Category: Baseball

The Toronto Blue Jays will try for a 4-game sweep of the visiting Oakland Athletics today in an early one at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays should be pumped up after last night’s dramatic come from behind ninth inning victory. Toronto’s Marcus Stroman (9-5, 2.98 ERA) will square off with Oakland’s Sean Manaea (8-5, 3.82 ERA). In Stroman’s last 2 starts he has been lethal, posting an ERA of 0.63 and opponents are batting just .196 against him over that span. The Athletics are 16-34 on the road, 3-7 in their last 10 games and 1-11 in their last 12 trips north of the border.

Today’s Pick:

Toronto Blue Jays

The San Diego Padres will be a home underdog tonight when they play the third game of a 4-game set against the New York Mets. The pitching edge will favor the Friars when they send Jhoulys Chacín to the rubber. Chacín has gone 2-0 over his last 3 starts, with an ERA of 2.95, and a 1.09 WHIP. The Padres are 4-0 in Chacín’s last 4 starts and 4-1 in his last 5 starts at Petco Park. Terry Collins will take his chances with the southpaw Steven Matz. Matz has been off his mark over his last 3 outings, going 0-2, with an ERA of 13.06 (and that is not a typo), and a 2.61 WHIP. The Mets are 2-5 in his last 7 starts and 1-4 in his last 5 against the National League West. There’s a reason for a little concern tonight as Chacín was scheduled to go yesterday but was held back a day with some lower back tightness. I’m banking on a healthy Jhoulys Chacín and taking the home dog here.

Tonight’s Pick:

San Diego Padres

St. Louis Cardinals’ Lance Lynn has been delivering and he will take the hill tonight at Busch Stadium to face Jon Gray and the Colorado Rockies. Lynn is 2-0 over his last 3 starts, with a stingy ERA of 0.47, a 0.83 WHIP, and has allowed just 1 run in his last 19-1/3 innings of work. Gray is 2-1 in his last 3 starts but has an inflated ERA of 9.22, and a WHIP of 2.20. The Rockies’ are 3-14 in their last 17 road games and 6-20 in their last 26 trips to St. Louis.

Tonight’s Pick:

St. Louis Cardinals

The Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies will square off tonight at Citizens Bank Park. Brad Peacock gets the start for the Houston Astros and Philadelphia will counter with Vince Velasquez. Peacock has been on the money, with a record of 8-1, a 2.49 ERA, and the Astros are 5-0 in his last 5 road starts. Velasquez, not so good. He is 2-5, with an ERA of 5.14, and the Phillies are 2-8 in his last 10 home starts. Houston is 0-8 in their last 8 trips to Philadelphia which could explain the low number, but trends can be broken and Houston should get this one tonight.

Tonight’s Pick:

Houston Astros

Sunday night baseball will feature the St. Louis Cardinals at the Chicago Cubs in the rubber game of a 3-game set. José Quintana will be making his first start at Wrigley Field since moving to the north side. On July 16th, Quintana pitched his first game for his new team and was on his mark against Baltimore, going 7 innings, giving up no earned runs, posted a WHIP of 0.43 and the Cubs blanked the Orioles, 8-0. St. Louis will send Michael Wacha to the hill tonight. Wacha is having a great year, with a record of 7-3, an ERA of 3.71, a 1.33 WHIP but the Cardinals are 1-5 in his last 6 starts against the Cubs. Chicago is hot, winning 7 of their last 8 games and St. Louis has struggled against the Cubs. The Cardinals are 1-4 in their last 5 meetings and 1-5 in their last 6 trips to Wrigley. Edge Chicago.

Tonight’s Pick:

Chicago Cubs

The Milwaukee Brewers have now lost 6 in a row and the Chicago Cubs are breathing down their necks for the lead in the NL Central, so they better get their act together soon. The Brewers will try to end their slide today by sending Brent Suter to the hill. The southpaw is 1-1 on the season, with a 3.09 ERA, and a 1.31 WHIP in 32 innings of work. The Phillies will counter with Jeremy Hellickson. The right-hander has been steady with a record of 6-5, a 4.44 ERA and a WHIP of 1.23, however Philadelphia is just 1-6 in his last 7 starts and 1-4 in his last 5 home starts. Milwaukee is 9-3 in their last 12 trips to Philadelphia and they could have Ryan Braun back in the lineup tonight, who has batted .372, with 21 home runs and 57 RBIs in 61 games against the Phillies.

Today’s Pick:

Milwaukee Brewers

The New York Yankees will try to make it two in a row tonight against the Seattle Mariners after beating the best they have, King Felix, last night in a 4-1 victory at Safeco Field. Seattle will send Andrew Moore to the hill tonight, who has had problems. Moore has a record of 1-1, with a 5.25 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP and was drilled in his last start by the Chicago White Sox, giving up 5 runs on 6 hits, which included 3 homers over just 3 innings of work. The veteran left-hander CC Sabathia will get the nod for the Yankees. CC has found his mark again, with a record of 8-3, an ERA of 3.54, a WHIP of 1.27 and has won 6 out of his last 7 starts. Sabathia has been dominant over the years against the Mariners. He is 13-6 lifetime against Seattle, with a 2.64 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. The Yanks are 12-2 in his last 14 starts against the Mariners and 6-0 in his last 6 starts at Safeco. I like the Bombers’ chances in this one.

Tonight’s Pick:

New York Yankees