Author: Roger

The Cleveland Guardians will play host to the San Francisco Giants when they open a 3-game set tonight at Progressive Field. At 51-73 the Giants know they are not headed to the post-season and that is why they traded their ace Robby Ray to their archrival San Diego Padres and left fielder Heliot Ramos to the New York Yankees. So, for the remainder of the season San Francisco will just go through the motions. Tonight the Giants are expected to send Carson Whisenhunt to the bump. The Guardians do not put up a lot of runs but should tonight against the right-hander. Whisenhunt is 3-3 with a bloated ERA of 6.11 and a 1.71 WHIP. The 60-65 Guardians are still very much alive in the Wild Card hunt and winning the AL Central is not out of the equation, as they sit just 5.5 games back of the Chicago White Sox for the top spot. Southpaw All-Star Foster Griffin is expected to be called on to throw strikes for Cleveland. Griffin was acquired from the Washington Nationals at the trade deadline and has been a little shaky over his first two starts for his new club. He is due for a shutdown game and this should be it. Griffin is 13-4 with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. The Giants have one of the worst road records in the majors at 22-40 and if the Guardians are going to make a push for the AL Central lead this is their opportunity to get it started.
TONIGHT’S PICK: CLEVELAND GUARDIANS

The Tampa Bay Rays are on the verge of being swept at home by the Baltimore Orioles when they wrap up their 4-game set tonight in St. Pete but hold on a minute. Despite their recent home skid, the Rays still own the best home record in all of baseball, at 41-21, and are expected to have their ace on the hill, southpaw Shane McClanahan. McLanahan is 9-6 with a 3.09 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP, and has owned the Orioles in his career with a perfect 7-0 record and an ERA only of 2.97. If Kevin Cash lets McClanahan go deep into the game and doesn’t do something inane like he did last night when he pulled Freddy Peralta in the 5th who had a 1-0 lead with two outs, Tampa should come out on top.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

The AL West leading Houston Astros and the third place Seattle Mariners will wrap up their 3-game set tonight at Daikin Park. The teams split the first two games, and it has been a scoring frenzy with the two clubs combining for a total of 32 runs. Tonight’s expected starters are Bryan Woo for the Mariners and Hunter Brown for the Astros. Woo is 8-8 on the season with a mediocre 4.15 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Brown comes in at 3-2 with a 3.68 ERA, a WHIP of 1.27, and over his last three turns he has been in the zone, going 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA and a stingy WHIP of 0.80. The Mariners are 25-37 on the road and have just two wins in their last nine tries. The Astros are the better team on the field tonight. They have the edge in runs scored, batting average, hits, homers, and should prevail.
TONIGHT’S PICK: HOUSTON ASTROS

Detroit Tigers ace Troy Melton is expected to toe the rubber this afternoon when the Tigers and the Chicago White Sox play the middle game of their 3-game set at Comerica Park. Chicago won the first game, 9-5, last night but don’t expect the same result today. Melton has been mowing them down all season and has some scary numbers. He is 7-1 with a 1.46 ERA, a WHIP of only 0.90, and it gets better. Over his last 3 starts, Melton is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.00 (that is not a typo) and a 0.75 WHIP. In his career against Chicago, he is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA. The White Sox are expected to counter with southpaw Anthony Kay and he is hittable. Kay has average numbers at 9-5 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. Detroit sits just 3.5 games back of Chicago for the lead in the AL Central so this is their chance to gain some ground and they know it. Despite last night’s win, the White Sox are not a good road team at 26-34 and with Melton expected on the hill the side to consider is Detroit.
TODAY’S PICK: DETROIT TIGERS

The Washington Nationals will open a 3-game set tonight with the New York Mets in Queens. The Nationals at 60-63 know they still have a legitimate shot for a wild card berth, where the Mets at 53-69 realize they don’t, and that was evident at the trade deadline when they sent starting pitcher Clay Holmes packing to the Chicago Cubs and Freddy Peralta to the Tampa Bay Rays. Tonight the Nationals should be able to get to the Mets expected starter Robert Stock early. Stock is 0-2 with a bloated ERA of 10.13 and a 2.12 WHIP. Numbers like that do not bode well for Stock and the Mets when you are facing a Nationals team that is first in the majors in runs scored and home runs. Washington is expected to give the nod to Andrew Alvarez. He comes in at 2-3 with a respectable 3.76 ERA, a 1.40 WHIP, and was in the zone in his last turn against the Cincinnati Reds where he allowed just 1 run on 3 hits over 5-1/3 innings of work and Washington cruised to an easy 8-2 win. The Nationals have won 4 of the 7 meetings this year with New York, have played well on the road at 33-27, and the Mets are expected to be without Juan Soto who is once again not in the lineup due to an injury.
TONIGHT’S PICK: WASHINGTON NATIONALS

The New York Yankees will go for a 3-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners in an early one today in the Bronx. The Yankees have outscored the Mariners in the first two games, 14-6, and are expected to turn to southpaw Max Fried to throw strikes. He is back to his dominant self since returning from an elbow injury. Fried is 4-3 with an ERA of only 2.88 and an excellent WHIP of just 0.97. In his last turn against a really good Atlanta Braves team, he dominated. Over 6.1 frames he allowed only 3 hits, 0 runs with 7 punch outs, and the Yankees went on to win, 3-2. The slumping Mariners, who have lost 6 straight, will turn to Logan Gilbert to right the ship and he has respectable numbers. Gilbert is 8-7 with a 3.42 ERA and a WHIP of only 0.99. New York has owned Seattle this year, winning 4 of the 5 meetings, and has the edge in runs scored, runs allowed, OPS, and homers.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The 64-57 Philadelphia Phillies and the 60-60 St. Louis Cardinals will play the rubber game of their 3-game set in a matinée today at Busch. The Phillies fell to the Cardinals last night 2-0 but should bounce back today. Philadelphia is expected to give the nod to their ace, Zack Wheeler, and it’s hard not to side with Philly when he’s on the hill. Wheeler has Cy Young numbers. He is 10-3 with a 2.69 ERA and a WHIP of only 0.98. The Phillies are also 6-0 in his last 6 starts following a team loss and 7-0 in his last 7 starts in Game 3 of a series.
TODAY’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES