Category: Baseball

The Toronto Blue Jays are the hottest team on the planet, winning 13 of their last 15, and are now tied with the New York Yankees for the second AL Wild Card spot. Toronto’s offense has been off the rails and I expect that will continue today when they wrap up their 4-game set with the Baltimore Orioles at the Yard. Lefty Zac Lowther is expected to get the start for the O’s. The rookie, who is 0-1 with a 6.91 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP, could see an early exit. The Jays are averaging over 5 runs per game and are 4-0 in their last 4 against a left-handed starter. Steven Matz, who has been delivering all year, is expected to get the nod for Toronto. Matz is 1-0 over his last 3 turns, with a 2.12 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, and has allowed just 2 earned runs or fewer in his last 7 starts. The Jays won both games of their doubleheader yesterday, in which they scored 22 runs, and are now 11-3 in their last 14 trips to Camden Yards.
TODAY’S PICK: TORONTO BLUE JAYS

With last night’s 5-4 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks, the Seattle Mariners are now just one game back of the stumbling, bumbling New York Yankees for the second Wild Card spot in the AL. Seattle will send Chris Flexen to the hill tonight in the sandwich game of their 3-game set. Flexen has been delivering all year, with a record of 11-5, an ERA of 3.56, and the Mariners are 8-0 in his last 8 starts against a team with a losing record. Arizona is expected to counter with Humberto Castellanos. He is 1-1 with a 3.65 ERA and did not look good in his last start against Seattle where he yielded 5 runs in just 3-2/3 innings of work. The Snakes have lost 6 straight, 11 of their last 12, and are 0-4 this year against the Mariners.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SEATTLE MARINERS

The Atlanta Braves return home tonight to face the Washington Nationals who are 2-8 in their last 10 and 6-20 in their last 26 road games. Atlanta holds a slim 1-1/2 game lead over the Phillies for the top spot in the NL East but that should change. Following Washington, the Braves will host the 57-80 Miami Marlins and the 63-74 Colorado Rockies. The expected starters for tonight’s game are Atlanta’s Max Fried and Washington’s Paola Espino. Fried is 11-7 with a 3.51 ERA and was dominant in his last turn against the Nationals, in the Braves 12-2 win. Espino is 4-4 with a 4.08 ERA and is 0-1 against Atlanta with a 5.00 ERA. The Braves are 12-4 this year against the Nats, 5-0 in their last 5 following a day off, and 14-3 in their last 17 against a team with a losing record.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ATLANTA BRAVES

The Chicago Cubs will have their 6-game winning streak on the line today when they open a 3-game set with the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley, but keep in mind their 6 wins were against the bottom dwelling Pittsburgh Pirates and the Minnesota Twins. After falling to the Detroit Tigers yesterday, 4-1, the Cincinnati Reds now reside a half game back of the San Diego Padres for the second NL Wild Card spot and will turn to Sonny Gray today to get them back on track. Gray has been throwing flames. Over his last 3 starts, he is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA, a stingy WHIP of 0.56, and it doesn’t get much better than that. Rookie Justin Steele is expected to get the start for the Cubs. Steele is 1-1 over his last 3, with a 4.26 ERA, a 1.50 WHIP, and is 0-1 against the Reds with a 6.43 ERA. The Reds are averaging over 5 runs per game and have played well on the road, at 35-32. They are also 8-3 in their last 11 against the Cubs and 4-1 in their last 5 on the north side.
TODAY’S PICK: CINCINNATI REDS

The Tampa Bay Rays just keep on winning, and with the 11-4 pummeling of the visiting Minnesota Twins yesterday, Tampa is now 39-14 in their last 53 overall and hold a comfortable 7-1/2 game lead over the New York Yankees for the top spot in the AL East. The Rays’ bats erupted yesterday for 13 hits and 6 homers and I expect more of the same today when they wrap up their 3-games series with the Twins at the Trop. Griffin Jax, the expected starter for the Twins, has struggled over his last 3 turns, going 0-2 with a hefty ERA of 9.77 and a 1.85 WHIP. Kevin Cash is expected to send Luis Patiño to the hill. Over his last 3 starts, Patiño is 2-0 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. The Rays are 45-25 in St. Pete and are averaging over 5 runs per game. They are worth a consideration over a Twins team that has lost 4 straight and are just 26-41 on the road.
TODAY’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

It was a strange finish last night in the Dodgers/Giants game at Oracle Park with the Dodgers losing in extras, 3-2. Los Angeles is now one game back of San Francisco for the lead in the NL West. Tonight the Dodgers should even the score with southpaw Julio Urías tapping the rubber. He has dominated all season with a mark of 15-3 and a 3.17 ERA. Over his last 3 turns, Urías is 2-0 with an ERA of only 1.13 and a 0.69 WHIP. The Dodgers are 5-0 in his last 5 starts and 7-0 in their last 7 following a loss. San Francisco has yet to announce their starter for tonight’s game.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS

The New York Yankees return home to the Bronx tonight after a lengthy road trip to face the worst team in baseball, the Baltimore Orioles. The number is high in this one and so it should be. Baltimore is 41-91 on the season, 22-47 on the road, and a dismal 18-41 in their last 59 against the Yanks. Lefty John Means is expected on the hill for the Orioles. Means is 0-2 in his last 3 turns with a 4.96 ERA and has not fared well in his career against New York, with a record of 1-2 and an elevated ERA of 6.23. Aaron Boone is expected to hand the ball to “Nasty Nestor” Cortez, Jr. The southpaw has pitched well over his last 3, going 2-1 with a 2.95 ERA. The Yankees are 5-0 in their last 5 after a day off, 5-0 in their last 5 against the AL East, 6-1 in their last 7 home games against a left-handed starter, and shortstop Gleyber Torres, who has been a Baltimore killer in his career, could be back in the lineup tonight. New York sits 6-1/2 games back of Tampa for the lead in the AL East. With Baltimore in for 3 games followed by Toronto, New York cannot squander this opportunity to gain some ground and they won’t.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES