Author: Roger

The 37-48 Boston Red Sox will be in SoCal tonight to open a 3-game set with the 36-52 Los Angeles Angels. Boston has lost two straight but prior to their 2-game skid they won five in a row including a 4-game sweep of the New York Yankees. Tonight they are expected to give the nod to their talented rookie, southpaw Jake Bennett. He is 2-3 with a respectable 3.27 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Over his last 3 starts, Bennett is 1-1 with an ERA of only 1.53 and a WHIP barely visible at 0.68. Bennett was dealing in his last turn against the New York Yankees, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits over 6.1 frames and Boston went on to a 4-1 victory. The Angels are expected to send left-hander Reid Detmers to the hill. Detmers comes in at 3-5 with a 3.88 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. The Red Sox play better on the road than they do at Fenway and will be catching an Angels team that will be without the best baseball player on the planet, Mike Trout, who is out with a hamstring issue.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BOSTON RED SOX

The Cleveland Guardians are just one game back of the Chicago White Sox for the lead in the AL Central and will have a chance to make up some ground when the two clubs open a 4-game set tonight at Progressive Field. These teams match up well but the edge sides with Chicago. The White Sox, who are seventh in the league in scoring, should do some damage tonight against the Guardians’ expected starter Slade Cecconi. Cecconi is 4-6 with an elevated ERA of 4.19 and a 1.35 WHIP. On the flip side, the White Sox are expected to send Davis Martin to the hill. Martin is 9-3 with a 3.00 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, and should keep the Guardians offense in check who are ranked 27th in the league in scoring. The south siders took two out of three from Cleveland just last week and have the edge in runs scored, run differential, hits, batting average, and homers.
TONIGHT’S PICK: CHICAGO WHITE SOX

The Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates will play the third game of their 4-game set tonight at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies blanked the Pirates last night 8-0 and are now just 2.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves for the top spot in the NL East. Two flamethrowers are expected to square off tonight with Zack Wheeler getting the nod for Philadelphia and Paul Skenes for Pittsburgh. Skenes has not been dominating this year like in the past. He is 6-7 with a 3.10 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. The last time Skenes faced the Phillies back on May 17th he yielded 5 runs on 6 hits over 5 innings of work and Philadelphia went on to a 6-0 win. Zack Wheeler has been at the top of his game, at 8-1 with a 2.03 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP, and in June he was 4-0 with an ERA of 1.71. Wheeler last faced the Pirates when he opposed Skenes on May 17th, pitching 7 scoreless innings in their 6-0 rout. He is also 6-1 in his career against the Pirates with a 2.10 ERA and Pittsburgh is 0-8 in Skenes last 8 starts. Everything says Philly.
TONIGHT’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The Atlanta Braves return home tonight after a dismal 6-game road trip to open a 3-game set with the St. Louis Cardinals. Both of these teams have been struggling, with Atlanta going 1-6 over their last 7 and St. Louis is 1-4 in their last 5. The Braves once had a 10.5 game lead in the NL East but that has shrunk to just 3 games over the Philadelphia Phillies. The good news is the Braves return home tonight to Truist Park where they boast a 24-14 record. Two southpaws are expected to get the nod with Martín Pérez for the Braves and Matthew Liberatore for the Cards. Pérez has been a steady fixture in the rotation with a record of 6-4, a 3.00 ERA, and 1.11 WHIP. That can’t be said for Liberatore who is 3-5 with a 5.56 ERA, a 1.58 WHIP, and it gets worse. Over his last 3 turns, Liberatore is 0-2 with an ERA in the stratosphere at 11.91 and a 2.03 WHIP. If the Braves are going to turn things around it will be tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ATLANTA BRAVES

The Arizona Diamondbacks will be glad to get back to the desert tonight when they open a 3-game set with their NL West rival, the San Francisco Giants. The D-backs went 2-4 on their recent road trip and were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays where they mustered just 4 runs over the 3-game series. Tonight though they should get back on the rails. Arizona has won all 6 meetings with San Fran this year and their lethargic bats should wake up against the Giants’ expected starter Tyler Mahle. Mahle is 1-7 with a 5.49 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. Arizona is expected to give the nod to Eduardo Rodríguez who has exceptional numbers. He is 6-2 with a 2.27 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. The Snakes are tough at home with a record of 24-17 and on the flip side the Giants are a dismal 17-26 away from Oracle Park.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

The 49-32 Atlanta Braves have lost five of their last six and had better get back on track quickly because the surging Philadelphia Phillies now sit just four games back of them for the lead in the NL East. Today in the rubber game of their 3-game set with the 34-48 San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park, the Braves will turn to southpaw Chris Sale to get them back on the rails, and he is more than capable. The future Hall-of-Famer is having another stellar season, posting a record of 8-5 with an ERA of only 2.14, a 1.05 WHIP, and is a perfect 2-0 in his career against San Fran with a 1.33 ERA. The Giants have another southpaw slated to take the hill, Robbie Ray. Ray comes in at 6-6 with a respectable 3.70 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP but in his career against Atlanta he has stumbled, going 2-4 with a 5.09 ERA. The Braves are 6-0 in Sale’s last 6 road starts against a team with a losing record and are worth considering.
TODAY’S PICK: ATLANTA BRAVES

The St. Louis Cardinals were shut out at Busch Stadium last night by the Miami Marlins, 4-0, in Game 1 of their 3-game set and have now lost three straight home games. Tonight they get back on track. The Cardinals are expected to send Andre Pallante to the hill and when they do the Cardinals win. Pallante has great numbers, at 9-4, with a 3.58 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, and St. Louis is 6-0 in his last six starts.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS