Category: Baseball

The Baltimore Orioles and the Pittsburgh Pirates will open a 3-game set tonight at Camden Yards. Pittsburgh is in a major slump, losing 9 of their last 10. Tonight they are expected to turn to Johan Oviedo to get them back on track and he is not the answer. Oviedo is 2-3 with a 5.59 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. Over his last 3 starts, he has surrendered 17 earned runs over 12-2/3 innings of work – not good. The Orioles have won 2 straight, taking 2 of 3 from the best team in baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays. Tonight they are expected to hand the ball to Kyle Bradish, who is 1-1 with a 5.95 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. The O’s are 8-2 in their last 10 home games and 9-1 in their last 10 meetings with the Bucs at the Yard.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BALTIMORE ORIOLES

After getting swept by the New York Yankees by a combined score of 28-10, the Oakland Athletics return home tonight to open a 4-game series with the AL West leading 22-14 Texas Rangers. The 8-30 A’s have just 3 wins at the Coliseum and will be facing right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who has been dialed in. Eovaldi is 4-2 with a 3.22 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. In his last two starts, he pitched a complete game against the Yankees, blanking them 2-0, and then pitched 8 scoreless against the Angels in a 10-1 Texas win. Oakland has yet to announce a starter but whoever it is doesn’t matter. Texas is averaging 6.31 runs per game, which is the best in the majors, and Oakland’s combined ERA is a bloated 7.43.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TEXAS RANGERS

The Arizona Diamondbacks will go for a series win over the Miami Marlins in a matinée today at Chase Field. The Diamondbacks are 20-16 overall and 11-8 at home. Their expected starter is Merrill Kelly. He is 3-3 with a 2.75 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Kelly delivered in his last turn, holding the Washington Nationals to just one run and fanning 10 over 7 innings in a 3-1 Arizona win. The Marlins are 18-19 overall, 8-10 on the road, and are expected to counter with Edward Cabrera. He is 2-3 with a 4.78 ERA, a 1.66 WHIP, and is winless on the road. The Snakes have the edge in runs per game, run differential, batting average, hits, homers, and the list goes on.
TODAY’S PICK: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

The Tampa Bay Rays continue to roll. With last night’s 3-0 shutout over the Baltimore Orioles, the Rays improved to a league best 29-7. They also have as many shutouts as they do losses in the young season, 7. Tonight they will go for a series win and their 10th victory in 12 games when the Rays and Orioles play the second of their 3-game set at Camden Yards. Expected starters are Zach Eflin for Tampa and Grayson Rodriguez for Baltimore. Eflin has been dealing and Rodriguez has not. Rodriguez is 1-0 with a 5.46 ERA, a 1.54 WHIP, and was torched by the lowly Kansas City Royals in his last turn, surrendering 6 runs on 8 hits in just 3-2/3 innings. Eflin is perfect at 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA and a WHIP of only 0.96. The 22-13 Orioles have come back down to earth, losers of their last 3. The Rays have no problem scoring runs, averaging over 6 per game, and should get to Rodriguez tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

The New York Yankees will go from playing the best team in baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays, to the worst when they open a 3-game set with the Oakland Athletics tonight at the Stadium. New York is one game above .500, at 18-17, and 11-8 in the Bronx. The Athletics have just 8 wins with 27 losses and are 5-12 on the road. Southpaw Nasty Nestor Cortes, Jr. is the expected starter for the Yanks. He is 3-2 with a 4.91 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, and will look to bounce back after getting lit up in his last turn by the Texas Rangers. The ex-Yankee, lefty JP Sears, is expected to go for Oakland. He is winless at 0-2 with a 5.06 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. New York is 4-0 in Cortes’ last 4 home starts against a team with a losing record and 5-0 against Oakland in their last 5 meetings in the Bronx. If New York can’t take care of business against Oakland at home, changes need to be made.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The New York Mets and the Colorado Rockies will play the rubber game of their 3-game set this afternoon at Citi Field. New York has the talent to be a legitimate World Series contender but have not been playing like one. They are 17-17 overall, 7-7 at home, and have had trouble scoring runs. That will change. Colorado has been playing well but despite yesterday’s 5-2 victory they are still just 6-12 on the road. Today’s expected starters are lefty Joey Lucchesi (1-0, 3.89 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) for New York and Ryan Feltner (2-2, 4.45 ERA, 1.45 WHIP) for Colorado. The Mets are 9-3 in the last 12 meetings overall with the Rockies, 7-2 in the last 9 against Colorado in Queens, and they have the best skipper in the business, Buck Showalter. He will have his boys ready today.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK METS

The Boston Red Sox continue to surge and with last night’s 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park they have now won 7 straight. Philadelphia has been just the opposite. They have now lost 5 in a row but the 2022 World Series runners up have too much talent to continue to slide and I expect they get back on track tonight. The slated starters are Cory Kluber for the Sox and Bailey Falter for Philadelphia. Neither one has been putting fear in opposing batters. Kluber is 1-4 with a 6.44 ERA and Falter is 0-5 with a 5.01 ERA. Bryce Harper is starting to heat up and Kyle Schwarber has gone 0-14 in his last 14 plate appearances so he is due for a big outing. Winning and losing trends don’t last forever.
TONIGHT’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES