Category: Baseball

The red hot Philadelphia Phillies will go for their fifth straight win and a sweep of the Washington Nationals when they wrap up their 3-game set tonight at Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia has been dominant at home, with a record of 11-4, and is expected to send Taijuan Walker to the bump. Walker has pitched better than his 1-2 record reflects, with an excellent ERA of 2.78 and a 1.37 WHIP. Washington is expected to counter with Brad Lord. Harper and company should be able to light him up. Lord is winless, at 0-3, with a 4.67 ERA, a 1.73 WHIP, and the Nationals are a dismal 4-11 on the road. The Phillies have the edge in runs scored, run differential, batting average, hits, and they are the side to consider.
TONIGHT’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The Texas Rangers and the Oakland Athletics will play the third game of their 4-game set tonight in Arlington. Texas evened the series at a game apiece by pummeling Oakland last night, 15-2, and is now an impressive 11-4 at Globe Life Field. Nathan Eovaldi is expected to get the nod for the Rangers. Eovaldi will be able to keep the A’s bats in check, with a record of 2-2, an ERA of only 2.21, and a nasty 0.74 WHIP. The Athletics will turn to Luis Severino to throw strikes. Severino is 1-3 with a 3.49 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP, and you cannot rely on this guy. He is inconsistent which is why the Yankees sent him packing. Texas put the screws to Oakland last night. Why not again tonight?
TONIGHT’S PICK: TEXAS RANGERS

The New York Mets and the Washington Nationals will wrap up their 4-game set today in DC. The 19-9 Mets will look to get out of Wahington with a split and will turn to Griffin Canning to throw strikes. Canning comes in at 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA, a 1.38 WHIP, and was sharp in his last turn against the Phillies potent offense, yielding just 1 run over 5 innings of work and resulting in a Mets 5-1 victory. The 13-15 Nationals will have Trevor Williams toeing the rubber. His numbers are not good, at 1-2 with an elevated ERA of 5.11 and a 1.58 WHIP. New York is the better team, by far, on the field today. The Nationals were lucky to get 2 wins in this series. The Mets blew the first game with the lead in the 9th and then squandered a 7-1 lead yesterday; that won’t happen again. 
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK METS

Yesterday’s game between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays was postponed. Today they are scheduled to play a doubleheader at the Stadium. Refer to yesterday’s blog for game 1; nothing has changed and the pitching matchup remains the same. 
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES – GAME 1

The red hot New York Mets will be in DC tonight to open a 4-game set with the Washington Nationals. The NL East leading Mets are the real deal and will go for their 8th straight win after sweeping a really good Phillies team in 3 and prior to that they swept the Cardinals in 4. New York is expected to send Kodai Senga to the hill and his numbers are off the charts. Senga is 3-1 with a hardly visible ERA of 0.79 and a 0.97 WHIP. Washington is expected to give the nod to Jake Irvin and he had better be in the zone or the Mets will make him pay. Irvin has good numbers, at 2-0 with a 3.68 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. New York has won the last 6 meetings with Washington and are hot. Ride them until they are not.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK METS

The Los Angeles Angels are on the verge of being swept at home by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Bucs won the first 2 games, outscoring the Halos 12-3 over that span, but the Angels will have Tyler Anderson on the hill tonight and he will stop the bleeding. Anderson has been in the zone with a record of 2-0, an ERA of only 2.08, a 1.02 WHIP, and the Angels are 4-0 in his last 4 starts. Pittsburgh is expected to give the nod to Carmen Mlodzinski and he has been awful. He comes in at 1-3 with a bloated ERA of 7.41 and a 2.00 WHIP. If Mike Trout, who is batting a pathetic .169, can’t break out against this guy, throw in the towel.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES ANGELS

The Baltimore Orioles will look to rebound from their 0-7 shellacking by the Washington Nationals last night when they play the middle game of their 3-game set tonight at Nationals Park. The Orioles are loaded with young talent and should not be 9-13 on the season but they will turn it around and tonight should be that night. Trevor Williams will get the nod for the Nationals and Baltimore will be able to get to him. Williams is 1-2 with an elevated ERA of 5.95 and a 1.63 WHIP. Not good. The Orioles will counter with Tomoyuki Sugano who is 2-1 with a 3.43 ERA, a 1.29 WHIP, and was sharp in his last turn against Cleveland when he pitched 7 strong innings, yielding just 2 runs on 5 hits with no walks, and Baltimore cruised to a 6-2 victory.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BALTIMORE ORIOLES