Category: Baseball

The Houston Astros will be hosting the Boston Red Sox tonight in Game 1 of the ALCS. Two southpaws are expected to get the nod, Boston’s Chris Sale and Houston’s Framber Valdez. Both pitchers were not at their best in their last outings, with Valdez lasting 4-1/3 innings allowing 4 runs on 7 hits and Sale lasting just 1 inning allowing 5 runs on 4 hits, but everybody has a bad day. In his career, Sale is 5-3 against the Astros with a 2.20 ERA and the Red Sox are 10-2 in their last 12 playoff games as a dog.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BOSTON RED SOX

The San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers have traded punches all year and the postseason has been no different. All is on the line tonight at Oracle Park to see who advances to the NLCS to face the Atlanta Braves. Tonight’s game will come down to pitching and two of the best flamethrowers in the Majors will oppose each other with Logan Webb getting the nod for the Giants and Julio Urías for the Dodgers. Both of these guys have been almost unbeatable, with Urías winning 12 straight and Webb 11, so where does the edge lie? With San Francisco. The Giants will have 40,000 plus fans behind them for support, Webb was lights out in Game 1 of the NLDS shutting out the Dodgers, 4-0, and LA is 2-4 in their last 6 in San Francisco.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

The Los Angeles Dodgers will have momentum on their side when they head home for Game 3 of the NLDS. Los Angeles evened the series at one game apiece on Saturday with a decisive 9-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants and will turn to Max Scherzer tonight to keep it rolling. Since making the move to LA from Washington, the Dodgers are 12-0 in Scherzer’s 12 starts but he has been a little shaky over his last 3 turns. Scherzer said he was having some slight issues with his mechanics but they have since been ironed out. The Giants will counter with ex-Dodger Alex Wood. Wood was lights out in the regular season, going 10-4 with a 3.83 ERA, but was 0-2 against his former team with a 4.76 ERA. LA knows Wood well so there will be no surprises there and will have a well-rested Scherzer on the hill who is due for a dominant performance.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS

The Atlanta Braves fell to the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday, 2-1, in Game 1 of the NLDS. The Braves cannot afford being down 0-2 before heading home to Atlanta for Game 3 and will turn to their ace, southpaw Max Fried, to right the ship. Fried has been dealing. Over his last 3 turns, he is a perfect 3-0 with a nasty ERA of 0.39 and an equally nasty 0.48 WHIP. If that’s not domination, what is? The Brewers will counter with Brandon Woodruff. Over his last 3 turns, Woodruff is 0-2 and was on the losing end of an 8-1 loss to Atlanta the last time he faced them on July 31st. The Brewers are 1-4 in their last 5 against a left-handed starter, which is not good the way Fried is throwing flames.
TODAY’S PICK: ATLANTA BRAVES

As it has been all year, the San Francisco Giants are getting no respect and will be a home dog tonight when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS. The so-called experts were all waiting and predicting the Giants would come back down to earth but they didn’t. Instead, they went on to win more games than any other team in the Majors, 107, and the NL West. Tonight Logan Webb will be on the hill for the home team. This guy has not lost a game since May 5th and has faced the Dodgers three times this year and the Giants went on to win all three. Walker Buehler will toe the rubber for LA and he has delivered all year, however in his last turn against the Giants at Oracle Park on September 5th, he was lit up for 6 runs on 7 hits in 3 innings of work, and San Francisco went on to win, 6-4. The Giants won the season series this year (10-9) against their hated rivals and are 3-1 in their last 4 at home against the Dodgers.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

The ALDS gets underway today with the Houston Astros hosting the Chicago White Sox in a matinée at Minute Maid Park. The scheduled pitchers are Lance Lynn for the White Sox and Lance McCullers Jr. for the Astros. The last time Lynn faced the Astros it did not go very well. He was lit up for 6 runs on 8 hits in 4 innings of work, resulting in a 7-3 Astros win. On the flip side, McCullers Jr. has faced the White Sox twice this year with very different outcomes. Houston won both games and McCullers Jr. allowed a total of only 3 runs on 4 hits in 13 innings of work. The White Sox and Astros met at Minute Maid back in June and the Stros swept the Sox in a 4-game set, outscoring them 27-8. Consider the Astros.
TODAY’S PICK: HOUSTON ASTROS

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers meet tonight at Chavez Ravine in the NL Wild Card game. Year in and year out, the St. Louis Cardinals put a quality product on the field and this year is no different. St. Louis got hot down the stretch to earn their right to face the Dodgers in tonight’s matchup. The Cardinals will turn to the 40-year old veteran, Adam Wainwright, tonight to throw strikes and he has been as sharp as ever. Wainwright is 17-7 with a 3.05 ERA and over his last 8 starts, he is 6-0 with a 2.44 ERA. The obvious choice for the Dodgers to oppose Wainwright is Max Scherzer. Scherzer has been lethal. He is 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA and it gets better. Since joining the Dodgers at the trade deadline from Washington, he is a perfect 7-0 with a nasty ERA of just 1.98. Will the Cardinals make it a game? You better believe it, but with all the Dodgers weapons and Scherzer on the hill, they had better be clicking on every cylinder. Moreover, St. Louis is just 3-7 in the last 10 meetings with LA and 1-5 in their last 6 trips to Dodger Stadium.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS