Author: Roger

The New York Yankees, who have lost 5 in a row, will limp into Guaranteed Rate Field tonight to take on a Chicago White Sox team that has won its last 4. New York will turn to the newly acquired Lance Lynn to get them back on track. Lynn made his Yankee debut in relief of Sonny Gray on Wednesday and was sharp, fanning 5 batters in 4-1/3 innings of scoreless ball. Lynn’s numbers on the season could be better, at 7-8, with a 4.89 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP, but he is 2-1 with an ERA of 2.67 in his career against the Chicago White Sox. Dylan Covey will tap the rubber for the White Sox. He is 4-7, with a 5.57 ERA, and a 1.57 WHIP. Covey did not look good in his last turn, yielding 7 runs and taking the loss against a very bad Kansas City Royals team. He has faced the Yankees once in his career, allowing 8 runs on 10 hits with 3 homers resulting in a Yankee victory. The White Sox are 1-7 in Covey’s last 8 starts and 8-17 in their last 25 meetings with the Bombers. New York should be able to get to Covey tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Philadelphia Phillies will seek their fifth straight win and a 4-game sweep of the Miami Marlins when the two clubs meet in an early one today at Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia is tough at home, at 37-18, and will have one of the best in the Majors on the hill, Aaron Nola. Nola is 12-3, with an outstanding ERA of 2.35, a WHIP of just 0.97, and the Phillies are 19-7 in Nola’s last 26 home starts. Miami will have Dan Straily tapping the rubber. Straily is 4-5, with a 4.41 ERA, a 1.40 WHIP, and the Marlins are 1-5 in his last 6 road starts. Miami has lost 5 in a row and are 2-5 in their last 7 meetings with Philadelphia. Consider the Phillies in this one.
TODAY’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The Seattle Mariners fell to the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday, 7-2, but should be able to rebound today because the Canadian flame throwing leftie, James Paxton, will be tapping the rubber for the Mariners. Paxton is 9-4, with a 3.49 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. The Jays will counter with Marco Estrada and he has not been delivering. He is 4-8, with a 4.90 ERA, a 1.35 WHIP, and in his last 3 turns, Estrada’s ERA has ballooned to 8.68 with a 2.04 WHIP. Toronto has had issues with lefties, going 8-25 in their last 33.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SEATTLE MARINERS

After last night’s victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the San Francisco Giants have now won 5 straight against the Snakes and their last 4 at Chase Field, but trends can be broken. Arizona will host San Francisco tonight for the second game of a 4-game set and will send their flame throwing lefty to the hill, Patrick Corbin. The New York native is 7-4, with a 3.26 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP, and is 1-1 in his last 3 turns with a 4.26 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. The Giants will reach into the barrel and send Chris Stratton to the rubber. Stratton will be making his first start since being recalled from AAA Sacramento. His 2018 Big League numbers are 8-6, with an elevated ERA of 5.14 and a 1.46 WHIP. Over Stratton’s last 3 turns, his ERA is not good, at 8.62 with a 1.91 WHIP and the Giants are 1-4 in his last 5 starts. There is a pitching mismatch here.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

It appears the Washington Nationals clubhouse woes are behind them after sweeping the Mets in a 2-game series and outscoring them, 30-7. Tonight they welcome the NL Central last place Cincinnati Reds to Nationals Park for a 4-game set. The Nationals ace, Max Scherzer, will take the hill and he has been doing what he does best, deliver. Scherzer is 14-5, with a 2.30 ERA, a 0.90 WHIP, and he is a perfect 3-0 in his last 3 turns with a 2.14 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. Now that is nasty stuff. Scherzer last faced the Reds on Opening Day and was lights out, fanning 10 in a 2-0 Washington win. The Reds are expected to counter with Tyler Mahle. Mahle has been struggling. He is 7-8, with a 4.53 ERA, a 1.52 WHIP, and is 0-2 in his last 3 turns with an ERA that soared to 14.00 and a 2.89 WHIP. With the way the Nats are clobbering the ball, that is not good. Cincinnati has lost all 3 meetings with Washington in the 2018 campaign. The Reds are a dismal 3-13 in the last 16 meetings overall and 2-6 in their last 8 trips to Washington. Everything indicates a Nationals win.
TONIGHT’S PICK: WASHINGTON NATIONALS

The New York Yankees disposed of the Baltimore Orioles yesterday, 6-3, which isn’t a difficult thing to do when you’re playing the worst team in baseball. Today the two teams will meet again in the Bronx for a matinee when they conclude a short 2-game set. The Orioles are expected to have Alex Cobb tap the rubber and his year has been a disaster. He is 2-14, with a 6.08 ERA, a 1.56 WHIP, and Baltimore is 3-16 in his last 19 starts. The Yanks’ Sonny Gray took a line drive off his pitching hand in his last turn but is expected to get the start today. He is 8-7, with a 5.08 ERA, a 1.47 WHIP, and is starting to deliver like New York thought he would. Gray is 3-0 in his last 3 turns, with a nasty ERA of 1.10, a 0.92 WHIP, and has been an Orioles killer this season, going 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA. The Yankees open a 4-game set on Thursday against the Red Sox at Fenway so they had better win today.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Oakland Athletics dominance over the Toronto Blue Jays continued last night by thrashing them, 10-1. The A’s will go for their sixth straight victory against the Jays when they meet again tonight at the Oakland Coliseum. Trevor Cahill will get the nod for Oakland and he has mediocre numbers at 2-2, with a 3.43 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP, but in 5 starts at home he has an ERA of only 0.80. Sam Gaviglio will start for Toronto. He comes into tonight’s contest at 2-3, with a 4.65 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP, and he has not won a game since May 25th. The Jays are 8-18 in their last 26 road games and 4-10 in their last 14 trips to Oakland. The A’s playoff chances are very much alive, sitting just 5 games back of the AL West leading Houston Astros, so they need to win. Toronto’s season is over and they don’t.
TONIGHT’S PICK: OAKLAND ATHLETICS