Category: Baseball

The Texas Rangers have now lost three straight and are two games back of the Seattle Mariners for the top spot in the AL West, but they get back on track today. Texas has the best skipper in the Bigs, Bruce Bochy and he will send Jon Gray to the hill. Gray is 8-7 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Minnesota is expected to give the nod to Kenta Maeda and his numbers are not good. Maeda is 3-7 with a 4.69 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Rangers today.
TODAY’S PICK: TEXAS RANGERS

The San Diego Padres will go for two straight when they host the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park tonight. The edge is with the Friars. Blake Snell is expected on the hill, and he has been delivering.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES

The 82-52 Tampa Bay Rays will look to remain hot when they open a 3-game set tonight with the 64-70 Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. The Rays have won 4 straight, 8 of their last 9, and are now just 1½ games back of the Baltimore Orioles for the top spot in the AL East. Tampa is expected to turn to Tyler Glasnow to get the job done. Glasnow is 7-4 with a 3.12 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. Even though the Guardians have a losing record, they are still just 5 games back of the Minnesota Twins for the lead in the pathetic AL Central. Cleveland is expected to turn to Cal Quantrill to throw strikes and the Rays potent offense should be able to get to this guy. Quantrill is 2-6 with an elevated ERA of 6.45 and a 1.57 WHIP.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

The two best teams in baseball, the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, will open a 4-game set tonight at Chavez Ravine. Atlanta owns the best record in the majors, at 87-45, with LA coming in at 83-49. These teams match up well and it will come down to starting pitching. Tonight, the Braves have the edge. Spencer Strider is expected to get the start for Atlanta and he has been dealing. Strider is 12-4 on the season with a 3.46 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP, and over his last 3 starts it gets better. He is 3-0 with an ERA of only 0.43 and a 0.62 WHIP. The veteran Lance Lynn is expected to be on the hill for the Dodgers. Lynn is 10-9 with a 5.56 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Atlanta won the last meeting on May 24th, 4-3, and have the edge in not only pitching, but runs per game, run differential, batting average, hits, and home runs.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ATLANTA BRAVES

The 64-68 New York Yankees are on the verge of doing something that has eluded them of late and that is win a series. Tonight they will play the third game of their 4-game set with the 59-73 Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. The Yankees took the first two, outscoring the Tigers, 8-3, and will send their ace and Cy Young candidate, Gerrit Cole, to the hill. Cole has been dominant as usual. He is 11-4 with a 2.95 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP, is 7-1 in his career against Detroit with an ERA of 1.94, and the Bombers are a ridiculous 21-4 in his last 25 starts against the AL Central. The Tigers have lost 4 straight and will likely do a bullpen game, with Joey Wentz probably getting the first leg. Wentz, who was just called back up from AAA, is 2-10 with a 6.62 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. The Tigers have scored just 9 runs during their 4-game skid and that doesn’t bode well for them when the Yankees have a flamethrower like Cole tapping the rubber.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Baltimore Orioles took game 1 of their 3-game set with the Chicago White Sox by trouncing the South Siders, 9-0, last night at Birdland. Tonight in game 2, I expect more of the same. Chicago is 52-80 overall, a dismal 24-43 on the road, and is expected to turn to Jesse Scholtens to throw strikes, which has been an issue for the right hander. Scholtens is 1-6 on the season and over his last 3 turns he is 0-2 with a bloated ERA of 7.80 and a 1.67 WHIP. The best team in the American League, Baltimore, is expected to give the nod to Dean Kremer. Kremer is 12-5 and over his last 3 starts he is 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. With last night’s win, the Orioles are now 82-49 overall, 41-25 at Camden Yards, and the only way they lose this one is if they have a total meltdown, which is something they don’t do.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BALTIMORE ORIOLES

The San Francisco Giants and the Cincinnati Reds will open an important 3-game set tonight at Oracle Park. Both teams are 1½ games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the last wild card spot and they match up well. The Giants are 67-63 and 36-30 at home while the Reds are 68-64 and 37-30 on the road. Tonight’s expected starters are two lefties, with Andrew Abbott for the Big Red Machine and Kyle Harrison for the Giants. Harrison will be making his second big league start. He is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. Abbott has been the Reds go-to guy, with a record of 8-3, a 3.16 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. He last faced the Giants on July 20th when he was lights out, pitching 8 scoreless innings, yielding just 1 hit, and the Reds went on to a 5-1 victory. Consider the road dog tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: CINCINNATI REDS