Category: Baseball

The New York Yankees were embarrassed in front of their home crowd last night, losing to the Detroit Tigers 12-2. Once again, Aaron Boone pulled his starter after 6 innings and the bull pen went on to blow another game. Boone needs to stop paying attention to analytics and start managing the game himself but maybe he doesn’t know how. Tonight in the middle game of their 3-game set at the Stadium, the Yankees are expected to hand the ball to southpaw Carlos Rodón and he has been dealing. Rodón is 16-7 with a 3.12 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP, and over his last 3 turns, Rodón is 3-0 with a 2.04 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. The Yankees, who are first in the league in Runs Scored, Slugging, and Home Runs, should be able to get to the Tigers’ expected starter Jack Flaherty. Flaherty is 7-13 with a 4.85 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Over his last 3 starts, Flaherty is 0-1 with a bloated ERA of 7.80 and a 1.60 WHIP. If Aaron Boone lets Rodón go deep in this game, the Yankees come out on top.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Tampa Bay Rays are 4 games back of the last AL wild card spot with 19 games left on the schedule so they need to take care of business when they visit the south side tonight to open a 3-game set with the Chicago White Sox. The 71-72 Rays will send Adrian Houser to the hill, and he will be extra motivated to put the screws to his old team who traded him to Tampa back in July. Houser has good numbers at 8-4 with a 3.01 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. The 55-89 White Sox will give the nod to rookie Yoendrys Gómez, and the Rays bats should be able to do some damage. Gómez is 3-2 with a 4.79 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. The Rays score more runs than the White Sox, give up less, and cannot afford to lose to the worst team in the American League if they want to see the postseason.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

The New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies will open a 4-game set tonight at Citizens Bank Park. The Mets sit 7 games back of the Phillies for the lead in the NL East so if they want to gain some ground on their rival this is their opportunity. New York is expected to give the nod to rookie sensation Nolan McLean, who has been dealing. He is a perfect 4-0 with an ERA of only 1.37 and a 0.76 WHIP. In his last turn against a really good Detroit Tigers team, McLean was throwing flames, yielding just 2 runs on 3 hits over 6 innings of work and the Mets went on to a 12-5 romp. The Phillies are expected to counter with Aaron Nola, whose struggles continue. Nola is 3-8 with a 6.78 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. He was lit up in his last turn against Milwaukee where he gave up 6 runs on 6 hits over 5 innings of work and the Brewers went on to a 6-3 win. The last time these two teams met back in August in Queens, New York swept Philly over a 3-game set outscoring them 25-8.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK METS

The Los Angeles Dodgers had better get back on track and fast, with the San Diego Padres just one game behind them for the lead in the NL West. Los Angeles is on the verge of losing their sixth straight and being swept again by another bottom feeding team, the Baltimore Orioles, this afternoon at Birdland but I don’t see that happening. The Dodgers have the edge in runs scored, hits, batting average, and homers. They should be able to get to the Orioles expected starter Tomoyuki Sugano, who is 10-7 with a 4.42 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Sugano has struggled over his last three outings, going 0-2 with an ERA that soared to 6.91 and a 1.67 WHIP. The Dodgers will turn to southpaw Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw was not himself in his last turn against the Pittsburgh Pirates but the veteran will bounce back today. He is 9-2 with a 3.28 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP.
TODAY’S PICK: LOS ANGELES DODGERS

The San Diego Padres have now lost five straight after getting shut out, 3-0, by the worst team in baseball last night, the Colorado Rockies. If there is a bright side, the Los Angeles Dodgers are also in a tailspin, losing their last four, and the Padres still trail the champs by only two games for the lead in the NL West. Tonight they should right the ship when the two clubs play the middle game of their 3-game set at Coors Field. The Friars lethargic bats should wake up when they face the Rockies expected starter, McCade Brown. He is winless at 0-2 with a bloated ERA of 8.22 and a pathetic 2.09 WHIP. The Padres are the better team, by far, on the field tonight and are worth considering.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES

The best team in baseball, the 86-55 Milwaukee Brewers, will open a 3-game set tonight against the red hot 64-77 Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Pittsburgh is coming off a 3-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers but will have their hands full tonight. Milwaukee’s bullpen has been dealt a blow with injuries so their expected starter Quinn Priester will have to go deep into the game and his is very capable. Priester is 11-2 with a 3.28 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP over 134.1 innings of work, and he has not lost a game since May 13th. The Bucs are expected to counter with Johan Oviedo, who is 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP over just 15 innings of work. The Brewers have won the last 5 meetings this year against the Pirates and have the edge in runs scored, run differential, batting average, hits, homers, and so on.
TONIGHT’S PICK: MILWAUKEE BREWERS

The Kansas City Royals will try to get back on the rails tonight and avoid being swept at home by the Los Angeles Angels when they wrap up their 3-game set at the K. It will be the veteran, Kyle Hendricks, getting the nod for the Halos and rookie Noah Cameron for the Royals. Hendricks is not the dominant flamethrower he was with the Chicago Cubs. He is 6-9 with a 4.89 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Cameron has electric stuff and comes in at 7-6 with an ERA of only 2.92 and a 1.08 WHIP. Kansas City sits just 2.5 games back for the last wild card spot, they cannot afford to lose this one, and they know it.
TONIGHT’S PICK: KANSAS CITY ROYALS