Category: Baseball

The Arizona Diamondbacks have a 5-game lead over the Colorado Rockies for the top spot in the Wild Card race and they should be able to pad that tonight when they travel to Petco Park to take on the San Diego Padres. Patrick Corbin is one of the hottest pitchers in baseball and he will tap the rubber for Arizona. Corbin is 14-12, with a ERA of 4.06, a 1.42 WHIP, and Arizona is 6-1 in his last 7 starts. Luis Perdomo will start for the Friars. He is 7-10, with an ERA of 4.61, a 1.51 WHIP, and the Padres are 0-4 in his last 4 starts against the Diamondbacks. Arizona has had the upper-hand with the Padres, going 14-6 in the last 20 meetings, and they are 9-1 in their last 10 road games. Everything says Arizona here.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

The New York Yankees are poised for a 4-game sweep over the Baltimore Orioles in an early one today in the Bronx. The Yankees’ bats are hot. They’ve outscored the Orioles 30-10 over the last 3 games and that should continue today because Baltimore will send Ubaldo Jiménez to the hill. Jiménez is 0-2 in his last 3 starts, with a 9.95 ERA, and a 1.97 WHIP. The Orioles are 0-4 in Jiménez last 4 road starts and they are 1-9 in their last 10 overall. The Yankees will counter with Sonny Gray. Gray has pitched well over his last 3 outings, with a record of 1-2, a 2.61 ERA, a WHIP of only 0.97, and the Yankees are 5-0 in their last 5 home games. Bombers today.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The New York Yankees put a beating on the Baltimore Orioles yesterday, 8-2, and I see that happening again today. Baltimore has had issues in the Bronx, going 8-21 in their last 29 trips to the Stadium, and they are 1-7 in the last 8 meetings overall. Joe Girardi is going to send Jordan Montgomery to the hill to face Baltimore’s Jeremy Hellickson. The southpaw Montgomery is 7-7 on the season with a 4.24 ERA and Hellickson is 8-9 with a 5.23 ERA. The Yanks are 6-1 in their last 7 overall and 4-0 in their last 4 home games. I like the Bombers in this situation.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Tampa Bay Rays return home tonight to Tropicana Field and will open a 3-game set against Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox. After a slight bump in the road, Sale is back to his dominant form. The lefty is 2-1 in his last 3 turns, with a 1.56 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP, and last faced the Rays on Saturday when he gave up 6 hits with 8 Ks and no runs in a 9-0 Red Sox win. Matt Andriese gets the nod for Tampa. Andriese has been awful in his last 3 starts, going 0-2, with a 14.09 ERA and a 2.48 WHIP – and that’s not a typo. When Tampa Bay put Andriese up against Sale last Saturday, he gave up 8 runs on 7 hits and couldn’t make it out of the second inning. The Rays are 0-4 in his last 4 starts and 0-5 in their last 5 games against southpaws. That spells doom when you have to face a flame throwing lefty like Sale.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BOSTON RED SOX

The Houston Astros will send Brad Peacock to the mound tonight to oppose the Los Angeles Angels’ Ricky Nolasco in the rubber game of a 3-game set at Angel Stadium. Nolasco has not pitched well in the 2017 campaign, with a record of 6-13, an ERA of 5.19, a WHIP of 1.47, and he has given up 34 homers, which is tied for the third most in the Majors. The Angels are 3-8 in his last 11 home starts and 0-4 in his last 4 home outings against a team with a winning record. Peacock on the other hand has pitched well, with a record of 10-2, a 3.05 ERA, and a 1.24 WHIP with 150 strike outs. The Astros are 10-4 in his last 14 road starts and are 11-5 in their last 16 trips to Angel Stadium. The pitching match-up sides with Houston tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: HOUSTON ASTROS

The Boston Red Sox are peaking at the right time and are now 4 games up on the New York Yankees after pummeling the Oakland Athletics last night at Fenway, 11-1. The bottom dwelling Athletics have had issues against the AL East, posting a record of 3-9 in the last 12 games, and are a dismal 16-43 in their last 59 when they make the trip to Fenway. It doesn’t look any brighter for Oakland tonight when Jharel Cotton takes the hill. Cotton is 1-0 in his last 3 turns, with an ERA of 7.20, a 1.53 WHIP, and the Athletics are 2-5 in his last 7 road starts. The Red Sox, who are 5-1 in their last 6 overall and 5-1 in their last 6 home games, will send Doug Fister to the rubber. Fister has been sharp as a tack, going 2-1 in his last 3 outings, with an ERA of 1.71, a 0.90 WHIP, and Boston is 5-2 in his last 7 starts. In the last two meetings with Oakland, the Red Sox have outscored the Athletics, 23-4. The Red Sox are by far the superior team in this one.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BOSTON RED SOX

I like the Minnesota Twins chances for a victory tonight when they play host to the San Diego Padres at Target Field. San Diego has been playing good baseball but have struggled against Minnesota, going 2-10 in the last 12 meetings and 1-4 in their last 5 trips to Minnesota. Andy Green will send the lefty, Travis Wood, to the hill for the Friars. Wood is 0-1 in his last 3 starts, with an ERA of 7.15, a 2.47 WHIP, and was roughed up in his last outing, giving up 7 runs on 7 hits with 2 homers in just 2 innings of work. Kyle Gibson will get the nod for the Twins. Gibson has been sharp in his last 3 turns, with a record of 2-0, a 1.83 ERA, a WHIP of 1.12, and the Twins are 4-0 in his last 4 starts. Minnesota has been dominant in interleague play, with a record of 8-0 in their last 8 games, and they are 5-0 in their last 5 home games against southpaws.
TONIGHT’S PICK: MINNESOTA TWINS