Category: Baseball

The San Diego Padres are the real deal and will go for a 4-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks today at Petco Park. The Padres have outscored the pathetic Diamondbacks, 18-9, over their last 3 meetings and will be facing Taylor Widener. Widener has an 8.44 ERA against San Diego and a 1.688 WHIP. Forget about it. Take the Friars.
TODAY’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES

The New York Yankees’ bats were silent on Thursday but that won’t be the case today. Ross Stripling will get the nod for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Bombers are licking their chops. Stripling was 0-2 for the Jays in 2020 with a 6.32 ERA. Take New York and don’t look back.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The San Diego Padres are focused on one thing and that is winning a World Series. They inched closer to that goal when they signed two flamethrowers, Yu Darvish and southpaw Blake Snell. The 2018 Cy Young winner Snell will be tapping the rubber for the Friars tonight and that spells trouble for the Snakes. The Arizona Diamondbacks are 1-7 in their last 8 road games against a left-handed starter and 1-4 in their last 5 trips to Petco Park. Take the Padres.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES

The New York Yankees will host the upstart Toronto Blue Jays for their home opener and, even with just 20% capacity, you can bet Yankee Stadium will be electric .The Yanks are coming off a good spring and will have all their heavyweights healthy and ready to go. New York will give the nod to arguably the best pitcher in the majors, Gerrit Cole. Cole was his usual dominant self in 2020, with a record of 7-3, an ERA of 2.84, and was lights out down the stretch, posting a nasty ERA of only 1.00 in his last 4 starts. He has also been a Blue Jays killer. In his career against the Jays, he is 3-0 with a 2.88 ERA. Toronto will counter with southpaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu. Ryu had a great 2020, with a record of 5-2 and a 2.69 ERA, but has struggled against the Yanks. In his career, he is just 1-2 with a bloated ERA of 6.04. The Yankees are lethal, 1 through 9, and in the Bronx they are 5-1 in their last 6 against left-handed starters. New York usually fares well in their home opener and today should be no different. Take the Bombers.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

With the Series on the line tonight, Tampa will turn to Blake Snell to force Game 7 and he is more than capable. In Game 2, Snell kept the Dodgers offense in check, pitching 4-2/3 strong innings, striking out 9 and yielding 2 runs resulting in a 6-4 Rays victory. Tony Gonsolin is expected to get the start for the Dodgers. He has not pitched well this postseason and lasted just 1.1 innings in Game 2. As we know, the Rays bounce back after a win and I will take Kevin Cash’s managing skills over Dave Roberts any day of the week.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

The Tampa Bay Rays didn’t win Game 4 of the World Series last night, the Los Angeles Dodgers blew it. Nonetheless, the Fall Classic is now tied at 2 apiece. If the momentum has swung the Rays way, the Dodgers starter, Clayton Kershaw, will put an end to that. Kershaw, who is 3-1 in the postseason with a 2.88 ERA, was brilliant in Game 1 where he allowed just 1 run on 2 hits over 6 innings of work, resulting in a decisive 8-3 victory. He is expected to be opposed by Tampa’s Game 1 starter, Tyler Glasnow. Glasnow’s postseason numbers are nothing to brag about, at 2-2 with a bloated ERA of 6.08, and he was lit up in Game 1 by LA, yielding 6 runs on 3 hits over 4-1/3 innings. Just like the Rays, the Dodgers are resilient. They are 50-19 over their last 69 following a loss and it’s never wise to go against the future hall of famer Clayton Kershaw.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS

The Los Angeles Dodgers were impressive last night in their 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, taking a 2-1 lead in the Fall Classic. With a win tonight, the Dodgers will have a stranglehold on the series and the chances of that happening are looking very favorable. Their bats are hot and they are expected to face the southpaw Ryan Yarbrough. Yarbrough was not impressive in the regular season, going 1-4 with a 3.56 ERA, but he is 1-0 in the postseason with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. LA is expected to send lefty Julio Urías to the hill. He has been spectacular all year. Urías is a perfect 4-0 in the postseason with a nasty ERA of 0.56 and a 0.63 WHIP. Tampa’s bats went silent once again last night, mustering just 4 hits and striking out 13 times. Against a guy like Urías, numbers like that will not cut it. The Rays usually bounce back after a loss but time may running out.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS