Author: Roger

The Texas Rangers own the best American League record at home, 41-21, and they’ll try to put another notch in their belt when they take on the Cleveland Indians today. Derek Holland, the “Dutch Oven”, gets the call today for the Rangers. Over his last 3, he is 0-1, with a 5.14 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. The Indians are going to put Danny Salazar on the hill. Salazar has been struggling and cannot find his command. Over his last 3, he is 0-2 with a bloated ERA of 19.29 and a WHIP of 3.29 and that’s not good. Cleveland is 3-7 in their last 10 meetings with Texas, and the Rangers are 6-2 in Holland’s last 8 starts against the Indians. I like the Dutch Oven and company today.

Today’s pick:

Texas Rangers

After losing 2 out of 3 games at Rogers Centre to the bottom dwelling Los Angeles Angels, the Toronto Blue Jays look to get back on track tonight when they host another bottom feeder, the Minnesota Twins. Two lefties go at it tonight, with Pat Dean starting for the Twins and Francisco Liriano for the Jays. Dean is 1-3 on the season, with a 5.48 ERA and in his last start on June 17th against the Yanks, he was drilled, giving up 7 runs in just 2-1/3 innings. Liriano is 6-12 on the season, with a 5.21 ERA and is 2-1 in 4 career starts against the Twins. The Twins are 0-7 in their last 7 overall, 0-4 in their last 4 road games, 1-10 in their last 11 against a team with a winning record, 17-45 in their last 62 meetings with Toronto and 8-24 in their last 32 at Rogers Centre. With all their weapons and with Joey Bats’ (Bautista) back in the line up, the Jays should score some runs.

Tonight’s pick:

Toronto Blue Jays

The Beltway Series between the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals concludes tonight, and the Nationals will try to salvage one game out of the 4-game set. The Nationals will call on Max Scherzer to stop the bleeding. Scherzer is 13-7, with a 3.05 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP and is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.17 in 3 outings against the American League in 2016. Since Chris Tillman is on the DL, Ubaldo Jiménez is back in the rotation and will get the start tonight for the Orioles. Jiménez is 5-10 on the season, with an ERA of 6.94, a WHIP of 1.91, and Baltimore is 1-8 in his last 9 road starts. With that being said, and with the Nationals 5-1 in Scherzer’s last 6 starts, I’m leaning Washington.

Tonight’s Pick:

Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals dropped the first 2 games of the Beltway Series to the Baltimore Orioles but will try to get one back when the series switches to Washington tonight. Tanner Roark gets the call for the Nats and he has been outstanding. In Roark’s last 3 starts, he is 2-0, with an ERA of 1.77 and a WHIP of 1.08. That can’t be said about the lefty Wade Miley who will get the nod for Baltimore tonight. Miley is 0-1 over his last 3 starts, with an inflated ERA of 10.50 and a WHIP of 2.08. In Miley’s last start on Friday against the Astros, he was lit up, yielding 6 runs on 6 hits in just 1-2/3 innings. The Nats are 14-3 in Roark’s last 17 starts and 6-1 in his last 7 home outings. Washington has had success against lefties, going 7-3 in their last 10 against them.

Tonight’s pick:

Washington Nationals

If the Pittsburgh Pirates want to stay in a playoff hunt, they better start turning things around in a hurry. Tonight they will try to get back on track when they open a 3-game set at PNC Park against the Houston Astros. Jameson Taillon gets the call for the Bucs and he has been delivering. Over last 3 outings he is 1-0, with an ERA of 1.80 and a WHIP of 0.95. The ‘Stros will counter with Doug Fister. He is 1-1 over his last 3 starts, with an ERA of 5.29 and a WHIP of 1.71. Houston is 5-14 in their last 19 meetings with the Pirates, and 7-20 in their last 27 in Pittsburgh. The Bucs are 7-1 in Taillon’s last 8 starts. I’m taking McCutchen and company tonight.

Tonight’s pick:

Pittsburgh Pirates