Category: Baseball

The New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays will play the second game of their 4-game set tonight at the Stadium. New York lost the opener last night, 4-2, but should even it up tonight with their ace on the hill, southpaw Max Fried. Fried was dealing with a blister on his left index finger in his last turn against Toronto which would explain his rare poor outing, but all is good for tonight. Fried has Cy Young-type numbers at 11-4 with a 2.62 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP over 127.1 innings of work. Tampa is expected to have Joe Boyle toeing the rubber. Boyle has good numbers, at 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA and a 0.63 WHIP but that is over just 19 innings of work. The Rays have not played well on the road, at 23-25, and they are 0-5 in their last five games against a left-handed starter. The Yankees are 31-22 in the Bronx and have the edge in runs per game, run differential, hits, and homers.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles will open a 4-game set tonight at Birdland with a doubleheader slated for tomorrow. The best team in baseball, the Toronto Blue Jays, will send Chris Bassitt to the hill. Bassitt is 11-4 with a 3.88 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. The last placed Orioles will counter with Zach Eflin and the Jays heavy hitters should be able to get to him. Eflin is 6-5 with a 5.78 ERA, a 1.37 WHIP, and Baltimore is 0-4 in his last 4 starts. The Orioles have won two straight but that was against the worst team in baseball, the Colorado Rockies, so don’t get too excited. Toronto is the better team on the diamond tonight and should come out on top.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TORONTO BLUE JAYS

The 61-43 Milwaukee Brewers are on the verge of being swept at home by the red hot 50-53 Miami Marlins when they play the final game of their 3-game set this afternoon at American Family Field. The Marlins have won four straight but streaks end and so will this one. Milwaukee is expected to have the veteran Brandon Woodruff on the hill, and he has been delivering. Woodruff is 2-0 with an ERA of only 1.65 and a WHIP barely visible at 0.55. Despite losing their last two to the Marlins, the Brewers are still a stout 33-19 at home and are 5-0 in their last five in Game 3 of a series.
TODAY’S PICK: MILWAUKEE BREWERS

The Cincinnati Reds and the Tampa Bay Rays will play the middle game of their 3-game set tonight at Great American Ball Park. The Reds cruised to a 7-2 win last night in Game 1 and should come out on top again tonight. The Big Red Machine will have their ace, Andrew Abbott, on the hill and he is throwing flames as usual. The 2025 NL Cy Young candidate is 8-1 with a 2.13 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, and it doesn’t get much better than that. Tampa is expected to counter with Ryan Pepiot. He is 6-8 with a respectable ERA of 3.59 and a 1.16 WHIP but over his last 3 turns he is 0-2 with a 5.00 ERA. The Rays have not been playing well on the road. They have lost 5 straight away from Steinbrenner Field and are 0-7 in Pepiot’s last 7 road starts.
TONIGHT’S PICK: CINCINNATI REDS

The Houston Astros and the Athletics will play the second game of their 4-game set tonight at Daikin Park. The AL West-leading Astros fell to the last placed Athletics last night, 5-2, but should rebound tonight. Despite all of their injuries, the Astros are still 4-1 over their last 5 and at home they are a solid 33-20. Tonight’s expected starter for Houston is Ryan Gusto. He is 6-3 with a 4.46 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Gusto’s last start was July 6th on the road against the LA Dodgers, and he was in the zone, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits over 6 innings of work, and the Astros went on to a 5-1 win. Lefty Jeffrey Springs is expected to get the nod for the Athletics. Springs is 8-7 with a 4.18 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. In his last start against the Cleveland Guardians, he was tagged for 5 runs on 9 hits over 4 innings of work and Cleveland went on to an 8-2 victory. The Astros are 5-1 in their last 6 home games against southpaws and should get to the struggling Springs early.
TONIGHT’S PICK: HOUSTON ASTROS

The 55-47 San Diego Padres and the 52-51 St. Louis Cardinals will open a 4-game set tonight at Busch Stadium. Both teams are riding a 2-game losing streak with the Padres dropping their last two to the Miami Marlins and the Cardinals to the Colorado Rockies. Tonight’s expected starters are Yu Darvish for the Padres and Sonny Gray for the Cardinals. Darvish’s best days might be behind him. He has struggled this year, posting a record of 0-2 with a bloated ERA of 6.08 and a 1.50 WHIP. Sonny Gray was lit up in his last turn against the Diamondbacks, but he is still an elite pitcher and should rebound tonight. Gray is 9-4 with a 4.04 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. In his career Gray has been a Friar-slayer, going 3-0 with an ERA of only 1.58. San Diego does not score a lot of runs so Sonny should keep them in check. The Cardinals have been solid at home with a record of 29-20, have won the last two meetings with the Padres and are worth considering.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

The Cincinnati Reds are on the verge of being swept by the lowly Washington Nationals when they wrap up their 3-game set in a matinée today at Nationals Park. The 52-50 Reds are very much alive in the NL wild card battle and Terry Francona will have his guys ready this afternoon. Cincinnati is expected to hand the ball to Nick Lodolo and he has been steady at 7-6 with a respectable 3.33 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Washington will look to Michael Soroka to throw strikes, and his numbers are not good. Soroka is 3-7 with a 5.10 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. The Reds cannot afford to be swept by the 41-60 Nationals if they want to see the post-season and they know that. The Big Red Machine scores more runs than the Nationals, gives up less, and should right the ship today.
TODAY’S PICK: CINCINNATI REDS