Category: Baseball

The Kansas City Royals are still alive in the wild card hunt but barely, and another loss tonight to the bottom feeding Oakland Athletics will really hurt any chances they might have… Edinson Vólquez will try to stop the bleeding for the Royals. Vólquez is 10-10, with a 5.09 ERA, and a WHIP of 1.49, and he is 3-2 with a 2.89 ERA in 5 career starts against the A’s. The Athletics send Daniel Mengden to the hill and he is 1-7 on the season, with an ERA of 6.39 and a WHIP of 1.69. In Mengden’s two starts since returning from a Minor League stint, he has struggled, yielding 9 runs and 13 hits in just 7-2/3 innings of work. Oakland is 0-4 in Mengden’s last 4 starts and 0-4 in his last 4 against a team with a winning record. The umpire behind the dish tonight is Mike Estabrook. The Athletics are 1-5 in their last 6 games when Estabrook he is pulling the strings. Royals avoid the sweep.

Tonight’s pick:

Kansas City Royals

After squandering a 9th inning lead to the San Diego Padres last night, the San Francisco Giants will try to bounce back today and avoid a sweep in the final game of this 3-game set. Madison Bumgarner will go for his 100th career victory when he takes the hill today at AT&T Park. Bumgarner is 14-8 on the season with a 2.61 ERA, a WHIP of 1.04, and San Francisco is 5-1 in the Bum’s last 6 starts. Bumgarner has been a Padre killer at home. The Giants are 10-2 in his last 12 home starts against San Diego. The Pads send Luis Perdomo to the hill and he is 7-9, with an ERA of 5.89, a WHIP of 1.68 and San Diego is 2-5 in his last 7 starts. Bochy should get the win today against his old team.

Today’s pick:

San Francisco Giants

The Detroit Tigers will look to continue their dominance over the Minnesota Twins when they play the second of a 4-game set tonight at Comerica Park. Minnesota has issues and especially on the road where they own a 24-45 record. They are 0-11 in their last 11 road games, 7-25 in their last 32 games overall, and 0-4 in their last 4 meetings with the Tigers. Kyle Gibson gets the start for the Twins and he is 5-9 on the season, with a 5.34 ERA, a 1.58 WHIP, and lost to Detroit on August 23rd, yielding 5 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings of work. Detroit will send the southpaw Matt Boyd to the hill. Boyd is 5-3, with an ERA of 3.89, a 1.26 WHIP and is 2-0 against the Twins this season.

Tonight’s pick:

Detroit Tigers

The Kansas City Royals need to keep winning in order to stay in the wild card hunt and that should happen when they open a 4-game set at home tonight against the Oakland Athletics. Dillon Gee will get the start for the Royals and over his last 3, he is 1-1, with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. Oakland will counter with the lefty Ross Detwiler and over his last 3, he is 0-2, with a 5.51 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. The A’s have been awful on the road, winning just 4 of the last 18, and have not fared well against the Royals, with a record 3-9 in the last 12 meetings and 1-5 in their last 6 at Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium. The Royals’ skipper Ned Yost, is one victory away from 1,000 career wins. He should get that tonight.

Tonight’s pick:

Kansas City Royals

The San Francisco Giants will continue their dominance over the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight when they send Johnny Cueto to the hill. Cueto is 14-5 on the season, with a 2.92 ERA and he is 8-3 in 12 career starts against the D’backs. The Snakes will send Archie Bradley to the bump. He is 6-8 on the season with a 4.85 ERA and the D’backs are 1-5 in Bradley’s last 6 starts against a team with a winning record. San Francisco is 6-1 in their last 7 meetings against Arizona. Got to roll with the Giants tonight.

Tonight’s pick:

San Francisco Giants

The Cleveland Indians will try to split the series with the Houston Astros when they play the final game today of a 4-game set in an early one at Progressive Field. The Astros will send David Paulino to the hill who will be making his Major League debut and shortstop Carlos Correa in not expected to play today due to shoulder inflammation. Trevor Bauer gets the nod for the Indians. Bauer is 10-6 with a 3.70 ERA and is 4-0 with an ERA of just 0.67 versus the Astros. Cleveland is 4-0 in Bauer’s last 4 home starts and 6-2 in his last 8 against the American League West. The Tribe should get this one.

Today’s pick:

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians have dropped the first 2 games of a 4-game set to the Houston Astros and will send Carlos Carrasco to the hill tonight to try to right the ship. Carrasco is 10-7, with an ERA of 3.06, and in his last start on Friday against Miami he delivered, fanning 11 batters in 7-1/3 scoreless innings and is 3-1 in his last 5 starts. The 12-10 Doug Fister will go for the Astros and he was drilled in his last start against Texas, yielding 8 runs on 10 hits in just 3-2/3 innings. The Indians are 4-1 in Carrasco’s last 5 home starts against a team with a winning record and the Astros are 4-11 in their last 15 in Cleveland. I’m running with the Tribe again tonight.

Tonight’s pick:

Cleveland Indians