Author: Roger

The Baltimore Orioles will take it on the arches north of the border tonight to open a 4-game set with their AL East foe, the Toronto Blue Jays. The 37-20 Orioles are 16-8 away from Birdland and are riding a 4-game road winning streak. The O’s expected starter is Grayson Rodriguez who is 5-2 with a 3.53 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. On the flip side, the 28-30 Jays are expected to send former Oriole Kevin Gauzman to the hill. He is 4-3 with a 4.14 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP which is mediocre at best, and against the AL East, Toronto is just 2-10 in Gauzman’s last 12 starts. The Orioles lost to the Rays yesterday and are not in the habit of losing two in a row. Baltimore is the better team on the field tonight and usually stick it to Toronto.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BALTIMORE ORIOLES

The Minnesota Twins and the Houston Astros will play the rubber game of their 3-game set in a matinée today at Minute Maid Park. Despite last night’s 5-2 loss, the Twins are still a respectable 16-13 on the road and will give the nod to their rookie, Simeon Woods Richardson. Over his first 40 innings in the bigs, he has proven that he belongs. Richardson is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. The Stros, who are 15-16 at Minute Maid, will turn to Hunter Brown to throw strikes and his numbers are not good. Brown is 1-5 with a bloated ERA of 6.38, a 1.64 WHIP, and Houston has had trouble winning back-to-back games, going 0-6 in their last 6 following a win. The Twins have been playing well and depending on where you do your shopping, they are around +120 and the side to consider today.
TODAY’S PICK: MINNESOTA TWINS

The NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers pounded the worst in the Majors, the Chicago White Sox, last night, 12-5, and I expect more of the same today when they meet again at American Family Field. With last night’s thumping, the Sox have now lost 9 straight, are a dismal 15-43 overall, and 5-22 on the road. Chicago is expected to send southpaw Garrett Crochet to the bump. Crochet has pitched well, at 5-5 with a 3.68 ERA and an excellent WHIP of only 0.93, but the Brew are 4-0 in their last 4 home games against a left-handed starter. Milwaukee averages over 5 runs per game, Christian Yelich is smoking hot, and that will be too much for Crochet to handle.
TODAY’S PICK: MILWAUKEE BREWERS

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies will open a 3-game set tonight at Citizens Bank Park. The Cardinals are red hot, winners of 12 of their last 15, but if anyone can slow them down it’s Philadelphia. The best team in baseball has won 6 straight at home and is 22-8 overall at Citizens Bank Park. The expected starter for the Phillies is Aaron Nola and he has been on his mark. Nola is 6-2 with a 3.04 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP, and is 7-3 in his career against the Cardinals with a 2.54 ERA. St. Louis will send Miles Mikolas to the hill. He is 3-5 with a 5.64 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP and last year he was 0-2 against Philadelphia with a 7.50 ERA. The Phillies are 8-2 in the last 10 meetings with the Cardinals and have the edge in runs scored, run differential, batting average, hits, homers, etc., etc., etc.
TONIGHT’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The 38-19 New York Yankees and the 21-34 Los Angeles Angels will play the rubber game of their 3-game set tonight in Anaheim. Two southpaws are expected to face each other, with Carlos Rodón getting the nod for the Yankees and Patrick Sandoval for the Halos. Rodón is looking like the dominant pitcher he was when he played for the White Sox. The lefty is 6-2 with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. On the other hand, Sandoval has struggled. He is 2-7 with a 5.60 ERA, a WHIP of 1.55, and in his last turn against Cleveland he allowed 8 runs in just 3-2/3 innings resulting in a 10-4 loss. The Bombers are the best in the AL and 4-0 in Rodón’s last 4 starts. They should take care of business tonight against an Angels team that is just 7-20 at Angel Stadium.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Baltimore Orioles will go for a series win over the Boston Red Sox when they wrap up their 3-game set tonight at Camden Yards. The 34-19 Orioles are expected to have Corbin Burnes on the hill and he is delivering as usual. Burnes is 4-2 with a 2.60 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. The 28-27 Red Sox are expected to turn to Kutter Crawford to throw strikes. Crawford is upside down in the win-loss column, at 2-3, but has good numbers with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP, so this will not be a walk in the park for the Birds. However, Baltimore is 4-1 this season over Boston, they don’t usually lose two in a row, and are always tough at Birdland, with a record of 18-11.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BALTIMORE ORIOLES