Category: Baseball

The Tampa Bay Rays will go for another series win when they wrap up their 3-game set with the Cincinnati Reds in a matinée today at Great American Ball Park. The Rays’ bats were busy once again last night, smacking another 4 homers en route to a 10-0 blowout of the Reds. Drew Rasmussen will get the nod today for Tampa. He is 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. The Reds are expected to counter with Levi Stoudt who will be making his Big League debut. Tough spot to be in, making your first Major League start against Tampa. The Rays have launched 41 homers over their first 18 games and it could be an early exit for Stoudt.
TODAY’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

The Minnesota Twins will look to snap their 2-game losing streak when they head to Fenway tonight for a 3-game set with the Boston Red Sox. The AL Central leading Twins are expected to send their ace, Sonny Gray, to the hill and he has been delivering. Gray is 2-0 with an ERA of only 0.53 and a 1.00 WHIP, and you can’t get much better than that. The Red Sox are expected to send lefty Chris Sale to the hill. Sale has not been the same since returning from his injury. He is 1-1 with a bloated ERA of 11.25 and a 2.08 WHIP. The Twins were idle yesterday and following a day off they are 5-0 in their last 5. Gray will keep Boston’s scoring to a minimum so if the Twins get to Sale early, it’s over.
TONIGHT’S PICK: MINNESOTA TWINS

The 5-11 Colorado Rockies have lost 5 straight but return home tonight for a 3-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Colorado’s issue has been their starting pitching with one exception, lefty Kyle Freeland, and he is expected to get the nod tonight. Freeland has been dealing, with a record of 2-0, a hardly visible ERA of 0.98, and a 0.96 WHIP. The Pirates, who are off to a surprising 9-7 start, will likely send veteran southpaw Rich Hill to the bump. Hill has had a great career but is not what he once was. He is off to a 0-2 start with an elevated 7.20 ERA, a WHIP of 1.33, and the Rockies are 4-1 in their last 5 home games against a left-handed starter. Colorado has won 7 of the last 10 meetings overall with Pittsburgh and 5 of the last 6 against them at Coors Field.
TONIGHT’S PICK: COLORADO ROCKIES

The Minnesota Twins and the New York Yankees will wrap up their 4-game set this afternoon at the Stadium. Minnesota took the first two games but came crashing down yesterday, striking out 13 times and falling to the Yanks, 6-1. Today’s expected starters are Pablo López for the Twins and Gerrit Cole for the Yankees. Cole has been as sharp as ever. He is 3-0 with an ERA of 1.40 and a 0.93 WHIP. His counterpart, López, has been delivering as well. He is 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA and a 0.65 WHIP. This could very well be a pitching duel but you have to give the edge to New York. At home, Cole is tough to go against. He has also been a Twins killer in his career, going 4-0 with a 3.21 ERA, and the Yankees’ bats are better.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Atlanta Braves took game 1 of their series with the Kansas City Royals yesterday at the K by pummeling them, 10-3. Today it won’t be as easy but they should still get the job done. Bryce Elder is expected to get the nod for the Braves and he has been electric. Elder is 1-0 with an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of only 0.97. Southpaw Kris Bubic should get the start for the Royals. Due to absolutely no run support, he is 0-1 but still has an impressive 1.64 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. Altanta is a World Series contender and KC is not. The Braves are also 6-1 on the road and 4-1 in their last 5 interleague road games against a left-handed starter.
TODAY’S PICK: ATLANTA BRAVES

The New York Mets will be on the West Coast tonight to open a 3-game series with the Oakland Athletics. The 7-6 Mets are coming off a home victory on Wednesday over the Padres and had yesterday off so travel will not be a factor. The expected starter for New York is Kodai Senga and he has been brilliant. Senga is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. On the flip side, Oakland is 3-10 and expected to have James Kaprielian on the hill, who has been awful. In his two starts, Kaprielian was lit up by Cleveland and Tampa, and has a bloated ERA of 11.17 with a 1.97 WHIP. The Mets are by far the better team in this one and should get to the struggling Kaprielian.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK METS

The New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins will open a 4-game set tonight at Yankee Stadium. The expected starters are Joe Ryan for the Twins and Jhony Brito for the Yankees. Both have pitched well thus far. Ryan is 2-0 with a 3.75 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. Brito has been just a little bit better. He is also 2-0 with a stingy ERA of only 0.90 and a 0.80 WHIP. New York has literally owned Minnesota over the years, both in Minnesota and the Bronx, and have been smacking the ball as usual, averaging 5.18 runs per game. The Yanks at home with Brito on the hill are worth considering.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES