Category: Baseball

After being swept by the Toronto Blue Jays, the Kansas City Royals will be glad to return to Kauffman Stadium tonight where they will take on the Seattle Mariners. Two lefties are expected to face off tonight, with James Paxton for the Mariners and Danny Duffy for the Royals. Paxton is 1-1 with a 5.89 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP over his last 3 outings, and Duffy is 2-0 with an ERA of 2.95 and a WHIP of 0.98 over his last 3. The Mariners are just 2-6 in Paxton’s last 8 starts and are 0-5 in his last 5 against the American League Central. The Royals are 7-3 in Duffy’s last 10 starts and 24-9 in his last 33 at Kauffman. The Royals can also hit lefties, going 6-2 in their last 8 against them. The Royals should end their 4 game skid tonight.

Tonight’s pick:

Kansas City Royals

The red hot Cleveland Indians will try to make it 13 in a row when they open a four game series with the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre tonight. The Indians have just been on fire, winning their last 6 road games and posting a record of 21-6 in the month of June. Carlos Carrasco gets the call for Cleveland. In his last 3 outings, he is 1-1 with a 1.61 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and owns an impressive road ERA of 1.95 this season. Cleveland is 5-0 in Carrasco’s last 5 starts against the American League East. The Jays send the knuckle baller R.A. Dickey to the mound and he is 1-2 with a 4.58 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP over his last 3. Toronto is 0-8 in Dickey’s last 8 home starts and 2-9 in his last 11 on 4 days’ rest. Toronto had a late game with the Rockies on Tuesday, then played an early game yesterday and then flew home to Toronto; that takes it’s toll. Riding the Indians until they cool down.

Tonight’s pick:

Cleveland Indians

The Toronto Blue Jays will try to even the series with the Colorado Rockies, when they send the left-hander J.A. Happ to the mound tonight. In Happ’s last 3 outings, he is 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. J.A. has a perfect 3-0 career record against the Rockies, with a 2.36 ERA and Toronto is 5-1 in his last 6 starts. Eddie Butler is expected to get the start tonight for Colorado and his struggles continue. Over his last 3 outings, he is 0-1 with an inflated ERA of 10.20, a WHIP of 2.27 and the Rockies are 0-5 in his last 5 starts. The hard-hitting Jays should be able to get to Butler tonight.

Tonight’s pick:

Toronto Blue Jays

Two lefties will face off tonight at Tropicana Field with Blake Snell getting the nod for the Tampa Bay Rays and Eduardo Rodriguez for the Boston Red Sox. Tampa’s top prospect Snell is 0-2 on the season with an ERA of 2.40 and Boston’s Rodriguez is 1-2 with an ERA of 6.41. Boston is 0-5 in their last 5 against left-handers and are 1-5 in their last 6 meetings with the Tampa Bay Rays. Rays should end their 11 game skid tonight.

Tonight’s pick:

Tampa Bay Rays

The flame throwing southpaw Chris Sale will take the hill for the Chicago White Sox today to face Marcus Stroman and the hard-hitting Toronto Blue Jays. Sale has a stellar record. He is 12-2 on the season with a 2.83 ERA and a WHIP of just 0.99. On the flip side, Stroman is 6-3 on the season, with an ERA of 5.23 and a 1.38 WHIP. Sale faced the Jays on April 26th in Toronto and he was dominant, yielding 1 run with 4 hits in 8 innings of work, capping off a win for the White Sox. The White Sox are 7-1 in Sale’s last 8 home starts and they are 13-3 in his last 16 overall. The Jays are 2-5 in their last 7 at US Cellular Field.

Today’s pick:

Chicago White Sox

Tampa Bay has lost 8 in a row and they’re going to snap it today when they send Matt Andriese to the hill. He has a perfect record of 6-0, a 2.88 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Baltimore will counter with Kevin Gausman, who is 0-5 on the season, with a 4.37 ERA and a WHIP of 1.35.

Washington snaps their 6-game losing streak today. I’m not a big fan of Gio Gonzalez but they are facing Matt Garza. The Nationals should be able to capitalize on Garza.

Today’s picks:

Tampa Bay Rays
Washington Nationals

The Minnesota Twins will take their 8-24 road record into the Bronx tonight to face Masahiro Tanaka and the New York Yankees. Tanaka is 4-2 on the season with an ERA of 2.91 and has owned Minnesota. He has a career record against them of 3-0 with a nasty ERA of 1.96. New York is 8-0 in Tanaka’s last 8 starts against a team with a losing record, 5-1 in his last 6 home starts and 4-0 when he has 6 days rest. Tommy Milone was called back up from AAA and was 0-1 on the season with a 5.79 ERA before being sent down. The Twins have struggled in the Bronx, going 13-40 in their last 53, and 14-44 in the last 58 meetings. The line is high but the Bombers should coast tonight.

Tonight’s pick:

New York Yankees