Category: Baseball

The Toronto Blue Jays had a bad night at the office yesterday, falling to the worst team in the AL, the Chicago White Sox (7-1) in front of their home crowd. Why Blue Jays manager, John Schneider, decided to start Spencer Turnbull last night is beyond logical thinking. Turnbull has never started a game before and spends more time in Triple-A Buffalo than in the Bigs. But then again Schneider is no Billy Martin. Today the scenario should be different when the Jays and Sox play a matinée at Rogers Centre. The expected starters are Aaron Civale for Chicago and José Berríos for Toronto. Berríos is 2-3 with a 3.81 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. Civale comes in at 1-3 with a 4.67 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Even with last night’s win, the White Sox are still a pathetic 8-31 on the road where the Jays are 24-15 at Rogers Centre. Toronto just simply had an off night last night. Vladi Guerrero, Jr., who was hotter than a pistol, went 0-4 but that won’t happen again today. Toronto is the better team, 1 through 9. They are just three games back of the Yankees for the top spot in the AL East and cannot afford to lose at home to one of the worst teams in baseball history and they know it.
TODAY’S PICK: TORONTO BLUE JAYS

The 40-34 San Diego Padres got back in the win column last night, downing the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 at Chavez Ravine. Tonight they return home to Petco Park to open a 3-game interleague set with the 37-38 Kansas City Royals. KC has won 3 straight and is expected to turn to Michael Lorenzen to throw strikes. His numbers are not good. Lorenzen is 4-7 with a 4.91 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP, and he did not look good in his last outing against the Athletics, taking the loss in a 4-0 A’s win. San Diego is expected to give the nod to Nick Pivetta, who has been delivering. Pivetta comes in at 7-2 with a 3.40 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP, and was sharp in his last turn against the Diamondbacks, allowing just 2 runs on 2 hits with 9 K’s over 7 innings of work, resulting in an 8-2 Padres victory. The Padres are tough to beat at home with a record of 21-12. They should be able to get to Lorenzen early and come out on top. Keep an eye on the Friars’ Fernando Tatis, Jr. He is due.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES

The game between the Detroit Tigers and the Pittsburgh Pirates was postponed yesterday and today they will play a doubleheader at Comerica Park. Refer to yesterday’s blog for game 1, as of right now the pitching matchup is the same and nothing has changed.
TODAY’S PICK: DETROIT TIGERS – GAME 1

The best team in baseball, the 47-27 Detroit Tigers, will have the best pitcher in the majors, lefty Tarik Skubal, on the hill when they play the middle game of their 3-game set with the 29-45 Pittsburgh Pirates tonight at Comerica Park. The Tigers cruised to a 7-3 win in yesterday’s matchup, and they should do the same tonight. Skubal has been almost unhittable. He is 7-2 with a 1.99 ERA, a 0.88 WHIP, and over his last 4 starts he has yielded just 1 run over that span. Skubal does not lose at home. He is 5-0 at Comerica Park with an ERA of only 1.72 so good luck to the Pirates who are the lowest scoring team in the majors.
TONIGHT’S PICK: DETROIT TIGERS

The San Francisco Giants return home tonight to Oracle Park to open a 3-game interleague set with the struggling Cleveland Guardians. Cleveland has lost 3 straight and 5 of their last 6. They are expected to turn to Slade Cecconi to right the ship, and he is not the answer. Cecconi is 1-3 with a 4.26 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Newly acquired superstar Rafael Devers should be in the lineup for the Giants but where is still uncertain. Regardless of where they put him (DH, first base or third), it doesn’t matter; he will pay dividends right off the bat. The expected starter for the Giants is their ace southpaw, Robbie Ray, and he has been in the zone. Ray is 8-1 with a 2.55 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP, and in his career against Cleveland, he is 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA. The Giants are an impressive 22-11 at Oracle Park and are riding a 5-game home winning streak.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

The 37-36 Boston Red Sox will take their 5-game winning streak west tonight when they open a 3-game set with the 36-34 Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Boston is coming off a 3-game sweep of the AL leading New York Yankees but after the game they traded their All-Star, Rafael Devers, to the San Franciso Giants which was a big mistake and will come back to bite them. Boston is expected to have Lucas Giolito on the hill. Giolito is 2-1 with an elevated ERA of 5.45 and a 1.54 WHIP. The Mariners have also been clicking, sweeping the Cleveland Guardians at home over the weekend in a 3-game set. Seattle is expected to give the nod to Logan Gilbert and he can deliver. This is Gilbert’s first start since returning from the IL and he was an impressive 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP prior to the injury. Seattle took two out of three from Boston at Fenway back in April and are 19-17 at home. The Red Sox had to travel across the country which is never easy, and the Mariners didn’t.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SEATTLE MARINERS

The Detroit Tigers and the Cincinnati Reds will wrap up their 3-game set today in an early one at Comerica Park. The Tigers are the best team in all of baseball with a record of 46-26. They were embarrassed last night at home by the mediocre 36-35 Reds, 11-1, but I do not see that happening again today. The Tigers have not lost back-to-back games since May 10th-11th. They will probably face the veteran southpaw Wade Miley and Detroit feasts on left-handed pitching. Miley is 1-0 but has a bloated 9.00 ERA and a 2.14 WHIP over just 7.0 innings of work. It could be a bullpen game for Detroit with Sawyer Gipson-Long getting the first leg. Over 8.1 innings of work, he is 0-0 with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. After yesterday’s loss the Tigers are not happy and that does not bode well for lefty Wade Miley.
TODAY’S PICK: DETROIT TIGERS