Author: Roger

The 27-19 San Diego Padres have lost 4 straight but all teams hit a bump in the road and keep in mind, despite last night’s 0-3 loss to the Blue Jays in Toronto, they are still just 1.5 games back of the Dodgers for the top spot in the very competitive NL West. San Diego is a really good team. With that said, the Padres and Blue Jays will resume their 3-game set tonight at Rogers Centre. The 23-24 Jays are expected to turn to Kevin Gausman to throw strikes. He has not looked impressive at all. Gausman is 3-4 with a 4.59 ERA. In his last outing at home against a mediocre at best Tampa Bay Rays team, Gausman gave up 10 hits, 6 runs, 3 long balls, and the Rays won 8-3. The Padres are expected to counter with Randy Vásquez, who is 3-3 with a respectable 3.34 ERA. In his last turn against the Angels, Vásquez pitched 6 strong innings, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits, and the Friars went on to win, 5-1. By far, San Diego is the better team on the field tonight, with the edge in runs scored, run differential, hits per game, etc., etc., etc. They’ll get back on the rails.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES

The best team in all of baseball, the Detroit Tigers, fell to the red hot St. Louis Cardinals last night, 11-4, at Busch Stadium but they should get back on track when they resume their 3-game series tonight. The reigning AL Cy Young winner, southpaw Tarik Skubal, is expected to get the start for the Tigers. Skubal is having another stellar year with a record of 4-2, a 2.67 ERA, and a WHIP of only 0.88. It doesn’t get much better than that. The Cardinals, who have won 13 of their last 15, are expected to hand the ball to Erick Fedde, who is 3-3 with a 3.44 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. In his last turn against Philadelphia, Fedde was dealing, yielding no runs and just 3 hits over 5-2/3 innings of work but for some reason skipper Oliver Marmol thought he should be pulled, and the bullpen blew it; the Cards lost 2-1. It won’t be easy for Detroit with Fedde on the hill but the Tigers are not in the habit of losing two in a row. They have the edge in runs scored, run differential, homers and Skubal is on the hill.
TONIGHT’S PICK: DETROIT TIGERS

The Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets will open a 3-game set tonight at Fenway. The struggling Red Sox have lost 5 of their last 6 and will be without their skipper tonight, Alex Cora, who is taking the night off for a personal matter. Boston is expected to send Hunter Dobbins to the hill. His numbers are decent at 2-1 with a 3.90 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP but Dobbins did not look good in his last turn against the Detroit Tigers when he yielded 5 runs and Detroit went on to a 6-5 win. New York has won the last three meetings with Boston and is expected to give the nod to Kodai Senga, who has been dealing. Senga is 4-2 with a nasty ERA of 1.02, a WHIP of only 1.17, and in his last turn against the Pittsburgh Pirates he was sharp as usual, yielding just 1 run and the Mets went on to a 2-1 win. The Mets lost 2 of 3 over the weekend to the Yankees but should get back on track tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK METS

Tonight the Texas Rangers will have their ace, Nathan Eovaldi, on the hill when they host the Houston Astros at Globe Life Field. Eovaldi has been lights out with a record of 4-2, a 1.75 ERA and a WHIP of only 0.75. Houston’s expected starter, Lance McCullers, has been just the opposite. He is 0-1 with a bloated ERA of 15.75, a WHIP of 3.00, and that is not a typo. Texas has won 6 straight, is 16-8 at home and should come out on top tonight. The Rangers are hot; ride them ’til they are not.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TEXAS RANGERS

Vladimar Guerrero Jr. is starting to earn his money. The Toronto Blue Jays are starting to click and will go for a series win over the Tampa Bay Rays in a matinée today at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays have won 5 of their last 6 and are just 3.5 back of the New York Yankees for the top spot in the AL East. Today’s expected starters are Zack Littell for the Rays and Kevin Gausman for the Jays; edge Jays. Littell is 2-5 with a 4.40 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. Gausman is 3-3 with a 3.97 ERA and a WHIP of only 0.95. Toronto is 12-9 at home and should come out on top.
TODAY’S PICK: TORONTO BLUE JAYS

The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Angels will play the rubber game of their 3-game set tonight at Petco Park. The Padres should have no problem getting to Angels expected starter, Kyle Hendrix. He is not what he was when he played for the Chicago Cubs. Hendrix comes in at 1-4 with an elevated ERA of 5.30 and a 1.26 WHIP. The Padres are averaging just shy of 5 runs per game and are 15-5 at home. The Friars get it done tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES