Category: Baseball

The Philadelphia Phillies laid a beating on the San Diego Padres last night, as most teams do, 11-5. They will meet again tonight at Citizens Bank Park for the second game of a 3-game set. Year in and year out, it seems the San Diego Padres don’t even care about putting a quality product on the field and whenever a player shows potential, what do they do? They get rid of him. Tonight the Friars will send Luis Perdomo to the hill and how this guy is in a starting rotation in the Majors is beyond me. Perdomo is 1-4, with a 7.55 ERA, and a 2.10 WHIP in 31 innings of work. The Phillies, who are tough at home at 31-16, will send Vince Velasquez to the rubber. Velasquez is 5-8, with a 4.39 ERA, a 1.24 WHIP, and has been sharp over his last three turns, lowering his ERA to 1.93 and his WHIP to 1.00. San Diego has lost 6 in a row, 8 of their last 10, and are 4-12 in their last 16 games in Philly. Consider a play on the Phillies tonight.
TODAY’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The Seattle Mariners lost 4 straight going into the break but they should be able to get back on track tonight when they open a 3-game set at Safeco Field against the lowly Chicago White Sox. Chicago will send James Shields to the rubber. Shields is not the force he once was, coming into tonight’s game with a record of 4-10, a 4.43 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Southpaw Wade LeBlanc will get the call for Seattle. LeBlanc is 5-1, with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. The White Sox have been horrendous on the road at 14-33 and they are 1-5 in their last 6 meetings with the Mariners. In LeBlanc’s last 14 turns at Safeco, the Mariners are 14-0. Seattle should get back in the Win column tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SEATTLE MARINERS

There’s only one game in the Majors today, with the Chicago Cubs hosting the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cubs are starting to pour it on, winning 3 in a row and 12 of their last 15. The pitching match-up will be Carlos Martinez getting the nod for St. Louis and Kyle Hendricks for Chicago. Both of these pitchers have similar numbers. Martinez is 6-5 with a 3.08 ERA and Hendricks is 6-8 with a 3.92 ERA. St. Louis fired their manager, Mike Matheny prior to the break so the clubhouse could be in a bit of disarray. The Cardinals have struggled at Wrigley Field, going 1-6 in their last 7 games and the Cubs are 5-0 in Hendrick’s last 5 starts against St. Louis. Chicago’s hot, ride them ’til their not.
TODAY’S PICK: CHICAGO CUBS

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost in extra innings last night to the Los Angeles Angels, 5-4. Today the two teams meet again in a matinée at the Ravine for the final game before the break. The Dodgers will send the best they have to the rubber, southpaw Clayton Kershaw. Is Kershaw back to his true form? I would say so. In his last 3 turns, he is 2-0, with a 1.59 ERA and a 0.65 WHIP. Kershaw has dominated Trout and company. The Dodgers are 5-0 in his last 5 starts against the Halos and 4-0 in his last 4 turns against them at home. Pitching has been an issue for the Angels and they will reach into the barrel today to send Deck McGuire to the hill. McGuire is 0-1, with a 6.10 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in 20-2/3 innings of work, which is not good. The Angles are just 4-13 in their last 17 games against lefties so it could be a long day for them.
TODAY’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS

The Philadelphia Phillies’ Aaron Nola has become one of the top flamethrowers in the Majors. Nola will be on the hill today at Marlins Park to face Trevor Richards and the Florida Marlins. The Phillies #1 pick in the 2014 draft has been paying off. Nola is 12-2, with a 2.27 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP, and it gets better. Over his last 3 turns, he is a perfect 3-0, with a nasty ERA of only 0.83 and a WHIP to match at 0.83. Nola last faced Florida back in May and was dominant, pitching 7-1/3 scoreless innings in a 6-0 Philadelphia victory. Trevor Richards will get the call for Florida. He has not been productive at 2-5, with a 5.24 ERA, a 1.61 WHIP, and in his last 3 starts he is 0-1, with a 6.39 ERA and a 2.21 WHIP. Philadelphia is 8-3 in their last 11 meetings with the Marlins and 7-3 in their last 10 trips to Miami. The National League East leaders should get this one.
TODAY’S PICK: FLORIDA MARLINS

The Arizona Diamondbacks will limp into SunTrust Park tonight for a 3-game set against the Atlanta Braves. Arizona lost their last two games to the Colorado Rockies and were outscored, 24-3. Zack Godley will be called upon tonight to right the ship. Godley is 10-6, with a 4.80 ERA, a 1.56 WHIP, and he had better go deep in the game because the Diamondbacks bullpen was tagged for 14 runs on Wednesday and 3 yesterday. Atlanta counters with Aníbal Sánchez. Sánchez is 4-2, with a 2.72 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. The Braves are 7-2 in his last 9 starts and they are 6-1 at home against a team with a winning record. The Snakes are 2-5 in their last 7 meetings with the Braves and 8-20 in their last 28 in Atlanta. I like the home team in this situation.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ATLANTA BRAVES

The New York Yankees will be in Cleveland tonight to take on the Indians for the final series before the All-Star break. Two of the best pitchers on the planet will oppose each other, with Luis Severino getting the nod for the Yankees and Corey Kluber for the Indians. Severino has the most wins in the Majors at 14, with just 2 losses. His ERA is 2.12, with a 0.96 WHIP, and he is a perfect 3-0 in his last 3 turns, with a 1.45 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. Kluber sits at 12-4, with a 2.49 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP, but in his last 3 starts he is 1-1, with an elevated ERA of 5.52 and a 1.43 WHIP. New York is 6-1 in Severino’s last 7 road starts and the Yanks swept the Indians in a 3-game set at Yankee Stadium back in May. Cleveland is 1-4 in their last 5 games overall and 1-4 in their last 5 against the American League East. Edge Bombers.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES