Category: Baseball

The Baltimore Orioles fell to the Texas Rangers, 3-2, yesterday in Game 1 of the ALDS at Camden Yards. They cannot afford to go down 0-2 in the 5-game series, or they will be in major trouble, and they know it. Today’s expected starters will be rookie Grayson Rodriguez for Baltimore and lefty Jordan Montgomery for Texas. Both guys have been dealing. Montgomery is a 1-0 in the postseason with a 0.00 ERA and is 3-1 in his career against the Orioles with a 3.04 ERA. Since being called back up to the Bigs from AAA-Norfolk, Rodriguez is 5-2 with an ERA of 2.58. The O’s looked a little sluggish after being off for a week but with the rust gone and with this, in a sense, being a do or die situation, they should bounce back today at Birdland.
TODAY’S PICK: BALTIMORE ORIOLES

The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers will open the NLDS tonight at Chavez Ravine. The expected starters for tonight’s game are future Hall of Famer lefty Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers and Merrill Kelly for the Diamondbacks. Kershaw has had success against Arizona in his career, with a record of 22-12 and a 2.73 ERA. He last faced the D-backs on August 29th where he pitched 5 innings yielding just 3 hits, 1 run, and LA went onto a 9-1 blowout win. The pitcher that opposed Kershaw in that game was Merrill Kelly and that night the Dodgers smacked him around for 12 hits and 7 runs over his 5 innings of work. Kelly is also 0-11 in his career against the Dodgers with a 5.49 ERA. LA has won 5 straight against Arizona, including a 3-game sweep in late August at the Ravine, outscoring them 23-5. If the Dodgers are not affected by the week off, they should get this one.
TONIGHT’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS

Are the Tampa Bay Rays going to be swept by the Texas Rangers on their home turf at Tropicana Field? I doubt it. The Rays are 53-29 in St. Pete and will have Zack Eflin on the hill. Eflin is 16-8 with a 3.50 ERA and a WHIP of just 1.05. The Rangers will counter with Nathan Eovaldi and he can deliver. Eovaldi is 12-5 with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. This will be a tight one, with two flamethrowers on the bump, but Tampa is not going down without a fight and will prevail.
TODAY’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

The 89-73 Toronto Blue Jays will be in Minneapolis today when they face the 87-75 Minnesota Twins in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card series. Toronto has played well on the road, with a record of 46-35, and will have their ace, Kevin Gausman, on the hill. Gausman is 12-9 with a 3.16 ERA and over his last 3 turns he is 1-1 with a 2.04 ERA. Minnesota is expected to hand the ball to Pablo López. He comes in at 11-8 with a 3.66 ERA but over his last 3 his ERA has soared to 6.46. The Twins do not score a lot of runs and Gausman will be able to keep them in check. The young guns for the Jays get it done today.
TODAY’S PICK: TORONTO BLUE JAYS

The Miami Marlins hold a slim half game lead over the Chicago Cubs for the third and last Wild Card spot in the NL. Tonight they visit the Pittsburgh Pirates for the final 3-game set of the regular season, however if they don’t secure a Wild Card spot by Sunday, they might have to play a makeup game with the Mets on Monday. How do they avoid this scenario? It’s simple: sweep the 75-84 Pirates. The Marlins have won 3 of the 4 meetings this year with the Bucs and are 5-0 in their last 5 road games against a team with a home losing record. Tonight’s expected starters for both teams have yet to be announced but we know one thing for sure, the Pirates will not be sending two of their best to the hill this weekend, Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo, who are done for the year. Pittsburgh will be playing a lot of their young prospects and Miami will take advantage of that.
TONIGHT’S PICK: MIAMI MARLINS

The Arizona Diamondbacks will go for a sweep of the Chicago White Sox when they close out their 3-game set in an early one today on the south side. The D-Backs have outscored the lowly Sox, 18-4, over the first two games and are expected to send Bryce Travis to the hill. Travis is perfect, at 2-0, with a 2.45 ERA and a WHIP of only 0.93. The White Sox are expected to have Touki Toussaint toeing the rubber and his numbers are not good. Toussaint is 4-7 with a 5.10 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Over his last 3 turns, his ERA has ballooned to 6.75 with a 1.69 WHIP. Arizona holds a 2 game lead over the Marlins and Cubs for the second Wild Card spot. They will finish out the season at home against the World Champion Houston Astros and that will not be a walk in the park so they need to take care of business today.
TODAY’S PICK: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

The New York Yankees’ season is done but they are not rolling over and that was evident in last night’s 2-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Tonight in the second game of their 3-game set, they will have the leading AL Cy Young candidate, Gerrit Cole, toeing the rubber. Cole is having a season like no other. He is 14-4 with a 2.75 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, and 217 strikeouts. If that doesn’t warrant a Cy Young crown, then I don’t know what does. The Jays, who have a 1½ game lead over the Astros and 2 over the Mariners for the second Wild Card spot, will send José Berríos to the hill. Berríos is 11-11 with a 3.58 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, and is 3-6 in his career against the Bombers with a 5.14 ERA. The Yankees are 6-0 in Cole’s last 6 starts and in his last turn on September 21st against these Toronto Blue Jays he was in the zone. Cole yielded just 2 hits,1 run, struck out 9 over 8 innings of work, and the Yankees went on to a 5-3 victory. This is probably Cole’s last start of the season. He will want to go out on a positive note and New York would love nothing more than to spoil their AL East rival’s run at the postseason.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES