Month: May 2024

The 24-13 Cleveland Guardians will open a 4-game set tonight with the 9-28 Chicago White Sox on the south side. The Guardians are winners of 4 of their last 5 and are expected to turn to Ben Lively to keep the ball rolling. Lively has pitched well with a record of 1-1, a 2.08 ERA, and a 1.02 WHIP. The White Sox are expected to counter with Erick Fedde. Fedde has decent numbers at 2-0, with a 3.46 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP, but in his last turn against the Cardinals he yielded 5 runs with 5 walks over 4-1/3 innings. The White Sox have the worst record in the AL and are averaging under 3 runs per game with a team ERA of almost 5. Cleveland is the side to consider in this one.
TONIGHT’S PICK: CLEVELAND GUARDIANS

If there is another team on the planet other than the Boston Red Sox that the New York Yankees want to beat it’s the Houston Astros and that is exactly what they have been doing. With last night’s 10-3 thumping of the Stros at the Stadium, the Bombers have now won all 5 meetings this year with Houston and 9 of the last 10. Tonight they will go for 6 straight wins against Houston when they play the middle game of their 3-game set in the Bronx. The expected starter for New York is lefty Carlos Rodón. He has pitched well, with a record of 2-2, a 3.68 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. New York should have no problem getting to Houston’s expected starter, Spencer Arrighetti, who is winless at 0-3 with a bloated ERA of 8.27 and a 1.96 WHIP. The 24-13 Yankees are hot, winners of their last 4, and are 12-5 in games played on River Ave. Houston is a shell of the team they were when Dusty was the skipper. The Astros are 12-23 overall and just 5-11 on the road.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The 19-19 San Diego Padres took game 1 of their 3-game set with the 21-15 Chicago Cubs last night, 6-3, but tonight they are going to have to face the Cubs’ rookie sensation, southpaw Shōta Imanaga, and he has been off the charts. Imanaga is a perfect 5-0 with an ERA hardly visible at 0.78 and a WHIP of only 0.75. San Diego is expected to give the nod to Randy Vásquez, who was just called back up to the Bigs from AAA-El Paso. In three starts with the Friars this year, Vásquez is 0-1 with a 5.87 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP. In his last turn against the Rockies, he allowed 4 runs on 6 hits over just 2-2/3 innings and San Diego went on to lose, 10-9. Chicago has played well at Wrigley with a record of 12-5 and in Imanaga’s six starts this year, the Cubs have won all six.
TONIGHT’S PICK: CHICAGO CUBS

The Philadelphia Phillies are clicking on every cylinder and will go for a 4-game series sweep of the San Francisco Giants today at Citizens Bank Park. Not only are the Phillies hot but so is their ace and expected starter for tonight, Zack Wheeler. Wheeler is 3-0 over his last 3 turns with a ridiculous ERA of only 0.49 and a 0.76 WHIP. The Giants are expected to send Mason Black to the hill. He will be making his big league debut and what an introduction it will be. Black will have to face the likes of Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and J.T. Realmuto. Philadelpha has won 5 straight, 9 of their last 10, and 16 of their last 19. Tough task for anybody.
TODAY’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The 15-18 St. Louis Cardinals and the 7-26 Chicago White Sox will wrap up their 3-game series this afternoon at Busch Stadium. The White Sox tied the series last night in a rain delayed extra innings game, 6-5, but that still gives them just two wins on the road this season. Chicago is expected to turn to the young lefty, Garrett Crochet, to throw strikes and he has potential but isn’t there yet. Crochet is 1-4 with a 5.97 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP, and Chicago is 0-5 in his last 5 starts. St. Louis is probably going with a bullpen game, and it is yet to be determined who gets the first leg. Following a loss, the Cardinals are 4-1 in their last 5 and 6-0 in their last 6 interleague games against a left-handed starter.
TODAY’S PICK: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

The Minnesota Twins will go for their twelfth straight win when they host the Boston Red Sox today in the middle game of their 3-game set at Target Field. The Twins are hot but keep in mind 10 of their 11 wins were against the lowly White Sox and another bottom feeder, the Los Angeles Angels. The Red Sox lost last night, 5-2, but have played well on the road with a record of 11-6 and can get to the Twins expected starter, Pablo López. López is 2-2 with an elevated ERA of 4.83, a 1.04 WHIP, and is 0-1 in his career against the Red Sox with a 6.35 ERA. The Red Sox are expected to pitch a bullpen game today with Brennan Bernardino getting the first leg. Bernardino is 0-1 with an ERA of only 0.73 and a WHIP to match, at 0.73. I like Boston in this situation and all good things must end.
TODAY’S PICK: BOSTON RED SOX

The Cleveland Guardians return home tonight to Progressive Field to open a 3-game set with the struggling Los Angeles Angels. The Guardians own the top spot in the AL Central with a record of 20-11 and are 8-4 at home. The Angels are dead last in the AL West with a record of 11-20 and are 7-9 on the road. Tonight’s expected starter for LA is José Soriano, who is winless at 0-4 with a 4.76 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Cleveland is expected to counter with Tanner Bibee and he has been dealing. Bibee is 2-0 with a 3.45 ERA, a WHIP of 1.31, and over his last 3 turns his ERA has dropped to just 1.53. The Guardians, who are averaging over 5 runs per game, should get to Soriano and you know Bibee will keep the Troutless Halos’ scoring to a minimum.
TONIGHT’S PICK: CLEVELAND GUARDIANS