a team batting average of around .233.
TONIGHT’S PICK: MINNESOTA TWINS

After a successful road trip where they went 6-3, the Tampa Bay Rays return home tonight to the Trop to host the St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis is 49-64, 24-31 on the road, and will send Miles Mikolas to the hill. Mikolas is 6-7 with a 4.29 ERA, a 1.29 WHIP, and has not fared well in his career against the Rays, going 0-2 with a bloated 7.71 ERA. Tampa is 68-46, 37-19 in St. Pete, and will have Zach Eflin toeing the rubber. Eflin comes in at 12-6 with a 3.36 ERA, a WHIP of only 0.99, and has been dominant at home with a record of 10-2 and a 2.60 ERA. The Cardinals lost all 3 meetings with the Rays last year and are 2-8 in the last 10 meetings overall.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

After splitting a 4-game series with the Houston Astros in the Bronx over the weekend, the New York Yankees will take it on the arches to the southside tonight to open a 3-game set with the Chicago White Sox. The Yankees’ starting rotation has been unreliable, to say the least, except when their ace, Gerrit Cole, takes the hill, and he will be getting the nod tonight. Year in and year out, Cole delivers, and this year is no different. The Yankee flamethrower is 10-2 with a 2.64 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. The White Sox are expected to counter with Dylan Cease. Cease has been inconsistent all season. He is 4-5 with a 4.61 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. In his last turn against the Rangers, Cease allowed 7 runs on 7 hits in just 1-2/3 innings and Texas went on to an 11-1 victory. The Yankees won the last meeting with the White Sox, 3-0, on June 8th and if Aaron Boone doesn’t sit out his stars like Judge, Stanton, and Bader, (which for whatever reason only known to him he has a tendency to do) the Bombers win.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics will wrap up their quick 2-game set this afternoon at the Coliseum. The 61-50 Giants are 3 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top spot in the NL West. They cannot afford to lose to the worst team in baseball if they want to keep pace and they know that. Yesterday San Fran mustered just 3 hits and 1 run in a 2-1 loss but I expect a different outcome today. The Giants will send Alex Cobb to the hill, and he can deliver. Cobb is 6-3 with a 3.05 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP, and the Giants are 7-0 in his last 7 starts against a team with a losing record. San Fran should be able to get to Oakland’s expected starter, Luis Medina, who is 3-8 with an elevated ERA of 5.35 and a 1.45 WHIP. The A’s are 31-80 overall and 16-39 at home. The Giants have the edge in hits per game, run differential, batting average, hits, homers, etc., etc., etc.
TODAY’S PICK: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

The 67-45 Tampa Bay Rays dominance over the 48-61 Detroit Tigers continued last night with the Rays routing the host Tigers, 8-0. Today they will meet again in a matinée at Comerica Park. Tampa will send Aaron Civale to the hill. He will be making his Rays debut after being traded to Tampa from Cleveland. Tampa got a gem when they picked up Civale. He is 5-2 with a 2.34 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP, and it gets better. Over his last 3 turns, Civale is 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP, and has been a Tiger killer in his career, going 7-0 with a 2.06 ERA. Detroit is expected to send lefty Tarik Skubal to the hill. Skubal is 1-1 with a 4.57 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. He will probably be on a short leash due to flexor tendon issues. The Rays have won all 4 meetings with the Tigers this year and 9 of the last 10.
TODAY’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

The Baltimore Orioles return home tonight to Camden Yards to open a 3-game set with the struggling New York Mets. To say New York’s season has been a disappointment would be an understatement. They are 50-58, 24-35 on the road, were just swept by the lowly Kansas City Royals, and have now lost 4 of their last 5. The Orioles on the other hand are just the opposite. Who would have thought they would be the best in the AL come August? Not many, but they are. The O’s are 67-42, 32-21 at the Yard, and just took 3 of 4 from a really good Blue Jays team in Toronto. Tonight’s expected starter for New York is David Peterson. He is 3-7 with a 5.92 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. Baltimore is expected to counter with Dean Kremer. He is 10-4 with a 4.66 ERA, a 1.34 WHIP, and the Orioles are 5-0 in his last 5 starts against the NL East. Baltimore is the real deal and worth considering tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BALTIMORE ORIOLES

The Los Angeles Angels dropped their last two games on the road to the Atlanta Braves and will look to get back on track tonight when they open a 4-game set in Anaheim with their AL West foe, the Seattle Mariners. Both teams are battling for a Wild Card spot, with the Angels at 56-53 on the season and Seattle at 56-52. Shohei Ohtani is expected to get the nod for the Halos. Ohtani is 9-5 with a 3.43 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, and has been a Mariner slayer in his career, going 5-0 with a 2.02 ERA. Seattle is expected to counter with Brian Woo. This is definitely a pitching mismatch. Woo is 1-3 with a 4.96 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP, and over his last 3 turns he has a bloated ERA of 8.16 with a 1.74 WHIP. The Angels are 29-23 at home, 4-2 this season against the Mariners, and are expected to have Ohtani on the hill. Consider LA.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES ANGELS