Category: Baseball

With last night’s 4-2 loss to the 75-76 Boston Red Sox in Arlington, the 82-68 Texas Rangers have now lost 4 straight and will turn to Nathan Eovaldi to get them back on the rails tonight in the second game of their 3-game set. The ex-Red Sox pitcher is 11-4 with a 2.96 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, and is 3-0 against his old club with an ERA of 4.78. Tanner Houck is expected to get the nod for Boston. He is 5-9 with a 4.94 ERA, a 1.33 WHIP, and the Red Sox are 0-6 in his last 6 turns as a road underdog. Texas sits 1½ games back of Houston for the lead in the AL West and if they want to catch them they had better get their act together, and they will. The Rangers have Josh Jung back in the lineup, as well as Adolis García, which will get their lethargic offense clicking again.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TEXAS RANGERS

After being swept at home by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 81-68 Seattle Mariners will look to get back on track when they visit the 46-103 Oakland Athletics tonight to open a 3-game set. Seattle is in a heated battle with Texas and Toronto for the last two wild card spots and they need to take care of business against the worst team in baseball. Oakland native Bryan Woo is expected to be on the hill for the Mariners and he will be extra motivated tonight to be at his best for the many friends and family that will be in attendance. Woo is 3-4 with a 4.16 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP but has been throwing flames of late. In his last turn against the Angels, Woo allowed just 4 hits and 0 runs over 5-2/3 innings, and the Mariners went on to an 8-0 victory. In his last start against the Athletics on August 28th, he allowed just 3 hits and 0 runs over 6 innings of work, and Seattle went on to a 7-0 shutout win. The A’s are expected to send J.P. Spears to the bump. Spears is 5-11 with a 4.45 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. The Mariners have dominated the Athletics this year. Seattle is 9-1 over the last 10 meetings, outscoring Oakland 52-18 over that span.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SEATTLE MARINERS

The 78-71 Minnesota Twins and the 57-92 Chicago White Sox will wrap up their 4-game set today in a matinée on the south side. Today’s probable starters are Sonny Gray for the Twins and Dylan Cease for the White Sox. Gray is 7-7 with an ERA of only 2.96 and a 1.19 WHIP. Cease is also 7-7 but has a 4.87 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. Despite yesterday’s 7-6 loss, Minnesota holds a 2-1 lead in the series. They have outscored Chicago 26-11 over the first 3 games and are 6-1 in the last 7 meetings.
TODAY’S PICK: MINNESOTA TWINS

The Houston Astros have a slim lead over the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners for the top spot in the AL West, and if they want to keep it, they cannot afford to lose to bottom feeders like the Kansas City Royals and they know it. After losing Game 1 of their 3-game set to the Royals last night, 4-2, at the K, I expect Dusty Baker will have his boys ready and they bounce back tonight. The expected starter for the Stros is the rookie J.P. France and he has been dealing. France is 11-5 with a 3.61 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP, and in his last turn against a potent San Diego offense he allowed just 1 run on 4 hits over 6 innings and Houston went on to a 12-2 romp. On the flip side, KC is expected to send leftie Cole Ragans to the bump. Ragans’ numbers are good at 6-4, with a 3.01 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP but he is 0-2 in his career against Houston with a 5.56 ERA. The Astros are 6-0 in France’s last 6 starts against a team with a losing record, 5-0 in his last 5 road starts,10-2 in his last 12 starts overall and have the edge in runs per game, run differential, batting average, hits, home runs, and so on.
TONIGHT’S PICK: HOUSTON ASTROS

Yesterday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies was postponed. Refer to yesterday’s blog for tonight’s matchup because nothing has changed.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

The 75-71 San Francisco Giants are very much alive in the Wild Card hunt and will open a 4-game set with the Colorado Rockies tonight at Coors Field. To say the Giants have owned the Rockies would be an understatement. San Fran has won 16 of the last 17 meetings with Colorado and is expected to have Logan Webb toeing the rubber, who also owned the Rockies. Webb is 10-12 with a 3.40 ERA on the season, 8-2 in his career against Colorado with a 3.24 ERA and is 2-0 this year against them with an ERA of only 1.77. He last faced Colorado on Saturday where he pitched 6 scoreless innings resulting in a 9-1 Giants romp. The Rockies are 53-92 on the season and are obviously eliminated from post-season play. They are likely to send Chase Anderson to the hill. Anderson is winless, at 0-5, with a 6.49 ERA and is 0-1 this year against the Giants with a bloated ERA of 9.35. After yesterday’s 6-5 comeback win over Cleveland, San Fran will also have momentum on their side and should come out on top in this one. The Giants won’t come cheap but are still worth considering.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

The 91-53 Baltimore Orioles rarely lose a series, and I don’t see that happening tonight when they play the rubber game of their 3-game set with the 64-81 St. Louis Cardinals at the Yard. Tonight’s expected starters are Kyle Gibson for the O’s and Drew Rom for the Red Birds. Rom, the ex-Oriole and southpaw, is 0-2 with a 7.79 ERA and a 2.02 WHIP over 17.1 innings of work. Gibson comes in at 14-8 with a 5.12 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP over 168.2 innings of work. The Orioles are an impressive 43-27 at Birdland and 4-0 in their last 4 against a left-handed starter. Baltimore holds a 3-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East and guess who comes to town tomorrow for a 4-game set? The Rays, so the O’s will be extra motivated tonight to go into that series on a winning note.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BALTIMORE ORIOLES