Author: Roger

The Boston Red Sox will go for a series sweep of the Oakland Athletics when they wrap up their 3-game set in an early one today at the Coliseum. The 4-2 Red Sox are expected to send Nick Pivetta the hill. Pivetta is 0-1 on the season but the loss to the Seattle Mariners was not his fault. He was brilliant in his season debut against Seattle, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits and fanning 10 over 6 innings of work, but Boston couldn’t muster any runs and they fell to the Mariners, 1-0. The 1-5 Athletics are expected to send Ross Stripling to the rubber. Unlike Pivetta, Stripling hasn’t had a win since October of 2022 and was awful in his season debut against Cleveland. He allowed 5 runs on 7 hits with 2 walks over 5 innings and Cleveland went on to a 6-4 win. Oakland better bring their A-game today if they want to avoid getting swept, the reason being that Pivetta is 5-0 in his career against the Athletics with a barely visible ERA of 0.83.
TODAY’S PICK: BOSTON RED SOX

The 3-1 Baltimore Orioles had more come-from-behind wins than any other team in the American League last year and they did it again last night, erasing a 3-0 deficit against the 1-3 Kansas City Royals to go on to a 6-4 win. Tonight, in the middle game of their 3-game set, the Orioles should have an easier time when they face the Royals expected starter, Alec Marsh. Marsh’s numbers are not even worth mentioning from a year ago, they were that bad, and the Royals are 0-8 in his last 8 starts. The same goes for the Orioles expected starter, Cole Irvin, who is only getting the nod because Kyle Bradish and John Means are on the IR, but Baltimore is 6-1 in his last 7 starts overall and 5-0 in his last 5 at Birdland. To say the Orioles have owned the Royals would be an understatement. They have won 5 straight against KC and 8 of the last 9. I like the Orioles in this situation.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BALTIMORE ORIOLES

The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies will wrap up their 4-game set this afternoon at Chase Field. The NL Champion Diamondbacks fell to the Rockies yesterday, 9-4, but they bounce back today. The D-backs won the first two of the series and outscored the Rockies by a combined score of 23-4. Expect more of that today. The expected starters for both teams are not winning a Cy Young any time soon. Colorado is expected to send Ryan Feltner to the hill. In 2023 Feltner was 2-4 with a 5.82 ERA. Arizona is expected to give the nod to Brandon Pfaadt. In 2023 Pfaadt was 3-9 with a 5.27 ERA but the D-backs are 5-1 in his last 6 starts. Arizona should be able to get to Feltner and have won 7 of the last 10 meetings with the Rockies.
TODAY’S PICK: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

The San Diego Padres got to the San Francisco Giants bullpen yesterday and went on to beat their NL West rival, 6-4. Tonight the Pads will try to do it again when the two clubs play the second game of their 4-game set at Petco Park. Expected starters are Joe Musgrove for the Friars and lefty Kyle Harrison for the Giants. Harrison started 7 games last year for San Francisco and was 1-1 with an elevated ERA of 4.15. His lone loss was to the San Diego Padres when they torched him for 6 runs on 6 hits over 5-2/3 innings, resulting in a 6-1 Padres win. The Padres ace and San Diego native Musgrove was roughed up in his first outing this year against the LA Dodgers in Korea but was lights out in 2023, with a record of 10-3 and a 3.05 ERA. Musgrove always delivers in front of his home crowd and the Padres have won 3 straight against the Giants and 6 of the last 7.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES

The reigning AL East Champion Baltimore Orioles will kick off the 2024 campaign at home today against the Los Angeles Angels. The Orioles were 101-61 overall last year and 49-32 at Camden Yards, and if you think they were a force last year, this year they will be even better. The O’s acquired the 2021 Cy Young winner, Corbin Burns, from Milwaukee to bolster their rotation and he is expected to get the nod today in the opener. Burns was 10-8 last year with a 3.39 ERA and a ridiculous WHIP of only 1.069 which was the best in the majors. The Halos, who were 73-89 last year, are expected to turn to southpaw Patrick Sandoval to throw strikes. He had just 7 wins with 13 losses in 2023 and a 4.11 ERA. The Angels new skipper, Ron Washington, will have his work cut out for him this year. Starting pitching is an issue, Shohei Ohtani jumped ship to the Dodgers, Mike Trout is still Mike Trout but getting older, and Anthony Rendon is always injured. Baltimore swept Los Angeles in a 3-game set in their last meeting in September and was 5-2 overall last year against the Halos. Consider the O’s.
TODAY’S PICK: BALTIMORE ORIOLES