Author: Roger

The Toronto Blue Jays will take it on the arches tonight when they open a 3-game set against the Texas Rangers in Arlington and they are going to win. The Jay’s ace Dylan Cease is expected to be on the hill. Cease is 11-5 with a 2.38 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Enough said.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TORONTO BLUE JAYS

The Texas Rangers will go for a 3-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox tonight in Arlington, but it’s not going to be a walk in the park with Sonny Gray slated to get the start for the Red Sox. Gray is 17-5 with a 2.76 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, and has owned Texas in his career with a record of 12-5 and an ERA of 2.81. The Rangers are likely going with a bullpen game, with Tyler Anderson getting the first leg. Anderson is 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. Boston has the edge in runs scored, runs allowed, hits, team ERA, and get back in the Win column tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BOSTON RED SOX

The San Diego Padres 8-game winning streak came to end last night when they fell to the Colorado Rockies, 9-3, at Coors Field. The 82-69 Padres still hold a 2.5 game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks for the third and final NL wild card spot. Tonight in the third leg of their 4-game set the Padres are expected to turn to southpaw Robbie Ray to throw strikes. Ray is 12-8 with a 3.57 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP over 156.1 innings of work. The 56-95 Rockies have rookie Mason Adams slated for the start. Adams is still winless at 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP over just 18.2 frames. The lowly Rockies are 4-13 in their last 17 games at Coors Field and the Friars have owned them this year, winning 9 of the 11 meetings.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES

The 77-73 Chicago White Sox and the 76-75 Cleveland Guardians are in a close race for the top spot in the AL Central. With last night’s 7-3 victory at Progressive Field the White Sox hold a slim 1.5 game lead over the Guardians. Tonight in Game 2 of their 3-game set, Cleveland evens the score. Tonight’s expected starters are Foster Griffin for Cleveland and Davis Martin for Chicago. Griffin is 15-5 with a 3.65 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Martin is 9-7 with a 4.05 ERA, a 1.31 WHIP, and Chicago is 0-4 in his last 4 starts against a team with a winning record. The Guardians usually bounce back following a loss and despite the White Sox victory last night they are still 34-42 away from the south side.
TONIGHT’S PICK: CLEVELAND GUARDIANS

Two teams that are moving in opposite directions, the New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins, will open a 3-game set tonight at Target Field. The 86-63 Yankees have won 5 of their last 6 and have a firm hold on the top AL wild card spot and can still catch the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL East title. New York sits 4 games back of Tampa with 13 games left and they have one more 3-game set with the Rays in the Bronx. The 70-79 Minnesota Twins’ post-season aspirations are starting to look bleak. They are 5.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians for the third AL wild card spot and have only 2 wins in their last 7 tries. Minnesota’s expected starter is former Oriole Dean Kremer. There is a reason the Orioles sent the right-hander packing. Kremer is 3-5 with a 5.65 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. The Yankees are expected to counter with Will Warren. Warren comes in at 10-6 with a 4.05 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP, and in his last turn against the Colorado Rockies he pitched 6 strong innings allowing only 4 hits, 1 run, with 8 K’s and the Bombers went on to a 6-1 victory. New York has played well on the road, at 44-31, and are especially dangerous now that the best player on the planet, Aaron Judge, is back in the lineup.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Toronto Blue Jays are expected to turn to Dylan Cease to throw strikes when they go for a series win over the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays ace is 10-5 with an ERA of only 2.40, a 1.04 WHIP, and he is 3-1 in his career against the Orioles with a 3.89 ERA. Trevor Rogers is expected to be toeing the rubber for Baltimore. The southpaw is 10-9 with a 4.15 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Toronto sits one game back of Cleveland for the last AL wild card spot with Baltimore just two back of Toronto. The Jays are 5-4 on the season against the Orioles and have one more 3-game series with the O’s this year in Baltimore. Toronto needs to win this series.
TODAY’S PICK: TORONTO BLUE JAYS

The Arizona Diamondbacks cruised to a 9-1 victory last night over the Texas Rangers at Chase Field. The D-backs sit just 1/2 a game back of the San Diego Padres for the last NL wild card spot and the Friars are feeling the heat. With last night’s win, the Snakes have now won 5 of their last 6. In tonight’s second game of their 3-game set Arizona is expected to send Brandon Pfaadt to the rubber and he has been solid. Pfaadt is 7-2 with a 3.52 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. The Rangers who sit 3 games back of the Cleveland Guardians for the last AL wild card spot have lost their last 3 games and are expected to send Kumar Rocker to the hill. He is not the answer. Rocker is 5-11 with a 4.61 ERA, a 1.44 WHIP, and was lit up in his last turn against the Tampa Bay Rays yielding 9 hits and 6 runs over 5 frames resulting in a 7-6 loss. Arizona boasts a 42-31 record at Chase Field and has the edge in runs scored, run differential, batting average and hits.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS