Category: Baseball

The New York Yankees had a golden opportunity to gain some ground on the Toronto Blue Jays last night for the lead in the AL East who were pummeled by the Kansas City Royals last night (20-1), but they did not. New York fell to the Baltimore Orioles, 4-2, due to another poorly managed game by Aaron Boone and sloppy play in the field. Tonight in Game 2 of their 3-game set with the Orioles at Birdland, the Yankees will send lefty Carlos Rodón to the hill. The southpaw is 16-9 with a 3.11 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, and the Orioles are 0-4 in their last 4 games against a left-handed starter. Baltimore is expected to turn to Tomoyuki Sugano to throw strikes. Sugano is 10-8 with a 4.39 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. The Yankees have the edge in runs scored, run differential, hits, homers, etc., etc., etc. New York wins this game if: Aaron Boone lets Rodón go deep in the game, has Cody Bellinger in left, Trent Grisham in center, Aaron Judge in right, Ryan McMahon at third, Anthony Volpe at short, Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second, Paul Goldschmidt at first, Ben Rice catching, and Giancarlo Stanton as the DH, the Bombers cruise to an easy victory; but you never know what Boone is going to do.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Texas Rangers are 4 games back of the final AL wild card spot with only 9 games left in the regular season, but they are still alive. Texas will need to go on a run, and it will have to start tonight at home against the red hot Miami Marlins. The Marlins are 6 games back of the last NL wild card spot. Barring a miracle, Miami’s season is pretty much over but they have been playing their best baseball of the season, winning 3 straight and 6 of their last 7. Tonight the Marlins are expected to send Janson Junk to the hill. Junk is 6-3 with a 4.49 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. The Rangers have lost 4 straight but at Globe Life Field they are an impressive 47-28. They will have Tyler Mahle toeing the rubber and he has been delivering. Mahle is 6-3 with an ERA of only 2.24 and a 1.13 WHIP. Texas has won 5 of their last 6 with Miami, and the best skipper in the business, the Rangers Bruce Bochy, will not go down without a fight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TEXAS RANGERS

The 93-59 Milwaukee Brewers have clinched a playoff spot but not the NL Central, so they still have work to do. Tonight they will go for a 3-game sweep of the visiting 69-83 Los Angeles Angels and should get the job done. Over their first two games the Brewers have outscored the Angels 18-4. Milwaukee is expected to have Quinn Priester toeing the rubber and he is not in the habit of losing. Priester is 13-2 with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Los Angeles is expected to give the nod to Yusei Kikuchi who is 6-11 with a 4.08 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Milwaukee is 7-0 in Priester’s last seven starts against a team with a losing record and the Angels have lost their last six overall and seven straight road games.
TONIGHT’S PICK: MILWAUKEE BREWERS

The Houston Astros will look to sweep the Texas Rangers tonight at Daikin Park when they wrap up their 3-game set, but not so fast. The Rangers will have Jacob deGrom on the hill. The future Hall of Famer has been in the zone this year like every year. He is 12-7 with an ERA of just 2.82 and a WHIP of only 0.92. The Astros are expected to counter with Cristian Javier, and this guy is hittable. Javier is 1-3 with a 4.79 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. The Rangers are still in the wild card hunt but sit 3.5 games back for the final spot with only 10 games left so losing is not an option. Houston will be without Yordan Alvarez which hurts, and they are 0-5 in their last 5 games in Game 3 of a series.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TEXAS RANGERS

After the Yankees’ loss last night to the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox are just one game back of their archrival for the top AL wild card spot. Tonight the Red Sox will open a 3-game set at Fenway with the Athletics. The 82-68 Red Sox are 45-30 at home and will send Connelly Early to the hill. In his major league debut on September 9th against the Athletics in Sacramento, Early rose to the occasion, fanning 11 batters over 5 frames and allowing no runs, with the Red Sox winning 6-0. The 70-80 Athletics will give the nod to Jeffrey Springs, who is 10-11 with a 4.28 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. Springs opposed Early in his last turn against the Red Sox, yielding 8 hits and 5 runs over 5 innings of work. The Athletics are just 1-6 in Springs’ last 7 starts and the Red Sox lit him up the last time they faced him so why would tonight be any different?
TONIGHT’S PICK: BOSTON RED SOX

The New York Yankees hold the #1wild card spot in the AL but still have a shot at winning the East, sitting 4 games back of the Toronto Blue Jays with 13 games left in the regular season, but they have to get on a roll, and it starts tonight when they open a 3-game set with the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Yankees have owned the Minnesota Twins over the years and that’s just the way it is. Tonight New York will send southpaw Carlos Rodón to the rubber and he is back to the form he had when he was throwing flames for the Chicago White Sox. Rodón is 16-8 with a 3.11 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, and he is 9-3 in his career against the Twins. The 65-84 Twins season is over, that’s a given. They are expected to send Simeon Woods Richardson the hill. Richardson is 6-4 with a 4.58 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. He had better be in the zone or he is going to pay. The Bombers’ bats are clicking and so is the best player in baseball, Aaron Judge, who has 5 homers in his last 6 games. The Yankees have the edge in runs scored, runs allowed, hits, homers, and should come out on top.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Houston Astros will go for a sweep of the Atlanta Braves when they wrap up their 3-game set this afternoon at Truist Park. The Astros have outscored the Braves 17-5 over the first two games and are expected to have southpaw Framber Valdez toeing the rubber. Valdez is 12-9 with a 3.42 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Atlanta is likely to send Joey Wentz to the hill. The lefty is 5-6 with a 5.61 ERA, a 1.47 WHIP, and was lit up in his last turn against the Seattle Mariners giving up 8 runs on 8 hits over just 2.1 innings of work with Seattle winning, 18-2. Houston is tied with the Mariners for the lead in the AL West and cannot afford to lose to a Braves team that is 65-83 on the season and losers of 6 of their last 7.
TODAY’S PICK: HOUSTON ASTROS