Category: Baseball

The New York Yankees own the best home record in the Majors, at 32-13, and will go for a series victory today in the Bronx over the National League East leading Atlanta Braves. Atlanta will call on Julio Teherán to throw strikes and he is having an up and down season. Teherán is 6-5, with a 4.21 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP, and has served up 15 home runs (which is not good) against a team that leads the Majors in home runs. Carsten Charles Sabathia will get the nod for New York. CC is not pitching like a 37-year old. He is 5-3, with a 3.02 ERA, a 1.24 WHIP, and in the month of June, he had an ERA of only 1.93. When CC is on the rubber at the Stadium, the Yankees are 20-6 in his last 26 starts and they are 9-2 in his last 11 starts against the National League East. The Bombers have won 4 of the last 5 meetings and the way they are crushing the ball, they should come out on top in this one.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Baltimore Orioles and the Philadelphia Phillies will open a short 2-game series tonight at Citizens Bank Park. Buck Showalter’s squad owns the worst record in baseball at 24-59, and to go along with that, the worst road record in the Majors at 12-30. Alex Cobb will get the call for the Orioles and he has been getting torched. Cobb is 2-9, with a 6.75 ERA, a 1.67 WHIP, and is 0-1 in his last 3 turns with an ERA of 5.30 and a 1.39 WHIP. The Phillies will send Zach Eflin to the rubber and he has been throwing flames. Eflin is 6-2, with a 3.02 ERA, a 1.13 WHIP, and was a perfect 5-0 in the month of June with an ERA of only 1.76. In Eflin’s last turn on Wednesday against the explosive Yankees offense, he pitched 7 scoreless innings in a 3-0 Phillies win. Now that’s impressive. Philadelphia is 28-16 at home and 4-1 in their last 5 at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies are 3-1/2 games back of the division-leading Atlanta Braves. If they want to keep pace, they cannot afford to lose to bottom feeders like Baltimore and they know it.
TONIGHT’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The Los Angeles Dodgers avoided a sweep yesterday to the Colorado Rockies, thanks to the play of Matt Hemp. Kemp was on fire, tallying 3 hits, driving in 4 runs, and launching it in the eighth to put the Dodgers on top. Tonight they will open a 3-game set at Chavez Ravine against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pittsburgh recalled Nick Kingham from Triple A Indianapolis and he will get the nod tonight. Kingham is 2-3, with a 3.82 ERA, and has struggled on the road, with a record of 1-2 and a 4.86 ERA. The Dodgers will send the lefty, Alex Wood, to the rubber. Wood is 4-5, with a 4.00 ERA, but has been lights out in his last 3 starts, going 3-0 with a 2.41 ERA. The Pirates are winless in Kingham’s last 4 turns, 1-6 in their last 7 games against southies, and 2-8 in their last 10 meetings with the Dodgers.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS

The Colorado Rockies are going for a 3-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers today at Chavez Ravine but not so fast. The Dodgers will send Ross Stripling to the hill and he has been getting it done. Stripling is 6-2, with an ERA of only 1.98 and a 1.07 WHIP. Los Angeles is 6-2 in his last 8 starts and 4-1 in his last 5 at Dodger Stadium. Chad Bettis will tap the rubber for the Rockies. Bettis is 5-1 but has an elevated ERA of 5.07 and a 1.40 WHIP. The Dodgers faced him on June 3rd at Coors Field and scorched him for 5 runs on 7 hits in 5-2/3 innings, with the Dodgers winning, 10-7.
TODAY’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS

The Houston Astros streak of 11 straight road wins was snapped yesterday in a 3-2 defeat to the surging Tampa Bay Rays. The two teams meet again today in a matinée at Tropicana Field. Are the Rays playing over their heads? I think so, but they are 7-3 in their last 10 and have disposed of some powerhouse teams like the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals. The Rays skipper, Kevin Cash, will stick to his experiment of starting relief pitching. Ryne Stanek will get the start for Tampa and in 24-1/3 innings of work he is 1-1, with a 1.85 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, and in his last 11-2/3 innings he has given up just 2 runs. Justin Verlander will get the nod for Houston. Verlander has been almost unhittable at 9-3, with a 1.82 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP. Now that is domination. Houston is 4-0 in Verlander’s last 4 road starts and in his career, he is 8-3 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Stanek’s numbers look impressive but remember, he is a reliever and has only pitched 24-1/3 innings. When Stanek gets the start for the Rays, they are just 1-4 in his last 5 against a team with a winning record and 0-4 against the American League West. It’s hard to go against the World Champs and especially when Verlander is on the hill.
TODAY’S PICK: HOUSTON ASTROS

The Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants will open a 3-game set tonight in the desert at Chase Field. Both teams will have southpaws on the hill, with Patrick Corbin getting the nod for Arizona and Andrew Suárez for San Francisco. Corbin has been on his mark, with a record of 6-3, a 3.24 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, and is coming off a stellar performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he struck out 12 batters in a 2-1 Diamondback win. Corbin has dominated the Giants this year, with a record of 2-0 and an ERA of just 2.32. Arizona has been on a roll, winning 8 of their last 10 games, all of which were on the road. The Diamondbacks are 4-1 in their last 5 home games against lefties and 6-0 in their last 6 games at Chase after a road trip of 7 days or more. The Giants Suárez comes into tonight’s match-up with a losing record of 2-4, a 4.43 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, and the Giants are 1-4 in his last 5 road starts. San Francisco has not been good on the road at 16-26 and especially at Chase Field, where they are 2-9 in their last 11. Consider the snakes in this one.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

The Seattle Mariners always seem to find a way to win and today they will go for a 4-game sweep over the lowly Baltimore Orioles in an early one at Camden Yards. Seattle will call on Mike Leake to deliver. He is 8-4, with a 4.11 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP, and in his last turn on Saturday against the Red Sox, he pitched 8 scoreless innings, striking out 5 and allowing just 3 hits in a 7-2 Mariners victory. Dylan Bundy was slated to start for Baltimore but was put on the disabled list so they called up Jimmy Yacabonis from AAA Norfolk. Yacabonis has pitched some relief in the Bigs but this will be his first Major League start. The Orioles, who own the worst record in baseball, have lost 4 in a row and 14 of their last 15 at home. Seattle is 5-0 in Leake’s last 5 road starts and 13-5 in their last 18 meetings with Baltimore.
TODAY’S PICK: SEATTLE MARINERS