Category: Baseball

The 6-2 Detroit Tigers were unable to muster any runs yesterday and fell to the lowly 2-7 Oakland Athletics, 4-0. Today should have a different outcome for Detroit when they wrap up their 3-game set with Oakland in a matinée at Comerica Park. The Tigers are expected to send Jack Flaherty to the hill. In his season debut against the Chicago White Sox, he didn’t disappoint. Flaherty threw 6 strong innings, allowed 4 hits, just 1 earned run, fanned 7, and the Tigers went on to win, 3-2. The A’s expected starter, Joe Boyle, was just the opposite in his season debut against Boston. The Red Sox scorched him for 8 hits and 7 earned runs over just 2-2/3 innings of work, and Boston went on to a 9-0 romp. The Tigers have the edge in Runs Scored, Runs Against, Batting Average, Home Runs, ETC., ETC., ETC.
TODAY’S PICK: DETROIT TIGERS

The Philadelphia Phillies got out of the gate slowly this year but you knew with all their talent they would turn it around and they have. The Phillies took game one from the Washington Nationals yesterday, 4-0, and will go for a series win when they play the second leg of their 3-game set today at Nationals Park. The expected starters are southpaw Ranger Suárez for the Phils and Jake Irvin for the Nats. Both pitchers had similar outings in their first turn of the season. Suárez pitched 5 innings against one of the best teams in baseball, the Atlanta Braves, where he gave up just 3 hits, 3 earned runs, and the Phillies went on to win that game, 5-4. On the flip side, in Irvin’s season debut he also went 5 innings and gave up 7 hits with 3 earned runs but the Nationals fell to the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5. I like the Phillies chances to come out on top today with Suárez on the hill. Philadelphia is 4-0 in his last 4 starts in game 2 of a series, 4-0 in his last 4 starts against the National League East, and the Phillies superstar Bryce Harper is in the zone.
TODAY’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The New York Yankees are flexing their muscles early in the 2024 campaign. The Bombers are off to a 6-1 start and they achieved this by sweeping the Houston Astros in a 4-game series in Houston then heading to Arizona where they took 2 out of 3 from the NL Champion Diamondbacks. Today in a matinée in the Bronx, the Yankees will play their home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays. The 3-4 Jays are expected to send lefty Yusei Kikuchi to the bump. He was not sharp in his season debut against Tampa. Kikuchi was dinged for 6 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks over 4-1/3 innings, and the Rays went on to a 5-1 victory. Former Blue Jay Marcus Stroman is expected to get the nod for New York. Stroman delivered in his Yankee debut against Houston, allowing just 4 hits, no earned runs, and fanning 4 over 6 innings resulting in a Yankees 5-3 win. New York’s early success is not coming from the veterans like Judge or Rizzo, it’s from the young guns Oswaldo Cabrera, Anthony Volpe, and newcomers Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo. It is just a matter of time before the Yankee veterans get rolling and with the new additions, this team will be tough to beat. You know Yankee Stadium on opening day will be total mayhem. With Stroman getting the start and the way the Bombers are playing, you have to side with the Yanks.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Boston Red Sox will go for a series sweep of the Oakland Athletics when they wrap up their 3-game set in an early one today at the Coliseum. The 4-2 Red Sox are expected to send Nick Pivetta the hill. Pivetta is 0-1 on the season but the loss to the Seattle Mariners was not his fault. He was brilliant in his season debut against Seattle, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits and fanning 10 over 6 innings of work, but Boston couldn’t muster any runs and they fell to the Mariners, 1-0. The 1-5 Athletics are expected to send Ross Stripling to the rubber. Unlike Pivetta, Stripling hasn’t had a win since October of 2022 and was awful in his season debut against Cleveland. He allowed 5 runs on 7 hits with 2 walks over 5 innings and Cleveland went on to a 6-4 win. Oakland better bring their A-game today if they want to avoid getting swept, the reason being that Pivetta is 5-0 in his career against the Athletics with a barely visible ERA of 0.83.
TODAY’S PICK: BOSTON RED SOX

The 3-1 Baltimore Orioles had more come-from-behind wins than any other team in the American League last year and they did it again last night, erasing a 3-0 deficit against the 1-3 Kansas City Royals to go on to a 6-4 win. Tonight, in the middle game of their 3-game set, the Orioles should have an easier time when they face the Royals expected starter, Alec Marsh. Marsh’s numbers are not even worth mentioning from a year ago, they were that bad, and the Royals are 0-8 in his last 8 starts. The same goes for the Orioles expected starter, Cole Irvin, who is only getting the nod because Kyle Bradish and John Means are on the IR, but Baltimore is 6-1 in his last 7 starts overall and 5-0 in his last 5 at Birdland. To say the Orioles have owned the Royals would be an understatement. They have won 5 straight against KC and 8 of the last 9. I like the Orioles in this situation.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BALTIMORE ORIOLES

The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies will wrap up their 4-game set this afternoon at Chase Field. The NL Champion Diamondbacks fell to the Rockies yesterday, 9-4, but they bounce back today. The D-backs won the first two of the series and outscored the Rockies by a combined score of 23-4. Expect more of that today. The expected starters for both teams are not winning a Cy Young any time soon. Colorado is expected to send Ryan Feltner to the hill. In 2023 Feltner was 2-4 with a 5.82 ERA. Arizona is expected to give the nod to Brandon Pfaadt. In 2023 Pfaadt was 3-9 with a 5.27 ERA but the D-backs are 5-1 in his last 6 starts. Arizona should be able to get to Feltner and have won 7 of the last 10 meetings with the Rockies.
TODAY’S PICK: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

The San Diego Padres got to the San Francisco Giants bullpen yesterday and went on to beat their NL West rival, 6-4. Tonight the Pads will try to do it again when the two clubs play the second game of their 4-game set at Petco Park. Expected starters are Joe Musgrove for the Friars and lefty Kyle Harrison for the Giants. Harrison started 7 games last year for San Francisco and was 1-1 with an elevated ERA of 4.15. His lone loss was to the San Diego Padres when they torched him for 6 runs on 6 hits over 5-2/3 innings, resulting in a 6-1 Padres win. The Padres ace and San Diego native Musgrove was roughed up in his first outing this year against the LA Dodgers in Korea but was lights out in 2023, with a record of 10-3 and a 3.05 ERA. Musgrove always delivers in front of his home crowd and the Padres have won 3 straight against the Giants and 6 of the last 7.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES