Category: Baseball

The Kansas City Royals lost the opener of their 3-game set with the Minnesota Twins last night, 9-4, at Target Field but will bounce back tonight. Both the Royals and Twins are very much alive in the wild card hunt, with Kansas City 4 games back for the last spot and Minnesota 5.5 back. The Twins have been on a roll, winning 3 straight, but the Royals’ expected starter Noah Cameron should put an end to that. Cameron is 5-5 but the important numbers (ERAs and WHIPs) are excellent, at 2.68 and 1.00. Bailey Ober should get the nod for the Twins. Ober is 4-6 with a 5.38 ERA, a 1.41 WHIP, and Minnesota is 0-8 in his last 8 starts.
TONIGHT’S PICK: KANSAS CITY ROYALS

Two surging teams, the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres, will open a 3-game set tonight at Petco Park. The 64-51 Padres have won 2 straight, 8 of their last 10 and are just 2 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the lead in the NL West. The 64-52 Red Sox have also won 8 of their last 10 and sit 4 games back of the Toronto Blue Jays for the top spot in the AL East. These teams match up well, but the edge goes to the Padres tonight. Walker Buehler is expected to toe the rubber for the Red Sox. Buehler is 6-6 with a 5.74 ERA, a 1.60 WHIP, and Boston is 1-5 in his last 6 road starts. The Friars are expected to send Nick Pivetta to the hill and he has been throwing flames. Pivetta is 11-3 with a 2.73 ERA, a WHIP of only 0.93, and the Padres are a stout 36-19 at home.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES

The Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves will open a 5-game set tonight at Truist Park with a doubleheader slated for Saturday. The 56-57 Marlins were a pushover early in the season but that has changed. The Marlins have won 10 of their last 14, are 6 back of the final wild card spot, and the rest of the NL had better start taking notice. The 47-66 Braves are doing just the opposite, losing 11 of their last 14, and their expected starter for tonight, Carlos Carrasco, is not the answer. Carrasco is 2-2 with an elevated ERA of 5.68 and a 1.53 WHIP. Miami will counter with Eury Pérez, who has been in the zone. Pérez is 4-3 with a 2.70 ERA, a WHIP of only 0.94, and over his last 6 starts, Pérez is 4-1 with a 1.06 ERA. It doesn’t get better than that. The Marlins have won 3 of the last 4 meetings this year with the Braves, play well on the road at 28-26, and are 5-1 in their last 6 road games against a team with a losing record.
TONIGHT’S PICK: MIAMI MARLINS

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants will play the rubber game of their 3-game set in an early one today at PNC Park. The Giants evened the score, cruising to an 8-1 victory last night, and will turn to southpaw Robbie Ray today to wrap up the series. Ray is 9-5 with an ERA of just 2.85 and a 1.12 WHIP. In his last turn against the Mets he was delivering, allowing only 1 run and 4 hits over 7 innings of work, and the Giants went on to a 4-3 victory. Ray will be opposed by another lefty, Andrew Heaney. Heaney, who is 5-9 with a 4.89 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP, was shaky in his last start against the worst team in baseball, the Colorado Rockies, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits over just 3-1/3 innings and the Rockies went on to a 17-16 win. At 57-57, the Giants still have a wild card shot but they have to beat teams like the 49-65 Bucs if they want to get in, and they know it. Ray should keep the Pirates’ bats in check, who are dead last in the league in scoring.
TODAY’S PICK: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

The Milwaukee Brewers won their fourth in a row last night, beating the 47-64 Atlanta Braves 3-1 at Truist Park. Milwaukee owns the best record in baseball at 68-44. They have won 12 of their last 16 and hold a 3-game lead over the Chicago Cubs for the lead in the NL Central. Tonight in the middle game of their 3-game set with Atlanta, Milwaukee is expected to send Freddy Peralta to the bump. Peralta has been on his mark with a record of 12-5, a very good ERA of 3.08, and a 1.13 WHIP. Joey Wentz is expected to get the nod for Atlanta. Wentz is 2-2 with an elevated ERA of 5.02, a 1.38 WHIP, and Milwaukee’s hot bats should be able to do some damage to the southpaw. The Brewers have played well on the road, at 32-24. They are 5-0 in their last 5 against the NL East and 5-0 in their last 5 road games against a team with a losing record.
TONIGHT’S PICK: MILWAUKEE BREWERS

The AL Central-leading 65-48 Detroit Tigers will open a 3-game set tonight against the fourth place 52-59 Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park. Detroit is back to their winning ways, going 5-2 over their last 7, and will turn to Casey Mize to throw strikes. The 2025 All Star is 9-4 with a 3.44 ERA, a 1.31 WHIP, and the Tigers are 8-0 in his last eight home starts against a team with a losing record. The Twins’ road record is not good, at 22-35, and have just two wins in their last eight tries. Detroit is tough at home with a record of 36-21 and have won two straight against Minnesota and four of the six meetings this year. Minnesota has yet to announce a starter but it shouldn’t matter. Detroit is the better team on the field tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: DETROIT TIGERS

The 63-48 New York Mets and the 55-56 San Franciso Giants will play the rubber game of their 3-game set this afternoon in Queens. The Mets cruised to a 12-6 win yesterday and the reeling Giants have now lost 7 of their last 8. Today’s expected starter for San Franciso is southpaw Carson Whisenhunt, and Soto and company should send him packing early. Whisenhunt has just 5 innings of work under his belt with a bloated ERA of 7.20 and a 1.40 WHIP. Frankie Montas should get the nod for New York. Montas’ ERA is high at 5.46 and his WHIP is 1.45 but he has 3 wins to his credit and only 1 loss. The Mets have won 5 of the last 6 meetings with the Giants. They have the edge in runs per game, run differential, batting average, hits, homers, and boast a 38-17 record at Citi Field.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK METS